A New(er) Pressing of U218 Singles

Original Story by Aaron J. Sams (2019-05-28)

One new release snuck by us. In late 2017 there was another release of U218 Singles with some differences from earlier pressings – but the album contains the same audio mix and the same catalog numbers. Lets take a look back at the other two known versions on vinyl first, before looking at the newer release.

In 2006 the album was first released, and there was only one pressing released, made in Europe. That album came with the following characteristics:

  • Sticker on the front cover was attached to the cover itself.
  • Album had a matte sleeve
  • The vinyl did not contain a download card
  • The vinyl had small logos for Island and Mercury Records on the back of the album
  • UPC had larger font for numbers
  • Catalog number on the spine is grey.

The matrices for my copy of this release are as follows:

  • Side A: 1713550-A-1
  • Side B: 1713550-B-1
  • Side C: 1713550-C-2
  • Side D: 1713550-D-1


IMAGE: 2006 Initial Pressing of U218 Singles on Vinyl

Sometime after that initial run sold out, Universal began to reprint the album, and when doing so the sleeve was changed slightly, the big visible change was the logos on the back of the album, the Island and Mercury logos were now much larger. A full run down of the characteristics of the album included:

  • Sticker on the front cover was attached to the cover itself.
  • Album has a matte sleeve (lighter in colour than before)
  • The vinyl did not contain a download card.
  • The vinyl had large logos for Island and Mercury Records on the back of the album
  • UPC had larger font for numbers.
  • Catalog number on the spine is grey.

The matrices for my copy of this pressing are as follows:

  • Side A: 1713550-A-3 BG
  • Side B: 1713550-B-1
  • Side C: 1713550-C-2
  • Side D: 1713550-D-1


IMAGE: 2011-2017 Pressings of U218 Singles on Vinyl

Although we don’t know the exact year that this second pressing was initially done, we know that collectors were able to buy it in 2011, and 2014 as well as 2016. In fact until recently copies were still being seen on store shelves. It is likely that there may have been multiple pressings, all using the new back cover with the larger logos for Island and Mercury. The album was being kept in print, and some stores are still stocking copies of this pressing of the album, which may be why its taken a while before a new pressing was noticed.

Just recently however, a new version was released. We believe it was issued in late 2017, and while we can confirm that it was definitely released that year we do not have an exact release date. This time the matte cover is gone, replaced by a shiny black cover. The logos on the back have gone back to their original size that the were on the first pressing, and the UPC has been changed, the number is the same but the font is now smaller. But the album is also now packaged with a download card, to download an digital version of the album.

  • No sticker is present on the front cover
  • Album has a shiny sleeve
  • The vinyl now contains a download card
  • The vinyl had the smaller logos for Island and Mercury Records on the back of the album
  • UPC has a smaller font for the numbers.
  • Catalog number on the spine is white.

The matrices for my copy of this pressing are as follows:

  • Side A: 1713550-A 156821E1/A3 CB/SS 1713550-A
  • Side B: 1713550-B 156821E2/A2 CB/SS 1713550-B
  • Side C: 1713550-C 156821E3/A2 CB/SS 1713550-C
  • Side D: 1713550-D 156821E4/A1 CB/SS 1713550-D


IMAGE: 2011-2017 Pressings of U218 Singles on Vinyl

There is another difference with this release. Instead of the vinyl coming packaged inside the interior sleeves as it did in both of the earlier copies, the vinyl in this new pressing comes packaged in generic black paper inner sleeves, and the two picture inner sleeves are packaged in the center of the gatefold insead. If you are trying to find a copy of this newest pressing, it is most recognizable by the different font for the numbers in the UPC, and the fact that there is no hype sticker attached to the front of the vinyl.

As well the vinyl included in the set appears to be a bit heavier than that of the earlier pressings. We are still confirming if this is indeed the case, as all three should be 180g vinyl. But it does appear to be slightly heavier in this newer set. We’ll check out the actual weights as we can, but the newer set feels slightly thicker and thus heavier.

The digital files that come with the download code are through redeem.thesoundofvinyl.com – the same location all of the releases since 2017’s release of How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb have been distributed. Those files were created in November 2017, likely before this new pressing on vinyl was issued. In fact looking at the other releases in this series, it was likely that this vinyl was first distributed to stores the week of Black Friday, so likely November 24, 2017. We spoke to our sources at Universal-Island and we confirmed that there was indeed a refreshed copy of the vinyl issued, but it uses the same audio mix as the previous pressings, and was not remastered. Indeed, the booklet makes no mention of any update to the release.

Earlier in 2017, the band had reissued How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and War on vinyl. The 30th anniversary issue of The Joshua Tree had been released in the summer. But it had appeared to us at the time that there had not been a release later in the year. It appears that there actually was. In 2018 there were releases in April, July, September and November. In 2019 so far there have been releases in February and one set for June.

With this release, as well as the earlier releases the vinyl reissues and reissues in full have been:

  • March 31, 2017: Black vinyl release of How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and War [Link]
  • June 2, 2017: Black vinyl release of The Joshua Tree (30th Anniversary Edition) on black vinyl. [Link]
  • November 24, 2017: Black vinyl release of U218 Singles on black vinyl.
  • April 13: 2018: Black vinyl release of All That You Can’t Leave Behind, Wide Awake in America and Pop [Link]
  • July 27, 2018: Black vinyl release of The Best of 1980 – 1990, Zooropa and Achtung Baby [Link]
  • September 28, 2018: Black vinyl reissue of The Best of 1990 – 2000 [Link]
  • October 12, 2018: Blue vinyl release of Zoroopa [Link]
  • November 23, 2018: Gold vinyl release of The Joshua Tree [Link]
  • February 22, 2019: Black and clear vinyl release of No Line on the Horizon [Link]
  • June 7, 2019: Wine-coloured release of The Unforgettable Fire and red vinyl release of How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb [Link]

Copies of The Unforgettable Fire, Boy, and October, on black vinyl have been kept in print since their last releases. In early 2019 another version of Rattle and Hum appeared with a download card as well, but it appears to be the same physically as the 2002 release. A remaster of Rattle and Hum was done for iTunes in 2017, and there were plans to release that on vinyl last October, but that release was pushed back in favour of the colour vinyl and to date has not been rescheduled.

We would like to take a moment to thank Leo de Cort and Agustin at U2Argentina for their assistance with this article. We are working on scans of all three versions of the vinyl and should have them in the discography by the end of the week.

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