I will follow (U2) (LP 4768 - 4775)

U2  Boy (Vinyl, Island Records, 1980) ***  

U2  October (Vinyl, Island Records, 1981) *** 

U2  War (Vinyl, Island Records, 1983) **** 

U2  Under a Blood Red Sky (Vinyl and CD, Island Records, 1983) ***** 

U2  The Unforgettable Fire (Vinyl, Island Records, 1984) **** 

U2  The Joshua Tree (Vinyl, Island Records, 1987) ***** 

U2  Rattle and Hum (CD, Island Records, 1988) ***

U2  Achtung Baby (CD, Island Records, 1991) *****

Genre: Pop, rock, new wave 

Places I remember: Marbecks Records, Roger Marbeck, Sounds music store.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: New Year's Day (War)

Gear costume: The Fly (Achtung Baby) 

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7; Part 8

Active compensatory factors: U2 is a band that I came to early with the Gloria single and then October (1981) and have collected them in a spasmodic way since then. They are a band I've often liked but they have never become a band that demanded my absolute attention. Maybe that stems from October - an interesting album dominated by that single. That said, I still have a lot of their albums, so I'll split my posts into 20th Century and 21st Century albums.

The debut album, Boy, is full of passionate performances in a new wave, energised by punk, style. I Will Follow is the lead off song and it acts as a kind of early mission statement. It definitely has a youthful verve.

October is interesting for its religious and spiritual allusions, and how different it sounds to Boy. It certainly rewards repeat listens - there is a lot to digest in Bono's lyrics. However, unlike Boy which contained some big U2 songs like I Will Follow, Stories for Boys and The Electric Co., October only has Gloria as a big U2 song so it may have disappointed a few people.

War holds special memories for me as I was living in New Plymouth (Pioneer Road) and had recently met and started dating Jacky Smith. It seemed she had plans to travel overseas and I was smitten (love at first sight) so it was a bit of a mixed emotion time during a gloomy winter. I had a cassette copy of War that I listened to as I roamed the streets around that area of New Plymouth in a bit of a funk. Things worked out and I married Jacky in 1984 (reader - we're still married), but listening to War reminds me of that time in a second.

It's got some great moments on it - Sunday Bloody Sunday, New Year's Day, Two Hearts Beat As One are three. There was certainly no letting up in the passion and commitment departments (same with U2 - ha ha).

The live set, Under a Blood Red Sky, was a perfect wrap up of the strengths of the first three albums in a richly atmospheric Red Rocks setting. It again proves the value of a single album live album. Bono is a terrific frontman and he's great on this album, plus the guitaring from The Edge is much more of a feature in the live setting. The interplay between Larry, Adam and Edge is fantastic and Bono's vocals help create that classic U2 post punk sound.

The Unforgettable Fire is like a tone poem, in that it feels like a deliberate attempt to be a single-movement work that musically evokes a story, poem, or painting. That may be down to the soundscape helped along by the production tropes of Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. They create a more ambient sound that at the time felt like a step forward for U2 but in hindsight is more a transition toward the sound of The Joshua Tree.

The big hit was Pride (In the Name of Love), but that isn't really representative of the album as a whole. Hence the four stars. Their next album though, The Joshua Tree, is a clear five-star effort. Each song works, the sound is crystal clear and nuanced perfectly with enough variation in songs to be consistently interesting. It's a winner and  a standout album of the eighties.

In comparison, Rattle and Hum, the double album follow up to The Joshua Tree, is just plain weird. As a movie it was a pretty cool experience. I saw it with GK and we both enjoyed parts of it. Some of it I found to be over the top bombastic, so I didn't buy the album as a consequence. I have a CD copy because Roger Marbeck gave me a pile of CDs and it was in the pile.

The weird odds and sods-ness comes from the studio/live split, the cover choices (Beatles, Dylan, Hendrix) and guest artists. My favourite tracks feature those guests - especially B.B. King. When Love Come To Town is lifted by his greatness.

Overall though, it acts as a place-holder rather than a forward-looking proposition. The obsession with America lends the set a kind of off-kilter vibe and Bono comes across poorly at times. All fur coat no nickers.

Achtung Baby was the next studio effort and it's a huge improvement on Rattle and Hum. Every song is perfectly rendered and there are some BIG songs on the album like Mysterious Ways, Zoo Station, One, Even Better Than the Real Thing to name four and I still love to air guitar along to The Fly.

The whole tone of the album is warm and rock solid - that's quite a trick. Bono's lyrics took a jump forward too with more emphasis on personal revelations and relationships. All up - this is a great rock and roll album and a contender for their best work ever. 

Where do they all belong? I didn't bother with the next two U2 albums - Zooropa and Pop. Their electronica, experimental phase was not to my taste, so their 21st Century recordings are next up.