U2 - Boy

The first time I saw this record the Weekend Wizard was showing it to me at the radio station. I can't remember the exact date but if I ever get around to posting all my 1980 playlists, I will be able to pin that down a little better. I think the first song I played off of it was "Stories for Boys."

I was hooked right away. I feel lucky that I was working at a college radio station so I did not miss a single day without this record.

Lately I have been listening to Boy a lot. Almost every day. I think it springs from the fact that we got the audio to that U2 Chapel Hill concert a few months ago and there are several songs from Boy on it.

It still amazes me to this day how inventive Edge's guitar is. If you have heard any interviews or press about how this band got together, you know they did not know how to play their instruments when they started. Perhaps that is why Edge's guitar style is so unique. It is not blues-based, tonic, subdominant, dominant, tonic built guitaring. He really did invent a completely new style. And for a self-taught guitarist his guitar playing is incredible for a debut album.

The songs have their own intensity as well. But I don't want to try to turn this essay into a review so I am not going to try to explain why I think this.

The songs I played the most during Deaconlight - in addition to "Stories for Boys" - were "I Will Follow," "Out of Control," and "The Electric Co."

It was during "Electric Co." at Chapel Hill that Bono climbed up on top of the stage (in the rain) waving a white flag. U2 also played this song at Red Rocks. My copy of the video doesn't have "Electric Co." but my vinyl EP version does. Recently on U2.com there was a posting by a guy who bought the CD version of Under a Blood Red Sky asking about this performance. In the original version during "Electric Co." Bono sings a variation on "Send in the Clowns" as well as a blip from West Side Story's "America." (In the audio clip from the Chapel Hill show, Bono does the same thing only instead of "America" he samples "Singing in the Rain." You can check out that part of the audio from "Electric Co." at Chapel Hill here.)

So the guy on U2.com said that on the CD he bought this had been cut out. The thread went on to discuss how this part was apparently cut out on subsequent versions. My vinyl version has the whole thing.

On the U2 Vertigo Live from Chicago DVD U2 perform this song and it really rocks. But as if that isn't enough, they then go into "An Cat Dubh" (the black cat) and "Into the Heart," which are from Boy. It still sounds amazingly fresh. But I will save more of that in case I ever get around to writing an essay on that DVD (which is UnReal !!. In fact the UnReal !! clip I have here is from some guy that said that right after watching U2 perform "The Electric Co." at Chapel Hill. If you know who this dude is, please let me know!)

-- 8 January 2006 (DD)

U2 - Boy: Deluxe Edition

The first three U2 records were remastered by Edge and released July 22, 2008. In addition to the CD, they are available in a special vinyl LP edition.

U2 Record Essays/Notes at Deaconlight.com

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• U2 - Zooropa: Released 1983
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• U2 - How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb: Released 2004
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• Niall Stokes - Into the Heart: The Stories Behind Every U2 Song
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