1. Even Better Than The Real Thing
2. Mysterious Ways
3. Beautiful Day
4. Electrical Storm
5. One
6. Miss Sarajevo
7. Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
8. Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of
9. Gone
10. Until The End Of The World
11. The Hands That Built America
12. Discotheque
13. Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
14. Staring At The Sun
15. Numb
16. The First Time
17. The Fly (U.K. Bonus Track)
So, here it is at last,
the companion to 1998's retrospective that focused on
U2's first 10 years. Whereas 1980-1990 was a fairly straightforward chronicle
of Dublin's finest through their ascent to the very summit of global
domination, and equally foolproof to compile, U2 in the 90s were an
altogether different proposition.
For a start, the band wilfully reinvented themselves at the dawn of the
decade with the turbulent and stunning Achtung Baby. Borne from a creative
turmoil and protracted recording sessions, U2 paradoxically emerged from its
aftermath completely invigorated. There then followed a dizzyingly inventive
and almost unending journey of artistic expression which, like most such
soujorns, eventually ended somehwat unceremoniously with the relative failure
of 1997's overly ironic Pop album. It was fun while it lasted, and then some.
All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000) saw a more traditional, back-to-basics
attitude - not quite as intruiging, but more commercially rewarding. Bono,
The Edge, Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton left the giant Lemon and Zoo TV
screens in storage boxes around the world, having played the post-modern card
perhaps a little too enthusiastically for some.
Chronologically, a no-frills Best Of 1990-2000 would have begun with The Fly,
whizzed through the other Achtung Baby singles, followed by Numb and Lemon
from the Zooropa project, before coming slightly unstuck with Pop's less
endearing hits (Last Night On Earth, Please) and then concluding on a high of
sorts courtesy of selections from All That You Can't Leave Behind. Simple.
Except....
Well, this album is neither a Greatest Hits or Singles Collection in name nor
intention, and U2 themselves have clearly called the shots here (no surprise,
of course). Thus, the absence of Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses, never a
favourite of the band, is explained away. Likewise, the "new mix" versions of
the two Pop tracks to make the cut, making the most of a chance to put right
certain things about the production which they always considered to be
unfinished. Fair enough.
In fact, with its choice of material from the period, and the sequencing of
the 17 songs, The Best Of 1990-2000 achieves, very successfully, in capturing
the essence of U2's most diverting and fascinating era to date. Credit where
it's due for not taking the obvious route, and instead featuring album tracks
that were nonetheless key moments of their live shows in the heady Zoo TV
days (Until The End Of The World) or simply standouts on their particular
album (Gone was always the great single-that-never-was from Pop).
A pair of unreleased songs are the obligatory, neccessary evil - no
contemporary look back at an act's career is complete without them these days
- but both manage to fit in, although Electrical Storm feels a little
contrived in its efforts to do so.
Beautiful Day's use at countless sporting events and twice-weekly on ITV's
Premiership coverage has dulled an already average U2 anthem even further,
but One and Stay (Faraway, So Close!) seem to only improve with age.
Miss Sarajevo - for the first time in its uninterrupted single version - is still
gorgeous, the highlight of the band's dabbling in unchartered waters as
Passengers. The Fly, which startled upon its release in October 1991, rounds
matters off despite The Edge's doubts over its long-term credentials.
Ten crazy years. Belly dancers, buffalo falling off cliffs, phone-calls to
Pizza firms during concerts, MacPhisto, Pavarotti, Batman, Lara Croft,
fluctuating sales, all-consuming ambition and indulgence (nobody mention
The Million Dollar Hotel,
alright?)..... oh, and some mighty fine music.
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
