U2 Album: “War”

I was really excited to have the first three U2 albums remastered with bonus tracks for the first time. These are my favorite U2 records (I am off the train after The Joshua Tree) and the b-sides, single only cuts and live tracks are nice to have in one package. So, how did the band screw up War's bonus material? By including some lame New Year's Day Ferry Corsten remixes instead of the original 12" versions. It's really nothing short of a slap in the face to the fans, whom i'm sure would like to have seen only original period songs included. October makes the same mistake by adding the Common Ground remix of Tomorrow, but that's a minor quibble. And while I know it would have been impossible to get ALL the War versions on the 2nd cd, it would have been in keeping with the spirit of the records to just play it straight. A five star record knocked down to three - what a shame....The other cds BOY **** and OCTOBER *****

This is my favorite U2 album; I feel like it was made at the crossroads of their career; their songwriting skill had matured beyond the atmospheric feel of "October" (another album I love) but hadn't yet become big megastars. The songs are still more "raw" than "cooked" like they were to become in the 1990's when Bono seemed to become a lost, self-parody who's biggest talent was wearing sunglasses - what was that about?

I'm not the only person who points out that "Two Hearts Beat As One" is an underrated tune and, along with the tracks which make the "best of", part of the winning hand on this set. It was one of the first U2 songs I ever heard and immediately I knew there was something different about this band from the usual new-wave fare. It's something that hockey fans routinely call "heart" and, not to mix metaphors, but this song has it in spades. Bono sounds like he is standing on a mountain peak, shouting the words:

I try to spit it out

I try to explain

The way I feel...oh, yeah, two hearts...

The rhythm section is driving and Edge's guitar line is propulsive with a riff that constantly invades my memory. I don't know, maybe you had to be there...hard to believe that was 22 years ago and that I'm that old!

Review no. 153. Originally released in early 1983, as 'War' was U2's third album and the one that more or less made them a household name. I remember the day this lp came out and the 'impact' it apparently had on some people. I think I may even still have my cassette copy of this relic. Impressive cuts like the boot-stomping "Sunday Bloody Sunday", the extremely well-written "New Year's Day", "Surrender" and "40" deals with Ireland's political issues. The only tune here I never cared for was "Two Hearts Beat As One". Maybe it's just that I've heard one too many cover bands play it. A must-have for any and all true U2 fans and followers alike. Recommended.

War is a sensational album that has already become a classic in the annals of rock music. There's not a bad cut on this album and I highly recommended it to all U2 fans. Here is a summary and an evaluation of each song on this album:

· Sunday Bloody Sunday: For all the airplay this song has received over the years, it's still a good song that has something of a timeless quality to it. This is one of U2's signature songs that not only cries for help but also offers hope. Grade: B

U2 started a string of masterpieces with 'War' their first brilliant album from their early years. While 'Boy' and 'October' are excellent and reinvented the wheel of pop music, 'War' is more accomplished and varied musically and is conceptually sound. The raw power of their early years is harnessed on this album as well as an expertise the two predecesors lacked. There are really two sides to the album: One could be called "War;" the other could be called "Love," but they are both intertwined throughout.

Passion is U2's hallmark, and they certainly jump-start the album well enough with their celtic-laced political anthem "Sunday Bloody Sunday". Consisting of basically a mixed band of Irish Catholic and Protestant band members, Bono, their talking head, sings such scathing lines as "We eat and drink while tomorrow they die," and "...to blame the victory Jesus won...on you." "Seconds," continues the flow with a folk-rock beginning that melts into haunting images accompanied by ethereal sounds. Containing the admonition that "They're doing the atomic bomb/Hoping you will join along," Bono and The Edge end singing,..."Say, goodbye; say, goodbye; say, goodbye!" Then, if the drama and tension weren't enough, they play "New Year's Day," a brilliant and mesmerizing song with shimmering piano and the pulsating electric current of Edge's guitar. It is a beautiful and haunting rock song done in the first person for Poland's then-exiled solidarity members. Following is "Like a Song..." one of the best on the album. With great thrusts of fast-forward power, Bono sings a stinging lament for the older Irish generation who don't leave hope for the younger. At the end of the "War" side, "Drowning Man" is the first of their brilliant portraits of someone torn by the horrors of war. The harrowing dimension of a refugee is expertly captured by the music and words. They cover most of the major conflicts well on half a C.D. Then, the second half starts with a make love not war notion by saying the Irish Civil War is making beautiful women defect to America. At this point, Bono couldn't sing "America" with enough scathing force. "Two Hearts Beat as One" demonstrates that "Refugee" is just a transitional song, but the spare lyrics and the cyclical pattern of The Edge's guitar (which give one the sound image of the early flying machines before the Wright Brothers triumphed) a fine thrust of music. It is pretty bottom line about love. "Red Light" addresses unrequited love with a jazzy accompaniment that gives the album a scope previous efforts lacked. "Surrender" is beautiful, and "'40,'" based on Psalm 40, is a celestial send-off that foreshadows the advent of their next work, 'The Unforgettable Fire'.

'War' is a brilliant beginning masterpiece for U2. It is characteristic of what experience would bring for them in a string of albums up to and including 'Achtung Baby,' in '91. It is a ten year stretch that changed the face of music, even while providing passion for often disturbing material.