Search - U2 :: October

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D. Ballard | 09/24/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"You know, I read most music reviews and I think to myself "what are they even saying?" I can tell you all about this album, from having listened to it deeply for more than half of my life now. You watch and you listen to these men that call themselves U2 over the course of their career and you might think, are they schizophrenic? The answer is no. I believe that they formed a bond at a time in Ireland's history that was froth with sectarian violence. The emotion you hear in this time is deep, and very real. During the recording of October they are young men, with dreams of being heard and moving the world with their music. They are filled with angst and "edged" (pun intended) with religious zeal. They are wrapped in destiny and a higher calling. You can feel this tension vibrating when you hear this album. Later on in their career together, they had great success - partly due to how honest and forthright they were. I don't think that they were completely prepared to handle the degree of success that they acheived. That success launched them into a whole other level of existence which they were unfamiliar with. After the success of the Joshua Tree album, they found it difficult to compete with their own success. Their need to reinvent themselves for the fickle American consumerism culture - an entertainment culture - posed a great challenge for them, as they were rooted in honesty and integrity. They experimented for many years, trying to find themselves again. In my opinion, that didn't happen until they released the album "All That You Can't Leave Behind" in the year 2000. That's when people really became ready to hear them again. But with the passage of time and the stress of their journey, they had aged considerably and lost some of the intensity that was so readily available to them in their youth. The war in their native land had been put to rest, and they were no longer torn in their souls by that moral injustice. They had established residency in the US, and had begun to lose much of their native accents. That is not all that that they lost. Coming to America has changed U2, success has changed U2, living life and gaining maturity has changed U2. I'm not saying that they are no longer great, I'm not saying that their musicianship has dulled. But if you want to get a hold of the raw electric nerve that U2 once was...if you want to get them undiluted and straight from the bottle - uncut - then you should hear this album. There is a great deal of spiritual (religious) influence in October. I heard them say of themselves during this period that they were rock stars riding on a tour bus, reading their Bibles. That may or may not be powerful to you personally, but to me it is. That power of their convictions is laced throughout the subject matter of these songs. In conclusion, "may the real U2 please stand up." To me, THIS is the real U2."

Their appex

My Stars* | gadsden,alabama | 06/29/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"i could go on,and on,and on about this album,but i wont.simply put this is the best U.2. record,period.if you dont get it, dont get it!!!if you like early u2 then check this out.its a masterpiece.if you dont,go away.a stone cold post-punk classic."