U2 to mark 40th anniversary of 'A Celebration' with vinyl reissue on Record Store Day 2022

Island Records and UMe have announced the 40th-anniversary vinyl release of U2's 'A Celebration', a limited edition 12" vinyl EP to celebrate Record Store Day on April 23, 2022.

The veteran Dublin band's seventh single was originally released in March 1982, between the albums War (1981) and October (1983).

This special 40th anniversary reissue set also contains two previously unreleased recordings. The first is a studio outtake of the title track, while the second recording is also taken from a live performance of B-Side track 'Trash, Trampoline And The Party Girl'.

The U2 reissue is also cut at 45mm and pressed on a 180 gram black vinyl, with a cover designed by artist Meiert Avis.

Last month, U2 shared a special live cover of 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' to mark 50 years since the tragic events of 1972 in Derry.

Record Store Day will return on April 23rd and is slated to include records from artists like Sam Fender, Blur, Blondie, Taylor Swift, Nick Cave, David Bowie, St Vincent, Kacey Musgraves and more.

Hundreds of CDs and cassettes will be sold worldwide through independent record shops. Over 260 stores from every UK corner, along with thousands around the world will take part.

Record Store Day is managed by the Department of Record Stores and is organised in partnership with the Alliance of Independent Media Stores (AIMS), the Coalition of Independent Music Stores (CIMS), and promotes independent record stores year-round with events, special releases and more.

Last November, The Edge remarked that he had been working with bassist Adam Clayton on a new song.

“We are firmly locked in the tower of song and working away on a bunch of new things,” he said. “I’m just having so much fun writing and not necessarily having to think about where it’s going to go. It's more about enjoying the experience of writing and having no expectations or limitations on the process.”

The guitarist pointed out that the band hadn’t settled on any producers yet. “I so enjoyed working with Martin Garrix,” he said. U2 worked with the Dutch DJ on the anthemic Uefa Euro 2020 song ‘We Are The People.’

“I hope to work with him in the future. But we haven’t made any firm decisions on what the next thing will be in terms of personnel. I just don’t know.”

Order the new U2 reissue here.

'A Celebration' Track List

Side A:

1. A Celebration – 02:55
2. A Celebration (Studio Out-take) – 02:52

Side B:

1. Trash, Trampoline and The Party Girl – 02:34
2. Trash, Trampoline and The Party Girl (Live from iNNOCENCE +eXPERIENCE Tour, Köln 2015) – 03:16