A Great U2 Introduction!
If you are new to U2, this is a great place to start that will pull you in. Be careful, buying this album will most likely lead to many more U2 albums for your to purchase, so buy only if you have more CD money to burn ;)

U218 Singles
Great songs from a Great band -- this set shows why U2 will be here for a long time.
Proof of Popularity (Billboard Boxscore, Ray Waddell): $389,047,816 earned from the Worldwide "U2 Vertigo Tour" - March 28,2005 to Dec 9, 2006 - 131 shows - 4,619,021 tickets sold - tour producer Arthur Fogel of Live Nation - $96.92 average North America ticket price (Poillstar) This type of popularity and earned success doesn't come around everyday: Senator Hillary Clinton has it: In the 2008 Presidential Primary race, Hillary Clinton not only earned more votes than any of her rivals, she earned more votes than any other Presidential Primary candidate in the history of America.

Be Sure to Buy the European Edition with "I will follow"
a great best of, all the songs you need, except the U.S. version omits "I will follow", fortunately the European edition leads with that track...unfortunately for both, the cd is annoyingly LOUD, with modern-mastering techniques almost ruining the release...docked a star for that, do not play for more than 20-25 minutes, or you will need medical attention

Good mix for a new fan, Saints Are Coming is AWESOME!
This cd has some of my favorite U2 songs, quite a few of which I didn't have yet. However, if you have most of their albums I would just pay for the download of U2/Green Day's "The Saints Are Coming." It's an AWESOME song that will wake you up. It also has a fair bit of meaning to a lot of people, as it was played at the first Saints home game after Katrina.

Bland Blarney
"U218 Singles" is U2's latest attempt to cash in on its long-gone glory days and appeal to young 'uns. U2 began as a "born-again" Christian rock band in Dublin. They had post-punk alt. rock, with a rougher edge than the slickly produced New Wave hits currently on the scene. In the beginning,Bono&his band had something fresh&innovative.

"U218",is,like all greatest hits comps, a mixed bag. There are some fun,catchy tunes from U2's early days,such as "Sweetest thing","With or without you",and "Mysterious Ways." There are more spiritual radio hits like "Pride (in the name of love)" which simultaneously invokes Jesus and Martin Luther King,along with "I still haven't found what I'm looking for","Beautiful Day" and "Where the streets have no name." That's the good (where's "Bullet the blue sky"?). Now,onto the bad&the ugly.

"U218" also has the faded glory "hits" of "Sometimes you can't make it on your own" and "Stuck in a moment you can't get out of." The catchy message rock of the '80s has degenerated into preachiness&sanctimony in the millennium. There's the turgid "Elevation" that has some cheesy lyrics about the "curve of your thighs"(it's NOT sexy),and somehow got remixed for the openly campy Tomb Raider movie starring Angelina Jolie. It makes sense. There's the genuinely wretched "Vertigo" song that got plugged into endless rotation thanks to the iPod ad. Finally,there's the pretentious "Saints are coming" duet with Green Day. When two pretentious bands collide,it's... something else.

"U218" is mediocre. There are genuinely great songs blended with wretched ones. If you REALLY REALLY like U2,I recommend "In the name of love: Africa celebrates U2." It's got amazing covers from Angelique Kidjo, Les Nubians, the Sierre Leone Refugee All Stars and Vieux Farka Toure. The best U2 is out of Africa.