Released Date: March 3, 1997
Produced By: Flood, Howie B
Engineer: Mark “Spike” Stent, Richard Rainey, Rob Kirwan
Label: Island Records
Recorded At: Hanover, Windmill Lane, and The Works, Dublin. South Beach Studios, Miami.
The ninth studio album by U2, Pop continues the band’s 1990s experiment into alternative rock, techno, dance, and electronica. Recording sessions began in 1995, with producers Flood, Nellee Hooper, Howie B, and Osborne introducing the band to electronica influences.
“Pop is a magic album,” said principal engineer Howie B. “I listen to it; there’s music there, songs, beats. I’m glad I had something to do with it…”
Drummer Larry Mullen was mostly absent from recording sessions due to a back injury. This forced the band to explore other methods of songwriting and pursue other musical influences, including that of electronic dance music. When speaking about Howie’s influence, Flood explained, “Howie would be playing all kinds of records to inspire the band… anything from a jazz trumpet solo to a super funk thing… We also programmed drum loops, or took things from sample CDs; anything to get the ball rolling.”
In February 1997, the band released the techno-heavy ‘Discotheque,’ one of six singles from the album. Many of the ‘Discotheque’ singles include the extra track ‘Holy Joe’ as the b-side. ‘Holy Joe (Guilty Mix)’ is found in the Japanese release of Pop. It was a marketing strategy in Japan to include an extra track to help increase sales.
‘Pop’ hit the number one spot in 35 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Australia. It remained in the Irish charts for 46 weeks. It was also nominated for Grammy’s Best Rock/Pop Album and certified Triple Platinum in Canada. Despite the accolades, lifetime sales for the album are the lowest in U2’s catalog.
Songs included on ‘Pop’:
Discotheque, Do You Feel Loved, Mofo, If God Will Send His Angels, Staring At The Sun, Last Night On Earth, Gone, Miami, The Playboy Mansion, If You Wear That Velvet Dress, Please, Wake Up Dead Man
