U2

Like 'Under a Blood Red Sky,' this four-cut mini-LP is intended as a sort of U2 tour memento.
It contains two live tracks and two outtakes from The Unforgettable Fire, and it carries a list
price of only $4.98. But while Under a Blood Red Sky served a slightly deeper purpose – it
was the group's first live record, and it capped a stage in U2's evolution as a band – Wide
Awake in America is more a curio that will be of interest primarily to die-hard fa... More >

Especially after their unstinting live mini, this four-cut "special low priced collection of live recordings and out takes from the Unforgettable Fire tour and album" looks like the usual special low priced gyp. But though the outtakes wouldn't have been missed, they're OK to hear, and the opener, an eight-minute amplification of one of Unforgettable Fire's more obscure titles, is why they could get away with superstar rip-offs if they wanted. Maybe Bono's charisma assumes special access to truth, but he doesn't act like that makes him more important than anyone else, and the Edge's elegiac guitar is self-effacing in much the same way--it exists to serve the awesome effect. Epic humility--take it or leave it. (Grade: B)