Search - U2 :: Boy

IT'S ABOUT TIME!

Johnny Boy | Hockessin, DE | 07/23/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Although U2's real debut came in early 1979 with 'Three' the band broke onto the scene with 'Boy,' from 1980. They had recently been signed to major label Island Records, which was home to bands like Bob Marley & The Wailers in the '70s. 'Three' was released on CBS.



But anyway, this is where it all started. Right here. 'Boy,' their major label debut, gave them their first hit, 'I Will Follow' and contained such fan favorites like the eight minute 'An Cat Dubh/Into The Heart,' one of my personal favorites 'Shadows and Tall Trees' and the early-U2 concert classic 'Twilight.'



The bonus disc is where things get interesting. If you are a casual U2 fan, just buy the standard edition of 'Boy.' However, if you are a lifelong, die-hard U2 fan like I am, than this is a real treat!



The original version of '11 O'Clock Tick Tock' should have made the original cut. I don't understand why it didn't. This song is a great one, and while many people know it from 'Under A Blood Red Sky,' I prefer the studio version. (Note: For those who haven't heard the studio version, you are in for a real treat!)



The previously unreleased tracks 'Speed of Life' and 'Saturday Night' have a more punk rock sound. Clearly influenced by bands like The Clash and The Jam, these songs proves U2 can make great punk.



And finally, 'Three' is available on CD! This is what I've been waiting for for years! This is the real highlight of the disc! 'Boy/Girl' is a classic, and another really good punk rocker. The live version from London in early 1980 that is also featured here is superb as well. And what a treat it is to hear the original 'Out of Control' and 'Stories for Boys'! The songs have a much more punk rock sound here than they do in their 'Boy' album versions.



The final two unreleased tracks that are featured here is a rare, previously unreleased live version of '11 O'Clock Tick Tock' from London in early 1980, and 'Cartoon World' a non-album track that was recorded live in Dublin. Both are really cool.



'Another Day' was released as a single in mid-1979 on CBS Records. This song is a classic. Any U2 fan, whether casual or die-hard like myself, needs to hear this song. It is, without a doubt, one of my personal favorite U2 songs. Another really great one is the instrumental 'Things to Make and Do.' I own a rare live bootleg from Boston in 1981 where that song is performed. Although this version is great, I have to say, I prefer the live Boston version instead.



'Touch,' from late '79, is another one of my personal favorites. The lyrics are great, Bono's voice and The Edge's guitar is great, especially the opening riff.



Overall, the deluxe edition of 'Boy' is the version that you need to own. Everything is digitally remastered, so the sound quality is awesome, and the bonus tracks make it really worthwhile.



This edition of 'Boy' is highly recommended for any U2 fan that wants to hear early U2 at their finest. You won't regret this purchase.



ENJOY!!!"

Boy meets man

Evil Lincoln | Dayton, Ohio | 09/29/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"For those familiar with U2 only as the larger-than-life superstars responsible for socially conscious anthems such as "Where the Streets Have No Name," "One," and "Beautiful Day," their debut album Boy should surprise. It's their most rocking album (their latest, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, is really pretty timid), their most apolitical, and their most energetic. The young U2's energy, enthusiasm, and ear for a good song more than make up for any lack of musical refinement (The Edge in particular seems to be having a whole lot of fun on the guitar, while never getting too technical). This is their best album of the `80's (along with 1983's War, but that's another review), besting even The Joshua Tree in terms of strength and consistency.



Boy's most recognizable song, "I Will Follow," begins the album. If there were one song to define U2's energy and optimism at this point in their careers, this is it. "Twilight" includes one of The Edge's best guitar solos ever; it's so simple yet so evocative of the pensive mood of the song. "An Cat Dubh" is the album's high point. It's a very dark song, with a fantastic instrumental finale (that also serves as the beginning of "Into the Heart"). Adam Clayton's bass and Larry Mullen Jr's percussion really shine here.



Other highlights include "Stories for Boys" and "Out of Control" (U2's first single), two great hard rockers. "The Electric Co." is a great jam piece, and "The Ocean" provides a nice, calm change of pace.



What might be the most valuable thing about Boy is it's picture of U2 as a very young band, free of any spotlight, making energetic, earnest music. This is essential for any rock music collection."

Black cat better than zoo panther

Rambling Rose | Galiza, Spanish Colony since 1482 | 01/11/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Taking a look at my old u2 vynile collection of the 80s, I thought first which of my old u2 records sampler should i purchase in cd, and finally i decided undoubedtly for this one.

"Boy" is the debut album every rock band wish to record for the first time. It's besides, one of the u2 albums which had survived sucessfully the path of the time and it's in its esence, the most true, energetic and hence, darkest of them all...Boy posseses a spirit that cannot be found in other ones - those commercially more sucessfull u2 records of the nineteens-.

The strenght of this album is based on its powerful stream, its brilliant lyrics, its danger...It's the most genuine Irish of all their records, taking its Irishness not as a patriotical statement, as they did -more or less explicit- in later post-Eno works and at the same time discovering the fascination for everything American-, but as spontane and truly Irish in its roots and originallity...This is a beautiful piece of Irish Rock at its best, not self indulgent or cynical. It performs -through a musical high tension wire- several tracks all connected in its tematic as a round block of self analysis of fears and features of desperation.

The song's titles are full of literary winks and soul searching statements of someone who's taking a step into the insecure outer world contrasting with the richer inner world. Bono's self-portrait of his expectactions and fears turns out witty and beautiful and it reaches interesting masterpieces in a introspective way in which he -unfortunately- didn't show so often and so poetically after gathering the millions...

A special mention deserves "An Cat Dubh -Into The Heart", one of the biggest -not the most acknowledged, though- tracks in u2 career...In the cd separated in two different tracks, it's therefore, the same suite. An Cat Dubh (A Black Cat in Gaelic) tells about how beauty and danger goes beside at times and about the jeopardy of some relationships based on fascination which turn out in certain destructive endings that don't run into new disclosures. As it's been pointed out above pointed above, a relationship inspired this song and the sight of a black cat playing first and after killing a mouse for inmediately falling asleep beside the victim, as if nothing had really happened. A thought about the danger that sleeps beyond all beauty ("Yes, now I know the truth about you"). The guitar is yelling-banshee like and full of tension, leading the string into a catarsis at Into The Heart.

Other best of Boy-songs are "A Day Without Me", surpringsingly a insight of the world after an hypothetical suicide, though the cheery melody; "The Ocean", a beautiful onomatopoeia of staring at the motion of sea, and of course, the gorgeous "Twlight", "Shadows And Tall Trees", amongst others. Somehow Boy settles the milestone for the second and more aclaimed hit album "War" that made them known internationally, in which they got more into political statements with few exceptions (Drowning Man), thus, the existential depth of "Boy" is lacking here...After that, Eno should come to polish that raw and gifted poetry and nothing would be the same as before, therefore, Boy shall remain as a sort of memorial to prove of what they were keen to do...even without Brian- for the time being..."