thecoolguys@hotmail.com The best of 1980 - 1990 and the B-sides
As one of the most popular bands of the '80s, U2 didn't quite fit into any particular category. They were a post-punk band that quickly found acceptance from a hard rock audience, a group that made fully formed albums but often made their best statements on individual songs, especially during the '80s. Consequently, they're a very hard band to anthologize. Since they were most effective on single songs, it seems that throwing all of them together on one disc would work. The problem is, each of the albums, from Boy to Rattle & Hum, has a distinctive flavor that doesn't necessarily blend when combined, especially in the non-chronological form of The Best of 1980-1990. There's little quibbling with the featured tracks on U2's first compilation -- a few important songs, such as "Gloria," "I Fall Down," "Seconds" and "Two Hearts Beat As One," may be missing, but everything else deserves to be here ("Pride," "New Year's Day," "With or Without You," "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," "Sunday Bloody Sunday," "Bad," "Desire," etc.). Even though the song selection is strong, the album winds up as less the sum of its parts -- each song is pretty great of its own accord (even the single mix of the B-side, "Sweetest Thing," which is, in truth, not much different at all), but the overall effect is a little underwhelming. On one hand, it may be a good choice for casual fans or nostalgia mongers, since it does contain everything they need to hear, but anyone who has more than a passing interest in the band will be better suited with individual albums.
Island and U2 realized that longtime fans of the band wouldn't need The Best of 1980-1990. Unlike the proposed The Best of 1990-2000, which would likely boast the non-LP "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" and the Passengers' "Miss Sarajevo," 1980-1990 contained nothing but material culled directly from the albums, which didn't exactly entice hardcore followers. So, the label and the band decided to pair the compilation with a collection of the group's B-sides from the '80s, none of which had ever appeared on an album before. For diehard U2 fans, this is something of a godsend -- not necessarily a holy grail, which would have been a complete B-sides collection, including the long-missing early EPs -- since many of these tracks have been out of print for years. That's not to say they'll be entirely pleased with what they hear. The B-Sides is wildly uneven, fluctuating between a handful of lost masterpieces ("Spanish Eyes," "Sweetest Thing," "Hallelujah Here She Comes," "Silver and Gold," "A Room at the Heartbreak Hotel," "Trash, Trampoline and the Party Girl"), a momentum-crushing triptych of mediocre karaoke ("Dancing Barefoot," "Everlasting Love," "Unchained Melody") and gormless filler (pretty much everything else). Despite the uneven music, fans will need The B-Sides, not just for the handful of worthy contenders, but for its sheer rarity. Not only have the B-sides themselves been difficult to locate, but the disc itself was designed as a collectors' item: after the first week of sales, The B-Sides was pulled from the market, and Island shipped only The Best of 1980-1990. Clearly, this was a tactic to raise press awareness and boost sales, but that doesn't mean that fans shouldn't take advantage of its limited release.
1. Pride (In The Name
Of Love)
2. New Year's Day
3. With Or Without You
4. I Still Haven't Found What I'm...
5. Sunday Bloody Sunday
6. Bad
7. Where The Steets Have No Name
8. I Will Follow
9. Unforgettable Fire
10. Sweetest Thing
11. Desire
12. When Love Comes To Town
13. Angel Of Harlem
14. All I Want Is You
15. Three Sunrises
16. Spanish Eyes
17. Sweetest Thing
18. Love Comes Tumbling
19. Bass Trap
20. Dancing Barefoot
21. Everlasting Love
22. Unchained Melody
23. Walk To The Water
24. Luminous Time (Hold On To Love)
25. Hallelujah Here She Comes
26. Silver And Gold
27. Endless Deep
28. Room At The Heartbreak Hotel
29. Trash, Trampoline And The Party Girl