War (1983)

War (1983)

Appropriately carried in on the most aggressive music U2 ever recorded, War was where things really began to come into focus. Released in February 1983, the album’s thematic center came out of Bono’s fixation on various wars being waged across the world the preceding year. This marks the moment where U2 started to become politically engaged, obvious in “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” but also evident in tracks like “Seconds” or “The Refugee.” Turning their anger to events in the outside world benefited the band musically. Where Boy had the brashness of youth, the harder songs of October didn’t work with the big abstract questions U2 wanted to ask on that album. Taking stock of what was occurring around them seemed to help them hone in on what this band would be.

I mentioned in the October entry that you could hear the band starting to figure out how to use their instruments the way they wanted. War is where that process reached full realization, and has a lot of the moments that became archetypal templates for U2’s sound. Mullen in particular came into his own. The martial drums of “Sunday Bloody Sunday” established the beginnings of his style, which would frequently make use of similar hi-hat technique and syncopated snare parts. Clayton, whose bass parts are often interesting melodies on their own, was locked in with the intensity of Mullen’s drumming throughout. And though the Edge’s playing here is a bit different than he’d sound going forward, his predilection for atmospherics and using guitar towards the overall benefit of the song was never clearer than the way he works his way through multiple textures against the main piano riff and Clayton’s prominent bass in “New Year’s Day.” He did this without the usual adornment or softening of his favored echo or delay effects, and hearing the always serene-looking Edge play with that kind of ferocity boldly underlines the energy of War.

War was not without its brief respites. Amongst all the topical and musical rapid fire, there was a love song with “Two Hears Beat As One,” musically no less emphatic but driving towards a catchy, triumphant chorus. It’s all the more striking coming after the barks and tom strikes of “The Refugee.” There was also the final song, “40,” an off-the-cuff, last minute addition when the band felt they didn’t have a proper song with which to end War. Named for Psalm 40, it does have a sort of hymnal quality about it, a bit of peace amidst the wreckage left at the end of the album. It’s become a fan favorite, and remains an emotional performance when it’s played live.

Despite negative press in the UK when it first came out, War went on to be U2’s first #1 album there. The album where U2 began to reach a wider audience, and the one with the undying “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and “New Year’s Day,” it’s also since come to be rightfully regarded as one of the band’s most essential albums. It’s required listening not just for the strength of its music, but also for where it falls in the band’s history. While nothing before or after War sounded quite like it, the album was also the logical end game to the territory the band had staked out on the preceding two albums. U2 began to make their mark with this album, and now they’d have to totally change it up the next time around. Consequently, War maintains the weird double identity of being the album where the essence of U2 started to crystalize, while also having a sound and energy the band would never again try to replicate.