At one fell swoop, U2 gained new credibility and experimental edge commensurate with their growing ability. The decision to enlist the production team of Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois in 1984 can be seen as a turning point in the group’s career. It did prove to be a moment that changed rock and roll, and indeed, now every band follows the trail U2 blazed.” The accompanying live album of the tour, Under A Blood Sky, underlined the success they had enjoyed with War. As Rolling Stone’s Anthony DeCurtis states, when Red Rocks was shown in 1983, it “achieved what it set out to do – acquaint fans with the potent force of U2 on stage. It was the resulting tour and televised concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Colorado, in June 1983, that propelled the band forward globally, making them a huge hit in America. Thirty years later in 2013, it was voted by the public as one of the Top 20 Songs that Changed the World in a BBC poll. 1 album, it opened with ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday,’ with its call for unity and peace in a divided Northern Ireland. As a frontman, although young, he seemed to distil elements of all the great showmen that had gone before.Īlthough their second album, October, from 1981, failed to maintain their initial momentum (yet still containing U2 classics such as ‘Gloria’ and ‘Fire’), their third LP, War, released in March 1983, was a bold, bright and heartfelt statement, full of strident anthems and unmistakably commercial singles. Even in these early days, there was something deeply charismatic about Bono. This time as billed support, the concert was part of U2’s European and American tour. There was no such bemusement when they supported Talking Heads again at Hammersmith Odeon the following December. Their guitar-driven power and air of mystery seemed at once to fill the void left by Joy Division. One of their first live reviews appeared in NME, who spotted, even at this early stage, that “U2 are sharp and subtle and cynical, slyly seductive in an uncompromising way like the Pretenders or the Au Pairs.” Their live work paid off on their debut album, Boy, released in October 1980, which was raw and exciting with intelligent lyrics. A second single on CBS Ireland, ‘Another Day’, in early 1980, led to them being signed by Chris Blackwell’s fabled Island Records, where they found a supportive and nurturing label, ready to take chances with them. As unbilled third support to Talking Heads at the Electric Ballroom, Camden, their blast of noise was greeted with general bemusement. U2 crossed over to London in December of 1979, playing the pubs and clubs. Agreeing to look after U2, the band released their first record, an EP entitled Three, which gave them profile in their home country. The demo was passed from influential Irish magazine Hot Press to Paul McGuinness, who had worked as a film technician and was managing a band called Spud. After entering a talent contest in Limerick, they won studio time to record a demo that would be heard by CBS in Ireland. Around this time, too, Hewson became ‘Bono’ and Evans became ‘The Edge’. After Dik Evans left in early 1978, the remaining foursome selected the name ‘U2’ from suggestions made by Clayton’s friend and Radiators member Steve Averill. By the following year, they were known as The Hype. McCormick and Martin left and the five-piece rehearsed after school, playing punk-influenced covers. Originally called The Larry Mullen Band, their name changed to Feedback. Singer Paul Hewson, guitarist Dave Evans, his older brother Dik, bassist Adam Clayton and two further friends of Mullen’s, Ivan McCormick and Peter Martin, all applied. U2 began in Dublin at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in September 1976 when 14-year-old drummer Larry Mullen Jr posted an advert for musicians to form a band on his school notice board. Committed to their music and each other, they have always followed their heart with their approach to making records and playing live. Since then, they have taken their mass audience on a thrill ride of differing styles and approaches, often bringing experimentalism, strong political views and a desire for pacifism right into the heart of popular music.įor a band to be together for over 30 years in mainstream music with an unchanged line-up and the same manager is unheard of, but then challenging convention is the essence of U2’s spirit. Often cited as ‘the best band in the world’, U2 have continued to stake their claim to that title since the release of their fifth studio album, The Joshua Tree, in 1987.
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