U2

From the Source

War is where the legend of U2 truly begins, a great beast of a record filled with elated rock music that would fill and thrill arenas and stadiums across the world for decades to come.

U2 are firing on all cylinders from the start with one of the defining songs of the '80s, 'Sunday Bloody Sunday', an impassioned plea for peace and understanding set to one of the greatest rock riffs of all time. War keeps the momentum up right to the end, an immediate and vital album.

This is the album that defined U2 and gave them their reputation as a political and protest voice in rock music. 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' examined the hopelessness of the Northern Irish conflicts, the solidarity movement in Poland is the subject of 'New Year's Day', while 'Seconds' deals with the threat of nuclear destruction and 'Red Light', prostitution.

Big themes for an ambitious record that put U2 up amongst the biggest names in rock. Their stature as a phenomenal live group was assured by this collection of songs and War still stands as one of their finest recorded works. Music to turn up and shout out with a conscience.