Editorial Reviews Music Review:
Music Review
Billboard Top Rock & Roll Hits: 1966
Vivaldi: Concertos & Sonatas for 2 Violins
Two-Piano Magic / Markowski and Cedrone, Duo-Pianists
Music: San Francisco Sessions: Soundtrack to the Soul
What Makes a Girl Fierce? [CD-single] [Import]
World Rhythms: National Anthems of the World
X [CD-single] [Enhanced] [Import]
Amazon.com
Long a favorite of U2's original core following, October not only avoids the sophomore slump, but adds an edgy, emotional resonance to the buoyant self-confidence they showed on their debut, Boy. Though producer Steve Lillywhite deserves mention for helping effectively frame the material with production that manages to be both stark and atmospherically murky, this is the music where Bono, Edge, and company first show the potential that would make them superstars. Lacking the sometimes ham-fisted polemics that would mar War, The Joshua Tree, and later works, October has an oft-tortured sense of emotional and philosophical ambivalence that only underscores concerns that range from the crypto-spiritualist yearnings of "Gloria" and "Rejoice" to more anxious moments like "I Fall Down," "I Threw a Brick Through a Window," and "Fire." In retrospect, they may have peaked early. --Jerry McCulley