U2

In their golden years, U2 managed to churn out, with impressive regularity, not only worldwide hit singles but also an endless wealth of B-sides, outtakes and various rarities, sometimes tucked away in their album tracklists between one hit and another, or released on collateral records and side projects. In this playlist we try to bring back into the light the ten that strike us as most significant, digging through their discography and inevitably distilling this huge body of material, to which the Irish band has even dedicated specific releases, such as the second discs of the two double compilations "The Best Of 1980-1990 & The B-Sides" (1998) and "The Best Of 1990-2000 & The B-Sides" (2002).
The selection – as is inevitable – focuses mainly on the Dublin band's most inspired period. Throughout the 1980s, U2 crowned a coherent trajectory that, from the post-adolescent rush of "Boy" and "War" and the live consecration under the blood-red Colorado sky (the epoch-making "Under A Blood Red Sky") and on the London stage of Live Aid (1985), had led them towards a more complex kind of rock, one that partly set aside the guitar-driven frenzy of their early days in favour of more calibrated, experimental songs, with lyrics increasingly steeped in social and political commitment. A path that ran against the grain in the most vain-glorious decade of all, and in some ways similar to the one followed by R.E.M. on the other side of the Atlantic. U2 were no longer "the kids with hearts on fire who played 'Gloria' on the Dublin quayside" (quoting Paolo Sforza); they were now a mature band, ready to take on both the burdens and the rewards of fame. Even at the cost of alienating some die-hard early fans. Built around the "rhythmic" guitar phrasing of The Edge, with his trademark reverb, power chords and delay underpinning Bono's solemn vocals, their songs stand out for the sharpness of their arrangements and their melodic power, gaining an epic charge that stays at a safe distance from the rhetorical excesses of the years to come. Then, after the last revolution of "Achtung Baby" (and "Zooropa"), came the slow decline, partly interrupted by the last two, more convincing EPs released this year ("Day Of Ash" and "Easter Lily").
While we wait for their new album, due out soon, all that's left to do is revisit these hidden gems – often every bit as worthy as their hits, and just as instrumental in fuelling their legend.
After the track-by-track commentary, you'll find the full playlist at the bottom of the page.

1. Walk To The Water

This is what you'd call a "hidden masterpiece". Recorded during what remains probably the peak period of inspiration and productivity for the Irish band, "Walk To The Water" was mysteriously left off the final running order of "The Joshua Tree". A truly baffling choice. Perhaps even for U2 themselves. It's no coincidence that The Edge later recalled: "I thought it came out really well, but we just didn't have time to get it ready before the album was finished"; while shortly before the record's release, Bono confided to Hot Press: "The album is almost incomplete. 'With Or Without You' doesn't make much sense without 'Walk To The Water'. And 'Trip Through Your Wires' doesn't make much sense without 'Sweetest Thing'". So it's likely one chapter of the very same story told on the record. Either way, this divine Bono's walk on water ended up relegated to the B-side of the "With Or Without You" single, even though the singer himself would later – rightly – call it "his best vocal performance ever" (just listen to the climax that explodes on the line "Let me love you" to believe it). Originally titled "Present Tense", "Walk To The Water" draws heavily on a Patti Smith-style spoken word narrative approach, with Bono poetically recounting the meeting of his parents over a psychedelic sonic backdrop, where the off-kilter piano chimes blend with Edge's aching guitar arpeggios, while Clayton's bass holds it all together and Mullen accompanies with apparent calm.
For this writer, one of U2's absolute high points.

2. Love Comes Tumbling

If "Pride (In The Name Of Love)" is the 45 that propelled the 1984 LP "The Unforgettable Fire" to worldwide success, its title track is no less impressive. Released as the second single, it hides another gem on its B-side. Namely, this pained, intimate, aching song, once again centred on a love story. A gorgeous song tinged with disillusion but also romanticism, with lines like “L’amore non ha bisogno di trovare una via/ Tu troverai la tua via/ Io dimentico di non poter restare/ E così dico che/ Tutte le strade portano dove sei tu”. Words that nonetheless wound deeply, concealing all the bitterness lingering between the two protagonists. And the song seems to depict a forbidden love affair, plunging us into an atmosphere made of silences and hushed reflection: “Il seme è versato, il letto profanato/ Per te, una sposa vergine/ Io sono te in qualcun’altro/ Non cercare te stessa in me/Io non posso risollevarti ancora/L’amore crolla giù ancora”. All of it built on the sound of the words, on the harmony of their delivery, on the warm voice of a Bono steeped in melancholy, constantly wrestling with the performance, throwing himself entirely into the anguish of love. Backing him, refined arrangements in which keyboards and a pulsing bass intertwine with the guitar phrasing. Also released on the "Wide Awake In America" EP, it remains one of U2's hidden masterpieces. Even in their live shows, where sadly it has never found a place.

3. Trash, Trampoline And The Party Girl

One of their early legendary B-sides, tucked onto the back of the single "A Celebration", released in 1982, straddling the albums "October" and "War". It was essentially a move by the record label to keep the spotlight on U2 in the absence of any singles left to pull from the previous album. But while "A Celebration" would end up all but forgotten, its B-side became a live setlist staple. It's called "Trash, Trampoline And The Party Girl", though it would later be shortened to "Party Girl", starting with the legendary live album "Under A Blood Red Sky", recorded at Red Rocks, as well as the film of the same name. And it's precisely in this thrilling live version that we've chosen this rock lullaby, which tells the story of a girl who needs to shake off a sad reputation. A gem from early U2, built entirely on the electro-acoustic guitar arpeggios and a steady, cadenced bass backing Bono's vibrant delivery.

4. Spanish Eyes

Another inexplicable omission from the grooves of "The Joshua Tree" is this song, released only as the B-side of the "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" single on 25 May 1987. Steeped in a strong erotic charge, "Spanish Eyes" anticipates certain sexually-charged themes that would later take centre stage on "Achtung Baby", pairing them with a vibrant new rock anthem, with The Edge's sharp riffs backing another excellent vocal performance from Bono. The guitarist himself has speculated about who the song's subject might be: "I think those 'Spanish eyes' refer to Ali (Bono's wife, ed.). I think that's exactly what Bono had in mind". The track was played often during the Joshua Tree Tour, then only sporadically afterwards, mostly at Spanish shows. The importance of "The Joshua Tree" is thus attested to by all the songs that were ultimately cut from its tracklist and largely reissued as B-sides of the singles. It could easily have been a double album without losing an ounce of its quality.

5. Endless Deep

Yes, indeed, instrumental U2 tracks do exist too. Few examples survive, and this is probably the finest. Released as the B-side of "Two Hearts Beat As One" (the second single from "War"), "Endless Deep" unfolds in a suggestive, mesmerizing way, riding the cadences set by Adam Clayton's bass, who also handles the sparse vocal parts. It unwittingly edges close to the rarefied sounds of "non-musician" Brian Eno, who would soon take the production helm for the Dublin band's following work, "The Unforgettable Fire". Never performed live, it remains one of the most intriguing gems in their catalogue.

6. Lady With The Spinning Head (UVI)

We couldn't leave out, in this playlist of Bono and co.'s B-sides, the curious flip side of the immensely famous single "One". This is the mother-track from which no fewer than three songs on "Achtung Baby" derive, namely "The Fly", "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)" and "Zoo Station". A genuine collective matrix, brimming with experimentation and sonic suggestions, called "Lady With The Spinning Head", with the closing tag UVI standing for "UltraViolet I", meaning the first version of the track, while "the lady with the spinning head" is a tribute to the film "The Exorcist" by William Friedkin and its protagonist, Regan, the possessed girl played by Linda Blair. On the single "Even Better Than The Real Thing" a remix titled "Lady With The Spinning Head (Extended Dance Remix)" was released. "Lady With The Spinning Head (UVI)" was included only on the CD version of "The Best Of 1990-2000", the Irish group's second greatest-hits collection, released in November 2002.

7. Your Blue Room (Passengers)

In the aforementioned 2002 "best of", this other gem was also included, released as the flip side of the single "Staring At The Sun" in 1997. The first half of the Nineties was a period of wide-ranging experimentation for U2, who even agreed to join a supergroup with Brian Eno called Passengers. Together they released the album "Original Soundtracks 1", a sort of collection of themes for imaginary films, meant to serve as a kind of second chapter to "Music For Films", conceived by the Woodbridge genius back in 1978. The song that found success was the poignant "Miss Sarajevo" (featuring Luciano Pavarotti), but this track is also worth reappraising, as it was actually used in a film ("Beyond The Clouds" by Michelangelo Antonioni). Driven by the magnetic sound of the organ, played by The Edge, and by Bono's deep, sensual tones, the song floats over enchanted atmospheres, at once tense and melancholic. The lyrics allude to sex as "a different kind of conversation", while "the blue room" becomes the physical setting for the act of love. It features their fellow countrywoman Sinéad O'Connor on the chorus and a vocal contribution from Clayton on the final verse (only the second time ever in U2's history, after "Endless Deep").

8. Luminous Times (Hold On To Love)

Born during the sessions for “The Joshua Tree“, “Luminous Times (Hold On To Love)” was released in 1987 as the B-side of “With Or Without You”. Written by U2 with Brian Eno, it develops a vision of love suspended between carnal desire and spiritual tension. Bono's voice moves through feverish imagery, evoking a female figure capable of generating both ecstasy and disorientation. The Edge's guitar, the reverbs and the rhythm section build a broad, nocturnal, ever-expanding landscape. The track grows gradually until it reaches an almost mystical intensity, typical of U2 in that period. A B-side of extraordinary emotional power, considered by many fans one of the great hidden treasures of the Irish band.

9. Salomé (Zooromancer Remix)

Born during the sessions for “Achtung Baby”, “Salomé” was left off the album's final track listing. The original version appeared in 1992 as the B-side of “Even Better Than The Real Thing”. The subsequent “Zooromancer Remix” instead accompanied the single “Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses”. Pete Heller and Terry Farley transform the track's sinuous funk into an extended house ride. Bono's voice surfaces amid hypnotic pulses, distorted guitars and echoes of the Zoo TV era. A restless gem documenting U2's electronic, experimental turn in the early Nineties. It also appears in the B-sides section of the collection "The Best Of 1990-2000".

10. A Room At The Heartbreak Hotel

Released in 1988 as the B-side of “Angel Of Harlem”, “A Room At The Heartbreak Hotel” belongs to the American season of “Rattle And Hum”. The title recalls Elvis Presley, but the lyrics broaden the view to the tragic myths of Hollywood and rock'n'roll. Bono namechecks Judy Garland and Rudolph Valentino, figures consumed by fame and the need for illusion. Horns, female backing vocals and a soul-gospel groove accompany one of the Dublin singer's most intense performances. Beneath the music's energy lies a bitter reflection on wishes granted and needs sacrificed. A rich, evocative B-side, able to sum up the allure and contradictions of U2's American imagery.

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30/08/2026