[.ca] 18 Singles

From Amazon.co.uk:
The youthful faces that stare out from the cover of this latest collection of singles from Irish rockers U2 suggests that the focus of the album is, perhaps, their lauded yet underrepresented early days. A quick glance through the tracklisting shows that not to be the case, however. There are examples of their rawer '80s sound--"Pride," "I Will Follow," "New Year's Day"--but where, older fans may well ask, are songs like "The Electric Co.," "Gloria," "I Threw a Brick," and "Fire," from Boy and October? Similarly, songs like "With or Without You," "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," and "Where the Streets Have No Name" were on The Best of 1980-1990, whilst "Beautiful Day," "One," "Mysterious Ways," and "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" were all on The Best of 1990-2000. U218 Singles does have the advantage of featuring more recent tracks, including their collaboration with Green Day, "The Saints Are Coming," and a new song, "Windows in the Skies". Whilst dedicated followers of the band may see this as a missed opportunity to offer fans some genuinely rare gems, it still remains a collection of mighty pop music masterpieces. --Danny McKenna

Great career retrospective!:
What can you say about this band that hasn't arleady been said? They have cemented themselves in the upper echelon of bands in rock history with the Beatles and the Stones, have released countless classic records and have so many top singles over the last twenty five years it is mind boggling. Their live shows are of course exhilirating! This record is a great career retrospective and is appropriate for the casual fan, or the new fan that has only been following the band since 'All that You Can't Leave Behind' was released back in 2000. The band has had three decades of music, which means there are people who may not know War, The Unforgettable Fire, Joshua Tree or even Achtung Baby. Of course no collection is complete and obvious omissions are "Bad", "Stay", "All I Want is You" and "City of Blinding Lights". However, it is impossible to put everything on one disc for a band this big, so overall a good effort. " The Saints are Coming" with Green Day is okay and "Window in the Skies" is a very good song that is growing on me with each listen. Great job guys! Let's keep the quality and meaningful music coming for years to come.

this is a POOR career retrospective:
This disc does not feature any of U2's ORIGINAL material that made us all fall in love with them. This disc features almost no material from the '80s, and even though it is a collection of singles, it just doesn't work. If this is supposed to be a showcase of U2's material, then it is a piss poor representation of what they have to offer. Records companies need to drop their obsession with releasing compilation cds. We already own this music, and presenting it in a sloppily, overpriced fashion does not make us want to spend money on music we've already paid for. Thumbs down.

Pride recycled One more time:
After having released the 1980-1990 & 1990-2000 Best Of Compilations, it seemed logical that the next U2 compilation would be a 2000-2010 compilation. With 2-3 leftovers from All...Behind, 4-5 contenders from How...Atomic Bomb, and the new single with Green Day (eh hem), not much would have been needed to fill that quota. Apparently, U2 no longer have such patience and have delivered this single disk career overview just in time for Christmas. This is a pattern that has increasingly been developing by U2, i.e. releasing recycled material of sorts between each new release. We've had this decade alone 3 concert DVD's (plus Zoo TV re-released) and the 1990-2000 CD & DVD compilation. On the plus side, at least for the very casual fan, all the biggies are included on this set. For those who have been Following U2 for ages, it is highly unlikely that such fans will have any Desire listening to Pride One more time (included on each concert DVD). Granted, there are 2 new tracks included but the average price for each new song for those who own U2's previous material, probably in many shapes, is steep. The song selection is, as a set for casual listeners, as close to perfect as possible. U2 have e.g. skipped all the songs from the Pop flop; as are Zooropa and the first two albums (meaning that I Will Follow is not included). 2 UK #1's, The Fly and Discothéque are also nowhere to be found here, indicating that the songs are chosen by their world wide success. There are obvious misses, such as City of Blinding Lights, Numb and Angel of Harlem, but which songs to replace them with would be a difficult task. U2 fans (me included) probably will, with a slight grumble, purchase this set en masse. With the entire catalogue yet to be re-released, however, patience with their recycling efforts may begin wearing thin if this process continues. I would give this set 5 stars for the songs themselves, they do stand the test of time (having heard many of them so often, I hardly will listen often to this set). There are, however, only a couple of stars given to the 18 release itself, due to U2's abnormal recycling efforts, which should be concentrated more on earth's resources, not their back catalogue.

Great for the casual fan:
I have always liked U2's music (at least what I have heard on the radio), but I have never before purchased one of their albums. Suffice it to say that I am not a U2 fanatic. I bought this collection because I thought it looked like a pretty good compilation of their hits and it seemed to span a large portion of the band's career. I am very pleased with this purchase. If you are a casual listener like me, I think you will very much enjoy this collection.

Do Not Start Here:
You can't do a proper U2 greatest hits on one CD. This CD is missing their first hit "I Will Follow" just for starters. The have also left off some great songs that were hits from the 80's and 90's and replaced them with later period songs such as "Vertigo" and "Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of" that do not even compare to their work from the 80's and early 90's. If you want to pick up a U2 best of spend a little extra money and get the two CD's 1980-1990 and 1990-2000. You still wont be getting all their great songs but you will get all their hits. If you really want to see what the fuss is about buy "The Joshua Tree", "Achtung Baby" and "The Unforgettable Fire". These three CD's are as close to perfect that you will ever get.

• Beautiful Day
• I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
• Pride (in The Name Of Love)
• With Or Without You
• Vertigo
• New Year's Day
• Mysterious Ways
• Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of
• Where The Streets Have No Name
• Sweetest Thing
• Sunday Bloody Sunday
• One
• Desire
• Walk On
• Elevation
• Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
• The Saints Are Coming
• Window In The Skies