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U2's off the Island
Band leaves label of 27 years and heads to Mercury Records; new company will release its third 'best of' album, to be titled U218 Singles.
Irish rockers U2 have left Island Records after 27 years, switching to fellow Universal Music Group subsidiary Mercury Records, a Universal spokesman said today.
U2
"We foster strong relationships at Universal Music," the spokeswoman told Reuters. "We have the best artists and the best executives and we're proud of how closely they work together."
U2's move to Mercury, which is for distribution outside the US, follows a similar move by Jason Iley, the former general manager at Island, who left to become president of Mercury in May, along with A&R manager Richard O'Donovan. The band made a similar switch with respect to its US affiliation seven years ago, when it followed producer Jimmy Iovine to Interscope and released All That You Can't Leave Behind, the 2000 album that put them back on top of the charts.
The British paper the Telegraph reported that one of the main reasons U2 left Island was the label's lack of assistance on its latest project, the third installment in its series of 'best of' albums. According to the Independent, Island's "hands off" approach to the project alienated U2 from the label. Island Records management denied this claim.
In a post on its Web site, U2 also said today that it has named that upcoming 18-track hits compilation U218 Singles. As previously reported, the package will include two new tracks recorded with producer Rick Rubin at the historic Abbey Road Studios last month. The first is a cover of the Slits' "The Saints Are Coming" with Green Day, which will be released as a charity single through Mercury.
A bonus live CD will be offered with the release for a limited time, made up mainly of songs from the Milan stop on last year's Vertigo Tour. A DVD follow-up featuring videos for the songs on U218 Singles has also been announced.
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