War
Front Sleeve | Purchase Album
Release Date: February 28, 1983
Highest Chart Position: UK: 1 USA: 12
Liner Notes:
Bono: Vocal & Guitar. The Edge: Guitars, Piano, Lap Steel, Vocal ("Seconds"). Adam Clayton: Bass. Larry Mullen Jr: Drums and Percussion. Electric Violin: Steve Wickham ("Sunday Bloody Sunday", "Drowning Man"). Trumpet: Kenny Fradley. Backing Vocals: Cheryl Poirier with Adriana Kaegi, Taryn Hagey, also Jessica Felton ("Surrender", "Red Light"). Produced by Steve Lillywhite, Except "*" produced by Bill Whelan (Mixed by Steve). Engineeered by Paul Thomas. Assisted by Kevin Killen. U2 Management: Paul McGuinness. Recorded at Windmill Lane Studios, Dublin Ireland. Boy Photograph: Ian Finlay. Band Photograph: Anton Corbin. Design RX.
Track List:
- Sunday Bloody Sunday (4:13)
- Seconds (3:39)
- New Year's Day (4:55)
- Like A Song... (3:38)
- Drowning Man (3:51)
- The Refugee * (4:39)
- Two Hearts Beat As One (2:21)
- Red Light (4:03)
- Surrender (3:57)
- "40" (2:53)
Catalog:
- Australia: Island / Festival D37981, Island 811 148-2
- Canada: Island ISL 67, Island ISLC-67, Island CID 112, Island CIXD 112
- France: Island, 811 148-1, Island 811 148-2
- Germany: Island 610 533, Island 262 051
- Ireland: CBS 25247
- Israel: Island CAN 129733
- Japan: Island 25S-156, Island PHCR-4703, Island / Polystar P35D-20008
- Sweden: Island ILPS 9733 (Red Vinyl / 15 Copies)
- UK: Island CID 112, Island PILPS 9733, Island CIT 9733
- USA: Island 90092-1, Island 90092-2, Island 90092-4, Ultradisc UDCD 571
Media Review:
Review: War
5 stars (out of 5)
By Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Opening with the ominous, fiery protest of "Sunday Bloody Sunday," War immediately announces itself as U2's most focused and hardest-rocking album to date. Blowing away the fuzzy, sonic indulgences of October with propulsive, martial rhythms and shards of guitar, War bristles with anger, despair, and above all, passion. Previously, Bono's attempts at messages came across as grandstanding, but his vision becomes remarkably clear on this record, as his anthems ("New Year's Day," "40," "Seconds") are balanced by effective, surprisingly emotional love songs ("Two Hearts Beat as One"), which are just as desperate and pleading as his protests. He performs the difficult task of making the universal sound personal, and the band helps him out by bringing the songs crashing home with muscular, forceful performances that reveal their varied, expressive textures upon repeated listens. U2 always aimed at greatness, but War was the first time they achieved it.