Listening Post: U2 October

Like most people, I imagine, I am very well versed in the well known songs of U2. How could I not be? During the 80s they were ubiquitous. U2 and R.E.M. (possibly the subject of a later listening post) came out at the same time, have lasted the same amount of time and had roughly the same number of hits.
The difference is that, while Stipe and Co. soldiered on after a key member left (after saying that they wouldn't ever do such a thing) U2 has been comprised of the same 4 Irish lads since 1980.
1980! If Rock and Roll began in 1955, which is the accepted norm, then u2 has been around for more than HALF of the history of Rock.
What really surprised me as I began to research this retrospective is just how young they all are. Three of the members were born in 1961 and the other is even younger. I was born in 1965 which makes Bono and the gang close to being contemporaries.
The thing is, I have never heard the entire albums. I own them, in various forms, but after the big hit songs it just all sounds the same to me, so I would turn the record, CD, mp3, off.
Who among us doesn't own "The Joshua Tree"? And who has really listened beyond the first four tracks? (U2 notoriously front loads their albums with the hit singles starting off with a bang but giving us little reason to keep listening sometimes)
So, an end shall be put to that for me. I have begun the great U2 retrospective of 2008. And here's what I think:


U2 - October - 1981 (Buy it)

Okay. What can be said about October?
Is it Boy II? No, not really?
Is The Edge all over this thing? yes. And how do you talk to him? "Hey, THE Edge, could hand me a soda?" "What did you think of the last epsiode of Lost, The Edge?" Annoying.
Is it Christian Rock? Um....yeah.
But is it good?


No.

In fact, I would hazard a guess that, if a band today, like Jet or The Darkness or Ima Robot, who had moderately successful debuts were to put out a record this bad as their sophomore work they would be dropped by their label? Oh, wait. Hmmmm.....

October opens with the patented U2 fade in only this feels like they wanted it to sound like a continuation of Boy. Gloria is the first track, the only single, the only song you know and, all I can say is, Thank God for MTV, right, boys?
October is pretentious. October is Self-righteous. October is a waste of our time.



Grade D
A Side: Gloria
Blindside: Is That All? (or nothing, there really isn't much to recommend this album.)
Downside: Tomorrow (a great example of an album crushing itself under he weight of it's own importance)

Ratings explained:
A Sides are the hit you should own.
Blindsides are the songs you probably never heard but would enjoy
Downsides are the worst track on the album.