Description
Mastered by Arnie Acosta and cut by Bernie Grundman at Bernie Grundman Mastering. Includes 12″ x 12″ deluxe 16-page booklet.
Boy announced the arrival of four young men from Dublin who would conquer the world in short order. Bono and company were barely out of their teens when they recorded their first album, and their youthful vigor lights up every track here. Full of ambition, driven by a politicized (though not yet explicitly so) sense of purpose, the songs give listeners an idea of what it’s like to come of age in a strife-torn country and count on rock and roll as your means of transcendence.
From the outset, U2 went for the big message — every song on their debut album Boy sounds huge, with oceans of processed guitars cascading around Bono’s impassioned wail. It was an inspired combination of large, stadium-rock beats and post-punk textures. Without the Edge’s echoed, ringing guitar, U2 would have sounded like a traditional hard rock band, since the rhythm section and Bono treat each song as an anthem. Of course, that’s the charm of Boy: all of its emotions are on the surface, delivered with optimistic, youthful self-belief, yet the unusual, distinctive guitar textures give it an unexpected tension that makes it an exhilarating debut. The songs may occasionally show some weakness — the driving “I Will Follow,” the dark “An Cat Dubh,” and the shimmering “The Ocean” stand out among the sonic textures — yet the band’s musical and lyrical vision keep Boy compelling until the finish.
2. Twilight
3. Cat Dubh
4. Into the Heart
5. Out of Control
2. Ocean
3. Day Without Me
4. Another Time, Another Place
5. Electric Co.
6. Shadows and Tall Trees