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U2 Boy 1980 |
// Lyrics:
- I Will Follow
- Twilight
- An Cat Dubh
- Into the Heart
- Out of Control
- Stories for Boys
- The Ocean
- A Day Without Me
- Another Time, Another Place
- The Electric Co.
- Shadows and Tall Trees
// About 'Boy'
Boy is U2's debut album, released in 1980. The album has themes of youth and adolescence, punctuated by Bono's impassioned vocals and The Edge's shimmering guitar textures.
It was preceded by the single "I Will Follow". The single was a hit on college radio and established a buzz surrounding the group's debut. The song was widely perceived as a religious song, affirming the band's Christian faith, though this has never been confirmed or denied.
The album was recorded at Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin with Steve Lillywhite producing. Some of the songs, including "An Cat Dubh" and "The Ocean", were written and recorded in the studio. Many of the others were regularly performed in concert at the time, including "Stories for Boys", "Out of Control", and "Twilight".
In stark contrast to then-popular British rock bands such as The Smiths, Boy was optimistic and positive and helped establish a rhythmic, guitar-led jangle pop sound within alternative rock circles on both sides of the Atlantic.
In 1981 Boy peaked at #63 on Billboard's album charts. "I Will Follow" peaked at #20 on the Mainstream Rock charts. It did not chart in the United Kingdom.
Interestingly, this is the only U2 album from which every song (as well as every B-side) has been performed live at least once.
The boy on the album cover is Peter Rowan, brother of Bono's friend, Guggi. The photographer, Hugo McGuiness, and the sleeve designer, Steve Averill, would go on to work on several future U2 album covers. The image had to be changed to a distorted picture of the band for the United States due to fears that the band would be accused of child pornography.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Boy (album)".
