Plays U2 [Import]

Track Listings

1. Pride(In The Name Of Love)

2. Even Better Than The Real Thing

3. Desire

4. Sunday Bloody Sunday

5. I Still Haven't Found What I Am Looking For

6. One

7. Angel Of Harlem

8. When Love Comes To Town

9. New Year's Day

10. Two Hearts Beat As One

11. Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses

12. All I Want Is You

Editorial Reviews
Album Description
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra doing renditions of U2's greatest hits, including 'One', 'New Year's Day', 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For' and 'Sunday Bloody Sunday'. 12 tracks total. 1999 release.

Tracks:

Pride (In The Name Of Love)
Even Better Than The Real Thing
Desire
Sunday Bloody Sunday
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
One
Angel Of Harlem
When Love Comes To Town
New Year's Day
Two Hearts Beat As One
Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
All I Want Is You

Amazon.com

You know the game where for hoots and hollers you sing rock songs in your most formal operatic voice? Well, U2 as interpreted by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is more than a bit like that. And if you can get past your no-way-Jose, better-than-the-real-thing snorts and guffaws, hats off to you. There are small rewards for doing so: "One" swings with a jazzy groove; the classical guitar that opens "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" is delicate and lovely; and the brass is stunning on "Angel of Harlem." But better to have strayed further from the originals (even the finest of the batch, the rework of "All I Want Is You"), the collection is so mild that it rouses little more than idle appreciation and irreverent giggles. --Paige La Grone

Customer Reviews:

Another Editorial Review.......2006-11-07

"With 1999's Pride [series], the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra continues paying tribute to classic rock bands. This time the group is U2, and over the course of 12 tracks the Philharmonic explores the band's musical nuances. Pride's track list spans U2's entire career, from early moments like the title track, 'New Year's Day' and 'Sunday Bloody Sunday.' Later songs like 'Even Better than the Real Thing' and 'Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses?' are also represented, but the album's focus is on the passionate, searching music that some say comprised U2's finest hour. Classic rock interpreted with classical style, Pride gives U2's music a new and intriguing dimension. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide"

Impressive And Sort Of Fun. .......2005-01-02

It is pretty common today for a String Quartet Tribute to be released for just about every band with a Top 40 hit, but U2 fans should appreciate that this particular tribute is a complete Philharmonic Orchestra performing some classic U2 numbers with some class and style. Some will cringe, some will maybe fall asleep, but for the open-minded this CD can sometimes be even a bit fun. The problem with the String Quartet CDs (including the U2 edition), is that considering it's all strings it can feel stripped and bare. Here we get blowing horn sections, pounding percussion and even the touch of electric guitar. Some tracks like "Even Better Than The Real Thing" sound like perfect mix of rock and orchestra, you can identify the song immediately and it still has the same energetic feeling of the original (eventhough it doesn't surpass it of course). "Desire" is a rousing number that even feels like the score piece from a classic western. "Sunday Bloody Sunday" is stylish but in a funny way feels tender with it's arrangement. One of the best tracks is "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" which shines and has even received some radio play in public stations. "When Love Comes To Town" is fun and enjoyable while "One" and "Who's Gonna Ride You Wild Horses" with it's classical guitar touch are almost beautiful. "All I Want Is You" is atmospheric and romantic. The album is done with a lot of skill, the strings transport in a dreamy haze and the essence of each song is never lost. The only thing that keeps this from receiving a 5 star rating is that it's not for everyone. Many U2 fans will hate it, and in a funny way this is a perfect album for people who don't like rock music or U2 that much and prefer orchestras and strings. The fact that the songs translate so well to the classical sphere is a testament to their original worth as classic rock tunes for the ages. This is also fitting because frontman Bono and guitarist The Edge's fathers were tenors. This is a nice, fun tribute to a classic band and if you enjoy a little classical music here and there then it's worth a look.

Electric Guitar in the Middle of a Symphony!!.......2002-10-09

Wow! I have to admit that I'm very impressed...
The cover says that the Symphony goes beyond U2 in writing their own music - I'd say that's almost a theft and heresy...
but the Orchestra does a fantastic job of bringing out the small aspects in U2's music... and not in a bad way -more like changing Row, row, row your boat from a kids song to something worthy of theatrical artistry. It sounds like a soundtrack really - except that the electric guitar is the orchestra's surprisingly unique touch.... In Pride (in the name of Love) its strong, and EXTREMELY energizing. The trumpets in Even Better Than The Real Thing are great. and super violins and electric guitar in Bloody Sunday...
I couldn't sit still in my seat to the first five songs... the rest were a great listen also, though it tapers at the end (besides.... my legs were tired from dancing!).

If you like Soundtracks, this is a great look into. Classical.. well.. not sure, but its definitly a great beat for the car or random entertainment. :)

Disappointing only when compared to the original.......2000-09-19

Sure, it's not going to substitute for picking up U2's greatest hits album, but the Royal Philharmonic does a pretty nice job. This isn't elevator music by any stretch; the orchestra's sound is well-defined, with mainly strings and horns meshing with various background instruments.

I'm a pretty big fan of the group and would rather put on one of their CDs over this one. "RFO plays U2" doesn't take a whole lot of chances and copies more than creates. But the album serves its purpose. It's soothingly mellow and lets one listen to U2's tunes without being distracted by lyrics--perfect ambient sound.

Don't even think about it..........2000-08-30

This album is a huge waste of time for any U2 fan, even if you are attempting to gather a collection of every album with the U2 stamped on the cover. The Royal Philharmonic completely misses the soul and fire that makes U2 great. Imagine sitting in a sports car and not getting to start it, or strapping on a parachute, climbing to 15,000 feet and not being able to jump. Well, this album is pretty much the same. The most exciting part of it is the anticipation on the trip home.

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Plays (the Music of) U2 (Pride Series)

Average customer rating:

Another Editorial Review
Run away -- This CD is not what you're looking for
Avoid, avoid, avoid
WHO'S GONNA RIDE YOUR WILD HORSES

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Plays (the Music of) U2 (Pride Series)
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Manufacturer: Music Club Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Symphonic Rock

ASIN: B000023XOJ
Release Date: 1999-03-05

Tracks:

Pride(In The Name Of Love)
Even Better Than The Real Thing
Desire
Sunday Bloody Sunday
I Still Haven't Found What I Am Looking For
One
Angel Of Harlem
When Love Comes To Town
New Year's Day
Two Hearts Beat As One
Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
All I Want Is You

Album Description

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra doing renditions of U2's greatest hits, including 'One', 'New Year's Day', 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For' and 'Sunday Bloody Sunday'. 12 tracks total. Musicclub. 2004.

Customer Reviews:

Another Editorial Review.......2006-11-07

Run away -- This CD is not what you're looking for.......2003-04-30

...I listened to this CD, desperate to hear something good. Desperate that one of these songs would translate the songs of U2 into a haunting or rousing orchestral arrangement. The very concept sounded SO perfect.

Instead, I got what sounded like a high school marching band. While technically good and precise, this CD had no emotion and no heart, and the arrangements were lackluster and unoriginal. Loud does not equal emotion.

The only song that was even close to being worth listening to was All I Want Is You -- the arrangement on this CD closely follows the arrangment from the original.

If you want some unique takes on U2, try Strung Out on U2 and Pickin' on U2. Both of those CD's take the original material and spin it, making use of the strengths of the new musical style (string quartets and bluegrass) to give a fresh look at familiar material. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, however, attempts to merely redo the original song using different instruments. Little or no creativity went into making this recording.

On the other hand, if you want a high school marching band in your living room, by all means buy this CD.

You've be warned.

Avoid, avoid, avoid.......2001-06-15

I'm still really not sure what to make of this album. The liner notes spends far too much time talking about how difficult this was to perform on classical instruments and how U2's style of music doesn't really offer itself well to their format. This does not bode well. In fact, the result is an extremely tame collection of uninspired elevator versions of some of U2's best songs.

One of the strangest things about this collection of music from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is the choice of instruments used. I would have thought that one of the main attractions of having an orchestra play rock music would be to hear how different instruments change the feel or tone of the song. This is what makes the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's choices so frustrating. Adam Clayton's bass-lines have all been replaced by... an RPO musician playing a bass guitar! Many of The Edge's guitar solos have been replaced by... an RPO musician playing an electric guitar! It's these sorts of decisions that prevent the album escaping from the realm of bland, soulless elevator music.

It's not all bad, however, and there are a few gems buried inside the rest. Their cover of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" is the Rattle & Hum version rather than The Joshua Tree and it appears that they made a wise choice. The more overt gospel/soul aspects translate much better than I suspect the original would have. There are one or two other high points but I'm afraid that they don't justify the purchase of this CD.

It seems that the RPO had their work cut out for them here. While other rock'n'roll songs have had success at the transfer to the orchestral format, it's possible that U2's style of music really isn't suited for the medium. One wonders why this project wasn't cancelled when it became apparent that they were going to have to replace far too many of the electric sounds with the same type of instrument.

WHO'S GONNA RIDE YOUR WILD HORSES.......2000-06-19

The best of U2 in classical versions. The Who's gonna ride... version is the best in my opinion.

Average customer rating:

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Plays U2
Royal Philharmonic
Manufacturer: Music Club/Rock Bottom
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B0002B616Y
Release Date: 2002-08-20

Track Listings:

Track Listings

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Puttin' It Together

1. Pride(In The Name Of Love)
2. Even Better Than The Real Thing
3. Desire
4. Sunday Bloody Sunday
5. I Still Haven't Found What I Am Looking For
6. One
7. Angel Of Harlem
8. When Love Comes To Town
9. New Year's Day
10. Two Hearts Beat As One
11. Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
12. All I Want Is You