U2
Boy

THE REVIEW

It's at the end of 1980 that "Boy", the first album by a little-known emerging Irish band, U2, is released. The group had formed 4 years earlier: the oldest of the 4 was 16. In a short time, the 4 managed to make a name for themselves by playing in pubs and venues.

Looking at the photos inside the booklet, one is surprised to see a "long-haired" Bono, a The Edge without that horrible hat he uses to hide his balding, an Adam Clayton with the most gaudy glasses ever... They are not yet the U2 that denounce the condition of the Irish people or the pacifist/globalization protesters. The U2 photographed in this album are just twenty-year-olds who didn't even think about the success they would achieve within a few years. The album shows all the group's innocence, which makes this album fresh and truly enjoyable, far from the overproduction that characterized their last mediocre albums. Musically, we can talk about a rock heavily indebted to certain post-punk/new wave sounds: The Edge's riffs are already in his typical style—direct, no frills, with plenty of reverb and delay; Larry Mullen is an excellent drummer, the most skilled among the 3 musicians; Adam Clayton is a technically quite poor bassist without particular creativity, but his way of playing is very "velvety" and enveloping, and it perfectly matches his 2 comrades; Bono does not yet have perfect command of his voice, but his performance is very unique and expressive.

Already from the album's title, one can understand the common thread that ties each track together: the adolescence experienced by the 4, marked by family tragedies, IRA bombings, and religion, the only glimmer of hope. The cover photo, depicting the brother of a friend of Bono (and the same one from the "War" cover), was even replaced in the United States due to some absurd accusations of pedophilia.

The riff that opens "I Will Follow" is iconic: in the background, aside from bass and drums, there is what seems like a xylophone (but I'm not sure), a sound that will often recur throughout the album. The lyrics are dedicated by Bono to his mother, who died when he was still a child. It is followed by the more melancholic "Twilight," which explodes in a powerful chorus dominated by Bono's voice, speaking of the doubts concerning growing up "My body grows and grows/It frightens me you know" and, at the twilight of the title "Boy meets man." An eerie guitar line opens "An Cat Dubh" (A black cat, in Gaelic), full of dark atmospheres to which the beautiful and evocative "Into the Heart" is linked, also using the piano to create an ethereal and dreamlike atmosphere. Immediately afterward comes Clayton's pulsating bass to introduce "Out of Control", a quick and direct track that raises the tone. The rhythmic section and chorus of the refrain are thrilling; yet again, lyrics focused on young people, described as "Out of Control," meaning adrift, without a guide to lead them on the right path. "Stories for Boys" continues down the path taken, this time it's Clayton's bass that adds more value to the song.

Semi-psychedelic atmospheres characterize the very brief "The Ocean" with its cryptic lyrics in which Bono expresses his desire to change the world "I felt the world could go far/If they listened/To what I said." A homage to Ian Curtis of Joy Division, who had recently passed away, in "A Day Without Me", with guitar riffs made epic by the special effects used and a great drum performance. A dramatic and painful track is "Another Time Another Place" which contains one of the few solos on the album, but it's somewhat overshadowed by the following "The Electric Co.", the band's first classic along with the opener—a truly powerful track (almost garage) that will become one of the memorable moments of their live performances (just listen to the excellent version on "Under a Blood Red Sky"). It closes with "Shadows and Tall Trees" with its obsessive syncopated drum groove, where for the first time in the album you hear the acoustic guitar; the lyrics speak of an imaginary return home by Bono, characterized by a dark pessimism "Is life like a tightrope/Hanging from the ceiling."

If you only know the more bourgeois U2, I strongly recommend catching up on their early albums (all those from the '80s are beautiful). This "Boy" is certainly not the best, but it is the one that shows U2 at their freshest, most genuine, and above all sincere.

Rating = 8