October (Remastered)

by

U2

Edit

U2 have always had an undercurrent of spirituality and religiousness running through their music. Growing up in a country that is literally divided by faith, the band members were obviously influenced by religion. October is their most overtly religious album where songs like "Rejoice", "Fire", "I Fall Down" and "Is That All?" find the band searching for answers to higher questions. "Gloria" opens up the album with a punch as the song which starts off with a driving guitar riff before ending up with a hymn-like closing. "Tomorrow" is one of their most Irish sounding songs and the title track is a strong instrumental. "I Threw A Brick Through A Window" and "Stranger In A Strange Land" are more in a political bent. October was only the band's second album and shows a that they could build on the tremendous potential that they showed on their debut release.

I believe there are certain albums that subjectively achieve greatness by exactly when and where you first heard them, and not necessarily due to their content.

Many of the laudatory reviewers here at Amazon, on this album, go out of their way to mention when and where they first heard this record.

Objectively, it doesn't hold a candle to its' predecessor, "Boy" or its' successor, "War". The songs just aren't there.

It's a well-known fact that Bono had his lyrics pilfered just prior to recording, songs he had been working on for the previous 12 months. He was given the task to generate more words, on demand, in a few weeks. So actually, the fact that there is any sort of coherence is just short of amazing.

Having said that, even with repeated listenings, this album doesn't rise to the occasion. It aims for spirituality and depth but seems gauzy and murky.

Being an "average" U2 records in all respects places it leagues above most other artists' albums, but within their canon, it sits comfortably in the middle.

A few moments of clarity emerge, with "Gloria" notably, and the title track. "I Fall Down" and "Fire" also hang around with you after a listen or two.

Most of the album, however, doesn't linger, and in fact is hard to recollect afterwards. You don't find yourself humming this other stuff too often.

I believe U2, although proud of their progress, reacted to this by swinging to a sound of martial precision and exquisite detail with "War".