{{Short description|2010 EP by U2}} {{Distinguish|Wide Awake in America}} {{good article}} {{use Hiberno-English|date=May 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}} {{Infobox album | name = Wide Awake in Europe | type = EP | longtype = (Live) | artist = U2 | cover = Wide Awake in Europe.jpg | border = yes | alt = A record sleeve with a sepia-tone photograph of Bono holding a circular-shaped microphone in front of a thick fog. A white border surrounds the image and reads "U2 Wide Awake in Europe" at the top right. | released = 26 November 2010 | recorded = July 2009, September 2010 | venue = | studio = | genre = Rock | length = 18:32 | label = Interscope | producer = Declan Gaffney | prev_title = U2360° at the Rose Bowl | prev_year = 2010 | next_title = Duals | next_year = 2011 }} '''''Wide Awake in Europe''''' is a live EP by rock band U2. The release was created by the organizers of Record Store Day to bring customers into independent record shops for holiday shopping. A limited number of 5,000 EPs were produced, and were released on Black Friday in 2010, mostly to record shops in North America. The EP features three live tracks on a 12-inch vinyl record, taken from three different concerts during the U2 360° Tour in 2009 and 2010. The EP comprises the songs "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight", "Moment of Surrender", and "Mercy", the latter a previously unreleased track that was debuted on tour.

==Background and release== The potential release of an EP was first announced by U2 bassist Adam Clayton in an August 2010 U2.com video, after stating that the band was not yet ready to release another album.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atu2.com/news/adam-u2-ep-is-a-possibility.html|title=Adam: U2 EP is a Possibility|last=McGee|first=Matt|date=10 August 2010|work=@U2|access-date=29 October 2010}}</ref> In mid-October, listings for the EP appeared on Amazon, with a release date of 22 November.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atu2.com/news/wide-awake-in-europe-u2s-next-release.html|title={{-'}}Wide Awake in Europe' – U2's Next Release?|last=McGee|first=Matt|date=17 October 2010|work=@U2|access-date=29 October 2010}}</ref> Details of the release were officially announced on 26 October with the track listing and release date information, along with details about its exclusive release to independent record stores, despite its listing on Amazon.<ref name="abc"/> U2.com officially announced the release on 16 November, and "Moment of Surrender" from the release was streamed on the website exclusively for the site's subscribers, beginning the following the day.<ref name="u2.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.u2.com/news/title/wide-awake-in-europe-for-record-store-day|title={{-'}}Wide Awake in Europe' for Record Store Day|date=16 November 2010|work=U2.com|publisher=Live Nation|access-date=19 November 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.u2.com/news/title/wide-awake-moment|title=Wide Awake Moment|date=17 November 2010|work=U2.com|publisher=Live Nation|access-date=19 November 2010|url-access=subscription }}</ref> On the day of the EP's release, U2.com streamed all three tracks for the site's subscribers for a 48-hour period.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.u2.com/news/title/mercy-now-streaming|title=Mercy: Now Streaming|date=26 November 2010|work=U2.com|publisher=Live Nation|access-date=27 November 2010|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

{{Quote box |align=left|width=27%|quote="We all wanted to get behind Record Store Day. My local record shop introduced me to music I didn’t know and I might never have discovered."|source=—Adam Clayton<ref>{{cite web|url=https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/11/u2-ep-wide-awake-europe.html|title=U2 preps live EP on vinyl for 'Black Friday' at indie record stores|last=Lewis|first=Randy|date=22 November 2010|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=27 November 2010}}</ref>|style=padding:8px;}}

The EP originated with the creators of Record Store Day as an exclusive release as part of the "Back to Black Friday" program along with over 30 releases from other artists.<ref name="variety">{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2010/music/news/u2-to-issue-live-ep-1118026381/|title=U2 to issue live EP|last=Morris|first=Christopher|date=26 October 2010|work=Variety|access-date=28 October 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/retail/1198377/indie-retailers-bring-exclusive-to-black-friday|title=Indie Retailers Bring Exclusive To Black Friday|last=Peoples|first=Glenn|date=29 October 2010|magazine=Billboard|access-date=21 April 2013}}</ref> The program's objective was to draw customers to independent record shops on Black Friday and throughout the 2010 holiday shopping season, as opposed to big-box stores and shopping malls.<ref name="variety"/> The EP was released by Interscope Records on 26 November 2010, exclusively for independent record shops in the North America, with a select number of copies available in Europe.<ref name="u2.com"/> U2.com stated copies would be available in the United Kingdom and Ireland.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

The release was limited to 5,000 copies, all of which were individually numbered, although some pressings had higher numbers, as jackets damaged during the manufacturing process were destroyed and reprinted with newer numbers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atu2.com/news/photos-wide-awake-in-europe-seen-in-the-wild.html|title=PHOTOS: Wide Awake in Europe Seen 'In the Wild{{'-}}|last=McGee|first=Matt|date=19 November 2010|work=@U2|access-date=22 November 2010}}</ref> An owner of a Milwaukee, Wisconsin store compared ordering the EP to roulette, saying he "ordered 15 [copies] hoping to get 6".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/musicandnightlife/110232949.html|title=Nicki Minaj: Pink Friday|last=Gilbertson|first=Jon M.|date=24 November 2010|work=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel|access-date=27 November 2010}}</ref> Twenty of the copies were given away in a December 2010 sweepstakes for U2.com site subscribers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://u2wideawakeineurope.specialcontest.com/|title=U2 Wide Awake in Europe Giveaway|publisher=Live Nation|access-date=8 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716114314/http://u2wideawakeineurope.specialcontest.com/|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 July 2011}}</ref>

Pre-orders for the EP were available from online retailer The Ideal Copy, but had sold out by the end of October, almost a month prior to the release.<ref name="ideal">{{cite web|url=http://idealcopy.american-data.net/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=600753316191|title=U2 – Wide Awake in Europe <nowiki>[US 12"]</nowiki>|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101030013950/http://idealcopy.american-data.net/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=600753316191|archive-date=30 October 2010|url-status=dead|work=The Ideal Store|access-date=29 October 2010}}</ref> New Jersey–based retailer Vintage Vinyl Records described the EP as an "Indie-Exclusive Black Friday item", and also sold pre-orders online, but had ended pre-orders early to ensure copies were available for Black Friday.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vvinyl.com/v/u2-wide-awake-in-europe/1031|title=U2 – Wide Awake in Europe|publisher=Vintage Vinyl Records|access-date=28 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101027161352/http://www.vvinyl.com/v/u2-wide-awake-in-europe/1031|url-status=dead|archive-date=27 October 2010}}</ref> On the day of its release, several record shops in the US reported ''Wide Awake in Europe'' as one of their best-sellers.<ref name="early">{{cite magazine|author=Christman, Ed|url=https://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/retail/1197065/the-early-look-black-friday-music-sales-recap|title=The Early Look: Black Friday Music Sales Recap|date=27 November 2010|magazine=Billboard|access-date=18 April 2013|display-authors=etal}}</ref> The EP was sold for around US$10–20,<ref name="ideal"/><ref name="early"/> but copies were selling on eBay the following day for $75.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2010/music/news/amoeba-has-good-friday-1118028043/|title=Amoeba has good Friday|last=Morris|first=Christopher|date= 29 November 2010|work=Variety|access-date=29 November 2010}}</ref>

==Content== thumb|alt=A concert stage; four large legs curve up above the stage and hold a video screen which is extended down to the band. The legs were lit up in green. The video screen has multi-coloured lights flashing on it. The audience surrounds the stage on all sides.|The three live tracks on the EP were recorded during the U2 360° Tour in 2009 and 2010.

The title and cover of the EP are references to U2's 1985 EP ''Wide Awake in America''. All the tracks were recorded by Alastair McMillan, and mixed by the EP's producer, Declan Gaffney.<ref name="EP">{{cite AV media notes|title=Wide Awake in Europe|others=U2|publisher=Interscope Records|id=B0015052-01|date=2010}}</ref>

Side A of the record features "Mercy", which was debuted during the U2 360° Tour in September 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.u2.com/tour/article/title/mercy-in-the-rain-in-zurich/tours_u2_360_tour/73|title=Mercy in the Rain in Zurich|date=12 September 2010|work=U2.com|publisher=Live Nation|access-date=28 October 2010}}</ref> Previously, "Mercy" had leaked online as a track from the sessions for U2's 2004 album ''How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb'', but ''Wide Awake in Europe'' was the first official release of the song.<ref name="sputnik">{{cite web|url=https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/40806/U2-Wide-Awake-In-Europe/|first=Irving|last=Tan|title=U2: Wide Awake in Europe|publisher=Sputnikmusic|date=20 December 2010|access-date=14 November 2013}}</ref> The performance included on the EP is taken from band's concert in Brussels during the month of its debut, and was the fourth-ever live performance of the song.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.u2gigs.com/Mercy-s756.html|title=Mercy|work=U2gigs.com|access-date=28 October 2010}}</ref>

Side B features performances of "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" (from Dublin in July 2009) and "Moment of Surrender" (from Paris in September 2010), both of which are from U2's 2009 studio album, ''No Line on the Horizon''.<ref name="abc">{{cite web|url=http://abcnewsradioonline.com/entertainment-news/2010/10/27/u2-releasing-three-track-vinyl-ep-in-limited-quantities.html|title=U2 Releasing Three-Track Vinyl EP in Limited Quantities|publisher=ABC News Radio|date=27 October 2010|access-date=28 October 2010|archive-date=7 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707075006/http://abcnewsradioonline.com/entertainment-news/2010/10/27/u2-releasing-three-track-vinyl-ep-in-limited-quantities.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="ideal" /> The EP's live version of the "I'll Go Crazy" live remix from Dublin was previously released on the 2009 U2.com member-exclusive remix album, ''Artificial Horizon'', and was remixed by Redanka and Dirty South.<ref>{{cite AV media notes |title=Artificial Horizon|publisher=Island Records|id=U2.COM5|date=2010|others=U2}}</ref> The track also features a clip of "Beshno Az Ney/Windfall" by Sussan Deyhim.<ref name="EP"/>

In a review published by Sputnikmusic two weeks after ''Wide Awake in Europe''{{'s}} release, critic Irving Tan praised the EP, stating how "Mercy" was "the biggest treat to fans", while the "I'll Go Crazy" remix gives the EP a "party vibe", and that "Moment of Surrender" "manages to be hopeful, glorious, and resplendent all at once". Tan concluded by saying that the EP sends a message of the band's "youthful defiance" and stated that he looks forward to U2's fourth decade.<ref name="sputnik"/>

==Track listing== {{Track listing |all_lyrics=Bono |all_music=U2 |extra_column=Recorded at |headline=Side A |title1=Mercy |note1=Live from Brussels |music1=U2 |extra1=King Baudouin Stadium, 22 September 2010, Brussels |length1=4:38 }} {{Track listing |extra_column=Recorded at |headline=Side B |title1=I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight |note1=Live U2360° Remix |music1=U2 |extra1=Croke Park, 27 July 2009, Dublin |length1=6:44 |title2=Moment of Surrender |note2=Live from Paris |music2=U2, Brian Eno, and Danny Lanois |extra2=Stade de France, 18 September 2010, Paris |length2=7:10 }}

==Personnel== *Production – Declan Gaffney *Recording – Alastair McMillan *Mixing – Declan Gaffney, Russell Fawcus (assistance on "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight") *Mastering – Scott Sedillo at Bernie Grundman Mastering *Audio post production – Cheryl Engles at Partial Productions *Photography – Aaron Harris *Sleeve design – Shaughn McGrath at Amp Visual

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{U2}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wide Awake in Europe}} Category:2010 EPs Category:2010 live albums Category:Live EPs Category:U2 EPs Category:U2 live albums Category:Interscope Records live albums Category:Interscope Records EPs Category:Record Store Day releases