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U2.COM : 'So Cruel...'

Davis Guggenheim's documentary 'From The Sky Down' about the making of Achtung Baby, is released on DVD/Blu-ray next week.

This haunting solo performance of 'So Cruel' is a taste of what's to come.

U22 sneak pic!

U2.COM : 'Distortion'

'The idea  that I could sit there with the greatest singer in the world and stick distortion on his voice made me laugh.'

Second part of our interview with Flood recalling the 1991 recording of Achtung Baby. Here Flood  tells Brian Draper about the tensions in Berlin, how he helped Bono find his voice for The Fly and why it felt like 'standing on top of Everest' when they finally finished the album.

Read Part One of this interview.

U2.com: How much pressure did you feel, working on those sessions?
It was really tense, but in a way I had the easiest role of the lot. Technically I was just the engineer. There were a lot of tensions  within the band - but I only found out about that later, because none of it was being brought in to the studio. That’s what sets U2 apart. And even though it was all very difficult, it was only because nothing was seen to be working. That doesn’t mean to say people weren’t trying; it was like you were beating your head against a brick wall, and your face was getting more and more bloody.

U2.COM : Win A Trabbie!

Ever fancied your own Trabant ? Custom-designed with that unique Achtung Baby era look ? Here's the competition you've been waiting for.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary edition of U2's seminal 1991 long-player, the band's visual geniuses - designer Shaughn McGrath and photographer Anton Corbijn - are inviting artists to submit photographs or artwork which would feature on the sleeve of Achtung Baby -  if it was being released today.

'Achtung Baby embodies a multitude of ideas and styles which are represented through the album cover artwork mosaic. The squared collage of photos symbolise the spirit of the album, the 90s and the changes in Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall... If Achtung Baby was released today, what photographs and/or artwork would be part of the collage?'

Shaughn and Anton will select 15 submissions which will be created into a collage and featured  here on U2.com and promoted across U2's social media channels. Winners will  receive their own copy of the final collage, a deluxe box-set and a digital camera. A sixteenth - 'People's Choice' - winner will be decided by you.

And (did we mention this ?) one overall winner will receive that custom designed, original Achtung Baby styled Trabant car.

Start making your art or shooting your photos now - submissions need to be in by January 23rd.

This is where you'll find all the details.

Bono: ‘A decade of progress on AIDS’

As part of his efforts to raise awareness this World AIDS Day and to draw global attention to the fight for the beginning of the end of HIV and AIDS, Bono wrote a fantastic op-ed article for the New York Times this morning.

Drawing on personal experiences of what he has witnessed over the past 10 years, he led a discussion about what politicians, businesses and ordinary people alike have done to provide treatment that has saved millions of lives.
Bono focused particularly on what American has done to lead the long fight against the virus when he said, “How did we get here? America led. I mean really led.”
Speaking poignantly to just how far we’ve come in the battle to stop HIV in its tracks, he wrote:

“Yet today, here we are, talking seriously about the ‘end’ of this global epidemic. There are now 6.6 million people on life-saving AIDS medicine. But still too many are being infected. New research proves that early antiretroviral treatment, especially for pregnant women, in combination with male circumcision, will slash the rate of new H.I.V. cases by up to 60 percent. This is the tipping point we have been campaigning for. We’re nearly there.”

He continued with a special thanks to the bipartisan efforts shown by congressmen, presidents –- including PEPFAR founder President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama — media organizations and people around the world who have joined together to call for the end of AIDS for good.
And finally, Bono ended with a call to action. Declaring that the total defeat of HIV is as great a feat as the first landing on the moon, he said.

“America’s boldest leap of faith is worth recalling. And the thing is, as I see it, the Eagle hasn’t landed yet. Budget cuts … partisan divisions … these put the outcome in jeopardy just as the science falls into place. To get this far and not plant your flag would be one of the greatest accidental evils of this recession.”

 source : http://www.one.org/

A Decade of Progress on AIDS

  I’LL tell you the worst part about it, for me.
It was the look in their eyes when the nurses gave them the diagnosis — H.I.V.-positive — then said there was no treatment. I saw no anger in their expression. No protest. If anything, just a sort of acquiescence.
The anger came from the nurses, who knew there really was a treatment — just not for poor people in poor countries. They saw the absurdity in the fact that an accident of geography would deny their patients the two little pills a day that could save their lives.

U2.COM : 'Pipe Dream'

Bajagirl - Claudia Espinosa as she's known when not on the boards of Zootopia - is a seriously big fan of the band. If you visit our community area, you'll know her as one of our longtime moderators, and if you followed shows online in Zootopia, Bajagirl was often your host. Her 'U22' setlist, she says, is the pipe dream of an 'uberfan.'

'Making this list is like choosing your favorite among many things that you love for completely different reasons. During the U2360Tour  discussing what songs were played and what SHOULD have been played was a conversation that never ended: we all come to U2’s music from different places, so what one song means to one fan can be completely opposite to another. But choose I must, and choose I shall: a setlist based on a pipe dream of this uberfan - that I know is completely unrealistic and a bit non-canonical.

My 'U22' starts with Breathe which will always represent the 360º tour to me, then let’s shake up things by adding Streets,  like the band did in Anaheim. After that, no one knew what would come. Lets follow with a bit of dance, some deep bass, and light. Next some rarities, songs that longtime fans  dream of hearing live - Zooropa, Mothers of the Disappeared (a personal favorite), and Electrical Storm. Then back to the groove with COBL, a bit of classic U2, and lets throw Crazy (Remix) in there, a song I fell in fun and joy with during the tour. In this last section a song squeaks in which would not have made it (WOWY) if not for it having the addition of the 'Shine like stars' lyrics.  To ramp up the ending, some heavy hitters with groove, and,  to close my U22 set list, a song that signifies a sentiment  a lot of fans share: I will follow...'

1. Breathe
2. Where The Streets Have No Name
3. Even Better Than The Real Thing
4. Magnificent
5. Ultraviolet (Light My Way) 
6. Zooropa 
7. The Unforgettable Fire
8. Mothers Of The Disappeared
9. Electrical Storm   
10. City Of Blinding Lights   
11. Pride (In the Name of Love)
12. Out Of Control
13. I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight (Remix)
14. All I Want Is You/Love Rescue Me
15. One Tree Hill
16. Stay
17. With Or Without You
18. Return Of The Stingray Guitar
19. The Fly
20. Until The End Of The World
21. Bad
22.  I Will Follow

(Let us know what you think of Claudia's selection below. You can follow her on  twitter: @U2BAJA)

U2.COM : 'From The Sky Down' - BLU-RAY/DVD

'Quite simply, ' reported Entertainment Weekly, 'It's, one of the most transcendent close-up looks at the process of creating rock & roll I’ve ever seen.'

Screened in the UK as part of the BBC’s Imagine Series, From The Sky Down was the first ever documentary film to open the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival.   Now Davis Guggenheim's film about the making of  Achtung Baby is set for release worldwide on Blu-ray and DVD on Monday 12th December, 2011, with US release set for January 24th.

The Blu-ray and DVD release includes bonus footage of So Cruel, Love Is Blindness, and The Fly shot last May during the band’s visit to Hansa Studios to mark the 20th anniversary of Achtung Baby. It also includes a Q&A with Bono, The Edge and Davis Guggenheim filmed at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

'Twenty years after the release of U2’s Achtung Baby (1991), Davis Guggenheim charts the path toward this groundbreaking album. Guggenheim uses animation and unseen footage from Berlin and Dublin alongside conversation to reveal what is now a key chapter in U2’s career. '

Seen From The Sky Down ? What did you think of it ? Add your review below.

U2..COM : 'Monumental Task'

He's been making U2 sound at their best onstage for more than three decades but after hearing every song at every show on U2360,  Joe O'Herlihy found it a 'monumental task' to come up with a setlist of  just 22 songs for 'U22'.  So we let him have an extra one... (Editors Note: no-one else gets a 23rd track.)

Let us know what you think of his selection in the comments below - here's Joe:


'My song list is very much a collection of my favourite songs from the tour. They are in no particular running order, so hopefully my version of the U22 set list will have you smiling, literally from ear to ear.
'In choosing my U22 song set list from the suggested 46 songs, I fear that U22 will have its work cut out to match what the U2360 tour set list had to offer.  From a fans perspective, this is a monumental task to give anyone.
'Being a fan myself for the past 33 years, I’m indeed honoured that the band ‘let me in the sound’ all those years ago. It makes it all the more significant that the U2360 Tour offers the fans the chance to have a lasting memento until the next tour by the biggest and best touring band in the world.

1. Breathe - Best opening song of the tour for me, Larry at his best.
2. Get on Your Boots - The live performance, really makes this great song ignite.
3. No Line on the Horizon - Best new song in the set.
4. Magnificent – The new summer 2011 live remix takes this song to the subconscience forever.
5. New Years Day - Just rewards, for our fantastic audience at the show in Poland.
6. Beautiful Day - The higher ground lift to elevation.
7. Elevation - Going up, communication, connection, lift-off, away we go.
8. Still Haven't Found What I’m Looking For - Oh, the joy of a full stadium singing in unison.
9. Moment of Surrender – Just, such a beautiful song.
10. Sunday Bloody Sunday - My heart strings pulled apart every time.
11. City of Blinding Lights - Sonic sorcery, the most uplifting song.
12. I'll Go Crazy Tonight - Remix 'Club Stadium' version.
13. Bad – The painful reality of our youth.
14. One - Thought provoking, what might have been.
15. Where The Streets Have No Name - You can’t hear a U2 Show without 'Streets'.
16. Ultraviolet (Light My Way) - My favourite song on the  tour set list.
17. One Tree Hill - Greg Carroll, G Dub, always a tearful moment for me.
18. With Or Without You. Also the fans favourite.
19. Even Better Than the Real Thing - U2360 Tour 2011 remix version.
20. Zooropa – The WOW spectacle showpiece song of the tour.
21. I Will Follow - Send them home, sweating for more.
22. Out of Control - Fans love a surprise, goodnight and thanks for the dance.

The standout track? Well that gives me a chance to squeeze in another song. It has to be 'Stay (Far Away So Close)'. Now if we could only get the band to play a full band version of this song, maybe next tour.  Too bad it’s not U22 Plus + + + + + +.

The U2360 Tour took us around and around and around the world.  I hope U22 takes you even further….'