Fans brave a not-so-Beautiful Day for U2 album

U2 fans move in mysterious ways. Hundreds of music lovers braved wintry conditions in Dublin yesterday for the midnight release of the band's latest, greatest hits collection.

HMV opened the doors of its Grafton Street branch on the stroke of 12 to cater for the fans who wanted to be the first to get their hands on a copy of the eagerly-awaited CD.

Dozens queued for hours outside the store, despite the fact that no members of the band were due to attend the special late-night opening. However, the famous Macnas big heads depicting Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jnr were on hand to keep the crowds entertained.

The new collection features 16 tracks including hit singles Even Better Than The Real Thing, One and Miss Sarajevo, as well as two new tracks the latest single, Electrical Storm, and Hands That Built America, from the soundtrack of the new Martin Scorcese film, The Gangs of New York.

Although HMV were able to close again at 1.30am, demand for U2: The Best of 1990-2000 was again brisk when the store re-opened for normal business yesterday morning.

"Copies are still flying out the door. The response has been massive," HMV store manager Gary Roche said.

Mr Roche explained that many fans were anxious for the limited edition because it features a separate CD collection of B-sides and a bonus DVD, and will be on sale for only a week.

After that, the album featuring just the A-side singles will be sold as a single CD.

A separate DVD, which will include six bonus tracks and commentary from the directors of the various videos, will go on sale on December 3.

"It's going to be one of the most successful albums ever sold. We would expect it to match the success of U2's first greatest hits collection," Mr Roche said.

The previous U2 greatest hits collection, Best of 1980-1990, topped album charts around the world upon its

release in 1998.

About 100 people also queued for the midnight opening of the HMV outlet on Patrick Street in Cork.

In an interview to coincide with the launch, U2 guitarist The Edge said the 1990s were about "the idea of a rock 'n' roll band, abstracting it as far as you possible could and then reconstructing it again".

"I think that's really, in a nutshell, what we did during that period. At every turn, it was an attempt to find inspiring places to go as songwriters and artists," he said.

The Edge said U2 would probably regroup at the end of the year after time away to work on solo projects.

"Right now, my instinct is to make a very raw kind of guitar-bass-drums; an album with a lot of attitude and a lot of that kind of life-force the vitality I associate with guitar bands in full flight."