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| October | 
 enlarge | Artist: U2
Label: Island
Category: Music
List Price: $34.98
Buy New: $17.96
You Save: $17.02 (49%)
New (52) Used (14) from $16.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 9981
Format: Original Recording Remastered, Deluxe Edition
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 2
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 5.7 x 5.2 x 0.6
MPN: 001094802
UPC: 602517641938
EAN: 0602517641938
ASIN: B0013LPS9S
Release Date: July 22, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Most orders shipped within 24 hours. All items include original artwork and packaging. We ship FIRST CLASS International/Domestic for single disc orders. Satisfaction Guaranteed!
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 6-8 of 8 | | « PREV | | |
U2's Lost Gem September 11, 2008
U2 is a band that I have to be in the mood for, largely because they have become too popular for my taste these days but also because there music tends to depress me. Plus I agree to a certain extent with what my friend Stu used to say about U2 and Bruce Springsteen, their music just gets too bombastic after a while. But having said all that I must say I am still a fan of the early U2. Their first three albums have always been my favorite with a few exceptions in between ( Achtung Baby and All that you Can't leave Behind I also really liked ). But October is my all time favorite U2 album, I think it is an over looked gem. It has a very organic feel to it. Plus it helps to know that it almost didn't get made. The band almost broke up during that time because of religious beliefs and other conflicts. The conflict on the album is palpable and it gives the music a kind of Gestalt that we never really get from these four Irish boys again.
The albums opener Gloria was one of the first U2 songs I ever heard and it is still a great album opener. The video was so beautiful and mysterious in a way. When MTV first came out this looked like a foreign film compared to some of the other stuff they were showing. The band stood on a barge outside of Dublin and performed to the record. The closing lines were in Latin. This seriously peaked my curiosity. Who were these guys? They seemed other worldly to me then, a 16-year old music fan living here on Long Island
The albums second track I Fall Down was also terrific and had the Edge playing piano for the first time. This was also a song of spiritual struggle. I had never heard a Rock band sing about this stuff. I Threw a Brick Through a widow is song that really turned me on to the Edges guitar playing, it was so unlike the other `guitar hero's' of 80's and here on the this re-mastered edition it has never sounded better.
Rejoice is a track that I had forgotten about and it really sounds beautiful on here. That song really inspired me. It was one of the few records that made U2 special to me. The raw emotion is really there. It has a Folk/Celtic quality that was truly there own. Other songs of notoriety on October would be for me the title track ( October ), Stranger in a Strange Land and of course Tomorrow Bono's moving meditation/evocation on his late mother and the second coming. The sounds on that track in particular are very unique in U2's catalogue, bagpipes, kettle drums and slide guitar. The overall effect is haunting.
This edition is beautifully packaged with liner notes from The Edge (Dave Evens) and includes a bonus disc includes one of the best U2 singles ever; A Celebration. That song is a precursor to what was to come on War the group's far more famous follow up album. War is an excellent record as well. All three ( of the 1st U2 albums ) are being packaged and in this way so I maybe getting the others soon as well. But if I could only have one I knew it would be October. Plus they are kind of expensive.
 Boy's ugly sister? September 15, 2008
I got to U2 through Under a Blood Red Sky and only after that did I look out for the first three albums. To sum it up, I must tell you that I wasn't very impressed. Not that they weren't good, but because the best songs were already on the live album and they sounded better.
But of the three albums it was October that I liked best. So I was quite surprised to know that this album was a bit under-appreciated, considered a miss-step sandwiched between Boy and War.
Boy was a wild, rawer album, but October introduced a wider scope to U2s music. True some lyrics seem a bit sketchy, but the rest is just as good as anything on Boy.
Like Boy, October kicks off with a raise-your-arms-to-the-air anthem: Gloria stands as tall as I Will Follow and both songs are the only indisputable classic on each album. The rest of the album balances between rockers that somehow try to break from the mould left by Boy and a handful of lovely mellower tunes that sound a bit 4AD. I Fall Down adds the piano to the U2 palette; I Threw A Brick Through A Window marches through some odd rhythm patterns; Rejoice rocks harder then anything on Boy. However it is the mellower side of October that truly brings some novelty to U2. October (the song), Scarlet and Tomorrow may be considered a bit underdeveloped but they shine like little pearls among the band's wall of sound, and they are the reason why October is quite special. The sonic landscapes U2 worked on these gems would echo on latter songs like New Year's Day or albums like The Unforgettable Fire. It may not be fully accomplished but October is a major stepping stone for what was to come.
In fact I think that the major problem with October was BAD COVER DESIGN. Bad photo, bad models (where the hell is Bono looking at?), even bad lettering, and most of all, dreadful styling. The band looks unease and dressed like a mix of A Flock Of Seagulls and The Chameleons (great band, by the way). A cover like this doesn't really shine between Boy's and War's beautiful black and white close ups. So there you have it.
As for this Deluxe edition, it is beautifully and carefully packaged with some interesting words to read and lots of photos. There are a few photos from the same session that are even worse, but hey, that's history! And for the first time on cd the sound is excellent.
The 2nd cd is basically live versions of some songs that sound very-much-the-same-but-better than the studio versions. And there is Celebration and the studio version of Party Girl. On the down side, you get two virtually similar live renditions of I Will Follow that don't bring anything new to the version on Under A Blood Red Sky.
If you are a fan, buy it. If not, stick to the single CD version.
amazing start September 18, 2008
amzing start for this group, this is a masterpiece in all the extension of the word.
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