(Released
October 1980)
|
Track
list: |
|
I
Will Follow |
| Twilight
|
| An
Cat Dubh |
| Into
the Heart |
| Out
of Control |
| Stories
for Boys |
| The
Ocean, a Day Without Me |
| Another
Time Another Place |
| The
Electric Co. |
| Shadows
and Tall Trees |
A momentous occasion for U2 was the release of their first album,
"Boy," in October 1980. Since U2 had not yet achieved
its massive fan base, "Boy" did not enter the British
charts, but did manage to rank 63 in the U.S. charts.
In the fall of 1980, "Boy" was recorded at the Windmill
Lane Studios in Dublin with producer Steve Lillywhite. While
some of the songs were those that U2 had written and performed
in their early career many of them were created on spot in the
studio.
According to Bono, the boy on the album cover, which did not
appear in the U.S. version, was important to the meaning of
the album: it symbolized the band's beginning childlike innocence.
It did not appear in the United States for fear of accusation
of child pornography. The boy depicted is Peter Rowan, the brother
of a friend of Bono.
"I Will Follow" was the hit of the album, often classified
as a religious song, though never confirmed by the band. The
song itself peaked at #20 on the Mainstream Rock Charts . "Boy"
is the only album to have every song performed live and is ranked
417 out of Rolling Stone Magazine's 500 Greatest Albums
of All-Time.
