U2's new U218 Singles cd review.

Instead of focusing on the compilation, which has been discussed more thoroughly in other reviews, I'm gonna focus on one song of this album in particular: Where The Streets Have No Name.

This is an open question to the band:
U2, why, oh WHY do you insist on mutilating this song?!?!
This is the concert staple everyone hopes and pines for when we go to the live shows. When we pay our ticket, or at least when I do, I even have the absurd fantasy of trying to guess which song is gonna precede Where The Streets Have No Name (All I Want Is You is my favorite so far - Live From Slane Castle is worth the price for those two songs joined together alone!!!)

And once the song starts in any of your concerts (that I know of at least), you play it in its ENTIRETY!!! The organ at the beginning give the song its spiritual edge. The ending with Edge's guitar is SUPREME and ESSENTIAL to the song, the last notes of it complete the song with a poignancy rarely found in any song ever written. Why do you persist to cut the song in your compilation cds to fit cd-single-radio-friendly standards imposed by the 'establishment'?!?!?!

And don't give me the usual: "Its because we wanted to put more songs into the cd", that doesn't work. How can you say that when you didn't even the include "The Fly" (which, by the way is the second time U2 does that; and NO, including it in the British version of the 1990-200 hits does NOT count!)

OK, so maybe this cd is geared towards newcomers or casual fans of U2, but its really not since it includes 2 brand-new songs (one of which can ONLY be bought on cd through this compilation, the way is by iTunes, which my country doesn't have), and if the answer to that is: "Bah! The completists will buy everything anyways", then guess what, I'm a completist and I feel INSULTED. Maybe its just me, but there it is.

Why three stars then? 'Cause this cd IS good, but because of the omition of a complete and remastered version of Where The Streets Have No Name I take two whole stars.

I hope someday U2 gives us AT LEAST a brand new, remastered version of The Joshua Tree. Something like Def Leppard's latest Hysteria remaster, with all the b-sides associated with it, great liner notes, and all in 2 cds.

One can hope.

Cheers!