Other than receiving the Grammy award for Best Alternative album in March 1994, the year was fairly relaxed for U2. Their well earned rest ended in November 1994 when they returned back into the studio under the guidance of Brian Eno near Ladbroke Grove in London. Here, both U2 and Eno worked on releasing new songs that would be released as soundtracks for various movies. For U2, their main aim during these sessions was to let themselves relax and ease themselves towards recording another album. During these sessions, they did a large variety of improvisations, with each member playing different instruments with Eno feeding them the inspiration they needed - in many cases leading them to a dead end. But it didn't matter - they weren't really recording another album. Eventually it was decided that they should use a different name since it was not strictly a U2 session. This gave birth to the band "Passengers".

  In June 1995, U2 took a song "from the vault" of the Zooropa sessions and released "Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me" for the soundtrack to the movie "Batman Forever". Initially, Bono did not think of it as a good idea, but then he thought it would be a good idea to do something that was not really serious. The Edge concurred - "I figured it would be good for us to be involved in something that's so obviously not serious - something basically throwaway and light-hearted". Not surprisingly, this sparked rumours of a new U2 album in a time when people were thinking of U2's next course of action after Zoo TV. Unfortunately for the fans, nothing turned up in the form of an album for the song. Despite this, the soundtrack still debuted at number 1 in the Australian charts, and the video was nominated for the Best Video category at the Grammys, only to be beaten by Seal's nomination for the same film.

  On September the 12th, U2, Pavarotti and Eno performed "Miss Sarajevo" at the Pavarotti and Friends concert in Modena, Italy. U2 also performed "One" at the concert which was also broadcast live on Italian Rai Uno TV. The life cycle of Miss Sarajevo can be traced since their Zoo TV tour in Bologna where Mr McPhisto called Pavarotti during the performance. From then on, Pavarotti believed U2 owed him a favour. However, that night was also the first time U2 had linked up to war torn Sarajevo via the journalist Bill Carter, where the audience was exposed to the defiant nature of the civilians against this war. And so the seeds were sown for the single "Miss Sarajevo".

  "He's much more of a bohemian than you'd think" says Bono. "He's extraordinary, and big, in every way - big voice, big heart, girth, appetite. He would sing for 20 minutes and then he'd say, 'Now we eat'. And we' go and eat and then we'd come back and then we'd eat again."

  U2 and Brian Eno released an album of soundtracks they had done in November 1995. Titled "Original Soundtracks volume 1". These songs were the result of about a year of recording and producing soundtracks for various movies. Some songs included were "Miss Sarajevo", "Always Forever Now", "Slug" and "Your Blue Room". The single for the soundtrack album "Miss Sarajevo" climbed to Number 2 in the UK.

  It was made clear from the outset that this album would not be a U2 album and this was true. Most of the music composed was in Eno's direction with the exception of "Miss Sarajevo", "Seibu" ("Slug") and "Your Blue Room". The Edge agreed this was beneficial for U2 - "And I think it paid off. I really love 'Blue Room'. It just seemed to me that they could be great songs, and so I did some extra work and pushed it" says the Edge.

  Even though most of the say went to Eno, some ideas did come from U2 as well. In "United Colours of Plutonium", Bono talks about the sensation of speed in the song and how this was inspired by their Zoo TV tour in Tokyo and its bullet trains. "Elvis ate America" is another song in which U2 used the opportunity to make a more successful track about the rock idol Elvis Presley which they had failed to do in "Elvis Presley and America". U2 and Eno did this by adding wittiness, humour and catchiness to the song that was not evident in its predecessor.

  Leaving behind Passengers, U2 begin working on their new album in January 1996 in Dublin hoping to release the album at the end of the year. Later on, U2 move to Miami to progress further with the album around about April.

  But with the success of "Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me", no movie maker could overlook the talent of U2 in producing classic soundtracks - in this case "Mission Impossible". And "Mission - Impossible" it was! For Bono and the Edge, the request was already like a slap in the face. According to Niall Stokes, editor of Hot Press, the whole of U2 was already under pressure in delivering new material for the album, especially for the core members Bono and the Edge. Due to the tightness of the schedule for the new album, only Adam and Larry volunteered to make the track.

  So on the 1st of May 1996, Adam and Larry released "Mission Impossible" amid the recording of U2's new album. The track's success on the worldwide charts proved to the world that they strong rhythm section - one which had been a significant foundation in building U2's success.

  Mission Accomplished? Not yet. Adam and Larry still had to complete the album. Expectations for the album were already high after the success of "Zooropa". And the U2 camp already were running late in finishing the album.