OCTOBER (REMAS. DLX)

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). Personnel: Steve Wickham (electric violin). Audio Remasterers: The Edge; Arnie Acosta. Liner Note Author: Neil McCormick. Recording information: Hammersmith, London, England (03/06/1981-12/06/1982); Hattem, The Netherlands (03/06/1981-12/06/1982); Maida Vale Studios (03/06/1981-12/06/1982); Paradise Theatre, Boston, MA (03/06/1981-12/06/1982); Windmill Lane Recording Studio, Dublin, Ireland (03/06/1981-12/06/1982). Photographers: Adrian Boot; Iain Finlay. Arrangers: D?nal Lunny; Adam Clayton. 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.