U2 / San Diego April 1992 Mike Millard Master Tapes / 2CD

U2 / San Diego April 1992 Mike Millard Master Tapes / 2CD / Wardour
San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, CA, USA 15th April 1992

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Legendary master Mike Millard A masterpiece of his later years, a new masterpiece representing the “ZOO TV Tour” is born. Introducing the permanent storage press 2CD.
“April 15, 1992 San Diego performance” is included in this work. It is the transcendental audience recording. Speaking of “ZOO TV Tour”, the official video work “ZOO TV: LIVE FROM SYDNEY” was left, and the masterpiece “LOS ANGELES 1992 1ST NIGHT (Wardour-431)” of Millard, which was very popular last year, was also left. A new place in my memory. To get a sense of the distance to them, let’s first look back at the panoramic view of the world tour.

● 1992
・ February 29-April 23: North America # 1 (32 performances) ← ★ Coco ★
・ May 7th-June 19th: Europe # 1 (25 performances)
・ August 7th-November 25th: North America # 2 (47 performances)
● 1993
・ May 9-July 3: Europe # 2a (20 performances)
“Released” ZOOROPA “on July 5”
・ July 6-August 28: Europe # 2b (23 performances)
・ November 12-December 10: Oceania / Japan (10 performances) ← * Official video

This is U2 in 1992/1993. The performance in Japan and the official video were at the end of 1993, the final stage, but the San Diego performance of this work is the opposite, “North America # 1” at the beginning. It was the 27th performance, and it was also a concert three days after Millard’s previous work “LOS ANGELES 1992 1ST NIGHT”.
The position of the show is very similar to the previous work, but the sound is not. “LOS ANGELES 1992 1ST NIGHT” was also a beautiful sound unique to Mirrored, but by his standards, a big yellow cheer was picked up and the performance sound was also a little wild. However, it is known that the sound output of U2 is difficult to record, and considering that, it was an exceptional feeling. However, this work is a superb sound that does not need to be shaken by such “common sense of recording”. The edges are so sharp that you can’t think of the blur as the default U2 recording, and the powerful and dense core doesn’t give you a sense of distance. As usual, he sucks in a big cheer, but it is caught far away from “LOS ANGELES 1992 1ST NIGHT” and does not cut in between the heavy performance sound. It’s a “normal mirrored recording”, but it also means high-quality sound that pushes the limits of audience recording. We’ve done that with U2, which makes us cry taper!
It was a new master who was reminded of the awesomeness of the legendary master, but in reality it did not end there, and further miracles and misfortunes occurred at the recording site. First, the “unhappy” person. The cause of this is completely unknown, but in fact, the mirrored recording ended halfway. Specifically, recording was paused at the end of the main set, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” and Angkor was recorded without restarting (although there should have been enough tape left). It wasn’t done. Normally, you wouldn’t be surprised, but the legendary Millard in the legend makes such a careless mistake …
And the existence of another recording is a “further miracle” that offsets such misfortune. There is one more excellent recording left that is comparable to Millard’s masterpiece, complementing the encore part that Millard could not record. The sound is really superb. I can’t say “beyond the mirrored!” Because the cheering that is closer than the mirrored recording of the main story stands out, but the direct feeling and beauty are by no means defeated. That should be it, and it was the master “Keith M” who was said to have that person in San Diego who worked on this separate recording. It is known for various recordings, but in U2, is it familiar with “LOS ANGELES 1987 3RD NIGHT (Uxbridge 786)” in which Bob Dylan also appears? Because it is a top-class masterpiece in its masterpiece collection, it could withstand the complement of mirrored recordings.
The accumulation of such miracles is a full show that is different from “ZOO TV: LIVE FROM SYDNEY” and the previous work “LOS ANGELES 1992 1ST NIGHT”. To explain what that means, let’s organize the set while comparing.

● First half (DISC 1)
・ Achtung Baby: Zoo Station / The Fly / Even Better Than The Real Thing / Mysterious Ways / One / Until The End Of The World / Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses (★) / Tryin’To Throw Your Arms Around The World
● Second half / Angkor (DISC 2)
・?: Bad (★) / Pride (In The Name Of Love)
・ Joshua Tree: Bullet The Blue Sky ／ Running To Stand Still ／ Where The Streets Have No Name ／ I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For (★) ／ With Or Without You
・ Rattle and Hum: Angel Of Harlem / Van Diemen’s Land (★★)
・ Achtung Baby: Love Is Blindness
・ Cover: Dancing Queen (★★: ABBA) / Satellite Of Love (Lou Reed)
* Note: “★” marks are songs that cannot be heard on “ZOO TV: LIVE FROM SYDNEY”. In particular, the “★★” mark is a song that cannot be heard even in Millard’s previous work “LOS ANGELES 1992 1ST NIGHT (Wardour-431)”.

… And it looks like this. “ZOO TV Tour” will play a lot of new songs of “ACHTUNG BABY” in the first half of the show, but in this work, that part is placed on DISC 1 and the rest are placed on DISC 2. Most of them are in common with “LOS ANGELES 1992 1ST NIGHT”, but the ones that are noteworthy are “Van Diemen’s Land” and “Dancing Queen”. Neither is a rare song that has been played 40 times, especially the acoustic section “Dancing Queen” is a cover of ABBA, and it is a valuable repertoire that was sung only in a limited venue even in “ZOO TV Tour”.
It was said that Millard at that time was already mentally unstable, and the number of recordings had dropped sharply. Among them, U2 was a band that was so passionate for Millard that it recorded two performances in just a few days. A full show of the heyday “ZOO TV Tour” captured by the finest sound of such a legendary master. Please fully enjoy it with the permanent storage press 2CD.

★ Recording of a superb audience of “April 15, 1992 San Diego Performance”. It is a brand item that has been digitized directly from the master of the absolute master Mike Millard, and its sound is the best with “super”. Compared to the same mirrored work “LOS ANGELES 1992 1ST NIGHT”, it is clearly beautiful, the thick core without a sense of distance is powerful, and the edge is crisp and dignified. Unfortunately, the encore was not recorded, but it was complemented by another recording by San Diego’s master taper “Keith M”. This is a new masterpiece of a full live album where you can enjoy the precious “Van Diemen’s Land” and “Dancing Queen”.

伝説名手マイク・ミラード晩年の傑作にして、“ZOO TV Tour”を代表する新名盤が誕生。永久保存プレス２CDで登場です。
そんな本作に収められているのは「1992年４月15日サンディエゴ公演」。その超絶級オーディエンス録音です。“ZOO TV Tour”と言えば、オフィシャル映像作『ZOO TV: LIVE FROM SYDNEY』も残されましたし、昨年大好評を博したミラードの名盤『LOS ANGELES 1992 1ST NIGHT（Wardour-431）』も記憶に新しいところ。それらとの距離感を把握するためにも、まずはワールド・ツアーの全景から振り返ってみましょう。

●1992年
・２月29日-４月23日：北米#1（32公演）←★ココ★
・５月７日-６月19日：欧州#1（25公演）
・８月７日-11月25日：北米#2（47公演）
●1993年
・５月９日-７月３日：欧州#2a（20公演）
《７月５日『ZOOROPA』発売》
・７月６日-８月28日：欧州#2b（23公演）
・11月12日-12月10日：オセアニア/日本（10公演）←※公式映像

これが1992年／1993年のU2。来日公演や公式映像は最終盤の1993年末でしたが、本作のサンディエゴ公演はその逆に序盤「北米#1」。その27公演目であり、ミラードの前作『LOS ANGELES 1992 1ST NIGHT』の３日後にあたるコンサートでもありました。
ショウのポジションは前作に酷似しているわけですが、サウンドはそうではありません。『LOS ANGELES 1992 1ST NIGHT』もミラードならではの美麗サウンドではあったのですが、彼の基準に照らすと盛大な黄色い大歓声が大きく拾われ、演奏音はややワイルドでもありました。もっともU2の出音は録音が難しい事でも知られていますし、それを考えれば破格……という感じだったのです。ところが、本作はそんな「録音の常識」を振りかざす必要がない極上サウンド。ボケボケがデフォのU2録音とは思えないほどエッジがキリッとしており、力強く密度の高い芯には距離感がまるでない。相変わらず盛大な大喝采は吸い込んでいるものの、『LOS ANGELES 1992 1ST NIGHT』よりも遙かに遠くに捉えられ、骨太な演奏音との間に割り込んでこない。言ってしまえば「いつものミラード録音」ではあるのですが、それは同時にオーディエンス録音の限界に迫る高音質という意味でもある。それをテーパー泣かせなU2でも成し遂げているのです！
改めて伝説名手の凄みを思い知らされる新マスターなのですが、実はそれだけでは終わらず、録音現場では更なる奇跡と不幸が起こっていました。まず、「不幸」の方。これはまったく原因不明なのですが、実はミラード録音は途中で終了してしまった。具体的に言いますと本編セット最後の「I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For」で録音が一時停止され、（テープ残量に余裕があったはずなのに）再開されずにアンコールが録音されなかったのです。普通なら驚きもしませんが、伝説の中の伝説であるミラードがこんなケアレスミスを犯すとは……。
そして、そんな不幸を相殺してくれる「更なる奇跡」なのが別録音の存在。ミラードの名作に負けない極上録音がもう１本残されており、ミラードが録音できなかったアンコール・パートが補完されているのです。そのサウンドは、本当に極上。本編のミラード録音よりも間近な声援が目立つために「ミラード超え！」とまでは言えませんが、ダイレクト感も美しさも決して負けていないのです。それもそのはず、この別録音を手掛けたのもサンディエゴにその人ありと言われた達人「KeithM」。さまざまな録音で知られますが、U2で言うならボブ・ディランも登場する『LOS ANGELES 1987 3RD NIGHT（Uxbridge 786）』がお馴染みでしょうか。その達人コレクションでもトップ・クラスの傑作だからこそ、ミラード録音の補完にも耐えられたのです。
そんな奇跡の積み重ねで描かれるのは、『ZOO TV: LIVE FROM SYDNEY』とも前作『LOS ANGELES 1992 1ST NIGHT』とも趣の異なるフルショウ。その意味をご説明するためにも、比較しながらセットを整理してみましょう。

●前半（DISC 1）
・アクトン・ベイビー：Zoo Station／The Fly／Even Better Than The Real Thing／Mysterious Ways／One／Until The End Of The World／Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses（★）／Tryin’ To Throw Your Arms Around The World
●後半／アンコール（DISC 2）
・?：Bad（★）／Pride (In The Name Of Love)
・ヨシュア・トゥリー：Bullet The Blue Sky／Running To Stand Still／Where The Streets Have No Name／I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For（★）／With Or Without You
・魂の叫び：Angel Of Harlem／Van Diemen’s Land（★★）
・アクトン・ベイビー：Love Is Blindness
・カバー：Dancing Queen（★★：ABBA）/Satellite Of Love（ルー・リード）
※注：「★」印は『ZOO TV: LIVE FROM SYDNEY』では聴けない曲。特に「★★」印はミラードの前作『LOS ANGELES 1992 1ST NIGHT（Wardour-431）』でも聴けない曲。

……と、このようになっています。“ZOO TV Tour”はショウ前半に『ACHTUNG BABY』の新曲をたっぷり演奏するわけですが、本作ではそのパートをDISC 1、それ以降をDISC 2に配しています。大部分が『LOS ANGELES 1992 1ST NIGHT』とも共通する中で、注目なのが「Van Diemen’s Land」「Dancing Queen」。どちらも40回も演奏していないレア曲であり、特にアコースティック・セクションの「Dancing Queen」はABBAのカバーで、“ZOO TV Tour”でも限られた会場でしか歌われなかった貴重なレパトーリーです。
当時のミラードはすでに精神的に不安定だったとも言われ、録音数が激減していました。その中にあってU2はわずか数日の間に２公演録音するほど、ミラードにとっては情熱を掻き立てられるバンドだったのです。そんな伝説名手の極上サウンドで捉えられた全盛“ZOO TV Tour”のフルショウ。どうぞ、永久保存プレス２CDで存分にご堪能ください。

★「1992年４月15日サンディエゴ公演」の超絶級オーディエンス録音。絶対名手マイク・ミラードの大元マスターからダイレクトにデジタル化された銘品中の銘品で、そのサウンドは「超」付きの極上。同じミラード作品の『LOS ANGELES 1992 1ST NIGHT』と比較しても明らかに美しく、距離感のない極太の芯が力強く、エッジもキリッと凛々しい。残念ながらアンコールは録音されませんでしたが、サンディエゴの達人テーパー「KeithM」による別録音で補完。貴重な「Van Diemen’s Land」「Dancing Queen」も楽しめるフル・ライヴアルバムの新名盤です。

Disc 1 (44:56)
1. Zoo Station
2. The Fly
3. Even Better Than the Real Thing
4. Mysterious Ways
5. One
6. Until the End of the World
7. Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
8. Tryin’ to Throw Your Arms Around the World

Disc 2 (57:06)
1. Angel of Harlem
2. Dancing Queen
3. Satellite of Love
4. Van Diemen’s Land
5. Bad / All I Want Is You
6. Bullet the Blue Sky
7. Running to Stand Still
8. Where the Streets Have No Name
9. Pride (In the Name of Love)
10. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
11. With or Without You
12. Love Is Blindness

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