Sean Michaels, The Guardian

If their Spider-Man opera wasn't already WTF enough, U2 are now apparently collaborating with a member of Blackstreet. Dave Hollister, one quarter of the 90s R&B group, is allegedly helping the Irish band "re-do" two of their earlier songs.

Hollister revealed his involvement on Monday, posting to Twitter: "In the studio working with U2! Man I'm excited! Bono baby!!!!!!!!!!!!" Despite 12 exclamation points, Hollister and U2's fans do not - for some reason - move in the same online circles, and it took several days for the Bonosphere to begin gurgling its incomprehension.

According to Hollister's subsequent tweets, U2 are "redoing some classics", and he is helping them rework two tracks: All I Want Is You, from 1988's Rattle and Hum, and Grace, from 2000's All That You Can't Leave Behind. Neither much resemble No Diggity.

Although he is best known for his work in Blackstreet, Hollister quit the group after the release of their 1994 debut. He rejoined for 2003's Level II album, and is reportedly working with them again. Hollister has also released seven solo records, including a successful foray into gospel.

U2 fans are trying to remain level-headed about the band's choice of collaborators. "I wonder whether this is part of a conscious strategy to broaden their target audience demographic?" asked one supporter. "I can see them going more towards a gospel sound but not overly religious," suggested another. Bono has already described their next LP, Songs of Ascent, as a "ghost album of hymns and Sufi singing". Perhaps this includes gospel renditions of old songs. Sunday Holy Sunday, anyone?

Meanwhile, in New York, rehearsals have started for Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, the superhero musical with songs by Bono and the Edge. The $50m (£33m) stage show spent a year in financial crisis, losing Evan Rachel Wood and Alan Cumming as its leads. At long last, a spokesman for the show confirmed, yesterday, that their new Peter Parker, Reeve Carney, has started his singing, dancing and web-slinging practice. "Wow, man, I can't wait for the world to see this thing," Carney wrote on Twitter. "It's finally happening!" The Edge has previously described the production as "much more like opera than a straight musical".

Last week, Bono declared that he is "fighting fit" after undergoing serious back surgery. The band return to the road next month.

© Guardian News and Media Limited 2010

A wealth of previously unreleased and rare material will be found on reissues of the early U2 albums "Boy," "War" and "October," due July 22 via Universal. Each album will be available as a remastered single CD, a deluxe set with a second disc of extras and on vinyl.

U2's 1980 debut album, "Boy," features the previously unreleased tracks "Speed of Life," "Saturday Night" and "Cartoon World" and a previously unreleased mix of "I Will Follow." "Boy-Girl" and "11 O'Clock Tick Tock" are captured in live versions taped at London's Marquee.

The new edition of 1981's "October" boasts a series of tracks taped live at London's Hammersmith Palais and Boston's Paradise Theatre, a BBC session with Richard Skinner and Common Ground's remix of "Tomorrow."

1983's "War" is bolstered here with the previously unreleased track "Angels Too Tied to the Ground," several remixes of "New Year's Day" and "Two Hearts Beat as One" plus the 7-inch single edit of "New Year's Day."

U2 is recording its next album with producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. No release date has been set, but rumblings are that it may be out before the end of the year via Interscope.

Here are the tracklists for the U2 reissue bonus discs:

"Boy":
I Will Follow (Previously Unreleased Mix)
11 O'Clock Tick Tock
Touch
Speed of Life (Previously Unreleased Track)
Saturday Night (Previously Unreleased Track)
Things To Make and Do
Out of Control
Boy-Girl
Stories For Boys
Another Day
Twilight
Boy-Girl (Live at the Marquee, London)
11 O'Clock Tick Tock (Live at the Marquee, London -- Previously Unreleased Version)
Cartoon World (Live at the National Stadium, Dublin -- Previously Unreleased Track)

"October":
"Gloria" (Live at Hammersmith Palais, London)
"I Fall Down" (Live at Hammersmith Palais, London)
"I Threw a Brick Through a Window" (Live at Hammersmith Palais, London)
"Fire" (Live at Hammersmith Palais, London)
"October" (Live at Hammersmith Palais, London)
"With a Shout" (Richard Skinner BBC Session)
"Scarlet" (Richard Skinner BBC Session)
"I Threw a Brick Through a Window" (Richard Skinner BBC Session)
"A Celebration"
"J. Swallo"
"Trash, Trampoline and the Party Girl"
"I Will Follow" (Live at Paradise Theatre, Boston)
"The Ocean" (Live at Paradise Theatre, Boston)
"The Cry/Electric Co." (Live at Paradise Theatre, Boston)
"11 O'Clock Tick Tock" (Live at Paradise Theatre, Boston)
"I Will Follow" (Live From Hattem, Netherlands)
"Tomorrow" (Bono & Adam Clayton, Common Ground Remix)

"War":
"Endless Deep"
"Angels Too Tied to the Ground" (Previously Unreleased Track)
"New Year's Day" (7" single edit)
"New Year's Day" (USA Remix)
"New Year's Day" (Ferry Corsten Extended Vocal Mix)
"New Year's Day" (Ferry Corsten Vocal Radio Mix)
"Two Hearts Beat As One" (Long Mix)
"Two Hearts Beat As One" (USA Remix)
"Two Hearts Beat As One" (Club Version)
"Treasure (Whatever Happened to Pete the Chop)"

Copyright © 2008 Nielsen Business Media, Inc.

The band has been working on the follow up to 2004 LP How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb for the past 12 months, but they're far from happy with the results.

Guitarist The Edge reveals bandmembers have mostly messed around in the studio - and they have now decided to get stuck in and finish the record.

He tells CMUMusic.com, "We went into this project allowing ourselves the indulgence of making music without thinking about where it was going to end up. We're starting to get serious now".

© 2008 Contactmusic.com Ltd. All rights reserved.

From his work on The Joshua Tree to, more recently, that on How To Build An Atomic Bomb, Daniel Lanois and U2 have a strong and unique bond. Lanois says the relationship is almost other-worldly.

"I think we work well together because there's kind of a premonitional force in the room when I work with these guys," he says. "We sense that something might be right but we're not convinced yet and it's still the unknown. It's that unknown that keeps us going. We want to do something original. Bono wants to say something that has never been said before. We know we're going to have to roll up our sleeves, put our thinking caps on and do beautiful work."

A recent quote from Bono also described the relationship the band has with both Lanois and fellow producer Brian Eno. "Daniel Lanois, in a certain sense, is about the ancient," Bono said. "And Brian Eno is about the modern, the future, the things that haven't happened."

"I'm about the ancient? I'll take that as a compliment," Lanois says with a laugh. "I'm just on a different floor than Eno. He uses his airplane time to build these rhythmic tapestries that he brings to the studio. And we'll often use them as a springboard for building a song. I've got a good barometer for what feels good so anything we do that we carry on with will have a reliable, emotional plateau in it for us to keep working on it.

"I will fight for a very soulful bedrock and I won't carry on until we have it. I'll pay special attention to the ingredients that I deem to be viable as soulful. Eno will come in with these incredible electro-beginnings but in the end the bedrock that we end up with, I'm the gatekeeper of the bedrock."

Copyright © 2008 Canoe Inc. All rights reserved.

Produced by Shawn Amos and Paul Heck, In The Name Of Love: Africa Celebrates U2 features Grammy Award-winning/nominated African artists as well as top up-and-coming talents including Angelique Kidjo, Les Nubians, Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars, Vieux Farka Touré, Vusi Mahlasela and the Soweto Gospel Choir.

Initially inspired by his work in South Africa while running the Quincy Jones Listen Up Foundation, Amos re-entered the music industry with a heartfelt initiative to cultivate greater awareness of the emerging socio-economic success stories happening within many of the country's regions. Amos, a longtime fan of U2, witnessed Bono's direct philanthropic impact via the launch of the ONE campaign and (RED), and his poignant outspoken public commentary on the immediate financial needs facing Africa.

Amos felt it was essential that African musicians unite and collectively share their voices of pride, accomplishment and appreciation for both their native country and icons like Bono who've substantially embraced the fight against the global AIDS crisis, extreme poverty and the spread of malaria. On December 1, 2006 at the World AIDS Day benefit concert at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Amos approached Red Hot producer Paul Heck about co-producing In The Name Of Love: Africa Celebrates U2. Several notable African artists were performing as part of Heck's live production of Red Hot + Riot: The Music and Spirit of Fela Kuti including Les Nubians, Tony Allen, Cheikh Lô and Keziah Jones. Heck expressed support for the budding project, and quickly became an invaluable partner with his strong ties to various well-established African artists and knowledge of a handful of buzz-worthy upstarts. Together, they consulted with the artists appearing at the World AIDS Day event, bringing Amos's personal dream a step closer to becoming a reality.

"Paul and I wanted to develop an easy entry point for the growing global community where they could get more involved and learn something deeper about Africa," says Amos. "It's really a focus on the key successes of several regions, and the African artists who originate from these areas. It's our goal for the public to learn more about all the good that's happening in Africa. We are trying to garner excitement about the culture, in addition to drawing people toward the struggles of Darfur, etc. This is a project which celebrates Africa!"

12 original interpretations of classic U2 hit songs and some of their more obscure material are featured on In The Name Of Love: Africa Celebrates U2. The collection kicks off with Angelique Kidjo's powerful multilingual cover of the 1991 chart-topper, "Mysterious Ways." Aerosmith's Joe Perry joins Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars for an upbeat, guitar-driven take on "Seconds," a track from U2's third studio release, War (1983). Rising Malian star, Vieux Farka Touré offers a trancy, Sahara Desert blues-influenced rendition of "Bullet The Blue Sky," an absolute standout performance of one of U2's most-played live in concert tunes. Additional highlights include Les Nubians dubbed-out dancefloor ready version of "With Or Without You," the Soweto Gospel Choir's epic a cappella version of "Pride In The Name Of Love," and Tony Allen's Afrobeat translation of "Where The Streets Have No Name Paul Heck notes that, "I was amazed when we approached the artists of how quickly they chose the songs they wanted to do. Many of them grew up listening to U2, and knew the songs so well."

In The Name Of Love: Africa Celebrates U2

1. Angelique Kidjo "Mysterious Ways"
2. Vieux Farka Touré "Bullet The Blue Sky"
3. Ba Cissoko "Sunday Bloody Sunday"
4. Vusi Mahlasela "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own"
5. Tony Allen "Where The Streets Have No Name"
6. Cheikh Lô "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
7. Keziah Jones "One"
8. Les Nubians "With Or Without You"
9. Soweto Gospel Choir "Pride (In The Name Of Love)"
10. Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars "Seconds"
11. African Underground All-Stars Featuring Chosan, Optimus & Iyeoka "Desire"
12. Waldemar Bastos "Love Is Blindness"

Copyright © 2008 Iconoclast Entertainment Group.

U2 has hit the studio in Dublin to continue work on its next studio album with longtime collaborators Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. "We're going to try and break new sonic ground and deliver a masterpiece," Lanois tells Billboard.com. "The sleeves are rolled up. Bono is all charged up with a lyrical angle."

As previously reported, U2, Eno and Lanois have spent time working on new material on three prior occasions in France and Morocco, and Lanois confirms the results are prolific.

"There's so much material," he says, referring to speculation that the sessions could yield two new albums. "When you get Eno and I and those guys in the room, before lunch there's like eight things."

"We've had some exciting beginnings via jam sessions," he continues. "Now we will pick our favorite beginnings and say, 'OK, that's a lovely springboard. Now what are we trying to say?' The springboards are sometimes melodic, sometimes riff-based, but I can assure you they are exciting."

There's no date yet for the project, which will be the follow-up to 2004's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.

In other U2 news, the group has contributed to a new charity single, "The Ballad of Ronnie Drew," proceeds from which will benefit the cancer-stricken Irish artist of the same name. The track will be available in Ireland only as a download beginning Friday (Feb. 22) and week later on CD.

In addition to U2, "The Ballad of Ronnie Drew" features appearances by the Pogues' Shane MacGowan, the Frames' Glen Hansard, Sinead O'Connor, Andrea Corr, Damien Dempsey, Ronan Keating, Chris de Burgh, Gavin Friday and members of the Dubliners.

© 2008 Nielsen Business Media, Inc.