U2 - 18 Singles (Deluxe Edition) + The Saints Are Coming + Window In The Skies (2006)

Album Review:

The third compilation album of songs from U2's career follows in the footsteps of The Best of 1980 - 1990 and The Best of 1990 - 2000. This time however, the compilation album focuses on U2's entire body of work from 1979 onwards. It is released with two new tracks, The Saints are Coming, a song recorded with Green Day, and Window in the Skies.

It contains eighteen songs: sixteen of their most successful and popular singles, "The Saints Are Coming" (a cover version in collaboration with Green Day of a song by The Skids) and "Window in the Skies" (a new song).

A bonus live DVD entitled Vertigo 05: Live from Milan is included in the deluxe edition of the U218 Singles. The DVD features a highlight of ten songs from the band's 25-song set in Milan, Italy during the Vertigo Tour in 2005.

Because of my upload speed (30 kB/s), I can't share a DVD-9, so I decided to share the audio demux of the DVD in 16/48 format.


Album Details:

Artist: U2
Album: 18 Singles
Label: Universal / Mercury / Island Records
Catalog #: 1713551
UPC: 0602517135512
Format: Box Set, Deluxe Edition, Compilation, DVD-Video Audio Demux
Country: Argentina
Released: November 18, 2006
Package: Deluxe Book
Disc 1 Catalog #: 1716917
Disc 2 Catalog #: 1716919
Disc 1 Matrix #: 36821 / 1713542
Disc 2 Matrix #: 312744 / 1716919
Genre: Rock
Style: Alternative Rock, Pop Rock


Tracklisting:


Disc One: 18 Singles

01. Beautiful Day (4:06)
02. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (4:37)
03. Pride (In the Name of Love) (3:49)
04. With or Without You (4:57)
05. Vertigo (3:11)
06. New Year's Day (Special Version) (4:19)
07. Mysterious Ways (4:03)
08. Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of (4:32)
09. Where the Streets Have No Name (New Mix) (4:48)
10. Sweetest Thing (Single Mix '98) (3:01)
11. Sunday Bloody Sunday (4:41)
12. One (4:36)
13. Desire (Single Version) (3:00)
14. Walk On (Video Version) (4:29)
15. Elevation (3:49)
16. Sometimes You Can't Make it On Your Own (5:07)
17. The Saints are Coming (featuring Green Day) (3:23)
18. Window In the Skies (4:08)

Total Playtime: 74:35

No songs from October, Zooropa, Pop, or the 1995 Passengers project Original Soundtracks 1 are included.



Disc Two: Vertigo 05: Live from Milan (DVD-Video Audio Demux, LPCM/2ch/48kHz/16bit)

01. Vertigo (4:21)
02. I Will Follow (4:13)
03. Elevation (6:22)
04. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (5:39)
05. All I Want is You (5:09)
06. City of Blinding Lights (5:50)
07. Sometimes You Can't Make it On Your Own (5:18)
08. Miss Sarajevo (6:42)
09. Original Of the Species (5:01)
10. With or Without You (8:01)

Total Playtime: 56:36

Vertigo//05: Live from Milan. Recorded on 21st July 2005 in San Siro Stadium, Milan, Italy.





The Band:

Bono: Vocals and guitar.
The Edge: Guitar, keyboards and Vocals.
Adam Clayton: Bass guitar.
Larry Mullen: Drums and Percussion.



Commercial Singles:







The Saints are Coming was the first single from the compilation album of U2 singles titled simply 18 Singles. The release date for this single was November 6, 2006. The compilation album fulfills their obligations to Island records in the UK, and this single will be the first release under their new label, Mercury, in the UK.

The song "The Saints are Coming" was originally recorded by a Scottish punk band, the Skids. Green Day and U2 covered the song, and recorded it to support Music Rising, an organization founded to help return music to New Orleans after the devestation of Hurricane Katrina in the fall of 2005. The song was produced by Rick Rubin.

Prior to the release of a studio version of this song, U2 and Green Day performed on September 25, 2006 at the opening game of the New Orleans Saints football team. During that performance, The Edge joined Green Day on stage to peform "Wake Me Up When September Ends", and then the whole band with Green Day performed "The Saints are Coming", and then a short performance of "Beautiful Day". This performance live became the b-side for this release. It was also released as a Digital Single, and early downloaders found they received a different Rehersal version of the song than what is now available on this single.


Track Listing:

01. The Saints are Coming (Studio) (3:24)
02. The Saints are Coming (Live from New Orleans) (3:27)








Review:

Window in the Skies was the second and final single released from the 18 Singles compilation album. It was newly recorded by Rick Rubin for inclusion in this compilation.

The single was released in Europe on New Year's Day 2007. Due to this being the holiday season in other areas, there were delays in the single arriving in other regions, appearing on January 16 in Canada and expected on February 7 in Japan.

After the release of The Saints are Coming just as a single CD, this release once again returned to the format of two audio CDs and a DVD which U2 have been following since 2001. The B-Sides were two tracks taken from live performances during the 2006 Vertigo tour, and the track U2 recorded with Leonard Cohen for inclusion in the film "Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man" which was previously released on the soundtrack to the film.

Of interest to chat watchers, Windows did not debut at number one in Canada, instead it debuted at number three. Holding the number one spot that week? U2 and Green Day with The Saints are Coming. It would rise to take the number one position the following week however.


Window In The Skies (CD-Single I) (2007)

Track Listing:

01. Window in the Skies (Single Version) (4:01)
02. Tower of Song (featuring Leonard Cohen) (5:43)




Window In The Skies (CD-Single II) (2007)

Track Listing:

01. Window in the Skies (Single Version) (4:01)
02. Zoo Station (Live from Buenos Aires, March 2006) (4:34)
03. Kite (Live from Sydney, November 2006) (8:05)




Lineage:

SilverCD-Album -> EAC -> WV -> AvaxHome
SilverDVD -> DVD Decrypter -> Audio LPCM / 2ch / 48kHz / 16bit / English -> AvaxHome

CD-Singles are not my rip, thank you goes to mithridat from RU.


Extra info:

- CD rips were made from my personal collection (silverCD, NOT CDR!).
- EAC was used for ripping all the CDs.
- EAC settings: Secure Mode, Offset corrected, Test & Copy Image & Create Cuesheet.
- Cuesheet included (wav & wv).
- EAC ripping log included.
- Codec used for lossless compression: WavPack 4.60.1
- Samplerate/Bitrate: 44kHz/16bits.
- Complete scans @ 300 dpi, jpg format.
- All tracks accurately ripped.