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Boy
Studio album by U2
Released	20 October 1980 (1980-10-20)
Recorded	July–September 1980
Studio	Windmill Lane Studios, Dublin
Genre	Post-punk
Length	42:52
Label	Island
Producer	Steve Lillywhite
U2 chronology
Three (1979) Boy (1980) October (1981)
North American cover
Singles from Boy
"A Day Without Me" Released: 18 August 1980 "I Will Follow" Released: 24 October 1980

Boy is the debut studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was released on 20 October 1980 by Island Records and was produced by Steve Lillywhite. Boy contains many songs from the band's 40-song catalogue at the time, including two tracks that were re-recorded from their original versions on their debut release, the EP Three.

Boy was recorded from July to September 1980 at Dublin's Windmill Lane Studios, which became U2's chosen recording location during the 1980s. It was also their first time working with Lillywhite, who employed unorthodox production techniques such as recording Mullen's drums in a stairwell and recording smashed bottles and forks played against a spinning bicycle wheel. The band found Lillywhite to be very encouraging and creative, and he subsequently became a frequent producer of their recorded work. Thematically, the album's lyrics reflect on adolescence, innocence, and the passage into adulthood, themes represented on its cover through the photo of a young boy's face.

Boy received generally positive reviews and included U2's first single to receive airplay on US radio, "I Will Follow". The album peaked at number 52 in the UK and number 63 in the US, and was followed by the band's first tour of continental Europe and the US, the Boy Tour. In 2003, Boy was ranked number 417 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". In 2008, a remastered edition of Boy was released.

Recording and composition

Originally, Boy was slated to be produced by Martin Hannett, who had produced U2's 1980 single "11 O'Clock Tick Tock", but Hannet ultimately withdrew from the project due to the severe emotional distress caused by the suicide of Ian Curtis; Hannet had previously spent the previous two years closely working with Curtis's band Joy Division as their producer. In Hannet's absence, Steve Lillywhite was selected after being sent a copy of U2's first release U2-3 by Island Records to gauge his interest in producing their first album. After seeing them perform live, Lillywhite agreed to produce their single "A Day Without Me". Although the song failed to chart, the band had an enjoyable working experience with him and agreed to have him produce their debut studio album.

Boy was recorded at Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin from July to September 1980. Lillywhite had first come to prominence for his work on the 1978's debut single of Siouxsie and the Banshees, "Hong Kong Garden" which featured a peculiar hook played by a glockenspiel. U2, who listened to Siouxsie and the Banshees, used Lillywhite's skills to add the distinctive glockenspiel part on "I Will Follow". The drums were recorded in the stairwell of the studio's reception area due to Lillywhite's desire to achieve "this wonderful clattery sound". They had to wait until the receptionist went home in the evenings as the phone rang through the day and even occasionally in the evening.

Some of the songs, including "An Cat Dubh" and "The Ocean", were written and recorded at the studio. Many of the songs were taken from the band's 40-song repertoire at the time, including "Stories for Boys", "Out of Control" and "Twilight".

Guitarist the Edge recorded all the songs using his natural stained Gibson Explorer. He drew inspiration from music he was listening to at the time, including Television and Siouxsie and the Banshees.

Theme

The album's theme is the psychological nature of the transition of adolescence from childhood to manhood, with lyrics and atmospheric music examining a dawn of sexuality ('An Cat Dubh'), the entry into adolescence ("Twilight"), mortality ('"Out of Control"), the exile from one's past enforced by the passage of time ("Into the Heart"), mental disturbance ("The Electric Co.") and youthful ambition ("The Ocean"). "I Will Follow" focused on the trauma of the early death of Bono's mother when he was a young teenager.

The album's lyrics possess several literary references, "Shadows and Tall Trees" taking its name from a chapter title in the dystopian William Golding novel Lord of the Flies, and "The Ocean" mentioning Oscar Wilde's novel The Picture of Dorian Grey.

Release

Boy was released on 20 October 1980 in the UK, and 3 March 1981 in the US. The model boy on the cover is Peter Rowen (the younger brother of Guggi, Bono's friend and a former member of the Virgin Prunes). He also appeared on the covers of Three, War, The Best of 1980–1990, the unreleased Even Better than the Early Stuff, Early Demos and many singles. The photographer, Hugo McGuiness, and the sleeve designer, Steve Averill (a friend of bassist Adam Clayton), went on to work on several more U2 album covers. The image was changed to a distorted picture of the band for the American release, due to the record company's fears that the band would be accused of encouraging pedophilia. Sandy Porter is credited as the photographer for the American cover. However, the photo of Rowen appeared on the inner sleeve of the album in the US and Canada. In 2008, the artwork for the remastered editions of the album was standardised worldwide to that of the 1980 UK release.

In 2008, a remastered edition of the album was released, featuring remastered tracks, along with B-sides and rarities. Three different formats of the remaster were made available.

Singles

"A Day Without Me" and "I Will Follow" were released as singles on 18 August and 24 October 1980 respectively. "I Will Follow" peaked at number 20 on the Top Tracks rock chart, becoming a hit on college radio and established a buzz surrounding the group's debut. The album was preceded by Three, a three-song EP with different recordings of "Out of Control" and "Stories for Boys", as well as a song called "Boy/Girl".

Contemporary reception

Contemporary professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Hot Press	11/12
Rolling Stone (Debra Rae Cohen)
Rolling Stone (Dave Marsh)
Sounds
The Village Voice	C+

The original releases of Boy sold nearly 200,000 copies. The album peaked at number 63 on the Billboard 200, but after the success of U2's later material, it re-entered the American charts for a lengthier spell. It reached number 52 in the UK.

Reviewing the album in 1980, Paul Morley of NME called it "honest, direct and distinctive", while Betty Page of Sounds dubbed U2 the "young poets of the year". Lyndyn Barber from Melody Maker hailed it as a "rich" record, writing that "Boy is more than just a collection of good tracks assembled in an arbitrary order", and that it had "youthful innocence and confusion". Robin Denselow of The Guardian wrote that it was a "strong debut album", praising Lillywhite for helping U2 improve since a live show that the reviewer attended. Denselow said the group succeeded at their goal of achieving a balance of "power and sensitivity" and said the record "only needs slightly stronger melodies to be very impressive indeed". Time Out's critic Ian Birch hailed Boy as a "timely" album and said, "Firing off a tradition laid down by the likes of Magazine, the Banshees and Joy Division, U2 have injected their own brand of grace and sinewy spaciousness to create a romanticism exactly right for those who sport chunky riffs and mackintoshes". Declan Lynch of Irish magazine Hot Press remarked that he found Boy "almost impossible to react negatively to". K.R. Walston of the Albuquerque Journal said that U2 "knows how to nurse a listener along, toying with tempo and chord structures just enough to sound original but not overly avant garde". The review concluded, "the future shines brightly for bands like this".

Terry Atkinson of the Los Angeles Times called Boy a "subtly ravishing first album, by turns pretty, propulsive, playful and irresistably catchy", while further describing it as "supple and melodic, but tough and vital as well". Atkinson believed that the lyrics had "occasionally trite or vague passages" but were transcended by Bono's "heartfelt, soaring vocals". Sean McAdam of The Boston Globe described it as "a hypnotic album with nuance" that he "recommended without a bit of reservation". He praised Lillywhite's production for creating an "eerie ambience" and said of the band, "U2 have the musical chops, a compelling vocalist... and most importantly 4-minute pop songs that sound at once concise and infectious". Scot Anderson of the Iowa City Press-Citizen called Boy "an album that, while flawed, shows the potential of the band". Anderson thought certain songs were too long or too short, but believed U2 distinguished themselves from their peers with their spirit and humanity, making "a most refreshing splash in the New Wave". Dave Marsh of Rolling Stone said the record's music was "unpretentious and riveting" and called U2 "easily the best Irish rock band since Van Morrison's original Them troupe". He also lauded Lillywhite for his "always spearheaded production". In a separate review for Rolling Stone, Debra Rae Cohen found the band skilled and likeable while crediting Lillywhite for helping them "blend echoes of several of Britain's more adventurous bands into a sound that's rich, lively and comparatively commercial." Overall, she believed the album did not live up to the high standard set by the opening track "I Will Follow", finding most of it "diffuse and uneven". More critical was Robert Christgau, who dismissed the album in his "Consumer Guide" column for The Village Voice: "Their youth, their serious air, and their guitar sound are setting a small world on fire, and I fear the worst." The album finished in 18th place on the "Best Albums" list from The Village Voice's 1981 Pazz & Jop critics' poll.

The album's sexual overtones led to its enthusiastic acceptance in American gay clubs shortly after its release. Bono commented on this phenomenon, saying, "import copies got in and, as you know, in America a lot of music is broken in gay clubs and so we had a gay audience, a lot of people who were convinced the music was specifically for them. So there was a misconception if you like."

Legacy

Retrospective professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
The Austin Chronicle
The A.V. Club	A
Chicago Tribune
Encyclopedia of Popular Music
Entertainment Weekly	B
MusicHound Rock	4/5
Pitchfork	8.3/10
Spin Alternative Record Guide	6/10
Uncut	2/5

In 2003, Boy was included at number 417 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". The magazine wrote, "Too ingenuous for punk, too unironic for new wave, U2 arrived on Boy as big-time dreamers with the ambition to back it up." In 2006, Uncut ranked the album at number 59 on its list of the "100 Greatest Debut Albums". It was ranked as the seventh best U2 album in a 2017 list by Newsweek's Zach Schonfeld, who also called it "a U2 album without the ego" and the "preaching or presumptions of saving the world" that plagued them in the future. In The Austin Chronicle, Margaret Moser recalled the popularity of Boy in Austin amidst the closures and decline of local music clubs: "The newer, hipper Club Foot was a beacon, and we danced away the summer on its cement floor to U2. Boy was a glimmer of hope in the approaching darkness of the Reagan years". In her opinion, the record was "a shout disguised as a whisper, the calm before a storm", its musical formula foreshadowing the band's subsequent megasuccess. According to Steven Hyden of The A.V. Club, "Boy showed U2 had a strong enough musical identity to command the world's attention from the very beginning".

Some critics have been less impressed by the album in retrospect. Writing for Entertainment Weekly, Bill Wyman found it "heady" but "erratic", while Chicago Tribune critic Greg Kot described the album as "callow post-punk that owes a lot to Joy Division and early Public Image Ltd.". According to the Spin Alternative Record Guide (1995), the album "established what might be called revelationary reputation, hints at the impulse toward faith (after all, its hit was 'I Will Follow'), but mostly communicates confusion of the adolescent variety." David Quantick was more critical in his reappraisal for Uncut. He had enjoyed the album in 1980 as a rockier contemporary of Joy Divison and Echo & the Bunnymen, in spite of Bono's preening vocal performance, but later expressed his shock "at how bad it is". In his opinion, "Lilywhite's production is stunningly thin, Bono's voice is awful, the lyrics are dismal, and only the singles – the Ian Curtis-obsessed 'I Will Follow' and the great 'Out Of Control' – stand up. The rest is awful prog noodling".

Boy is one of only two U2 albums from which every song has been performed live at least once. Boy held this distinction individually until 2017 when all songs from The Joshua Tree were performed live on the album's 30th anniversary tour.

Boy Tour

Despite criticisms of their live shows as predictable and Bono using "too much echo", they nevertheless helped demonstrate U2's potential, as critics noted that Bono was a very "charismatic" and "passionate" showman, reminiscent of a young Rod Stewart.

Track listing

All tracks are written by U2

Notes

Early vinyl and some cassette copies of the album have an unlisted and untitled thirty-second instrumental sample of "Saturday Night", a song that would become "Fire" (on 1981's October album), at the very end of the album, after "Shadows and Tall Trees". This was dropped from most vinyl copies and all early CD versions. It was re-instated as an unlisted 12th track on the 2008 remastered editions of Boy and appeared in full for the first time as "Saturday Night" on the Deluxe Edition B-sides CD included with the 2008 remastered version of Boy. The thirty-second sample is now known as "Saturday Matinee" since the release of the album on online streaming services. Until the remastered release of Boy, it was thought to be "Fire."

Some pressings of the album, mostly in North America, indexed the track length of "An Cat Dubh" and "Into the Heart" at "6:21" and "1:53", respectively. The 2008 remastered edition of the album reinstated the original European lengths of 4:47 and 3:28. Early compact disc releases (identified by being West German-pressed and in a digipak) combined the two songs into a single track at 8:15, as did some US jewel-case versions (on the disc but not on the packaging).

2008 remastered edition

On 9 April 2008 U2.com confirmed that Boy, along with the band's other first three albums, October and War would be re-released as newly remastered versions. The remastered album was released on 21 July 2008 in the UK, with the US version following it the next day. As with The Joshua Tree, the cover artwork has been standardised to the original UK release. The remaster of Boy was released in three different formats:

1. 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 Paul Morley. The 11 tracks match the previous release of the album.
2. Deluxe format: A standard CD (as above) and a bonus CD including b-sides, live tracks and rarities. Also includes a 32-page booklet with previously unseen photos, full lyrics, new liner notes by Paul Morley, and explanatory notes on the bonus material by the Edge.
3. Vinyl format: A single album re-mastered version on 180 gram vinyl with restored packaging.

Bonus CD

All tracks are written by U2

Personnel

U2

• Bono – lead vocals
• The Edge – guitar, backing vocals
• Adam Clayton – bass guitar
• Larry Mullen Jr. – drums

Additional performers

• Steve Lillywhite – glockenspiel

Technical

• Steve Lillywhite – producer
• Paul Thomas – engineer
• Kevin Moloney – assistant engineer
• John Dent – mastering

Charts

Certifications

See also

• U2 discography

References

Notes

1. ^ The Edge's backing vocals are uncredited in the liner notes but listed here based on his de facto primary role in the group. Lillywhite's glockenspiel is uncredited in the liner notes but listed here based on his and the band's accounts of the album's recording.

Footnotes

1. ^ McCormick (2006), pp. 96–100
2. Jobling (2014), p. 67
3. de la Parra (2003), pp. 16–17
4. McCormick (2006), p. 96
5. ^ Lillywhite, Steve (29 June 2005). "The U2 I Know". Hot Press. Vol. 29, no. 12. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
6. ^ McGee (2008), p. 32
7. Green, Jim (March 1982). "U2: Pluck of the Irish". Trouser Press.
8. McCormick (2006), pp. 56, 58, 96
9. ^ Savage, Mark (18 July 2008). "U2's producer reveals studio secrets". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
10. Martin, Gavin (14 February 1981). "Kings of the Celtic Fringe". NME.
11. Nolan, Tom (May 1982). "On the Edge of Success". U2 Magazine. No. 3.
12. Morley, Paul. Boy remastered 2008 Liner Notes, Mercury Records Ltd (London), ASIN: B0013LPS6Q
13. Partridge, Kenneth (20 October 2015). "U2's 'Boy' at 35: Classic Track-by-Track Album Review". Billboard. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
14. McGee (2008), p. 41
15. "@U2 Interview: Peter Rowen". Retrieved 24 April 2017.
16. Stealing Hearts at a Travelling Show official U2 book, p. 101, 2003
17. "U2: U2faqs.com - History FAQ - Three to Under a Blood Red Sky". Archived from the original on 6 December 2002. Retrieved 24 April 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
18. Sams, Aaron; Kantas, Harry. "U2 – "A Day Without Me" Single". U2songs.com. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
19. Sams, Aaron; Kantas, Harry. "U2 – "I Will Follow" Single". U2songs.com. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
20. ^ Lynch, Declan (10–24 October 1980). "Boy". Hot Press. Vol. 4, no. 10. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
21. ^ Cohen, Debra Rae (16 April 1981). "Boy". Rolling Stone. No. 341. Archived from the original on 4 June 2007. Retrieved 15 May 2005. {{cite magazine}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
22. ^ Marsh, Dave (22 March 1981). "New Dury album's rich style evokes best of British rock". St. Petersburg Times. p. 7E.
23. ^ Page, Betty (10 April 1981). "Young poets of the year". Sounds.
24. Christgau, Robert (30 March 1981). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved 20 June 2012. Revised from the originally published version at "U2: Boy – Consumer Album Guide". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
25. Henke, James (9 June 1983). "Blessed Are the Peacemakers". Rolling Stone. No. 397. p. 13.
26. Morley, Paul (25 October 1980). "Boy's own weepies". NME.
27. Barber, Lyndyn (4 October 1980). "U2 Takes Us Over The Top". Melody Maker.
28. Denselow, Robin (12 November 1980). "Stevie Wonder returns to hot form". The Guardian. p. 10.
29. Birch, Ian (1 November 1980). "U2: Boy". Time Out.
30. Walston, K.R. (22 February 1981). "U2 Has Different Sound, but Basics Shine Through". Albuquerque Journal. p. D3.
31. Atkinson, Terry (8 March 1981). "Pop Album Briefs". Los Angeles Times. section Calendar, p. 93.
32. McAdam, Sean (5 March 1981). "U2: Boy: Island". The Boston Globe. section Calendar, p. 6.
33. Anderson, Scot (28 February 1981). "Boy U2 (Warner Brothers)". Iowa City Press-Citizen. p. 12D.
34. Hilburn, Robert (28 October 1990). "A Guide, Gossip, a Glimpse of Glory: MIXED MEDIA: A SPECIAL BOOKS EDITION: 'CHRISTGAU'S RECORD GUIDE: THE '80S' By Robert Christgau Pantheon Books". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
35. "The 1981 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". The Village Voice. 1 February 1980. Retrieved 11 March 2011.
36. "Bono Speaks". U2 Magazine. No. 10. February 1984.
37. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Boy – U2". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
38. Moser, Margaret (30 March 2001). "Record Reviews – The U2 Catalog: Boy". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
39. ^ Hyden, Steven (28 July 2008). "U2". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
40. ^ Kot, Greg (6 September 1992). "You, Too, Can Hear The Best Of U2". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
41. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 8 (4th ed.). MUZE. p. 330. ISBN 0195313739.
42. ^ Wyman, Bill (29 November 1991). "U2's Discography". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
43. Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel, eds. (1999). "U2". MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
44. Tangari, Joe (24 July 2008). "U2: Boy / October / War". Pitchfork. Retrieved 30 December 2010.
45. ^ Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). "U2". Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
46. ^ Quantick, David (15 July 2018). "U2 – Reissues – Boy / October / War". Uncut. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
47. "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. No. 937. 11 December 2003. Archived from the original on 21 April 2009. Retrieved 4 December 2009. {{cite magazine}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
48. "100 Greatest Debut Albums". Uncut. No. 111. August 2006.
49. Schonfeld, Zach (5 December 2017). "What Is the Best U2 Album? Every Record Ranked From 'Boy' to 'Songs of Experience'". Newsweek. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
50. Cite error: The named reference austin was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
51. http://www.u2gigs.com/faq-4-Setlists.html#6
52. ^ Morse, Steve (7 March 1981). "A new sound under pressure". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
53. ^ "Boy, October, War: Remastered". U2.com. 9 April 2008. Retrieved 9 April 2008.
54. ^ Boy (Vinyl). U2. Island Records. 1980.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
55. "Search Results: Boy U2". RPM. 30 May 1981. Archived from the original on 12 October 2012. Retrieved 25 November 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
56. "ChartArchive - The Chart Archive". Retrieved 24 April 2017.
57. ^ "U2: Charts and Awards". Allmusic. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
58. "1ste Ultratop-hitquiz". Ultratop. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
59. NO certyear OR id WAS PROVIDED for AUSTRALIAN CERTIFICATION.
60. "Canadian album certifications – U2 – Boy". Music Canada.
61. id MUST BE PROVIDED for UK CERTIFICATION.
62. "American album certifications – U2 – Boy". Recording Industry Association of America.

Bibliography

• de la Parra, Pimm Jal (2003). U2 Live: A Concert Documentary (Updated ed.). London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-9198-7.
• Jobling, John (2014). U2: The Definitive Biography. New York: Thomas Dunne Books. ISBN 978-1-250-02789-4.
• McGee, Matt (2008). U2: A Diary. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-1-84772-108-2.
• U2 (2006). McCormick, Neil (ed.). U2 by U2. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00-719668-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

• U2 albums
• 1980 debut albums
• Island Records albums
• Albums produced by Steve Lillywhite