October (Deluxe Edition)

Performer: U2
Engineer: Paul Thomas
Producer: Steve Lillywhite
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: U2: Bono (vocals); The Edge (guitar, piano); Adam Clayton (bass); Larry Mullen, Jr. (drums). Recorded at Windmill Lane, Dublin, Ireland in July and August 1981. Originally released on Island (90092). U2 gave OCTOBER the reissue treatment in 2008 expanding it into a two-disc set with seventeen extra tracks. The bulk of the bonus material consists of faithful live renditions of the OCTOBER songs--many of which have a little more bite than the studio versions. The sticker price is worth the inclusion of "A Celebration," an ultrarare single and an unhinged positive punk anthem, and "Trash, Trampoline and the Party Girl," a rare studio version of a song later popularized on the UNDER A BLOOD RED SKY EP. Also included is a 1996 "remix" of "Tomorrow," which is really a rerecording of the classic song in '90s U2 trappings. The live cuts reveal U2's burgeoning desire to swallow the world whole--a strange feat, in retrospect, for a band that at their core were somewhat esoteric, post-punk impressionists. U2: Bono (vocals); The Edge (guitar, piano, background vocals); Adam Clayton (bass guitar); Larry Mullen, Jr. (drums). Audio Remasterer: The Edge. Though it's probably one of their least-acclaimed albums, OCTOBER is where it all began to come together for U2. The youthful exuberance they demonstrated on BOY was now a given, but for this, their second album, the conceptual end of things began to coalesce as well. The Edge had begun to expand his sonic palette, and the effects-heavy guitar approach that he would rely on for the next several years came to full fruition here. There's further development of the bold, anthemic approach that would come to characterize the band's arrangements, and the songwriting is just plain better. Most affecting, and indicative of the group's progress is the emotional epic "Gloria;" full of resounding major chords and throbbing rhythms, it's simultaneously an open admission of self-doubt and a call to arms to embrace life's uncertainties. This contrast is what makes OCTOBER, along with much of U2's early work, so effective.

U2's Bono was one of the few real rock heroes of the 1980s, leading the Irish band to international recognition with a charged, political approach to music. The band's early efforts brought a stadium-size presence to post-punk, with Bono's expressive vocals and the Edge's distinct guitar lines interacting seamlessly with the rhythm section of bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. In 1987, U2 broke through to superstardom with THE JOSHUA TREE, a grand culmination of their '80s sound. In the 1990s, however, the band very purposefully deflated that epic image, simultaneously adding ambient, dance, and electronica touches on 1991's ACHTUNG BABY. Mining that vein for much of the decade, U2 kicked off the 21st century with a triumphant return to form that was embraced by new and longtime fans alike.

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