As a courtesy to their fan club,
U2 began releasing a series of exclusive albums in the mid-‘90s. This rarities album was issued in 2009 to subscribing members of U2.com, and it contains two discs of unreleased tracks, B-sides, alternate takes, and cover songs. Although most of these tunes can be found elsewhere -- many were released as bonus tracks on the remastered versions of
Boy,
October,
War, and
The Joshua Tree -- it’s helpful to have them all in one place, especially since they occasionally trump the material that
did appear on
U2's official albums. Of particular note are the discarded songs from the recording sessions for
All That You Can’t Leave Behind and
How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, including “Native Son” (a primitive -- although arguably superior -- version of “Vertigo”), "Fast Cars" (which includes the lyric that gave
How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb its name), and the charming, semi-psychedelic “Flower Child.”
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Andrew Leahey, Rovi