Walk on / Beautiful Day / New York [Maxi, Import]

The b-sides are live performances from the relatively small FarmClub venue (you can hear individual whistles and claps). "Beautiful Day" is nicely done and even more anthemic with its extended ending (e.g., Bono singing "Go with soul!"). "New York" has a more dramatic guitar sound at the end than on the studio version, and Bono sings the refrain a bit more straightforward. (A MOMENT OF BITCHING: They really should have put a live version of "Elevation" on here, which is quite different from the studio version - especially their Saturday Night Live performance in December 2000.)

1. Walk On - A very uplifting song. It starts off with Bono talking over Edge's piano and Larry's drumming. Then in come Edge's signature chiming guitar notes. This is indeed the "pure U2 sound" - whatever that means. ;) The song is pretty much the same as the version on "All That You Can't Leave Behind", except it's about 20 seconds shorter.

2. Beautiful Day (Live from Farmclub.com): I'd imagine this was U2's first attempt at performing Beautiful Day live infront of an eager audience... and they passed with flying colours! Edge starts off the song giving you a taste of his signature chiming guitar notes. Bono sings the lyrics with ease and confidence... almost like he's completely aware that the song will be recorded for future listening. The live version isn't much different than the original recording, other than a few ad lib vocals at the end. All in all, this is a great version of Beautiful Day and it gives me that nice, warm, fuzzy feeling. ;)

3. New York (Live from Farmclub.com) - This is the highlight of the single. The intro beats are speckled with Edge's distinct chiming guitar, and Bono sings the lyrics like he's reading poetry. The song sounds very repetitive for the first 2 minutes, but then it cuts into some energetic guitar and vocals. I swear, Bono is singing like he did back in 1982 with his random "a-hoooo"'s. Even if you listen carefully to Edge's guitar, you'll notice how similar it sounds to his guitar on Under A Blood Red Sky. At certain points (especially during Edge's solo), I got chills down my spine. It totally brought U2 back to their early era style-wise. I never thought I'd hear this style of rawness again from U2. It's a pleasant surprise!