''Under a Blood Red Sky'' is a live album by Irish rock band U2, produced by

Jimmy Iovine James Iovine ( ; ; born March 11, 1953) is an American entrepreneur, record executive, and media proprietor best known as the co-founder of Interscope Records. In 2006, Iovine and rapper-producer Dr. Dre founded Beats Electronics, which produces ...

and released on 21 November 1983. The record's eight tracks were compiled from three concerts during the group's 1983

War Tour War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regul ...

, including two songs from their 5 June performance at

Red Rocks Amphitheatre Red Rocks Amphitheatre (also colloquially as simply Red Rocks) is an open-air amphitheatre built into a rock structure in the western United States, near Morrison, Colorado, west of Denver. There is a large, tilted, disc-shaped rock behind ...

. The concert film '' U2 Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky'', recorded at the same Red Rocks show, was released as a companion to the live album. Both releases helped establish U2's reputation globally as a renowned live act.

History

The album consists of live recordings from three shows on the band's

, from

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

and

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

in the US and from Germany. An accompanying concert video entitled '' Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky'' was released the following year. The film was recorded entirely at the outdoor

on 5 June 1983, while two songs from that show are included on the album. The title is taken from the lyrics of the song "

New Year's Day New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Whi ...

", originally released on U2's ''

War War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

'' album. The album was re-released on 29 September 2008 as a remastered CD with a DVD of the Red Rocks concert.

Track listing

Notes
During the performance of "The Electric Co.", Bono included a 27-second snippet of

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March 22, 1930November 26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. One of the most important figures in twentieth-century musical theater, Sondheim is credited for having "reinvented the American musical" with sho ...

's " Send in the Clowns". When ''Under a Blood Red Sky'' was released, U2 failed to get permission and pay the appropriate licensing and royalty fees to include Sondheim's tune on the album. When Sondheim objected, U2 agreed to pay a $50,000 (US) penalty for the unauthorized use and to press all future releases with a new version that did not include the snippet. Essentially, there are now two versions of the vinyl album: the original with the full "The Electric Co." running 5:18 and the edited version which runs 4:51. However, the various CDs pressed around the world all vary in the versions of the song that are included. *The trifold digipack CD pressed in the U.S. correctly lists "The Electric Co." at 4:51 and contains the edited version of the song. *Later U.S. CD pressings in the standard jewel box format incorrectly list "The Electric Co." at 5:18, but have the edited version of the song. *Some, and perhaps all, European pressings of the CD correctly list "The Electric Co." at 5:18 and have the unedited version of the song (the same is likely true of other worldwide CD pressings). *An Australian pressing of the CD lists the track at 4:57, but the song actually runs the full 5:18. *The remastered editions all contain the edited version of the song.

Personnel

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by his stage name Bono (), is an Irish singer-songwriter, activist, and philanthropist. He is the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Born and raised in Dublin, he attended ...

– lead vocals *

The Edge David Howell Evans (born 8 August 1961), better known as the Edge or simply Edge,McCormick (2006), pp. 21, 23–24 is an English-born Irish musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the lead guitarist, keyboardist, and backing voca ...

– guitar, keyboards, backing vocals, bass guitar on "40" *

Adam Clayton Adam Charles Clayton (born 13 March 1960) is an English-born Irish musician who is the bass guitarist of the rock band U2. He has resided in County Dublin, Ireland since his family moved to Malahide in 1965, when he was five years old. C ...

– bass guitar, guitar on "40" *

Larry Mullen Jr. Laurence Joseph Mullen Jr. (; born 31 October 1961) is an Irish musician, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the rock band U2. Mullen was born in Dublin, where he attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School. In 1976, he co-founded U2 ...

– drums

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

''Under a Blood Red Sky''
on U2.com {{Authority control Albums produced by Jimmy Iovine U2 live albums 1983 live albums Albums recorded at Red Rocks Amphitheatre