THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “To mark the 20th anniversary of U2’s critically acclaimed, Grammy-winning album How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, it has been remastered and reissued long with the ‘shadow album’ How To Re-Assemble An Atomic Bomb, which includes new, unreleased songs discovered in the archive of the original sessions.
The process saw the band go back to the vault to revisit those early ’00s recording sessions, a period of intense creativity for U2 in the studio, as well as a time of deep personal and artistic reflection following the passing of Bono’s father Bob in 2001. “The sessions for How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb were such a creative period for the band,” recalls The Edge. “We were exploring so many song ideas in the studio. We were inspired to revisit our early music influences, and it was a time of deep personal introspection for Bono who was attempting to process — dismantle — the death of his father.
“For this anniversary edition I went into my personal archive to see if there were any unreleased gems and I hit the jackpot. We chose 10 that really spoke to us. Although at the time we left these songs to one side, with the benefit of hindsight we recognize that our initial instincts about them being contenders for the album were right, we were on to something. What you’re getting on this shadow album is that raw energy of discovery, the visceral impact of the music, a sonic narrative, a moment in time, the exploration and interaction of four musicians playing together in a room… this is the pure U2 drop.”
How To Re-Assemble An Atomic Bomb includes new, never-before-heard or previously released songs: Treason, Evidence Of Life, Country Mile and Happiness; a song called Luckiest Man In The World, more familiar to fans under its working title Mercy, an early demo of which was leaked online almost 20 years ago and which now gets its official release; and the newly remastered songs Picture Of You (X+W), I Don’t Wanna See You Smile, Are We Gonna Wait Forever?, Theme From The Batman and All Because Of You 2 — all collected together for the first time.
How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb was U2’s 11th studio album. Released on Nov. 22 2004, it went to No. 1 in 34 countries, including Ireland, the U.K. and the U.S. Described by Bono at the time as “our first rock album,” it was recorded at the band’s studio in Hanover Quay, Dublin and the South of France, and produced by Steve Lilywhite, with additional production from Chris Thomas, Flood, Jacknife Lee, Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois, Nellee Hooper and Carl Glanville. The 11 tracks included Vertigo and Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own, both of which debuted at No. 1 in the U.K. charts, the first time a U2 album produced two chart-topping singles.
The album and its singles won a total of eight Grammy Awards, sweeping all of the categories in which the band were nominated, with Vertigo alone winning three in 2005, including Best Rock Song. The band were the night’s big winners in 2006, taking home the Grammy for Album Of The Year, as well as Song Of The Year for Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own and Best Rock Song for City Of Blinding Lights, with Lilywhite also winning Producer Of The Year.”
