U2 - October
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Free Music Notes for October
Free Music Review: October Goes On: Rejoice!
Hit: 5 Stars
OCTOBER has some real stand out tracks on it; I'm enjoying them more than ever before. In fact, i haven't listened to this album in decades until now, and I am surprised how much I love a lot of the songs. Perhaps in part due to how much better the music sounds than it did on my original vinyl and CD. The same team that re-mastered JT and BOY, and WAR, Arnie Acosta and Cheryl Engels at Bernie Grundman Mastering, did this one, and they did a wonderful job, IMO. Not too loud, thank goodness, and really open and clear, and with details I never noticed before.
This is my favorite bonus CD so far, because I love all the live performances. It is great fun to compare the live versions of songs to their studio counterparts. And, as all have already said, how cool to have all the singles on one CD.
Again, packaging is great, as on all of the U2 re-releases. Oh well, read everyone else's reviews, as they've already said it all. Just don't forget to listen to this underrated sophomore album from a great young U2, unafraid to express spiritual thoughts in a time when this really didn't occur too often.
Free Music Review: Another Great U2 Album "October"
Hit: 5 Stars
This one is so far the second best remaster behind the first album. Excellent sound and highly recommended to fans as well as collectors. As with all the U2 material, had all the second CD material on vinyl. If your really looking for excellent U2 recordings, get this one and the first one as well. If you already have this on CD originally, it still a fine album but the second disc adds all the extra excitement.
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Free Music Review: My favorite month
Hit: 5 Stars
This was my least favorite U2 album originally when I was a kid just getting into them, like so many, after MTV started playing their rocking "Sunday Bloody Sunday" at Red Rocks music video. This album I think had a bit darker and deeper subject matter than their debut Boy (or U2 3). That might be why it took until I was a bit older to appreciate it, which I do and find myself continuing to go back to for great tracks like "Rejoice", "Scarlet", "October", and "Is That All?". It's awesome to get the rarities in proper form on this re-master now though. "A Celebration" is early U2 rarity at its best (though not so rare really if you watched the TBN Christian network's late night show Real Videos back in the day, then you would have seen this video in heavy rotation along with most of The Unforgettable Fire's videos and some of The Alarm's early stuff like "The Stand"). Classic.Free Music Review: A masterpiece finally gets its due
Hit: 5 Stars
A darker, more audacious effort than Boy, and comparatively less reaching than what War would go for, this is one of the better U2 albums in their catalog, the sound of which is now vastly improved thanks to a superior remastering effort. I distinctly remember this album being part of what seemed a powerful and rich triumverate, with Echo & The Bunnymen's "Heaven Up Here" and Psychedelic Furs' incredible "Talk Talk Talk". These 3 albums, it seemed at the time, were at the forefront of something distinct and special, steering punk away from the generic, emotionally direct path it had been on since its inception. It was now okay to be consciously creating "art". There was a piercing, post-punk sound around, The Jam was growing way beyond their borders, the sonic explorations of groups like Ski Patrol, Killing Joke, Adverts, Au Pairs, and the entire Batcave-pre-goth era (Sisters of Mercy, Sex Gang Children, Virgin Prunes which were somehow connected to U2) - that sort of thing - a new sound and October was an effort to lead it, quite typical of the confidence of this band, even with only one album under their belt. Played alongside Heaven Up Here and Talk Talk Talk, this makes perfect sense. Played alongside War and Joshua Tree, it is just as powerful.
The guitar exploration on tracks such as "I Threw A Brick", "Fire" (an amazing single at the time), and "Rejoice" showed a newfound aggressiveness that is completely at odds with what I have read about the recording of the album. These are not songs that find you (as on War) but ones you have to seek out, which may account for the reputation of it as difficult. I don't know how you can make this kind of reach-for-the-sky music in just your second LP, but the reach and grace of stuff like "Tomorrow" and "A Celebration" are the mark of a band with something special to say. I remember playing the second side of this LP over and over at the time, and still think it holds up gracefully.
The extra tracks here are well worth the extra price tag. A couple of dynamic live performances, the crucial single "A Celebration" (a precursor to War both lyrically and sonically), and "Trash Trampoline" in its pre-U2-Incorporated state. I can do without the Common Ground remix but I'm thinking big picture: it's great to see an album and single that were so important at the time get the overdue respect.
Free Music Review: Don't forget this one
Hit: 5 Stars
October seems to be the album that gets the mildly positive reviews of U2's 80s albums. Critics loved U2 after "Boy" and on initial release thought this was a good album and compared it favorably to "Boy" but then as the decade went on, this one seemed to get slagged more and more. Not entirely fair. There are some telltale signs that this album wasn't all it could have been. The band doesn't seem all that happy with it 27 years on, the cover with brown print and tracklisting on the front looked haphazard, and, of course, "Sophomore slump". I think the music on this album is better than people remember. If you can remember what it might be like to hear U2 on college radio in the early 80s, or you were there for those small-club shows early on, you probably have a great appreciation for their progress through the 80s.
I jumped on board in 1987 with "The Joshua Tree", so I joined in when lots of others did, I guess. I can't claim to have been at any of those shows in Boston in 1980 or '81 (of course, I was just 12), but I do remember hearing "Gloria" on the radio and thought it was pretty cool. And in 1987, I requested "I Threw a Brick Through a Window" on UMass Dartmouth's radio station. For those five minutes, I felt what it must have been like to be a fan from the beginning. "The Joshua Tree" was #1, and U2 was no longer hip for college radio, but I wanted to hear this song. On the radio.
That's my standout track on this album, but then there's "October", "Tomorrow", "I Fall Down", "Stranger in a Strange Land". I think once "War" came out, this album suffered some backlash and it almost seems like they went from "Boy" to "War", and people forget this step. (And listen to "Rejoice" and then "New York" from almost 20 years later and notice how Bono sings the titles.) Give this album another chance, and by all means, listen to some of those bonus tracks! Again, they're young here, but "A Celebration" is a fun song and "J. Swallo" hints at some of the experimentation that you'll hear on The Unforgettable Fire reissue.
I guess "October" is a sensible title with all the wintry feeling of "War", (and the "New Year's Day" video where Larry's snare isn't in synch with the music) but I digress. This really is a great and underappreciated chapter in the U2 story.