Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Sunday Bloody Sunday
2. Seconds
3. New Year's Day
4. Like a Song
5. Drowning Man
6. Refugee
7. Two Hearts Beat as One
8. Red Light
9. Surrender
10. "40"

Disc 2:

1. Endless Deep - Remastered
2. Angels Too Tied to the Ground
3. New Year's Day [7" Single Edit]
4. New Year's Day [USA Remix]
5. New Year's Day [Ferry Corsten Extended Vocal Mix]
6. New Year's Day [Ferry Corsten Vocal Radio Mix]
7. Two Hearts Beat as One [Long Mix]
8. Two Hearts Beat as One [USA Remix]
9. Two Hearts Beat as One [Club Version]
10. Treasure (Whatever Happened to Pete the Chop)- Remastered
11. I Threw A Brick Through A Window/A Day Without Me - Live from Werchter 1982
12. Fire - Live from Werchter 1982

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11775 in Music
• Released on: 2008-07-21
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: Deluxe Edition, Original recording remastered, Extra tracks
• Dimensions: .48 pounds
• Running time: 100 minutes

Album Description
U2's first three albums have been re-mastered and will be released by Universal on July 21st.

Following the re-mastered release of The Joshua Tree last year, Edge has overseen a similar re-mastering of Boy (1980), October (1981) and War (1983), all of which have been re-mastered from the original audio tapes.

Each album will be released in physical and digital formats; as a standard single disc, a deluxe double version including a disc of b-sides, live tracks and rarities, and an LP version pressed on 180gm virgin vinyl

The packaging on all three titles has been restored and expanded, with new liner notes for each record, previously unseen photos and full lyrics.

Customer Reviews

U2'S "WAR" IS GIVEN A GREAT REMASTER - SHAME ABOUT DISC 2 THOUGH!
U2's third album was unleashed on an expectant world in 1983 and launched them as a genuine global phenomenon. This long overdue CD Remaster is released today, Monday 21 July 2008 in the UK and then 22 July 2008 in the USA and other territories. Also released today are "Boy", their 1980 debut and "October" their second album from 1981. The Edge has personally overseen the remastering of all of them utilizing the same team that brought us the amazing quality re-issue of "The Joshua Tree" last year.

DISCS:
Here in the UK, "War" (like the others) comes in no less than 4 physical variants. The single CD is a straightforward remaster with an extended and upgraded booklet (it's one of those new round corner jewel cases) and costs £10. The second is this issue - the 2CD Deluxe Version at £20 - the 2nd disc being the B-sides of singles and new previously unreleased mixes. The third variant is a Limited Edition containing the 2CD Deluxe Edition housed in a DVD sized card box with a T-Shirt of the album sleeve - it costs a frankly ludicrous £35 and is a waste of space and money in my book. Last is the humble 10-track LP - it's housed in a repro of the original gatefold sleeve and is pressed on 180 grams vinyl with upgraded liner notes - it costs £15 and is a limited edition. THIS REVIEW IS FOR THE 2CD DELUXE EDITION and the SINGLE DISC EDITION.

Here's the layout:
Disc 1 is the 10 track original album, issued March 1983 on Island ILPS 9733, remastered 2008 (42:11 minutes)

Disc 2 is the B-sides of 7" and 12" singles from Germany, the UK and the USA along with two brand new mixes of "New Year's Day" - all tracks remastered in 2008. It should also be noted that the CD lists 12 tracks, but the booklet lists only 11 - and in the wrong order! Looks like the track list was changed at the last minute, but the booklet wasn't upgraded to reflect this - a bit sloppy to say the least considering the expensive price of the 2disc set. Whether this is a mistake or a hidden track is unsaid, but the song not listed on the packaging is number two, "Angels Too Tied To The Ground" (59:29 minutes)

PACKAGING:
Housed in an outer hard card sleeve is a 36-page hardback booklet with lyrics, album history by noted writer NIALL STOKES, 7" singles pictured, photo outtakes from the videos and a detailed breakdown of the tracks on Disc 2. The 26-page single disc booklet is extended for the deluxe one by about 12 pages and there are informative notes by The Edge on how and why some of the B-sides were recorded. Both the single CD and 2CD set are picture discs with 2 members of the band on Disc 1 and the other 2 on Disc 2. A nice touch in the 2CD set is the way the card leaves that hold the CDs have slits at their base to let the disc slide out a fraction (it would have cut through anyway). It's a small thing, but nice attention to detail. The packaging is good (apart from that track list), and classily presented, but the best bit is the SOUND...

SOUND:
Remastered by ARNIE ACOSTA at Bernie Grundman Mastering, the tapes and remasters were also overseen by THE EDGE and the quality achieved is FANTASTIC! I've waited like most fans for over 20 years to hear "Seconds", "Drowning Man", "Surrender" and "40" in truly great sound quality and this re-issue delivers that in dollops. The drums are clear and loud, the guitars and keyboards passages leaping out of the speakers at you - the great guitar work given the muscle it needs - as I say - FANTASTIC STUFF. Fans will really delight to this.

EXTRAS:
The extras, however, are a very mixed bag. "Endless Deep" is the non-album B-side to the German and UK 7" singles of "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and is a sort of a meandering instrumental - interesting but hardly great. "Angels Too Tied To The Ground" is much better though and new to me - it's got to be an outtake from the sessions - musically it sounds like a rehearsal for "New Year's Day". It's a fully formed song and would have made a great B-side - it's a superb little ditty - and without question one of the best surprises on here. Fans will eat this one up. Unfortunately, tracks 5 and 6 are - in my mind - absolute travesties. They're 1999 Ferry Corsten remixes of "New Year's Day" which sound like those endless crap versions that came off "Pop" CD singles - they're staggeringly inappropriate to an 1983 album and its unique sound. What were they thinking about - tagging these on here - they're so out of place as to be laughable? "Treasure..." is the B-side to the UK issue of "New Year's Day" while 10, 11 and 12 make up the 3 other songs on the UK double 7" pack of "New Year's Day". The live tracks are good, but not that well recorded. All in all, with 4 mixes of "New" and 3 mixes of "Two", Disc 2 is a very boring and disjointed experience. In truth, I doubt I'll be returning to these soon, despite their rarity value.

To sum up, Disc 1 is 10 out of 10, but Disc 2 is pushing 5.

"War" is a superb U2 album and still stands up to this day - and this great remaster has only reminded us of that. Shame that Disc 2 lets the side down somewhat. Fans will have to own the 2CD Deluxe Edition, while the casual buyer should opt for the single disc version instead. On its own, it's a superlative remastered reissue.

Too Many Remixes, Not Enough Actual U2
"War", meanwhile, is the third U2 album, which saw them at the cusp of fame. The album is sonically a progression which has barely dated, the song writing is sound but painfully earnest and boringly sincere, and the band are clearly creating their own identity, their own personality, and have their own rare voice in the world. There are four or five truly classic songs on the main album, including the played-to-death "Sunday Bloody Sunday" (which repeated exposure to has now made me sadly numb and immune), and in true U2 style, it sounds very much like no one else, yet also unique to that particular record. If the band had split at this point, they'd go down in the annals of history as a band that were almost huge. And probably reformed a few years ago as a pension plan.

Nonetheless, "War" is certainly a fine and assured album that is imperfect only in its naivety. It's almost as if Bono felt he could cure the worlds ills with a stunning melody and an effective lyrics. Oh, youth. Nonetheless. as an album "War" is a product of its time,a reflection of youthful ideals, and well worth getting if you are a fan of the band.

The bonus disc, again an assortment of single-only b-sides, live fragments, and extra stuff is a boring listen, for one reason and one reason alone. Of the 12 songs on there, four of them are remixes of "New Years Day" (presented in one half-hour chunk of boredom, including two rather dated 1999 remixes by Ferry Corsten), followed by a quarter-hour of dated 12" mixes of "Two Hearts Beat As One" which explore the endless possibilities of the echo box and syndrum to their very limits. It turns what could have been an interesting listening experience into a barren plain of boredom. There's an unreleased track - average b-side fodder "Angels Too Tied To The Ground", and a couple of live songs, but ultimately, it's a uneven and frustrating compilation produced without care or thought for what actually sitting down and listening to it in one go might be like.

In addition, there are some alternate mixes that were issued on a 1993 remaster that are omitted, as are 5 well-circulated demo and rehearsal recordings that could easily have fitted on the disc to create a more satisfying and cohesive listen. Given that these albums have each shifted several million copies each, I have to be honest and say that most people who buy these reissues already have the albums - and that seems a little exploitative to put together an underwhelming and inexhaustive selection of extra tracks at such a high price, especially when there's copious amounts of extra space on the discs themselves. These reissues are worthy, and I'm glad they were released, but they could've been so much more than they currently are, and been produced in a fashion that satisfied the bands knowledgable and large fan base. Close, but no cigar.

'Boy' comes of age at the end of the New Wave
BY THE time of their third album in '83, U2 had already split-up: at least, in the minds of Bono and The Edge. For a fortnight during the previous summer, the singer and particularly, the guitarist could no longer reconcile being Christians and being in a band. An `Isaac moment'; once The Edge had decided to quit, it became increasingly clear to him, what the right path was.

The seeds of their next record and possibly their future, musically, were sown in this brief `death'. Certainly, the opening track of 'War' was birthed at this time: the group's statement at that point, on matters of faith, politics - and sectarian Ireland - it proved to be the 'Anarchy In The UK' or the 'My Generation' of the (now closing) post-Punk period and, so controversial were it's lyrics, 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' was pulled from release as a single on either side of the Irish Sea. It also featured a clear identification with the hope found in Jesus Christ.

THE WHOLE record displayed the same assured, defiant optimism. Looking back, 'War's' intentional back-to-basics spirit, far from being the bombastic, irony-free collection that it's sometimes been painted as, actually contains elements of the `wallpaper music' which it set-out to oppose - read New Romantic horns, flashes of Funk, female backing-singers. The stunning single which was 'New Year's Day' would, in later years, be sampled and taken back into the charts by several dance acts. But it was the poignant, meditative 'Drowning Man' and `40' - inspired by Psalm 40 - that would most mark the group out, as genuine talents. The second CD here, offers up few interesting rarities and suggests that apart from the album itself, the U2 cupboard was otherwise bare. But 'War' was enough.
JOHN CHEEK