Just Teasing

This is extremely minor stuff, but it's just bugging me, so therefore, I'm passing it on. A while back I got the latest (at least, I think it's still the latest) U2 compilation, 18 Singles. I'm not entirely sure what the organizing principal behind it was, because U2's been around for more than thirty years, and they've released a lot more than 18 singles in that time. I picked it up primarily for their cover (with Green Day) of Skids' "The Saints Are Coming" (because, when it comes down to it, I just love Skids). I talked about Skids and that song back when the U2/Green Day cover was new, so I won't repeat myself here. But the fact that I got the CD (yes, I'm still ensconced in that old-fashioned technology) pretty much for the one song meant it wasn't burning to find it's way into my changer. I did finally take it out this weekend and looked through the booklet.

As I said, U2 has had an extensive career by this point, and any time you get a compilation release, you can't avoid the nostalgia factor. There's an early picture of the band from 1980 on the front cover, probably from some early sessions for the first album, Boy. The back of the CD case is from about the time of Rattle and Hum in the late '80s, but the back of the booklet is another 1980 shot, apparently from a different session than the front. And open it up to the credits page, the last spread in the booklet, and you get another pic from those halcyon days of 1980. So this must be a collection focused pretty much on the early days, yes? Uh, no. The earliest single is "New Year's Day" from 1983. Nothing from Boy, not even "I Will Follow." Nothing from October. Certainly no "11 O'Clock Tick Tock" (has that song ever appeared on a U2 album?).

So in summation, U2's 18 Singles equals lots of early U2 imagery, few early U2 songs (and nothing before the late early period). Thanks, guys.