Wikipedia:WikiProject U2/References

When building a U2 article there are a lot of sources that can be looked at for information. This inexhaustive list aims to compile the most commonly used and informative references in an easy-use list. Each reference has three sections: Description (what kinds of information it has, what articles can make best use of it, etc.), Notes (how to source it in the Notes section of a page for in-line citations), and References (the full citation text that the in-line notes refer to, used in the References section; and yes, the asterik is included in the cite!)*

Notes will likely be used several times in an article while References should be written out only once. If you don't have a source that you think could be useful, check with another editor of U2 articles (listed below) who may and ask them if there is anything that can be included with a full citation.

*For the difference between Notes and References, see the main U2 article as an example. Only books should be listed under the References section. Remember to include the asterik so that they end up on different lines!

Books
NOTE: Depending on what edition you have some details in the citation (publication year, edition, ISBN page number) may be different. Check before copying and pasting the information, and make any changes that might be necessary.


 * Bono - In Conversation with Michka Assayas
 * Description: A series of interviews conducted between Bono and his friend Michka Assayas. Contains lots of information on the Bono article, and also insights that are useful for articles on U2, The Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen Jr., Ali Hewson, and Paul McGuinness. Also plenty of details that sporadically pop up on various albums and songs.
 * Notes:
 * References: *


 * Bono's Politics - The Future of Celebrity Political Activism
 * Description: An interesting and fairly recent look at Bono's political activism. Probably best suited for the Bono article, but may also have some good stuff for various tours, songs, and albums. Surprisingly, the full text version is online at the book's website here.
 * Notes:
 * References: *


 * Into the Heart - The Stories Behind Every U2 Song
 * Description: An invaluable resource that contains information on every song that appeared between Boy and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, including The Million Dollar Hotel, Original Soundtracks 1, and B-sides such as "Salome", "Bottoms", and "Fast Cars". Information ranges from a couple of sentences (many B-sides) to several pages ("Sunday Bloody Sunday"). Fantastic for all song articles and (by extension) album articles.
 * Notes:
 * References: *


 * U2 & I
 * Description: Not a particularly valuable source of information, but it has some great notes on video shoots and the like. Spans from 1982 to 2004. Fantastic photographs too!
 * Notes:
 * References: *


 * U2 - A Diary
 * Description: A day-by-day look at the band's history; contains lots of useful information, particularly for Timeline of U2.
 * Notes:
 * References: *


 * U2 - An Irish Phenomenon
 * Description: This books looks at the band's relation to Ireland, to their social conscience, and examines how they became one of the most successful bands of all time.
 * Notes:
 * References: *


 * U2 at the End of the World
 * Description: A very good and comprehensive look at the band's history, detailing up to 1995. Invaluable resource for information on the Zoo TV Tour-era of the band, as well as Achtung Baby and Zooropa. Lots of good quotes to be found in here.
 * Notes:
 * References: *


 * U2 by U2
 * Description: Probably the most valuable book on U2 there is. This covers everything spanning the band's career, from the mid-1970s to 2006. It's U2's history as told by U2 and contains many great details on the album recording process and on individual songs. If you're looking for something to include in a U2 article, chances are that this book will have it.
 * Notes:
 * References: *


 * U2 Live - A Concert Documentary
 * Description: A fantastic resource that covers just about every U2 performance up until the Elevation Tour. Excellent for adding information about live performances into articles.
 * Notes:
 * References: *


 * The U2 Reader - A Quarter Century of Commentary, Criticism, and Reviews
 * Description: Not so much a book as a compilation of newspaper articles covering from 1978 to 2000 in a variety of chapters (ranging from Politics to Spirituality to Business). Includes author, date, and the source of publication. The index at the back links to articles on albums, songs, DVDs, and people the band members have collaborated with in the past, including Luciano Pavarotti and REM. Contains lots of forgotten gems that are invaluable in building many articles.
 * Notes: Depends on the article in question. cite news is the best format to use.
 * References:


 * U2 Show
 * Description: A book focused on the live aspect of U2. Covering from early performances in 1979 to the Super Bowl performance in 2002, it is filled with images that are enhanced with quotes by the band on aspects of stage production. It includes an interview with Willie Williams on designing a show at the beginning and the last half is dedicated to everything from Agents to Tour Management, Design to Lighting, Video Production and Content to Filming, Graphics to Recording, etc. Very useful on any of the U2 Tour articles.
 * Notes:
 * References: *


 * Various books on song composition
 * Description: There are many books detailing the composition of a U2 song (i.e. how it is played), which is very useful when building a song article; assuming that you can read music of course. These may be the hardest references to use as only people who play U2 songs are likely to have bought them. The Hal Leonard Corporation's Guitar series is probably among the most useful and reputable.
 * Notes: (Example):
 * References: (Example): *

Magazines, newspapers, and online sources
The search for U2 content has become much easier as most of the information found in magazines and newspapers can now be found online (with the exception of big stories, such as Rolling Stone cover articles). If you are linking to online content it is always advisable to archive it. It takes only a few seconds and that way if the webpage is taken down, a copy of it is preserved. You may find some of the sources below useful; all of those given are just samples. Only the notes field should be filled in.


 * Billboard
 * Description: Billboard may have information on reviews, recording updates, chart data, and tour gross. Most of their articles you can find for a short time before it is archived away for paid subscribers, but the printed copies may contain charts and graphics that do not make it to the text-only online version. If linking to a Billboard archive, make sure to leave a note at the end of the citation saying so (as outlined below).
 * Notes:
 * References:
 * Links: Billboard.com, Billboard.biz


 * Hot Press
 * Description: Hot Press has lots of good information but you'll have to act fast; their articles are online for only a short time before archived so that only paid subscribers can access them. This is one where you will definitely want to use the archive method outlined above. If linking to a Hot Press archive, make sure to leave a note at the end of the citation saying so (as outlined below).
 * Notes:
 * References:
 * Link: Hotpress.com


 * Rolling Stone
 * Description: Rolling Stone frequently carries articles about U2, but the recent redesign of their website hides much of this content behind a paywall. Using the Wayback Machine may allow you to access some of the older articles through archived versions of rollingstone.com. It is highly recommended that you manually archive all articles that you access and use via WebCite so that they can continue to be used after they have been moved.
 * Notes:
 * References:
 * Link: Rollingstone.com


 * U2.com
 * Description: U2.com is a primary source, so it is best to use it as sparingly as possible. Nonetheless the articles contain lots of information, and the subsections on albums and singles can give details that help you to give your article a little context. If linking to a Subscriber's only section of the site, make sure to leave a note at the end of the citation saying so (as outlined below).
 * Notes:
 * References:
 * Link: U2.com


 * U2Gigs
 * Description: U2Gigs provides the most comprehensive online archive of past U2 shows. Sets from earlier tours are often incomplete, but from the Unforgettable Fire Tour onwards there are few gaps. Very useful for tour articles or detailing the frequency a song was played live. Use it with caution however; though U2 themselves cited it in the liner notes for some editions of No Line on the Horizon, concerns about its reliability have been raised at past FACs. Though primary sourcing is usually discouraged, it is acceptable to use them for things like setlists, tracklists, and tour dates, so you may just want to use the U2.com tour pages instead where applicable.
 * Notes:
 * References:
 * Link: U2Gigs.com


 * Uncut's Ultimate Music Guide
 * Description: There is only one issue to this magazine and none of its content is available online. It looks at and revisits every single album, including Original Soundtracks 1 and No Line on the Horizon, most songs, and contains feature articles that span the band's career. The latest feature article is dated from 2004. Beyond that it also looks at the DVDs, promotional merchandise, covers, and details the inspiration behind several song titles and lyrics. Incredibly useful.
 * Notes: (Example):
 * References:

There is almost no limit to the amount of places you can check online for U2-related information. Those listed above are only a very small chunk, but they are the most likely places to have the information you are looking for. Other sources include:
 * Other


 * ExploreMusic
 * Blender
 * NME
 * RTÉ
 * BBC
 * Pitchfork
 * New York Times


 * MTV
 * VH1
 * Wired
 * Music Week
 * Uncut
 * National Post
 * Anything you find on Google!

News/magazine article archives
For archived content from newspapers, magazines, and other publications, use Google News Archive (http://news.google.com/archivesearch). If you would like access to an archived article that is not available online for free, please contact for a copy of the article via email.

Charts
Charts are among the most difficult parts of an article to find sources for. Until recently (late 2009-early 2010) most charts sections in articles had no sources. The bulk of these have since been addressed, but there are still some gaps, particularly in the numerous Billboard charts. These are no less important than any other part of the article, so if you have a charts sections (whether it be for an album or a single) it must be sourced.


 * [ Allmusic]
 * Description: Not so much a chart in its own right but an archive of all the Billboard chart data before they removed it from their website (see below). It also includes the Canadian Singles Chart. The data goes back to the beginning of the band's career and is updated as new songs chart. Albums and songs, including non-singles. Unlike other references provided in this page, as the Allmusic archive has all the information on one page it should be cited exactly as it is presented below (save for the accessdate).
 * Notes:
 * References:


 * Billboard
 * Description: Until early 2009 Billboard was both easy to use and comprehensive. Then they remodelled their website and lots of the chart data was either lost or deleted, making it very difficult to verify chart data without looking at old copies of the magazine. It's still usable, but not very much. It includes numerous different Billboard charts and the Canadian Hot 100. Albums and songs.
 * Notes:
 * References:


 * Everyhit
 * Description: Everyhit.com is an archive of every release which broke the Top 40 in the United Kingdom. You can switch between Singles (the default) and Albums. No entries in EPs or Sheet Music. Should be cited exactly as shown (except for the accessdate).
 * Notes:
 * References:


 * Irish Charts
 * Description: Irish Charts shows every U2 single which has charted in Ireland, providing the peak position and the date of entry. If it isn't listed, it didn't chart. Singles only. Should be cited exactly as shown (except for the accessdate)
 * Notes:
 * References:


 * Musicline
 * Description: The German Singles Chart archive, and one of the few foreign sources you may need to browse to build a good chart table. You don't need a particularly strong gasp of the German language to be able to navigate your way through here, luckily for many of us. Simply type the song name into the search bar ("Suchbegriff") and hit enter. Listings will come up, and you just need to select one to take you to the track details. Click "Chartverfolgung" in the upper-right corner (beneath the search bar) and it will take you to the chart archive where you can see the track's peak position and trace how it did before falling off the charts. Luckily a simple system to use. Unlike most of the other charts provided, this is not a simple copy and paste; most of the fields will need to be replaced from the below.
 * Notes:
 * References:


 * RPM
 * Description: A Canadian only chart preserved by the government of Canada that has U2-relevant data spanning from the beginning of their career to mid-2000, though there are some gaps in the late 1980s. Very laborious to search through, but it is the only Canadian album archive spanning this timeframe. Albums and songs; the linked songchart should lead to RPM (magazine) and read something along the lines of "Canada RPM Hot 100" (depending on what chart it is). For the best search result keep the album/song in quotation marks and U2 on the outside (i.e. "The Unforgettable Fire" U2)
 * Notes:
 * References:


 * Ultratop
 * Description: The further back in time you go the fewer national charts are presented. Nonetheless it has compiled a large chunk of data from: Australia, Austria, Belgium (Flanders), Belgium (Wallonia), Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. This is probably the most invaluable resource you can use for the charts section, and the one you will probably use the most. Includes albums and songs; check non-singles too. Occasionally some, like "Moment of Surrender", will also have charted. The fields for accessdate, url, archiveurl, and archivedate all need to be altered from the below.
 * Notes:
 * References:

Certifications
Certifications are always a lot more difficult to track down than chart positions, especially for the earlier stuff. Still, with luck you should be able to find something that you need. This section is fairly self-explanatory. Broken down by country with the website linked in the country's name.


 * Australia
 * Description: Australian certifications. Albums and singles go back to 1997 and DVDs to 2003. May take some searching to find what you're looking for, but any accreditations within the last 13 years are available.
 * Notes:
 * References:


 * Austria
 * Description: The Austrian database is simple enough; type U2 under "Interpret", alter the date parameters as necessary (the default end date is currently January 2009) and click "Suchen". The results (few though they may be) pop up.
 * Notes:
 * References:


 * Belgium
 * Description: From what I can tell, this combines the data from Flanders and Wallonia, though the source below is taken from the Wallonia portion of the website. Scroll through year-by-year by using the column at the side. You never know; you might get lucky and find something. The archive goes back to 2000. The url and title fields will need to be replaced in the source below, depending on what year it is, along with the now-usual accessdate.
 * Notes:
 * References:


 * Canada
 * Description: The Canadian certifications page not only includes certifications dating throughout the bands career, but also sales numbers. Handy to include in articles most of the time!
 * Notes:
 * References:


 * Finland
 * Description: You don't need to worry about navigating through the Finnish database because all 9 U2 certifications are already displayed in the link above! Just copy the below (save for the accessdate as usual) and you're good to go (though you might want to archive just in case). Like with Canada, sales numbers are also included. All of them have been certified Gold; if any are certified Platinum it would say so below "Kultalevy".
 * Notes:
 * References:


 * France
 * Description: Disques en France updates only once a year, and has an archive stretching back to 1994. A little more wearisome to navigate than some other websites; select a year and then choose a specific certification level to browse who was awarded what. Might require some time to find what you're looking for; especially if you're looking year-by-year. The website has recently undergone a redesign, so some data may be missing it seems.
 * Notes:
 * References:


 * Germany
 * Description: Fortunately, Germany is relatively easy to navigate through. Type U2 into the search bar, click "Suchen", and the page will re-load with a list of albums, the year they were certified, and what level they were certified at. Scroll down and a list of video certifications is also available. It's probably the easiest database to use of all!
 * Notes:
 * References:


 * Ireland
 * Description: IRMA's archive stretches back to just 2005, and you need to search individually through the three categories (Gold, Platinum, Multi-Platinum) year-by-year.
 * Notes:
 * References:


 * Mexico
 * Description: Though no reliable source exists for chart data, AMPROFON provides an archive for certifications. All U2 certs are included in the above list, including albums and videos, so all you need to do is copy the below with an alteration to the accessdate.
 * Notes:
 * References:


 * The Netherlands
 * Description: The Netherlands certification archive spans from 1978 to 2006. Type U2 into the search bar "Artiest" and hit "Zouk". The circles represent a gold certification and the triangles a platinum certification.
 * Notes:
 * References:


 * Poland
 * Description: Poland can be irritating to look through. The link above will take you to the main page, but from there you have to search level by level while looking for any mention of U2. Persevere and you'll find what you're looking for.
 * Notes:
 * References:


 * Switzerland
 * Description: Though the rest of the Ultratop sites aren't quite so accommodating, swisscharts does have certification levels for Switzerland. Very ease to use; just click the link and all the data is already there! Includes albums and one DVD.
 * Notes:
 * Refereces:


 * United Kingdom
 * Description: The UK's certification is simple enough; type U2 into the search bar, click "Go", and the results pop up. Might take some searching to find the album you are looking for, but if it has been certified in the UK it is included. Remastered editions are certified separately from the first releases.
 * Notes:
 * References:


 * United States
 * Description: Once again, an easy enough site to browse through. Type U2 under artist, click search, and voila!
 * Notes:
 * References:

Many bodies, including Ireland's IRMA, have yet to develop a complete database with an archive of past certifications. Not every website that WP:GOODCHARTS lists has the information you may need. Your best bet to find certification levels for any nations that are not already mentioned is to undergo a tedious search of reliable sources to see if any are mentioned; we got lucky that way for No Line on the Horizon, so you never know! Good luck with the search.
 * Other

Liner notes, DVDs, TV, and radio
Though it may seem like a curious source, both album liner notes and DVDs can be used for various sourcing issues. If you're working on the article for "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" and are wondering who is playing the brass in the song, a quick flip to the liner notes for All That You Can't Leave Behind tells you that it was Paul Barrett, and also that Daniel Lanois is credited for additional guitar, and that both Bono and Brian Eno worked the synthesizers. This makes the liner notes an excellent resource for the Personnel and Composition sections of your article, and they help to fill up the data in the infobox as well. Later releases, such as How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and No Line on the Horizon have included more in-depth notes depending on what format is purchased; these additional notes range from a magazine to a book to a massive PDF document on iTunes. The remastered editions of Boy, October, War, The Unforgettable Fire, and The Joshua Tree have also expanded on the liner notes, providing more information about various songs. Using U2wanderer isn't recommended, useful though it may be. The reliability of the site may be called into question so instead of using it source the material directly; after all, that's where they got the information from!


 * Notes (liner notes):
 * References:

U2 DVDs often have extra content on them; sometimes this is in the form of a bonus video, sometimes documentaries. The Zoo TV release has three documentaries, Popmart has four, Boston, Slane, and Chicago all have one, U218 Videos has two, and so on. Other sources, such as the Classic Albums' The Joshua Tree DVD are also useful. These can be valuable sources of information; whether for discussing some aspect of a tour or how a song was made. Television shows can be cited in much the same way as DVDs, which is useful if trying cite information on "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)" from Elvis Costello's program Spectacle.


 * Notes (DVD):
 * References (DVD):


 * Notes (TV):
 * References (TV):

Radio programs can be used and sourced, but they are much more difficult to do so than DVDs or television programs. Unlike those two mediums they don't tend to exist for too long after they have aired, so unless you know all of the relevant details you probably won't want to use this as a source (especially if it involves a quote). If you happen to have recorded a copy and know all of the details that need to be filled in, then the format below is probably the best one to use. If you think more details are needed, cite episode has all the relevant fields.


 * Notes (Radio):
 * References (Radio):

Wikipedia wants to help: Template:Find
If you are having difficulty finding any information about your subject, try using find. Paste on the talk page (below the WikiProject banners but above the discussion) and save. The template takes the name of the article and runs various searches through Google Scholar, Google News, Google Books, and Google images to find relevant book, magazine, newspaper, online, and even scientific journal sources that just may contain the information you are looking for. The template can be manually adjusted for articles with dabs such as "(song)", "(album)", or "(U2 song)" at the end; simply follow the instructions on Template:Find to do that.

Where is @U2?
Though atu2.com has a considerable archive of U2 interviews and stories spanning the band's whole career, it is best not to use it as a source (tempting and useful though it may be). Concerns have been raised in the past about the licensing issues, and so instead of citing the @U2 archive it is wisest to look to the original source instead. The one possible exception to this is interviews that the @U2 staff have conducted themselves; interviews with Alex and Martin, Steve Lillywhite, and Willie Williams are available, and only in those circumstances should @U2 be used (though it is an excellent starting point in your search for information).
 * Notes:
 * References:

U2 editors
Though many people edit U2 articles there are a few people who work on them continuously. It is very likely that they contain at least some of the sources above, so if there is any information that you need ask them if there is anything that they can provide you. Listed alphabetically:


 * Dream out loud (talk)
 * Melicans (talk)
 * Merbabu (talk)
 * Wasted Time R (talk)
 * Y2kcrazyjoker4 (talk)