U218 Singles

It should include their singles.
This is an OK greatest hits type of album, but since the title includes the word "Singles", they should have included more singles. The cover picture just screams for singles from Boy and October. This would have been much better if the less than memorable unreleased songs were left off for more singles. I would recommend getting their other two greatest hits so you get better coverage.

Rather unsatisfactory compilation, skip it
U2 is one of my favorite bands. I'm seeing them live on the upcoming "360 Degrees" tour, which consists of the spaceship in the stadium setting, they were one of the first bands I got into. The Irish rockers know how to deliver with each album in different ways- Paul "Bono" Hewson's unique voice, The Edge's infamous "delay" guitar technique, Adam's driving basslines, Larry's catchy drumming, and awesome stage presence, etc. I own about 5 of their albums, and their 2 2000 "Best Of"s they released. Their unique sound makes you feel like you're relaxing and sipping on a fresh, cold Guinness. Now enough personal info. I do have this CD, and I couldn't be more disappointed. Yes it has their "Big" stuff, but SEVERELY LACKING! PROS: -A spanning of their big hits in one CD -Affordable price -Should be found anywhere -Good sound mix CONS: -U2, PLEASE use your legendary wit and stop messing around with Second-Rate MTV Generation bands like Green Day. If you choose to cover a song (like you have with "Helter Skelter" in the Rattle and Hum film), that's good, but your cover of a classic is HORRID. You have zero chemistry, it sounds like a coldplay song. -TOO MANY GOOD SONGS MISSING! Where's "An Cat Dubh", "Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me" (their best song!), "The Fly", "I Will Follow", "Numb", "Staring At The Sun", "Discotheque", "Mofo" (the most important song from Pop), "One Tree Hill", "Angel of Harlem", "A Day Without Me", "11 O Clock Tick Tock", "Two Hearts Beating as One", "Lemon", or "Even Better Than The Real Thing"???????? -This is supposedly called "U218 Singles", yet the Tomb Raider Mix of Elevation is not on here, which is indeed the single version? -Too much stuff from "All You Can't Leave Behind", yet "Atchung Baby" has only one song highlighted. In short, skip this one, you aren't missing anything new, except two mediocre unreleased songs. Get their new album "No Line on the Horizon", too. Great album. Oh, and as far as comps go, get their two "Best Of" ones- those ones do a better highlighting job.

Great Album!!!
This album have the most popular songs, could be rated one of the best CDs by U2. Then sound quality it is awesome and a really nice detail that this album brings to us is that it has all the lyrics. I really recommend this CD.

For casual fans only....
How do you effectively summarise the nearly 30 year career of one of rock's biggest and most successful acts on one album? Really, the answer is that you can't, so it's no surprise that '18 Singles' provides a very incomplete introduction to U2's work. Many important songs are left off, and whole sections of the band's career go missing (their first two albums, their mid 90's dance phase). How the hell does 'The Sweetest Thing' get a place here when classics like 'Bad', 'I Will Follow', 'Gloria', 'Stay', 'Even Better Than The Real Thing', and 'All I Want Is You' are absent? And does ATYCLB really need FOUR songs, especially given there's nothing at all from key albums 'Boy', 'October', 'Zooropa', and 'Pop'? Finally, there's the inevitable Two New Songs, which of course only take up more space that could be used for actual hits. Those people who just want the big FM radio hits in one nice easy-to-digest package might like this, but it's pretty useless for anyone else. You're better off getting the two disc set '1980-1990' (a great starting point) and '1990-2000' (flawed, but at least it has some mid 90's tracks on it) as your introduction to U2. Then go buy the original albums. Unless you're a very casual fan, or a U2 completist, this can probably be left on the shelf. [2.5 stars]

Not looking for the radio edits
I bought this CD, assuming that the songs listed on here would be included in their entirety. I owned the 80's compilation and several songs were cut short on that and I was hoping that would not be the case on this album. I guess that was too much to ask though. "New Years Day" and "Where the Streets Have No Name" are both cut short on this. They even include the lyrics for the last verse of "New Years Day" in the album jacket, but the don't include that part of the song! For those of you who enjoy those two songs (only two of U2's biggest hits, I might add), you'll have to purchase the "Joshua Tree" and "War" album if you want to hear the entire song.