The Best of 1990–2000

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The Best of 1990–2000
The Best of 1990–2000 cover
Greatest hits by U2
Released 12 November 2002
Recorded 1990–2002
Genre Rock
Length 72:46
Label Island (UK)
Interscope (U.S.)
Professional reviews
U2 chronology
7
(2002)		 The Best of 1990–2000
(2002)		 Exclusive
(2003)
Singles from The Best of 1990–2000
  1. "Electrical Storm"
    Released: 2002
  2. "The Hands That Built America"
    Released: 2002

The Best of 1990–2000 is the second greatest hits compilation by Irish rock band U2, released in November 2002. Among the 17 tracks are four remixed or re-recorded tracks and two entirely new songs. In December of the same year, a companion DVD (featuring music videos and live footage) was released.

A limited edition version containing a special B-sides disc and a bonus DVD was released on the same date as the single-disc version. At the time of release, the official word was that the two-disc album would be available the first week the album went on sale, then pulled from the stores. As with The Best of 1980–1990, this threat did not materialize.

It includes two new songs. "Electrical Storm" was released as a single. "The Hands That Built America" appeared on the soundtrack to Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York film (with a different, more traditional arrangement than the one here). For some reason, despite the title of the album, these two tracks fall outside the dates specified ("'Electrical Storm" did not exist in any form until 2002).

It is also the first full U2 release to include "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me", a 1995 single originally contributed to the Batman Forever soundtrack, and "Miss Sarajevo", another 1995 single originally released on Original Soundtracks No. 1 and credited to "Passengers", a pseudonym used for the side project by U2, Brian Eno, and various guests.

The DVD edition is remarkably extensive and often includes multiple videos of each song, director's commentary, several songs completely unavailable on the CD editions, and three short documentary pieces.

Contents

[edit] Track listing

  1. "Even Better Than the Real Thing" – 3:39
  2. "Mysterious Ways" – 4:02
  3. "Beautiful Day" – 4:05
  4. "Electrical Storm" (William Orbit mix) – 4:37
  5. "One" – 4:35
  6. "Miss Sarajevo" (Radio edit) – 4:30
  7. "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)" – 4:58
  8. "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get out Of" – 4:31
  9. "Gone" (new mix) – 4:32
  10. "Until the End of the World" – 4:38
  11. "The Hands That Built America" – 4:57
  12. "Discothèque" (new mix) – 4:40
  13. "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" – 4:44
  14. "Staring at the Sun" (new mix) – 4:48
  15. "Numb" (new mix) – 4:21
  16. "The First Time" – 3:44
  17. "The Fly" - 4:28

"Electrical Storm" was released as a single. Interestingly, the version included here is the William Orbit mix, and the standard version is only available on the single and the B-sides disc.

The versions of "Gone", "Discothèque", "Staring at the Sun", and "Numb" are remixes made especially for this compilation (mixed by Mike Hedges) and include some newly recorded bits. Curiously, the version of "Mysterious Ways" here has one line different from the original (but is otherwise identical), likely an artifact of the remastering. All songs are written by U2, except for "Miss Sarajevo" which was written with Brian Eno.

In the UK and Japan, "The Fly" 4:29 is available as a bonus track after "The First Time".

"Miss Sarajevo", featuring Luciano Pavarotti, was originally released by the band under the alias "Passengers", on the album Original Soundtracks 1.

[edit] B-sides

  1. "Lady with the Spinning Head" (extended dance mix) – 6:06
  2. "Dirty Day" (Junk Day mix) – 4:40
  3. "Summer Rain" – 4:07
  4. "Electrical Storm" – 4:26
  5. "North and South of the River" – 4:36
  6. "Your Blue Room" – 5:26
  7. "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" (The Gun mix) – 4:45
  8. "Salomé" (Zooromancer Remix edit) – 5:51
  9. "Even Better Than the Real Thing" (The Perfecto mix) – 6:38
  10. "Numb" (Gimme Some More Dignity edit) – 5:50
  11. "Mysterious Ways" (Solar Plexus Club mix) – 4:08
  12. "If God Will Send His Angels" (Big Yam mix) – 5:42
  13. "Lemon" (Jeep mix) – 5:29
  14. "Discothèque" (Hexidecimal [sic] edit) – 5:45

"North and South of the River" was written with Christy Moore. "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" was written by Lennon/McCartney. "Your Blue Room" was written with Brian Eno.

[edit] Bonus DVD

  1. "The History Mix" – 7:40
  2. "Best Of DVD Promo" – 2:27
  3. "Please" (live) – 5:00
  4. "Beautiful Day" (Èze version) – 4:04

"The History Mix" is a video montage anthologizing the band's nineties albums and tours. It includes snippets of interviews, promotional videos, and so forth.

The version of "Please" is live from Helsinki, Finland at Olympic Stadium on 9 August 1997 and was directed by Maurice Linnane.

[edit] Chart positions and sales

Country Peak position Certification Sales
Australia 1 2x Platinum [1] 140,000+
Austria 1 Platinum [2] 30,000+
Brazil Platinum 100,000+
Canada 3x Platinum [3] 300,000+
Denmark Platinum [4] 20,000+
Finland 4 Gold [5] 15,430+
France 2x Gold 200,000+
Germany Gold [6] 100,000+
Hungary Gold [7] 5,000+
Mexico Gold [8] 75,000+
Netherlands Platinum [9] 80,000+
New Zealand 1 4x Platinum 60,000+
Poland Gold [10] 20,000+
Sweden 6 Gold 30,000+
Switzerland 1 2x Platinum [11] 80,000+
United Kingdom 2x Platinum [12] 600,000+
United States 3 (Best Of & B-Sides) --- ---
United States 34 (Best Of) Platinum 1,000,000+

[edit] Video

The Best of 1990–2000
The Best of 1990–2000 cover
Video by U2
Released 2 December 2002
Recorded 1991–2002
Genre Rock
Length 176:00
Label Island, Interscope
Director Kevin Godley, Stéphane Sednaoui, Jonas Åkerlund, Anton Corbijn, et al.
Producer Ned O'Hanlon
U2 video chronology
Elevation 2001: Live from Boston
(2002)		 The Best of 1990–2000
(2002)		 U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle
(2003)

The Best of 1990–2000 was also released as a video compilation, featuring music videos from the songs on the album. The DVD version of the video featured one to two videos for each song on the album, plus seven bonus videos (for songs not on the album), as well as directors' commentaries, and three mini-documentaries. The VHS version of the video featured simply one video for the 16 songs from the album.

[edit] Track listing

Music and words by U2, except where otherwise noted.

  1. "Even Better Than the Real Thing"
    • Kevin Godley video with commentary
    • Ritchie Smyth remix video
  2. "Mysterious Ways"
  3. "Beautiful Day"
  4. "Electrical Storm"
  5. "One"
    • Anton Corbijn video with commentary
    • Phil Joanou video with commentary
    • A Story of One documentary
  6. "Miss Sarajevo"
    • Maurice Linnane video and commentary
    • Missing Sarajevo documentary
  7. "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)"
  8. "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get out Of"
    • Joseph Kahn video with commentary
    • Kevin Godley video with commentary
  9. "Gone"
  10. "Until the End of the World"
  11. "The Hands That Built America"
    • Maurice Linnane studio version video
  12. "Discothèque"
    • Stéphane Sednaoui video with commentary
  13. "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me"
    • Godley/Linanne video with commentary
  14. "Staring at the Sun"
    • Jake Scott video with commentary
    • Morleigh Steinberg video
  15. "Numb"
  16. "The Fly"
    • Smith/Klein remix video with commentary

[edit] Bonus videos

  1. "Please"
    • Anton Corbijn video with commentary
  2. "If God Will Send His Angels"
    • Phil Joanou video with commentary
  3. "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses"
    • Phil Joanou video with commentary
  4. "Lemon"
    • Mark Neale video with commentary
  5. "Last Night on Earth"
    • Ritchie Smyth video with commentary
  6. "Mofo"
    • Maurice Linnane remix video
  7. "The Ground Beneath Her Feet"
    • Wim Wenders video with commentary

The lyrics to "The Ground Beneath Her Feet" were written by Salman Rushdie. The song features Daniel Lanois on pedal steel guitar.

All tracks have been remastered for these releases.

[edit] Personnel

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ ARIA
  2. ^ IFPI Austria
  3. ^ CRIA
  4. ^ IFPI Denmark
  5. ^ IFPI Finland
  6. ^ IFPI Germany
  7. ^ MAHASZ
  8. ^ AMPROFON
  9. ^ NVPI
  10. ^ ZPAV
  11. ^ IFPI Switzerland
  12. ^ BPI

[edit] External links

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