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| War | 
 enlarge | Artist: U2
Label: Island
Category: Music
List Price: $34.98
Buy New: $17.50
You Save: $17.48 (50%)
New (52) Used (13) from $17.15
Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 3079
Format: Original Recording Remastered, Deluxe Edition
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 2
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 5.5 x 5.2 x 0.7
MPN: 001094902
UPC: 602517616752
EAN: 0602517616752
ASIN: B0013LPS8Y
Release Date: July 22, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Factory Sealed Ships The Same Day
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| Tracks:
Disc 1
| • | Sunday Bloody Sunday [Remastered] | | • | Seconds [Remastered] | | • | New Year's Day [Album version - Remastered] | | • | Like A Song... [Remastered] | | • | Drowning Man [Remastered] | | • | The Refugee [Remastered] | | • | Two Hearts Beat As One [Remastered] | | • | Red Light [Remastered] | | • | Surrender [Remastered] | | • | "40" [Remastered] |
Disc 2
| • | Endless Deep [Remastered] | | • | Angels Too Tied To The Ground | | • | New Year's Day [Single Edit - Remastered] | | • | New Year's Day [USA Remix/Kevorkian Remix - Remastered] | | • | New Year's Day [Vocal Extended Mix - Ferry Corsten Remix] | | • | New Year's Day [Ferry Costen - Vocal Radio mix] | | • | Two Hearts Beat As One [Long Mix By Kevorkian - Remastered] | | • | Two Hearts Beat As One [USA Remix by Kevorkian - Remastered] | | • | Two Hearts Beat As One [Club Version - Steve Lillywhite Re-mix - Remastered] | | • | Treasure (Whatever Happened To Pete The Chop) [Remastered] | | • | I Threw A Brick Through A Window/A Day Without Me [Live from Werchter, Belgium July 1982 - Remastered] | | • | Fire [Live from Werchter, Belgium, July 1982 - Remastered] |
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Album Description
A standard CD (as above) and a bonus CD. Bonus CD includes b-sides, live tracks and rarities. Also includes a 32 page booklet with previously unseen photos, full lyrics, new liner notes by Niall Stokes, and explanatory notes on the bonus material by The Edge.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
U2'S "WAR" IS GIVEN A TRULY FANTASTIC REMASTER - BUT DISC 2 IS VERY PATCHY... July 22, 2008
13 out of 15 found this review helpful
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 later remixes 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.
 How did U2 get this one so wrong? July 22, 2008
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
I was really excited to have the first three U2 albums remastered with bonus tracks for the first time. These are my favorite U2 records (I am off the train after The Joshua Tree) and the b-sides, single only cuts and live tracks are nice to have in one package. So, how did the band screw up War's bonus material? By including some lame New Year's Day Ferry Corsten remixes instead of the original 12" versions. It's really nothing short of a slap in the face to the fans, whom i'm sure would like to have seen only original period songs included. October makes the same mistake by adding the Common Ground remix of Tomorrow, but that's a minor quibble. And while I know it would have been impossible to get ALL the War versions on the 2nd cd, it would have been in keeping with the spirit of the records to just play it straight. A five star record knocked down to three - what a shame....The other cds BOY **** and OCTOBER *****
 Five Stars but with reservations July 22, 2008
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
Call me a nitpicker, but I would still like to know why this remastered version isn't the same as the MFSL gold CD. I have that one as well, and unfortunately it's still the gold standard. I say unfortunately because it's so hard to come by without forking over a week's paycheck, and while I'm lucky enough to have it, it would have been nice to give everyone a chance to hear the album that way.
I just wish they would have put the full version of "Seconds" as is on the MFSL version. Original LP (and CD) pressings listed the song as 3:24, but that version never showed up til the Mobile Fidelity version came out. Also, the gold version's "Like A Song" is 5:00, while "New Year's Day" is 5:38 (four extra beats before Edge's solo in the middle of the song). Sounds trivial, but it raises the question, if the original master tapes were used for this version while Mobile Fidelity also claimed to use the original masters, why the discrepancy? There were timing errors on three other songs as well, so if you're looking for the 5-minute version of "Two Hearts..." or the 6-minute "Surrender", there's apparently no such animal.
But it's still a five star release and even though it might seem redundant to put ALL those remixes of "New Year's Day" and "Two Hearts Beat As One", I'd rather have everything out there for completists sake. I was lucky in 1987 to buy someone's U2 collection on 7-inch back to the U23 EP and even though the value on those singles might be diminished by these songs finally being available on CD, I don't care. If you enjoy the B-sides from these new remasters, wait until The Unforgettable Fire gets the deluxe treatment. I'd guess next year where it's the 25th anniversary.
Disc1: Too loud Disc2: Selection could have been better July 26, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Although Disc1 is certainly a sonic improvement over the rather muddy original CD release, it does up the loudness level a bit (A common effect on CD's in the last decade). Some songs like "Surrender" are actually close to or are actually clipping in certain areas, which is a real shame. I'm also confused as to why the longer versions of "Seconds", "New Year's Day" and "Like a Song" weren't used in the re-mastering effort.
But Disc2 is where my confusion really starts to sink in. Many songs have been available as import CD Singles or B-sides and it's nice to have them all together on one CD. And "Angels Too Tied To the Ground" is a new song for this very long U2 fan, so that was a very nice surprise. However, they should have never added the newer New Year's Day mixes - they don't belong there! If those were dropped, the CD would have been about 45 minutes long and they could have included other missing gems like the "Be There" demo plus the demos of "Sunday Bloody Sunday", "Like a Song", "Surrender" and "THBAO".
The version to own! July 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Forget the original remaster. You might as well throw that in the trash. THIS is the version you need to own. U2's 1983 masterpiece 'War' gets the remaster-and-reissue treatment, something that it has long since deserved.
The record is digitally remastered, meaning the sound quality is great. Island Records did a great job. While 'The Joshua Tree' was their breakthrough, 'War' guaranteed they were here to stay.
This album has many of your favorite U2 songs from the '80s. 'Sunday Bloody Sunday,' 'New Year's Day,' '40,' 'Two Hearts Beat As One,' 'Seconds,' and 'Surrender' are fan favorites, and they are all here on 'War.'
The bonus disc, however, is not as good as 'October' and 'Boy,' but it is really good. One of my personal favorite U2 songs is a rarity, and it is 'Treasure.' That song is a great punk song, and is clearly influenced by The Clash and The Jam. It's a fast song, and I classify it as a "speed punk" tune.
'Endless Deep' is a great instrumental. If you own the bonus disc of 'The Best of 1980-1990,' which is 'B-Sides 1980-1990,' than you already own this song. But it's great. It's dominated by The Edge's piano playing.
'Angels Too Tied To The Ground' is a previously unreleased tune. It's a great one, no doubt. Why this was never released before 2008 and has always been stored away in a vault is beyond me. If you are a die-hard U2 fan like I am, than you must hear this song.
The live tracks were recorded at the festival Rock Werchter. Werchter is a village in Belgium, and every year, they have a rock festival, and U2 were an act at the festival in 1982. 'Fire' and 'I Threw A Brick Through A Window/A Day Without Me' were recorded in Werchter, and are probably the best live versions of the songs I've heard yet (Trust me, as a collector of U2 bootlegs for years, I've heard tons of versions.) These are far superior to the studio versions.
The remixes are intended for the U2 collectors and die-hards. The remixes of 'New Year's Day' and 'Two Hearts Beat As One' are great. I own several of the remixes because I bought the singles and EPs. But these are great because they are remastered.
Overall, buy the 2008 remaster of 'War.' I don't care if you bought it when it first came out to CD or when it was remastered in the nineties, buy this edition. If you haven't bought 'War' yet, buy this edition.
Highly recommended for any U2 fan. If you haven't bought this, you need to. A must-have.
ENJOY!!!
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