U2 Albums #4

#4. War

Votes:  53

Highest Rank: 3rd (2)

Lowest Rank: 9th (1)

After the tepid success of October, U2 came roaring back with this balls to the wall, flat-out rock album.  Possibly the most "rock" album of their career until How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb came out over 20 years later.  Containing some of their most identifiable and anthemic songs of the band's career ("Sunday, Bloody Sunday", "New Year's Day", "40") this album solidified U2's position as a young band to be reckoned with in the early 80's.  It also established them as a band that wasn't afraid to touch the realm of politics and let you know just what they thought.

To this day one of the best live songs I've ever seen was on the PopMart tour in Houston in 1997 when the Edge sang "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" by himself - just him and his guitar.  When one thinks of U2, "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" is one of the first songs that come to mind.  Using the 1972 massacre of Irish known as "Bloody Sunday" as the medium to tell their anti-war message, Bono wails "I can't believe the news today, I can't close my eyes and make it go away."  However, instead of using the song as a pro-Irish, pro-IRA song, the band made clear that the song "was not a rebel song" - it was a song written to argue that there was no right side in the Troubles.  On top of that, it happens to be a driving, hard-hitting song that plays as well in concert today as it did in the 80's.  When I saw U2 in NYC in October of 2001, I could hear many concertgoers singing "Tuesday, Bloody Tuesday", referring to 9/11 - further proof that this song speaks to any situation where grief has outweighed hope.

This was the band's first mature, complete work in my opinion - focusing who they were and what they were to become.  Songs like "Surrender" and "Seconds" have their moments as well - their are no real clunkers (such as the handful on Unforgettable Fire) to be found on this album.  War established a band that was not afraid to play their instruments "under a blood red sky."

Named one of the top 250 albums of all time by Rolling Stone, War has stood the test of time and would be a best selling album if it came out today - there will always be wars to rage against.