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The Story of U2 - Part 3
In March 1981 Boy was released in the US, and U2 began their first
major American tour. The audience took to them as readily as those in
Europe. During a break from the tour U2 recorded another single, Fire,
with Steve Lillywhite, and plans were made for a second album. These
plans were disrupted when a briefcase containing Bono's lyrics went
missing, but work on the album went ahead in May, with Steve
Lillywhite again producing.
The second album, October, began like the first with a power-driving
track, Gloria, which was released as a single. This and other tracks
on the album reflected the strong Christian beliefs held by Bono, Edge
and Larry. The Edge in particular had some difficulty in reconciling
these beliefs with the life of a rock band, but fortunately he decided
that the show must go on, and October hit the British album charts.
The band's influences were fairly diverse, ranging from rock legends
like Elvis Presley, David Bowie and Jimi Hendrix to the leaders of the
"post-punk revolution": Iggy Pop, Tom Verlaine and Joy Division.
Tomorrow, from the October album, is one of the few U2 tracks to draw
heavily on traditional Irish music.
With the second album safely out of the way U2 toured the US once
again in a concerted effort to break into that market. It was hard
work, but the combined efforts of the band and their manager were
starting to pay off. 1981 ended with a return to the UK to play two
more sell-out gigs at the Lyceum.
In January 1982 U2 toured back home in Ireland, before returning to
the US, where they supported the J Geils Band on ten dates. This meant
that U2 could reach larger audiences, but as the support band had to
work harder to win them over. This they succeeded in doing, adding
further momentum to their bid for wider attention.
In the spring of 1982 U2 released A Celebration as a single, and spent
part of the summer performing live in the UK and Europe. In August
Bono got married, but in many parts of the world 1982 was not a year
for celebration. This aura of conflict and uncertainty was reflected
in the material for U2's third album, and in its title, War.
Fortunately Steve Lillywhite and the band managed to channel this
atmosphere of turmoil into an album which was musically outstanding as
well as carrying a message. Not all the messages were interpreted
correctly, however. The lyrics call for an end to conflict rather than
for taking sides. However you choose to read them, tracks like New
Years Day and Sunday Bloody Sunday are stunning rock anthems. In a
gentler mode, the band's religious beliefs were exemplified by an
adaptation of Psalm 40 for one track.
Again the album was well received, topping the UK chart, but the
singles taken from it were less successful. Major tours of Europe and
the US followed in the wake of the album. The US tour went
particularly well, and was captured on video when it reached Red Rocks
outside Denver, Colorado. The venue and the weather were as dramatic
as the music, and the result was U2's first release on video. Both the
video and a live album were called Under a Blood Red Sky, although
only two tracks on the album actually came from the Red Rocks concert.
Jimmy Iovine was brought in to produce the album, and Gavin Taylor to
direct the video.
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