To Love and Only Love: 2024 Singles Refresh

Original Story by Aaron J Sams (2024-04-05)

U2 have announced that they will remaster 12 singles this year, starting with today’s release of “Discotheque”. The project is being called “U2 To Love and Only Love – Deep Dives and B-Sides”. On Spotify there is an accompanying playlist featuring all the songs released to date.

U2 share, “while the U2 catalogue already glitters like a disco ball in the dance hall of on-line streaming, some of the re-mixes and live versions from collections released before the digital era haven’t yet made it online… until now! Re-mix and live treasures abound from the physical world of vinyl, CD and cassette singles and now 12 newly remastered single collections are set to be released across this year.”

So starting today someone who subscribes to a streaming service can now hear “Holy Joe”, a song that was not previously available in many countries in online services. To date, with all the singles added, there has been no unreleased material. It’s been the original singles and the songs that they contained, but there have been many upgrades in sound quality from what has been available online previously. “Discotheque”, released today, includes 10 remixes of the title track which were released on the 1997 single, as well as two mixes of “Holy Joe” which were also released in 1997.

So what 11 singles are likely to be done next? In July 2022 U2 refreshed 11 singles on online services. Those singles ran between 2004’s “Vertigo” to 2019’s “Ahimsa”. In September of that year they did another single from the same period, “Get Out of Your Own Way“. This suggests that U2 may work on a set of singles from a specific period.

In July and August of last year, U2 issued “Stay“ and “Lemon“ which were both newly remastered. These are both included in the “U2 To Love and Only Love” playlist available today at Spotify, as is the newly released “Discotheque” single. U2.com makes it clear that 11 more singles are coming in the weeks ahead beyond these singles, and there’s likely two options of what we will get.

If the band go back to Achtung Baby and do those five singles, they could then go ahead to the end of the 90’s, with “Sweetest Thing” taking them to the 11 singles. It is unlikely that “Miss Sarajevo” (not a U2 release) or “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” (no U2 extras on the single, not released by Island) will be included but we’ve learned to never say never.

The other possibility? In 2022 when the first set of singles was done, the singles from All That You Can’t Leave Behind were not done. 11 singles would take us from the Pop singles all the way to All That You Can’t Leave Behind singles, and would include “Electrical Storm” where the previous large release of singles stopped. Considering the name of the collection includes a lyric from “Electrical Storm” and they are using an image from the All That You Can’t Leave Behind era, we think this will be the most likely choice. This would leave the Achtung Baby singles and the singles from the 1980s to finish things off in later years.

A look at what would possibly be included if they were to go the route of starting with “Discotheque” and going chronologically is below, with a listing of what was involved on the commercial singles from each of those releases in the original time frame:

Staring at the Sun

“Staring at the Sun” (Studio Version) – U2 (04:39)
“North and South of the River” (Studio) – U2 (04:39)
“Your Blue Room” (Studio Version) – Passengers (05:28)
“Staring at the Sun” (Monster Truck Mix) – U2 (05:08)
“Staring at the Sun” (Sad Bastards Mix) – U2 (06:21)
“Staring at the Sun” (Lab Rat Mix) – U2 (05:06)

Last Night on Earth

“Last Night on Earth” (Single Version) – U2 (04:16)
“Pop Muzik” (Pop Mart Mix) – U2 (08:51)
“Happiness is a Warm Gun” (The Gun Mix) – U2 (04:45)
“Numb” (The Soul Assassins Mix) – U2 (03:57)
“Last Night on Earth” (First Night in Hell Mix) – U2 (05:52)
“Happiness is a Warm Gun” (The Danny Saber Mix) – U2 (04:52)

Notes: The commercial single missed both the Album Version of “Last Night on Earth” and the shorter Radio Edit of “Pop Muzik”.

Please

“Please” (Single Version) – U2 (05:49)
“Dirty Day” (Junk Day) – U2 (04:43)
“Dirty Day” (Bitter Kiss) – U2 (04:33)
“I’m Not Your Baby” (Skysplitter Dub) – U2 (05:47)
“Please” (Live from Rotterdam, Jul. 18, 1997) – U2 (07:12)
“Where the Streets Have No Name” (Live from Rotterdam, Jul. 18, 1997) – U2 (06:33)
“With or Without You” (Live from Edmonton, Jun. 14, 1997) – U2 (04:41)
“Staring at the Sun” (Live from Rotterdam, Jul. 18, 1997) – U2 (05:33)

Notes: The commercial single misses both the US Edit and UK Edit of the Single version of the song. It also did not include the album version of the song. And it’s a big stretch, but Butch Vig did a remix of “Dirty Day” that was never released, but has since been shared on U2 X-Radio. It would be nice if they added it in here, but so far there’s been no new material added in any of these releases. It would also be nice to include the version of “I’m Not Your Baby” with Sinead O’Connor that was included on a soundtrack. The version here is an instrumental version of the song.

If God Will Send His Angels

“If God Will Send His Angels” (Single Version) – U2 (04:35)
“Slow Dancing” (Studio Version II) – U2 and Willie Nelson (04:02)
“Two Shots of Happy, One Shot of Sad” (Studio Version) – U2 (04:13)
“Sunday Bloody Sunday” (Live from Sarajevo, Sep. 23, 1997) – U2 (03:50)

Mofo

“Mofo” (Phunk Phorce Mix) – U2 (08:46)
“Mofo” (Mother’s Mix) – U2 (08:58)
“If God Will Send His Angels” (The Grand Jury Mix / Big Yam Mix) – U2 (05:45)
“Mofo” (Black Hole Dub) – U2 (06:49)
“Mofo” (House Flavour Mix) – U2 (07:19)
“Mofo” (Romin Remix) – U2 (05:52)

Notes: The commercial single misses an edited version of the “Phunk Phorce Mix” that was sent out to radio DJs. But the big one we would love to see here is a remix that was only ever released on promo singles, the Matthew Roberts Explicit Remix. The studio version from the album was also not released on the commercial single.

Sweetest Thing

“Sweetest Thing” (Single Mix) – U2 (03:03)
“Twilight” (Live from Denver, CO, Jun. 5, 1983 – Fade In) – U2 (04:32)
“An Cat Dubh / Into the Heart” (Live from Denver, CO, Jun. 5, 1983 – Fade Out) – U2 (07:14)
“Stories for Boys” (Live from Boston, MA, Mar. 6, 1981 – Fade In) – U2 (03:11)
“Out of Control” (Live from Boston, MA, Mar. 6, 1981 – Fade Out) – U2 (04:25)
“With or Without You” (Studio Version) – U2 (04:55)

Beautiful Day

“Beautiful Day” (Studio Version) – U2 (04:08)
“Summer Rain” (Studio Version) – U2 (04:06)
“Always” (Studio Version) – U2 (03:46)
“Discothèque” (Live from Mexico City, Dec. 3, 1997) – U2 (05:17)
“If You Wear that Velvet Dress” (Live from Mexico City, Dec. 3, 1997) – U2 (02:36)
“Last Night on Earth” (Live from Mexico City, Dec. 3, 1997) – U2 (06:30)

Note: A number of remixes of “Beautiful Day” by Paul Oakenfold have been done over the years. Some of these were issued with the single for “Stuck in a Moment” but many have never been collected by U2. A few of them could be added here.

Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of

“Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of” (Studio Version) – U2 (04:35)
“Big Girls Are Best” (Studio Version) – U2 (03:37)
“Beautiful Day” (Quincey & Sonance Remix) – U2 (07:56)
“Beautiful Day” (Live from Los Angeles, CA, Oct. 27, 2000 – Farmclub.com) – U2 (04:48)
“New York” (Live from Los Angeles CA, Oct. 27, 2000 – Farmclub.com) – U2 (06:00)
“Beautiful Day” (The Perfecto Mix) – U2 (07:50)
“Beautiful Day” (David Holmes Remix) – U2 (05:34)
“All I Want is You” (Live from Paris, Oct. 19, 2000) – U2 (05:26)
“Even Better Than the Real Thing” (Live from Paris, Oct. 19, 2000) – U2 (03:55)
“Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of” (Radio Edit) – U2 (03:45)
“Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of” (Acoustic Version) – U2 (03:42)

Walk On

“Walk On” (Edit) – U2 (04:29)
“Walk On” (Video Version) – U2 (04:31)
“Where the Streets Have No Name” (Live from Boston, MA, Jun. 6, 2001 – Fade In / Out) – U2 (06:04)
“Stay (Faraway, So Close!)” (Live from Toronto, ON, May 25, 2001) – U2 (05:39)
“Gone” (Live from Boston, MA, Jun. 5 / 6, 2001) – U2 (05:05)
“Walk On” (Single Version) – U2 (04:13)

Notes: A couple of promotional only remixes exist. The one labeled just “Remix” isn’t that different from the other versions released. The harder to find “Hallelujah Mix” is a beautiful mix and would be nice to have included here.

Elevation

“Elevation” (Tomb Raider Mix) – U2 (03:38)
“Elevation” (Escalation Mix) – U2 (07:07)
“Elevation” (Influx Mix) – U2 (04:04)
“Elevation” (Quincey and Sonance Mix) – U2 (06:54)
“Elevation” (The Vandit Club Mix) – U2 (08:51)
“Elevation” (The Biffco Mix) – U2 (04:19)
“I Remember You” (Live from New York City, NY, Dec. 5, 2000 – Fade In) – U2 (01:28)
“New York” (Live from New York, NY, Dec. 5, 2000) – U2 (05:42)
“I Will Follow” (Live from New York, NY, Dec. 5, 2000) – U2 (03:51)
“Last Night on Earth” (Live from Mexico City, Dec. 3, 1997) – U2 (06:30)
“Don’t Take Your Guns to Town” (Live from Dublin, Apr. 6, 1999) – U2 (04:12)

Notes: A number of different mixes of “Elevation” done by Paul Van Dyk were released over the years, some just for promotion, but other mixes are out there like the alternate remixes of “Beautiful Day” done by Oakenfold.

Electrical Storm

“Electrical Storm” (William Orbit Mix) – U2 (04:42)
“Electrical Storm” (Band Version) – U2 (04:28)
“New York” (Nice Mix) – U2 (05:46)
“New York” (Nasty Mix) – U2 (05:00)
“Bad / “40” / Where the Streets Have No Name” (Live from Boston, Jun. 6, 2001 – Fades) – U2 (12:28)

Notes: An additional radio edit of “Electrical Storm” was sent out to radio that could be included. An alternate version of “The Hands that Built America” was also sent out at that time.

Please Note: Some singles originally had other songs included, but we’ve removed duplicate songs from the above listings and left the song with the single where it made the most sense to us.

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