U2 "October"

October is the second studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was released on 12 October 1981 by Island Records, and was produced by Steve Lillywhite. The album was lyrically inspired by the memberships of Bono, the Edge, and Larry Mullen Jr. in a Christian group called the "Shalom Fellowship", and consequently it contains spiritual and religious themes. Their involvement with Shalom Fellowship led them to question the relationship between the Christian faith and the "rock and roll" lifestyle, and threatened to break up the band.

After completing the Boy Tour in February 1981, U2 began to write new material for October, eventually entering the studio in July 1981. Just as they did for their 1980 debut Boy the band recorded at Windmill Lane Studios with Lillywhite producing. The recording sessions were complicated by Bono's loss of a briefcase containing in-progress lyrics for the new songs, forcing a hurried, improvisational approach to completing the album on time.

October was preceded by the lead single "Fire" in July 1981, while its second single "Gloria" coincided with its release. The album received mixed reviews and limited radio play. In 2008, a remastered edition of October was released.

In February 1981 during their Boy Tour, U2 began to write new material. ("Fire" had already been recorded at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas while U2 took a break from the Boy Tour.) They wrote part of October during an extended sound check at First Avenue in Minneapolis. In March, on an otherwise successful American leg of the tour, the briefcase of lead vocalist Bono containing in-progress lyrics and musical ideas was lost backstage during a performance at a nightclub in Portland, Oregon. The band had limited time to write new music on tour and in July began a two-month recording session at Windmill Lane Studios largely unprepared, forcing Bono to quickly improvise lyrics. Steve Lillywhite, reprising his role as producer from U2's debut album Boy, called the sessions "completely chaotic and mad".


Bono said of the recording process of October, "I remember the pressure it was made under, I remember writing lyrics on the microphone, and at £50 an hour, that's quite a pressure. Lillywhite was pacing up and down the studio... he coped really well. And the ironic thing about October is that there's a sort of peace about the album, even though it was recorded under that pressure. A lot of people found October hard to accept at first, I mean, I used the word 'rejoice' precisely because I knew people have a mental block against it. It's a powerful word, it's lovely to say. It's implying more than 'get up and dance, baby.' I think October goes into areas that most rock 'n' roll bands ignore. When I listen to the album, something like 'Tomorrow,' it actually moves me."The briefcase was eventually recovered in October 2004, and Bono greeted its return as "an act of grace". Whereas Lillywhite recorded Larry Mullen Jr.'s drums in the stairway of the reception area of Windmill Lane Studios for Boy, the producer moved the recording of the drums into the studio for October; Lillywhite later called it "one of the things that didn't work so well".

On 9 April 2008, U2.com confirmed that October, along with the band's other first three albums, Boy and War would be re-released as newly remastered versions. The remastered album was released on 21 July 2008 in the UK, with the U.S. version following it the next day. The cover artwork for the remastered version was changed to crop the whitespace and track names. The remaster of October was released in three different formats:

• Standard format: A single CD with re-mastered audio and restored packaging. Includes a 16-page booklet featuring previously unseen photos, full lyrics and new liner notes by Neil McCormick. The 11 tracks match the previous release of the album.
• Deluxe format: A standard CD (as above) and a bonus CD. The bonus CD includes five live tracks from Hammersmith Palais, three live tracks from the BBC, the "A Celebration"/"Trash, Trampoline and the Party Girl" single released after October, the two b-sides from the album's singles, four additional live tracks from the Boston Paradise show and two other rarities. Also includes a 32-page booklet with previously-unseen photos, full lyrics, new liner notes by Neil McCormick, and explanatory notes on the bonus material by The Edge.
• Vinyl format: A single album re-mastered version on 180 gram vinyl with restored packaging.