TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

U2 Reissues Get Robust Edge Polishing

ADVERTISEMENT

By CURTIS ROSS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 27, 2008

  Boy

  October

  War

U2's first three albums get a sonic-buffing on reissues that landed in stores Tuesday.

"The Joshua Tree," from 1987, solidified the band's superstar status, and was reissued in a remastered, deluxe edition last year.

"Boy" (1980), "October" (1981) and "War" (1983) track U2's growth from wide-eyed parochial schoolboys to wiser but idealistic world citizens.

"Boy" was a striking debut. The band turned the angular guitars of Television and the chopped rhythms of Siouxsie & the Banshees into brash guitar rock that would, eventually, win over the mainstream. Bono's lyrics practically fetishized youth and innocence but did so with a sincerity that was impossible to resist.

Two albums later, U2 first cracked the mainstream with "War." On tracks such as "Sunday Bloody Sunday," "Two Hearts Beat as One" and especially "New Year's Day," U2 streamlined its artier impulses into something sharp and dramatic.

"October," then, is the transitional album, and makes for the most fascinating listening. It was made under extreme circumstances: The band had but two finished songs with studio time already booked; a notebook containing Bono's lyrics was stolen while on tour; Bono, guitarist The Edge and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. were wrestling with their conflicting devotions to the band and to a Christian sect of which they were members; both Bono and The Edge quit the band during the recording sessions.

"October" often is criticized as half-finished, but few finished albums have the peaks of "Gloria," "I Threw a Brick Through a Window" and the title track. Bono may have been flying by the seat of his pants lyrically, frantically writing during recording sessions, but his performances are some of his best ever.

The remastering, overseen by The Edge, finally frees these albums from the flat, muddy sound quality of the original CD issues. Mullen's drums thunder, Adam Clayton's bass snaps, The Edge's guitar rings and Bono's voice is as big as his ego eventually grew to be.

Bonus discs are treasure troves of demos, live tracks, hard-to-find singles and outtakes. Essays accompany each release and capture the drama around the albums' creations. The Edge comments on the bonus disc material, and the sets are handsomely packaged in books with slipcases.

For those who don't need all the bells and whistles, the remastered albums are available in single-disc editions. For those who still use turntables, the albums also are available on vinyl.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT