U2 has announced the release of a new album titled How to Re-Assemble an Atomic Bomb comprised of previously unreleased songs from their 2004 album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.
The album, which will be released on Nov. 29, arrives a week after a remastered 20th-anniversary edition of the original LP. The new work will be available as an exclusive for Record Store Day Black Friday and as a digital release.
You can listen to two songs from the album, “Picture of You (X+W)” and “Country Mile,” below.
The remastered version of the Grammy-winning How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, U2’s 11th album, will now include a bonus track, “Fast Cars,” originally on only the CDs issued in the U.K., Ireland and Japan.
“The sessions for How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb were such a creative period for the band, we were exploring so many song ideas in the studio,” the Edge notes in a press release announcing the release of the new album. “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.
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“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 onto 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.”
What’s on U2’s ‘How to Re-Assemble an Atomic Bomb’
The 10 songs uncovered in the band’s archives are being released for the first time. Other songs from the sessions – such as “Smile” and “Xanax and Wine” – have appeared on official releases over the years and aren’t included here.
A demo for “Luckiest Man in the World,” known as “Mercy” at the time, leaked around the release of How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb 20 years ago. Its appearance in a studio session marks its official debut.
The remastered How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb will be released as a vinyl 8LP Super Deluxe Collectors Boxset (Limited Edition); vinyl 2LP; exclusive D2C 2LP Black & Red Ink Spot Vinyl (Limited Edition); 5CD Super Deluxe Collectors box set (Limited Edition); CD; and Exclusive Red & Black Cassette (Limited Edition). How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (Re-Assemble Edition) – featuring both How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and How to Re-Assemble an Atomic Bomb – will be available as a dual digital release. More information can be found on the band’s website.
You can see the track listing for How to Re-Assemble an Atomic Bomb below. You can also watch a trailer for both upcoming releases below.
U2, ‘How to Re-Assemble an Atomic Bomb’ Track Listing1. Picture Of You (X+W)2. Evidence Of Life3. Luckiest Man In The World4. Treason5. I Don’t Wanna See You Smile6. Country Mile7. Happiness8. Are We Gonna Wait Forever?9. Theme From The Batman10. All Because Of You 2
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