"Discothèque" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the opening track on their 1997 album, Pop, and was released as its lead single on 3 February 1997 by Island Records. The song exhibits influences from electronic dance music, characteristic of the band's musical direction in the 1990s. The music video, directed by Stéphane Sednaoui, was set inside of a mirrorball and featured the band members dressed as members of the disco group the Village People.

"Discothèque" peaked at number one in several countries, including Finland, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom, and it also reached number one on the American and Canadian dance and alternative charts.

Release history

A 30-second sample of "Discothèque" was leaked to the Internet on 26 October 1996. By 27 December, the entire track had been leaked, after which U2 moved the release date forward. "Discothèque" debuted at number three on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart and reached number one the following week. However, Stephen Thomas believed it to be indicative of the growing influence of remixes in music. Kevin Courtney from Irish Times commented, "U2's much-touted "dance influences" are right to the fore here, with Larry's drums laying down a strident beat reminiscent of 'The Fly', and The Edge mixing distorted guitars with crazy compressed electronic effects. Bono's disembodied, doubled-up voice squeezes into the cyber-spaces, sounding frazzled and frantic at first, then going all grungy and growling. The atmosphere is one of taut stretched out tension as though the song was being pulled apart in four different directions, but then everything suddenly goes slack, resolving into a fluid, delayed-effect guitar lick by the Edge."

Dominic Pride from Music & Media commented, "Bono and the boys continue their historical process of deconstructing—and reconstructing—rock music, fusing a trippy beat with their trademark chattering guitars and a clear, echoing lead hook." He added, "This time around, Bono's vocals lie farther back in the mix than in the past, and anyone expecting a traditional verse and chorus structure will struggle to find it here. Not, of course, that this will stop most radio formats embracing this from day one." A reviewer from Music Week gave it a full score of five out of five, declaring it as a "stunning new single which, echoing the spirit of 'The Fly', sees producer Flood successfully combining an electronic-sounding Bono vocal with a dark, yet undeniably funky backing." David Sinclair from The Times wrote that the Irish superstars "make a bullish and overdue return to the fray with an impressively noisy groove."

Commercials for the 2003 Toyota Matrix used the Hexadecimal remix. In a 2006 article by Stylus, the magazine had trouble trying to classify the genre of the song, calling it "sheer WTFery" and "permanently unclassifiable". Prior to the video's debut on MTV, the channel aired a 24-hour marathon of 13 U2 music videos.

Live performances

The song was performed at every show on the PopMart Tour. It opened the encore and was followed by "If You Wear That Velvet Dress" (bar three shows). A somewhat abbreviated form of "Discothèque" was played during the first two legs of U2's Elevation Tour in 2001, normally containing the snippets of "Staring at the Sun" and INXS's "Devil Inside". A more rock-sounding version of the song was played twice on the Vertigo Tour accompanied by an elaborate stage lightshow. It has not been played in full since 20 September 2005. In the 2010 European leg of the U2 360° Tour, the band began performing an extended snippet of Discothèque during their remixed version of "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight", with Bono singing several verses of the song during the intro and the outtro, and Edge mixing its guitar riff in at the end.

Track listings

  • UK and European CD single
  1. "Discothèque" – 5:08
  2. "Holy Joe" (Garage Mix) – 4:21
  3. "Holy Joe" (Guilty Mix) – 5:09
  • US 12-inch single

:A1. "Discothèque" (DM Deep Club Mix) – 6:58

:A2. "Discothèque" (Hexidecimal Mix) – 7:21

:B1. "Discothèque" (DM Deep Instrumental Mix) – 6:58

:B2. "Discothèque" (radio edit) – 4:34

Personnel

  • Bono – vocals
  • The Edge – guitar, backing vocals
  • Adam Clayton – bass guitar
  • Larry Mullen Jr. – drums, percussion

Charts

Weekly charts

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!Chart (1997)

!Peak<br />position

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!scope="row"|Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)

|1

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!scope="row"|Czech Republic (IFPI CR)

|2

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!scope="row"|Denmark (IFPI)

|3

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!scope="row"|Hungary (Mahasz)

|3

|-

!scope="row"|Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)

|2

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Italy (Musica e dischi)

| 1

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|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

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|}

Year-end charts

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!Chart (1997)

!Position

|-

!scope="row"|Australia (ARIA)

|97

|-

!scope="row"|Canada Top Singles (RPM)

|17

|-

!scope="row"|Canada Dance/Urban (RPM)

|2

|-

!scope="row"|Canada Rock/Alternative (RPM)

|3

|-

!scope="row"|Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)

|41

|-

!scope="row"|Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)

|19

|-

!scope="row"|Romania (Romanian Top 100)

|33

|-

!scope="row"|Sweden (Topplistan)

|65

|-

!scope="row"|UK Singles (OCC)

|55

|-

!scope="row"|US Dance Club Play (Billboard)

|8

|-

!scope="row"|US Mainstream Rock Tracks (Billboard)

|64

|-

!scope="row"|US Maxi-Singles Sales (Billboard)

|27

|-

!scope="row"|US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard)

|52

|}

Certifications

Release history

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

!scope="col"|Region

!scope="col"|Date

!scope="col"|Format(s)

!scope="col"|Label(s)

!scope="col"|

|-

!scope="row"|United States

|7 January 1997

|Radio

|rowspan="9"|Island

|align="center"|

|-

!scope="row"|Japan

|align="center"|

|-

!scope="row"|United Kingdom

|

|align="center"|

|-

!scope="row"|United States

|4 February 1997

|

|align="center"|

|-

|17 March 1997

|3×12-inch vinyl

|align="center"|

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!scope="row"|Japan

|26 March 1997

|Remix CD

|align="center"|

|}

See also

  • List of covers of U2 songs - Discothèque
  • List of RPM Rock/Alternative number-one singles (Canada)
  • List of number-one dance singles of 1997 (U.S.)
  • List of number-one singles of 1997 (Ireland)
  • List of number-one singles in 1997 (New Zealand)
  • List of number-one singles from the 1990s (UK)
  • List of number-one modern rock hits (United States)
  • Number one modern rock hits of 1997

References