Sadly, the bonus disc that accompanies
War could not be called either fascinating or relevant.
War is easily the best album of
U2's first three records, but the album had very little in the way of noteworthy B-sides, and based on this reissue, there wasn't much in the vaults either. There's the amiably atmospheric but quite slight instrumental "Endless Deep"; there's the unreleased, seemingly unfinished "Angels Too Tied to the Ground," which has an intriguingly jazzy lilt; there's the "New Year's Day" B-side "Treasure (Whatever Happened to Pete the Chop)," which is slight but appealingly energetic; there are live versions of "I Threw a Brick Through a Window/A Day Without Me" and "Fire." And then there are four remixes of "New Year's Day" and three remixes of "Two Hearts Beat as One" -- all released as B-sides, so it's nice to have them out for the sake of history and collectors, but none are great and the attempt to shoehorn this early earnest
U2 into the club via
Ferry Corsten's 12" extended mix on "New Year's Day" is just awkward. So, there's not much to dig into here -- only "Treasure" and maybe "Angels" qualify as must-hear tracks for diehards -- but it is still nice to finally have all these rarities reissued (and to have the albums proper remastered), as a band like
U2 should have all its B-sides and stray tracks available, even if all this unheard music might not be among the group's best work. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine