U2 Picture Disks

by Matt McGee

Maybe you've been here before: you're scanning through your favorite online auction site, or maybe your favorite record store's online catalog, and you come across what appears to be one of the great finds: a beautiful, mint condition, picture disk vinyl copy of your favorite U2 album. Maybe it's The Joshua Tree. Or POP. Or Achtung Baby. There's the album cover in all its full-color glory. There's even an Island Records logo on the back.

Doesn't matter.

They're all bootlegs.

In its 20 years of recording, U2 has released a total of four (4) official picture disks. Those four are as follows:

• War (album), catalog #PILPS 9733
• "Pride (In the Name of Love)" (7-inch single), catalog #ISP 202
• "The Unforgettable Fire" (7-inch shaped single), catalog #ISP 220
• "Zoo Station" (12-inch promo single), catalog #PR126715-1

ANY other U2 picture disk you see for sale online or in a store, is not an official release.

Each of the fakes making the rounds these days looks about as authentic as any of the legitimate picture disks. Each one includes the official Island Records logo on the back side. Each one is a near-perfect duplication of the album artwork. (The Joshua Tree picture disk bootleg, frankly, is one of the most attractive records I've ever seen.)

They are usually listed as official releases from the UK, elsewhere in Europe, or Mexico.

Of course, there's a twist to all this. Even if you go out of your way to avoid the three bootleg pic disks shown here, and collect only the four legitimate releases listed earlier in this column, there's a chance you could still be purchasing a bootleg.

There are bootleg versions in circulation of the War picture disk. And making matters worse -- there's some debate as to how to determine which versions are legitimate and which are not.

To the best of our knowledge, legitimate copies can be identified as follows:

1. in the runoff groove (the area of vinyl at the end of the music), the catalog number will be machine-stamped, not scratched in by hand
2. immediately across from the catalog number, also in the runoff groove, the phrase TOWN HOUSE will also be machine-stamped

Still up for debate are the following identifiers:

• regarding item #1 above, some claim bootleg copies have ILPS 9733 listed as the catalog number instead of PILPS 9733; others claim this is not a sign of a bootleg
• some claim legitimate copies should also have a black rim (see photo below); others claim this is not a sign of a bootleg

If we get new information to confirm or deny these identifiers, we will update this column. In the meantime, good luck to all who collect picture disks.