Under a Blood Red Sky - Deluxe Edition CD/DVD [ENHANCED] [EXTRA TRACKS] [LIVE] [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]

U2

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 30, 2008)
• Original Release Date: July 10, 2008
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Enhanced, Extra tracks, Live, Original recording remastered
• Label: Island
• ASIN: B0015FML06
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #12,256 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
A Deluxe Edition version featuring the Under a Blood Red Sky CD (Disc 1) and the Live at Red Rocks DVD (Disc 2).

The remastered Under a Blood Red Sky album was originally released in November 1983, and consists of live recordings from three shows on the band's War Tour through Europe and America. Recorded at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado on 5th June 1983, Live at Red Rocks will be available for the first time on DVD, and will include 5 previously unreleased songs, a director's commentary, digitally re-graded pictures and a 5.1 mix.

This is the fourth CD as part of the Amazon.com-exclusive U2 deluxe edition box set and fits into the open slot within the packaging.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bigger than just a mini album., September 30, 2008

By	Joao Nunes (Portugal) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Live Aid may have turned U2 into the biggest band on the planet, but the first step to conquer the world had been taken some time ago through the release of this live mini-LP.

This is the recording that sold U2 to the masses. U2 had released 3 good albums but, at that stage, they were essentially a live band. Their studio recordings sounded raw and very live, so it's no wonder that a real live album would make these albums forgettable. Specially if this album concentrates the cream (and only the cream) of those first 3 albums, plus a non-album single and a cult b-side. C'mon, did anybody notice the Sunday Bloody Sunday original version, the one with the violin? Not really. But everybody remembers "This song is not a rebel song. This song is Sunday Bloody Sunday. Ra-ta-ta-ta..." That was the version that got played in every party, every disco, every home.

There is not a single track here that is not better than its studio version. Bono is now Bono Vox, an idol and leader of crowds and causes. And Edge emerges as the modern guitar hero for the 80's. As opposed to the hair-metal gods whose aim was to pack as many notes per second as possible, Edge approach was more of a sonic experience, a mix of punk and psychedelia through very loud amps. And even the Heavy Metal crowd loved him.

If you are not a die-hard fan, this is the first essential U2 album to buy.

This deluxe edition cuts off a few seconds of Electric Co. when Bono starts singing "Send in the Clowns", which is a shame. And adding a couple more tracks to the original 8-song, wouldn't have been a bad idea. But it's still a superb edition of one of the few indispensable live albums in any record collection.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is THE Must-Have for Any U2 Fan. Essential., October 6, 2008

By	Anthony Ian "anthony_ian" (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

We've waited years for it and here it is. Finally. I have every U2 concert DVD you can have (even the Super Bowl performance and SNL) yet this is the one DVD that was a no-brainer.

For those of you around back then, it's nostalgic. This concert is what turned me on to U2. For some reason, MTV was showing it in 83 and when I saw it I said "Who ARE these guys?" From that point on, I was hooked. All because of this.

For others of you not old enough, this is a chance to see U2 at their absolute peak when they were the Band That Mattered, before they started playing around with irony beginning with Achtung Baby. Not that they don't matter now, but as other reviewers have pointed out, this is THE definitive version of "Sunday Bloody Sunday," just as Live Aid was the definitive version of "Bad."

The songs are almost universally great and well-played (save for a sloppy trainwreck of "Two Hearts") and you get to see the original order of the set; if you owned this back in the day, it made it seem like "Surrender" was the opening song.

The visuals are stunning because of the weather. The crowd is nuts. And this was the concert that launched U2 into the big time.

AS FOR PICTURE QUALITY: as the director clearly states in the commentary, this was shot on VIDEO. It's been treated to look like film for this reissue, but it was video. And when you point a video camera at a light, it "burns" the tube, creating streaks across the screen which are all over this. That was the POINT. The director threw out all the "rules" for filming and did not care about the streaking/flaring. This is NOT a flaw in the remaster it ALWAYS looked like this. If you want a perfect picture go buy Live in Boston or Rattle & Hum.

Who cares about the red streaks when you have a concert this powerful? Finally it is here and it was worth the wait. Enjoy!

The attached CD is a fine version of the EP but really I'd rather watch this than listen to it. Plus, not all the songs on the EP were pulled from the Red Rocks show (only "Party Girl" and "Gloria"). Still worth having.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Red Rocks rocks!, September 30, 2008

By	Mark Adams (Redwood Estates, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

First, oh well, it's not the unedited show: "Two Hearts Beats as One" is sans "Let's Twist Again" and the "Send in the Clowns" snip has been cut from "The Electric Co." That said, I really don't care. The show rocks. Not sure the CD has any real value, beyond being a remaster, but the DVD of the full concert is astonishingly crisp, given the production value. This was U2 making it big before they made it big, and an important moment for fans who've been following U2 since the early days. The director's commentary is strangely quaint -- it appears he hasn't seen the full-length video since he edited it many years ago, but that makes his commentary fresh and lively.

What should be said is that the show transcends U2 in many ways. Here's a small act with a big sound trying to persuade the world. On that level alone it has merit.