u2, Rattle and Hum
U2RATTLE AND
HUM.
Rattle and Hum mixes live performances, new studio songs and a documentary film into one project built around U2's fascination with American roots music.
Album artwork shown for commentary and historical reference. Cover image source: Cover Art Archive or the linked archival source.
SEVEN THINGS
WORTH KNOWING.
Recording stories, personnel, physical details and numbers worth keeping with the record.
Rattle and Hum was released on October 10, 1988 and contains 17 tracks.
The album was conceived as a companion to Phil Joanou's concert documentary film.
Jimmy Iovine produced the album.
Live material came from the Joshua Tree tour.
U2 also recorded at Sun Studio in Memphis during the project.
The album combines U2 originals with performances connected to artists including the Beatles, Bob Dylan and B.B. King.
The project arrived less than two years after The Joshua Tree, extending that album's exploration of American music.
WHY THIS
ALBUM MATTERS.
Rattle and Hum is intentionally messy because it is part live record, part studio album, part musical travelogue and part film soundtrack, capturing a band trying to understand its influences in public.
THE
NUMBERS.
TRACKS
The album contains seventeen selections.
RELEASE
Rattle and Hum arrived in October 1988.
COMPANION FILM
The album was released alongside Phil Joanou's documentary.
THE
PHYSICAL OBJECT.
The black-and-white sleeve uses a performance photograph rather than elaborate graphics, fitting a project obsessed with live music, roots and documentary imagery.
RESEARCH SOURCES
Facts are checked against artist archives, release databases, recording credits and established archival sources before publication.
KEEP
DIGGING.
More recording stories, strange credits, cover art, chart numbers and details hiding inside the records.