October

About

By 1981, the members of U2 were undergoing an existential crisis—the first of many the group would endure in the decades ahead. <i>Boy</i>, the band’s fiery 1980 debut, had yielded a handful of anthemic singles (including “I Will Follow”), and established U2 as a ferocious live act. But the album’s success had also reinforced the group’s odd-men-out status: After all, U2 was too outsized, and too hopeful, for the dour post-punk scene—yet still too jagged for the mainstream. And while the group’s sound had been agreeably scrappy on <i>Boy</i>, it’s clear the band members didn’t want to play clubs and colleges forever. This was a band that didn’t seem to quite fit in <i>anywhere</i>. As the first line in “I Will Follow” goes: <i>I was on the outside.</i> So by the time Bono, the Edge, Larry Mullen Jr., and Adam Clayton started thinking about a follow-up, they were unsure where to head next. Should they try to go big? Or should they simply stay in place and survive? “They were a bit scared of the world,” longtime U2 producer Steve Lillywhite later said. “[And] what they did wa, they shrunk a little bit.” As a result, <i>October</i> feels less like a departure from <i>Boy</i> and more like a companion piece—a record that captures the band’s urgency, but offers few surprise. It certainly didn’t help that Bono lost a suitcase containing notes and lyrics right before recording began, immediately throwing <i>October</i> into chao. Also complicating things: the fact that three-quarters of the band were struggling to square their long-held religious beliefs with their newfound notoriety (according to Lillywhite—who’s no doubt endured countless late-night self-doubt sessions from the band members over the decades—there were Bibles scattered around the studio during <i>October</i>). Still, this is <i>early-era U2</i> we’re talking about; the boys may have been confused, but they sure as hell sound <i>confident</i>. And while <i>October</i> lacks the bulletproof songwriting of <i>Boy</i>—or the transcendent fury of 1983’s <i>War</i>—there are still plenty of peak moments here. “Gloria” remains one of the Edge’s most exacting and exciting guitar showcase, one that finds him alternating between spiky riffs and elegant swan dive. “I Fall Down” and “I Threw a Brick Through a Window,” meanwhile, merge the gnarliness of post-punk with slick production (in a good way). .

via Apple Music

The Clerk says

Start your shelf to read the full take →