U2 | ||||
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EP by | ||||
Released | 1991 | |||
Recorded | 1989–91 | |||
Genre | Sound collage, experimental | |||
Length | 13:01 | |||
Label | SST (272), Seeland | |||
Producer | Negativland | |||
Negativland chronology | ||||
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U2 is a withdrawn EP by Negativland, released on SST Records in 1991. [1] The EP and the band gained notoriety when lawyers representing Island Records sued Negativland over the EP's unauthorized sampling of the U2 song "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and misleading artwork. [2] The EP's two tracks and related material were later collected on the compilation These Guys Are from England and Who Gives a Shit.
The two tracks on U2 are parodies of U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" which sample the original recording. "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (Special Edit Radio Mix)" also samples a bootleg tape of radio DJ Casey Kasem's outtakes, including his evaluation of U2: "These guys are from England[ sic ] and who gives a shit?"
U2's label Island Records sued Negativland following the release of the EP, claiming that the music and artwork constituted copyright infringement. Island Records also claimed that the single was an attempt to deliberately confuse U2 fans, then awaiting the impending release of Achtung Baby .
After U2 was withdrawn and deleted, it was replaced with the EP Guns . The incident would be chronicled in the magazine/CD release The Letter U and the Numeral 2 (later re-released in expanded form as Fair Use: The Story of the Letter U and the Numeral 2 ).
SST Records is an American independent record label formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California by musician Greg Ginn. The company was first founded in 1966 by Ginn at age 12 as Solid State Transmitters, a small business through which he sold electronics equipment. Ginn repurposed the company as a record label to release material by his band Black Flag.
The Joshua Tree is the fifth studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, and was released on 9 March 1987 on Island Records. In contrast to the ambient experimentation of their 1984 release, The Unforgettable Fire, the band aimed for a harder-hitting sound within the limitation of conventional song structures on The Joshua Tree. The album is influenced by American and Irish roots music, and through sociopolitically conscious lyrics embellished with spiritual imagery, it contrasts the group's antipathy for the "real America" with their fascination with the "mythical America".
Escape from Noise is the fourth studio album by Negativland. It marked the band's first release on an established independent record label, SST Records. On the album, they continued to develop their experimental style, as well as incorporating elements of pop music with shorter tracks and more conventional melodies. "Christianity Is Stupid", a track featuring samples from the propaganda movie If Footmen Tire You, What Will Horses Do?, proved to be an enduring signature song: the band and the release gained widespread attention a year later due to an SST press release falsely implying that murderer David Brom had listened to the song before killing his family members.
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the second track from their 1987 album The Joshua Tree and was released as the album's second single in May 1987. The song was a hit, becoming the band's second consecutive number-one single on the US Billboard Hot 100 while peaking at number six on the UK Singles Chart.
No Business is the tenth album by the sound collage band Negativland. While the songs encompass a variety of topics, the overarching theme of the album is copyright issues, especially those pertaining to peer-to-peer file sharing. Although the title track and especially the track "Downloading" are the only ones that explicitly relate to this topic, the rest of the album can technically be considered so, because they consist entirely of samples, unlike Negativland's other albums.
"Red Hill Mining Town" is a song by the rock band U2. It is the sixth track from their 1987 album, The Joshua Tree. A rough version of this song was worked on during the early Joshua Tree album writing sessions in 1985. The focus of the song is on the National Union of Mineworkers' 1984 strike in Great Britain that occurred in response to the National Coal Board's campaign to close unprofitable mines. A music video was produced in February 1987 for the song and was directed by Neil Jordan. The song was planned for release as the album's second single, but it was ultimately shelved in favour of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For".
Fair Use: The Story of the Letter U and the Numeral 2 is a 270-page book and ten track CD released in 1995 by Negativland detailing their lawsuits with U2's record label Island Records for their EP U2, including many legal documents and correspondences.
"In a Little While" is a song by Irish rock band U2 and the sixth track on their 10th studio album, All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000). Although it was not released as a single from the album, it became a hit on adult album alternative radio in the United States, reaching number one on the Billboard Triple-A chart for a single week in March 2002.
Negativland is Negativland's first album, released in 1980. Each copy of the album has a different cover. The initial pressing was 500 copies. Unlike all other Negativland albums, the album has no titles for the songs, just numbers. It is the rarest Negativland album, next to the misprinted Dispepsi albums and the U2 E.P.
Our Favorite Things is a compilation DVD by the band Negativland, released on November 27, 2007. The original release date on October 23 was skipped due to a pressing error in the DVDs and the bonus CD, a collection of Negativland covers done by an a cappella doo-wop group. It contains 20 of the band's greatest "hits" animated by 20 different artists from all over the United States. The cover parodies the artwork of the film The Sound of Music as well as title of the film's song "My Favorite Things". The front features a "review" from the character Goofy saying, "It's goofy". The people on the cover are dolls.
These Guys Are from England and Who Gives a Shit is a 2001 compilation album by Negativland. It contains the two tracks from the band's 1991 EP U2 alongside related recordings from the band's Over the Edge radio show and tracks recorded live at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. As the U2 EP had been withdrawn due to a legal dispute with Island Records, the album is billed as a bootleg and ostensibly released under "Seelard Records", a misspelling of the band's Seeland Records. Several of the live tracks sample the same Casey Kasem outtakes that had appeared on U2, including a spoken portion quoting "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction". Other tracks reference the band's struggles with their former label SST Records and the 1960 U-2 incident.
Guns is the name of the 1992 EP by the experimental music and sound collage band Negativland. It was released as a replacement for their deleted/withdrawn EP "U2". The cover art reuses that which appears on "U2". The album is about the appeal of guns and their place in American history. "Then" includes samples from western movies and radio shows of the 1940s and 1950s, mixed with audio from the film Son of the Morning Star. "Now" samples 1980s and 1990s commercials which marketed guns to women, mixed with the original radio reports from the John F. Kennedy assassination and Robert F. Kennedy assassination.
Happy Heroes is an EP by sound collage and experimental musical group Negativland, released in 1998.
The Letter U and the Numeral 2 is a 96-page magazine and 25-minute CD by Negativland detailing their conflict with the band U2, over Negativland's EP of the same name. It was released in 1992 as a limited edition of 4000 copies. Two months after its release, SST Records blocked its distribution with a lawsuit claiming, among other things, copyright infringement based on reproductions of press releases sent to the press by SST; "in essence, suing the band for printing (their) threat to sue the band". SST's lawsuit is similar to the "Streisand effect".
Truth in Advertising is a 1997 EP by Negativland. It was released as a teaser for their up-coming album "Dispepsi". Some of the material on the EP dates as far back as 1987, where it was used on Over the Edge, the radio show masterminded by former Negativland band member Don Joyce.
Deathsentences of the Polished and Structurally Weak is an album and booklet by Negativland. The band describes the project as "a 6 by 12 inch 64-page full-color book which comes with a 45-minute CD soundtrack."
Live from Paris is a concert video and live album by Irish rock band U2. It was recorded during the band's concert at Hippodrome de Vincennes in Paris, France, on 4 July 1987 during the Joshua Tree Tour. The concert was originally released in video form on the bonus DVD that was included in the remastered box set of The Joshua Tree, released on 20 November 2007. The following year, the concert was released as a digital music download exclusively in the iTunes Store on 21 July 2008.
Negativland is an American experimental music band that originated in the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1970s. The core of the band consists of Mark Hosler, David Wills, Peter Conheim and Jon Leidecker. Negativland has released a number of albums ranging from pure sound collage to more musical expositions. These have mostly been released on their own label, Seeland Records. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, they produced several recordings for SST Records, most notably Escape from Noise, Helter Stupid and U2. Negativland were sued by the band U2's record label, Island Records, and by SST Records, which brought them widespread publicity and notoriety. The band is also part of the Church of the SubGenius parody religion. Negativland coined the term culture jamming in 1984. Don Joyce added it to the album JamCon '84 in the form of "culture jammer". The band took their name from a Neu! track, with their record label Seeland Records also being named after another Neu! track.
U2 is an Irish rock band.