U2 : Top 20 ‘Non - Album’ Tracks

U2 have generally put their best work on their studio albums , but there are more than a few hidden gems to be found elsewhere.

Here’s my Top 20 ‘non -album ‘ tracks.

( Passengers Songs not included!!)
( Compilation tracks included)

( Ground beneath her feet & Fast Cars considered album tracks )

I’ve also ignored cover versions.


Tracks in chronological order:

1 . 11 0’ Clock Tick Tock
2. Trash Trampoline & The Party Girl
3. A Celebration
4. Love Comes Tumbling
5. Luminous Times ( hold onto love )
6. Spanish Eyes
7. Lady With The Spinning Head
8. Salome
9. Hold Me , Thrill Me, Kiss Me , Kill Me
10. North And South Of The River
11. Sweetest Thing ‘98
12. Levitate
13. Always
14. Electrical Storm ( either version )
15. Window In The Skies
16. Disappearing Act
17. Ordinary Love
18. The Crystal Ballroom
19. Invisible
20. Book Of Your Heart

Any unforgivable omissions/ inclusions?

 

Hallelujah Here She Comes
Holy Joe

 

Treasure- What ever happened to Pete the chop
Endless Deep
Bass Trap
Three Sunrises
Alex Descends into hell
Deep in the heart

 

Three Sunrises
Smile
Bass Trap
Mercy (original studio version)
Soon
Winter (from the Corbijn film)

 

Nice list! "Night and Day" would be the only omission that jumps out at me. I might include "The Hands That Built America" as well.

My Top 5:
1) 11 0’ Clock Tick Tock
2) Love Comes Tumbling
3) Electrical Storm
4) A Celebration
5) Book Of Your Heart

 

It seems bizarre that 11 o'clock tick tock wasn't on an album....

 

Great list, but I think "Three Sunrises" is a glaring omission. And if we're calling "11 O'clock Tick Tock" a non-album track, then "Silver and Gold" has to be one by the same logic. Another big omission.

 

Boomerang 1
Boomerang 2
Where did it all go wrong?
Another Day
Summer Rain
Big Girls are Best
Are you gonna wait forever ?
I’m not your baby

 

"Walk TO The Water" is easily a top 5 U2 track for me.
Also "Party Girl" is up there.

 

So, to put together a top 20 is tough. I would have a lot of moody, atmospheric tracks up top and the faster paced tracks on the bottom end. With that said, I would have to curate a playlist like this is a one off RSD double album. Here I go.

Side one
A Celebration
Where Did it all go Wrong
Three Sunrises
Holy Joe
Spanish Eyes

Side two
11 O’clock tick tock
Big Girls Are Best
Trash Trampoline and the Party Girl
Are you gonna wait forever
Zanex and wine

Side three
I’m Not your baby
Deep in the heart
North south of the river
Walk to the water
Summer Rain

Side four
Hallelujah Here She Comes
Another Day
Love Comes Tumbling
Flower Child
Bass Trap

 

Three Sunrises
I searched for that song for ten years pre internet.

 

In no particular order:

Electrical Storm
11 O'Clock Tick Tock
Two Shots Of Happy
Levitate
Mercy
Are You Gonna Wait Forever
Holy Joe
Lady With The Spinning Head (remix)
Salome (Zooromancer Remix)
Summer Rain
A Room At The Heartbreak Hotel
Hallelujah Here She Comes
Spanish Eyes
Big Girls Are Best

(Not counting some of their b-side covers, some of which are a lot of fun: "Fortunate Son," "Neon Lights," "Everlasting Love," etc)

 

1. Mercy
2. Levitate
3. A Room at the Heartbreak Hotel
4. Stateless
5. Are You Gonna Wait Forever?
6. Spanish Eyes
7. Smile
8. Winter
9. The Crystal Ballroom
10. Bass Trap
11. Angles Too Tied to the Ground
12. Luminous Times (Hold on to Love)
13. Book of Your Heart
14. 11 O’Clock Tick Tock
15. A Celebration
16. Disappearing Act
17. Endless Deep
18. Blow Your House Down
19. The Three Sunrises
20. Invisible

 

Street Mission
Electrical Storm
Invisible
Three Sunrises
11 O'Clock Tick Tock
Pete The Chop
Boy/Girl
A Celebration
Saturday Night
Always
Book Of Your Heart
Another Day
Hold Me, Thrill Me...
Spanish Eyes
Things To Make And Do
Sweetest Thing
Touch
Love Comes Tumbling
Speed Of Life

 

Ohhhhh, yes. How could I forget this one? A staple of pretty much every early performance. I've got it on a ton of bootlegs, but only on one official release and one fan club release. (Does the fact that it was released on the deluxe version of Boy make it an album track retroactively? I guess not, as that is a live version......)

 

I probably can't name 20 U2 songs not on studio albums, but of those above that I recognize, several definitely go on my list:
Invisible
Ordinary Love
Hold Me, Thrill Me...
Sweetest Thing '98
Electrical Storm

Also, how no mentions of two great covers? Night and Day and Everlasting Love.

 

She’s a Mystery to Me. Bono wrote this for Roy Orbison but I wish they would release an official U2 version. Their live version can be found on YouTube.

 

Boy DE has the studio version.

Just compared the studio 11 O’Clock Tick Tock with the live version of LUABRS...
What’s basically half a jam has changed dramatically just in the course of 3 years.

 

Maybe I just missed seeing them above, but there's also:
Race Against Time
Silver and Gold (there's a couple different studio versions)
Slow Dancing (I suppose technically that could be listed under Willie Nelson, but U2 wrote it, and are on it)
Speed of Life
Rise Up
Wave of Sorrow
Lucifer's Hands
The Ground Beneath Her Feet

and probably others.

There's also a thing I found that is apparently a compilation of sea shanties and such ... I think it was intended to tie into the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies? At any rate, Bono performs one of the songs and it's pretty dang good... 'A Dying Sailor to His Shipmates'.

Also technically not U2 but they're unmistakably there: Robbie Robertson's 'Sweet Fire of Love.'

I'm sure there's more!

As to my favorites -- in no particular order:
Love Comes Tumbling is a favorite U2 track, period, not just a non-album track
Levitate, which I only recently discovered. How was this NOT on an album????
Ordinary Love
Invisible
Silver & Gold
Slow Dancing
Rise Up
Salome
Winter --- I wish they would make this available
Electrical Storm -- again, how did this not make an album???
The Ground Beneath Her Feet
Sweet Fire of Love
11 O'clock Tick Tock
North & South of the River
and probably others...

And I like most of the instrumentals, although none of them really seem like complete ideas to me.

There's also a couple of songs they've done live but never released that are terrific. One is North Star. I'll see if I can find the videos.

 

I love


I don’t know why A Room at the Heartbreak Hotel is overlooked.

 

11 O'Clock Tick Tock
A Celebration
Boomerang II (Vocal)
Love Comes Tumbling
Deep In The Heart
Spanish Eyes
Sweetest Thing
Silver And Gold
Luminous Times (Hold On to Love)
A Room At The Heartbreak Hotel
Everlasting Love
Unchained Melody

Lady With The Spinning Head (UV1)
Salomé
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
Dirty Day (Bitter Kiss)

The Ground Beneath Her Feet
Electrical Storm
Window In The Skies
No Line On The Horizon 2

 

I'm a very casual U2 fan - I probably couldn't name even 5 non-album tracks - but I do love their cover of "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)".

 

Will we ever get an official release of the studio version of Mercy?

That take is quite superior to the live version that was officially released.

Great song.

 

The OP specified no cover versions, so that rules out 'Everlasting Love', 'Unchained Melody' (which is terrible anyway!), etc.

My list:

Endless Deep -- Great instrumental B-side from War era. Feels really vital, as well as 'atmospheric'.
Bass Trap -- Not only my favorite B-side, but one of my top-10 U2 tracks ever. The prettiest piece of music I've ever heard.
The Three Sunrises -- As a composition, it still feels a little unfinished, which I think is why it didn't make the Unforgettable Fire album, but boy is it ever fresh and sparkling.
Love Comes Tumbling -- Released in 1985, and this one sort-of previews the Joshua Tree style of a couple of years later. This has gotten better with age.
Luminous Times (Hold Onto Love) -- Joshua Tree B-side. Very emotional, very solid.
The Sweetest Thing -- Joshua Tree B-side. The 1998 re-write is a bit more 'pop', but the original has something unique.
Walk To The Water -- Another Joshua Tree B-side, this one more like performance poetry. Some great lines.
Hallelujah Here She Comes -- Cannot fathom how this didn't make Rattle & Hum. A definite top-10 single if issued. The released recording, though, is more charming for being rather sloppy. Sounds like a one-take.
Wild Irish Rose -- 1990 recording, issued on a TV program in 1991. Only Bono and Edge perform on it.
She's Gonna Blow Your House Down -- Unfinished track, finally issued in the 2000s. Early versions go back to 1987, but this released jam is from 1990-91.
Where Did It All Go Wrong? -- Achtung Baby 'working version' song, some of which resurfaces on the album.
Slow Dancing -- Beautiful voice + guitar ballad, country-style, from 1992-93. (Later re-recorded with Willie Nelson in an inferior version.)
North And South Of The River -- Nice track from the Pop period. Probably failed to make the record because too 'straight'.
Always -- Early version of 'Beautiful Day'. Same riffs, but with even more Christian lyrics. Nice alternative.
Flower Child -- Killer melody! File under "tune good enough to be a pop hit". But I'm glad they let this one breathe. Beautiful, breezy track.
Summer Rain -- Not essential, but very good.
Stateless -- Yet another of the solid 1999-2000 era songs that didn't make the album.
Native Son -- Early version of 'Vertigo', with actual lyrics (inspired by Leonard Peltier) instead of the dumb ones on the released song.
Electrical Storm [William Orbit mix] -- Solid A-side single. I prefer the Orbit mix.
Mercy -- Some bad lyrics (rough period for Bono lyrically), but an otherwise beautiful piece of music. Better than nearly everything on the 2009 album.


"11 O'Clock Tick-Tock" is certainly a classic, but I feel like the definitive version is on Under a Blood Red Sky, so you get that already on the albums-proper.

I don't really care for "Spanish Eyes". It's okay, but kind of overblown. "Silver and Gold" is good, though the U2 studio version (already a re-recording of the Bono & Keith Richards version) is a bit flat, and, again, it's probably best heard on an official album (Rattle & Hum). "A Room at the Heartbreak Hotel" is catchy, but too much bluster; it's almost like a parody of 1988-U2. I've never understood the reverence some fans have for "Salomé", which to me sounds rather silly.

I hate "Hold Me, Thrill Me...". Yuck! "The Hands That Built America" is good, if a little slick, but I can never get past the 9/11 reference at the end and the "dragged across a yellow line" part... which makes no sense.

More recent stuff like "Ordinary Love" and "Invisible" is... okay, I guess, but totally lacks the spark and vibe of classic U2.

 

Much to my amazement a version of this song appears to be connected to a Transformers movie (!) And there is apparently an (unfinished?) studio version. But I like the live version I heard first best, so here it is...