A ridiculous 446 U2 songs are availabe on iTunes in The Complete U2, which includes every studio album, tons of singles, EPs and b-sides, as well as several concerts and a collection of unreleased and rare tunes.

Surprisingly it’s available a day early (or it’s late enough the night before that we can call it close enough), but happily you can buy most some songs for 99 cents and don’t have to shell out $150 for the set (UPDATE: though most of the rare and live cuts are now available “album only”). But despite the title I can think of a few U2 tracks missing. Not many, but a few, including the covers “Beat on the Brat” (The Ramones) and “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town” (Johnny Cash), as well as “Fortunate son “(Creedence Clearwater Revival) and “Paint it Black” (The Rolling Stones), though the latter two are available on the Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses EP. I could probably go on, but it seems like a dorky, fan boy thing to do, and I’d probably get schooled by a real fan.

And if you haven’t heard, U2 stormed the streets of New York today.

The new album comes out tomorrow, so I’ll stop the obsessive U2 posting. I promise.

You can catch a live five-song set of brand new U2 material on the BBC’s Radio 1. If you’re really a U2 fanatic, you can listen to Zane Lowe’s entire show for the occasional bit of interview, otherwise skip to 1:38:XX into the show for the music (and good luck with the BBC’s goofy player that has no rewind or fast-forward buttons). You can also tune into Jo Whiley’s show for more interviews spaced throughout her show and cuts from How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.

The live set includes “Vertigo,” a rollicking song called “All Because of You,” the song “Miracle Drug” with a typical Bono introduction, “Sometimes You Can’t Make it On Your Own” (which Adam revealed during Whiley’s show was originally written for All That You Can’t Leave Behind), and “Beautiful Day” as the finale with some changed words for Dublin.

Don’t worry, the new album comes out next week and I’ll shut up about U2.

In case you’ve missed one of the umpteen posts on this site, U2’s How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb comes out next week. Until then the album is being played on radio stations in its entirety and streamed online. NME.com has the exclusive for now (it requires a slow, arduous registration process), though VH1 and MTV are supposed to be streaming it later today.

Though MTV takes the approach of not mentioning it anywhere on its site while VH1 hypes it with ever changing text, first “You can listen to the band’s new disc right here on Tuesday,” and now “… right here this afternoon.” I can’t help but wonder what this says about the two former music video channels. Something about one being entirely too hip and the other trying way too hard.

UPDATE: Both MTV and VH1 are streaming the album now but they’re both PC only. Rather ironic considering the band’s close relationship with Apple. NME.com is the place to go for Mac users, and it has the added bonus of the extra track “Fast Cars,” which is included on every version of the album except the U.S. release.

Tune in to 91X in San Diego at 11:00 a.m. and again at 3:00 p.m. PST today to hear U2’s How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb broadcast in its entirety. You can listen to an online stream, though you do need to complete a free registration.

The band has decided to let radio stations play the entire album before the November 23 release date in response to the album becoming available on illegal file sharing networks (according to @U2)

93 WXRT in Chicago will also be playing the entire album today for more than 12 hours, starting at 9:45 a.m. CST (PC only).

On Tuesday, November 16 both MTV.com and VH1.com will begin streaming the album.

UPDATE: read my first-listen reaction

If you’re planning to buy the new U2 album, now might be a good time. If you pre-order the album from Amazon you can watch an exclusive video of the band talking about making the album.

All you have to do is decide which version of How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb you want:

Standard CD – $10.99
Deluxe version (includes DVD with making of the album footage, interview, and acoustic performances) – $20.99
Collector’s edition (includes same DVD as deluxe version plus a full-color, hardcover book with original artwork, band notes, quotes and more) – $31.99
Import (includes extra track “Fast Cars”) – $50.49
(prices current as of posting)

And let’s get it over with right now. I nominate How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb for worst U2 cover ever. It clearly challenges October

Stupid fact of the day: It’s taken a mere 20 days for the new U2 single, “Vertigo,” to reach the top of my Top 25 Most Played Songs playlist in iTunes. It’s sitting at the coveted number one spot with 17 plays, just beating out The Get Up Kids’ “Close to Me” with 16 plays.

I choose to credit the fact that I’m incredibly addicted to U2 and the song’s inherent catchiness and playability. I’ve been known to play the song several times in a row and not get tired of it. At this rate I’ll completely loathe the song by the time How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb comes out.

You may have heard U2’s latest single “Vertigo” backing the latest iPod commercial, and you may have noticed the members of U2 rocking out as those signature silhouettes on colored backgrounds. You can catch an extended version of the ad from Apple. How long until someone has some desktop images from that video?

The first U2 album since 2000, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, releases on November 23, 2004.

The new U2 single “Vertigo” is available today. Officially it’s available on radio, but that seems rather quaint. Several U2 fan sites are either providing or linking to downloads of the song (I’ll let them do the heavy linking)* or you can buy it from iTunes.

The commercial single will be available November 9 along with remixes and the b-sides “Are You Gonna Wait Forever” and a Kraftwerk cover, “Neon Lights.” The full album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb will be available November 23.

Continue reading I’m in a Place Called Vertigo →