We also may earn commission from purchases made through affiliate links. We follow a strict editorial process to provide you with the best content possible. Boy is the debut studio album by Irish rock band U2.Cake values integrity and transparency. It was released on 20 October 1980 by Island Records and was produced by Steve Lillywhite. Boy contains songs from the band's 40-song repertoire at the time, including two tracks that were re-recorded from their original versions on the group's debut release, the EP Three.īoy 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 their first time working with Lillywhite, who suggested recording drummer Larry Mullen Jr. playing 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 artwork through the photo of a young boy's face.
Īoy received generally positive reviews and included one of U2's first singles to receive airplay on US radio, " I Will Follow". The release was followed by the band's first tour of continental Europe and the US, the Boy Tour. The album peaked on the UK chart at number 52 in August 1981 and in the US at number 63. In 2003, Boy was ranked 417th on Rolling Stone 's list of " The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". In 2008, a remastered edition of Boy was released.
Steve Lillywhite produced the album, as well as the band's next two. Originally, Boy was slated to be produced by Martin Hannett, an in-demand producer at that time for his critically acclaimed work with Joy Division. Hannett had produced U2's first single with Island Records, " 11 O'Clock Tick Tock", but the band did not enjoy working with him, and the prospect of him producing the album was abandoned by Island due to the band's objections. Island A&R representative Nick Stewart said: "Martin by that stage was unwell he seemed to be suffering from a little overdose of one thing or another." Hannett was also severely affected by the May 1980 suicide of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis, the distress of which temporarily impaired his ability to work. Looking for a replacement producer, Island sent a copy of U2's first release, the EP Three (1979), to Steve Lillywhite to gauge his interest in working with them. Listening to the record, he "liked the voice" but thought "it didn't sound very good". Before deciding whether to work with the group, he wanted to see them perform live to figure out a potential creative approach he could take in studio. He subsequently agreed to produce a single for them, " A Day Without Me".Īfter visiting Ireland to attend a concert of theirs at a small school hall, Lillywhite was convinced to come on board, thinking, "Oh my God, there's something about this". Recording īoy was recorded at Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin from July to September 1980.Īlthough the song failed to chart, U2 found they could work amicably with Lillywhite and agreed to have him produce their debut studio album. Lillywhite was displeased with how the "A Day Without Me" single had sounded, particularly the drums, and decided to change how he recorded the band for the rest of the album.
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