October is the second studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was released on 12 October 1981 by Island Records, and was produced by Steve Lillywhite.

U2 burst onto the scene with 1980s punky album Boy. It immediately established the group as a distinctive band embodying elements of new wave and punk, but sounded different from many other groups of the era. It was inevitable that October, the follow-up to Boy would suffer ‘difficult second album’ syndrome, and October suffers too, for being followed by the monolithic album War, a project that helped launch U2 into the mainstream.

Its a shame that October has gone comparably under the radar, for if you strip away the albums on either side of it and appreciate it on its own terms, it has a clear quality and is a fascinating glimpse of a band honing its craft. The rawer sound is refreshing and intriguing in contrast to the stadium-filling anthems that would come just an album or two later.

Today, October sounds very clearly like U2, but without some of the bombast that would come on albums like The Unforgettable Fire or Joshua Tree. Tracks like opener ‘Gloria’ are hard to resist, with its soaring chorus and Edges guitar shimmering throughout, and there is a real charged energy to ‘I Fall Down’ and ‘I Threw A Brick Through A Window’. (gigwise.com)

Vinyl, LP, Reissue, Remastered, 180gram

Tracklist:
A1 Gloria 4:12
A2 I Fall Down 3:39
A3 I Threw A Brick Through A Window 4:54
A4 Rejoice 3:38
A5 Fire 3:52
B1 Tomorrow 4:39
B2 October 2:21
B3 With A Shout 4:02
B4 Stranger In A Strange Land 3:56
B5 Scarlet 2:53 B
B6 Is That All? 3:01