U2
The Best Of 1990-2000
(Interscope Records)
By: Jeff Leisawitz - ModernRock.com
There aren’t too many bands out there who need to break their greatest hits albums into multiple decades. U2 is one of those bands. And the good news, my friends, is that there is no filler.
On U2’s The Best of 1990-2000, the Irish lads offer up a total of thirty tracks, including new songs, hits, new mixes, and b sides. And if you hurry there’s a DVD in it for you as well.
Crank up the stereo and get ready for many of the best tunes from Achtung Baby, Zooropa, and Pop, including songs like ”Even Better than the Real Thing,” “Mysterious Ways,” “Beautiful Day,” “One,” and “Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of.” The current radio hit “Electrical Storm” also appears, both as a new song and a William Orbit remix. This one is pretty cool, but it’s unlikely that it will make it to the U2 Hall of Fame.
Speaking of remixes, this double disc contains dancehall romps, weird digital scrambles and other assorted studio manipulations. “Mysterious Ways (Solar Plexus Club Mix),” “Numb (Gimme Some More Dignity Mix),” and “Even Better Than the Real Thing (The Perfecto Mix)” each hold interesting elements, but it isn’t until the Big Yam Mix of “If God Will Send His Angels” by Flood and Howie B, or the slippery electronics of “Lemon (Jeep Mix), that the mixes really start cutting into cool new territory.
Several soundtrack songs and oddities like “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me,” “Miss Sarajevo,” and “The Hands That Built America” also add to the package. And “Numb,” “Staring at the Sun,” and “Gone” each reveal hidden truths and perspectives with their new mixes.
Even hardcore U2 fans are likely to find something interesting in this collection. Although many great tunes are missing, this one could work for serious fans looking for new mixes or neophytes who just want to catch up on the last decade. Of course, with U2 you are still better off to get your ears on the individual albums. ‘Cause it doesn’t have to be a hit to be great music.
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