More In-depth Article from Sonicnet and Live! Daily Now Reporting

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Wed, 9 Sep 1998 05:17:29 EDT

>From Sonicnet (posting URL because of links on their page + they seem to have
gotten a statement from an unamed source) this article is the 2nd posted by
sonicnet.

http://www.sonicnet.com/news/archive/newsframe.jhtml?id=501067&pid=502282

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Live! Daily (URL was way too long):

U2 Signs $50 Million Deal To Re-Release 'Best Of' Packages
   

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Click to see and make bids  
 In a deal reportedly worth $50 million, U2 have agreed to produce three more
albums for the Polygram conglomerate which controls and acts as distributor
for their long-time label, Island Records. The unique deal, brokered by
manager Paul McGuinnes, doesn't require the band to record any new material,
according to reports in the British press, which state that the band is simply
obligated to compile three 'Best Of' collections. 
With nine U.S. studio albums under their belt, the band has issued two live
collections - 1983's Under a Blood Red Sky, which mixed older material with
selections from the at-the-time recently released War album, and the 1985 EP
Wide Awake In America, which included live interpretations of tracks from the
then-just-released The Unforgettable Fire. Additionally, the band has issued a
sizable number of B-Sides on the various singles released from their studio
efforts.


While details of the collections are not yet known, it's very likely that the
sets could divide the band's output into a collection of the aforementioned B-
Sides, another collection focusing on the band through its more traditional
rock-band phase book-ended by 1980's Boy and 1988's Rattle And Hum, and a
third focusing on the band's 1990's output. 


While a deal based on the potential value of repackaging a band's songs for
compilations is not common, it's not unprecedented. Hollywood Records, who
signed Queen late in their career on the grounds that they get access to the
band's catalog for future releases, has released seven different collection of
repackaged Queen tracks since Freddie Murcury's death in 1991, with a new re-
mastered boxed set currently in the works. 




des
prarit, #501 and 502 ;-)

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