The OCTOBER appreciation thread...

[sulawesigirl4]

The other day there was a thread about POP and someone (scatteroflight, I think) mentioned that we never have threads about other albums like October. As October is one of my favorites and one that I think is maligned, abused, misunderstood, and underappreciated...I thought I'd start a thread about it. So to kick us off, here are some quotes from the band on October.

Bono:
Sometimes lyrics seem pretentious out of context, that's why they weren't printed on the sleeve of October. But although you may not get into the individual words, they're what gives it the drive. The sounds are of no use unless they are driven with the passion of the lyrics; the mood of the song is what draws it out of the band.

I'm more interested in creating an atmosphere, an environment, than I am in telling a story, like 'Johnny meets Mary', etc. Because things take a while to come out of me, they also take a while to sink in. Part of the reason U2 sounds much better a year later than the first time you hear it is that it takes ages before you get a feel for what's happening.

October is a more progressive record in that it demands more time. It demands your attention before you can sink in to what's going on there - there's a lot of emotions around there that aren't usual in rock'n'roll. So a lot of people will listen to it and say 'Hey, I want I Will Follow Part II' and we're not about to give them I Will Follow Part II, just as we're not about to give anything part II. October is transitional - it's just a phrase, an interlude. I liked the sound of the word - it's very Germanic and has the feeling of industry about it. Plus, it's a colder word and a strong symbol. I was trying to express my spiritual feelings in Gloria - which is a love song - but I found I couldn't express it, so I resorted to another language, or how someone else had expressed it in the past. . . .

On October I became more aware of the third part of myself - the spiritual nature - and I could have chosen to lock it away, and some would have preferred it that way, but I allowed it out. On the album there's a song I Fall Down and that's what I've done. I've spent my entire life falling down and picking myself up. And the band is the same way.

Adam:
October was such a frantic album to make at the time that the true value of it doesn't really come out until you look back on it. We had to write that record in three weeks and record it in a further three weeks - the 'second album syndrome' that you see a lot of bands go through. Looking back on it and seeing what it could have been like, seeing that it has been overlooked, you realize how worthwhile a lot of things in there are. There are some good songs. There's I Fall Down, I Threw A Brick Through a Window which was an interesting departure for us, Tomorrow - again another departure for us.

My favourite track always changes, but I think the melancholy of Tomorrow has it. It could have been a more finished song, but it's a very honest song. The pipes were a good direction to try. I'd like to use them more, but it becomes caricature if you use them too much. The fact that we actually made that record meant that nothing could touch us. If we could make that record and tour it, we'd be able to survive anything. It was defiant. That tour was quite miserable because the critics went bananas and we were very unpopular at the time. Having got through that I'm not resentful of what happened at all. I think, well fair play - they reacted the way they were supposed to react. The critics were nervous of it because of the spirituality that was coming through.

Your thoughts on this album? Favorite songs, moods, vocals, lyrics, etc.?

-sula

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~I want to play the guitar very badly, and I do play the guitar very badly - Bono~

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[thehepcat]

Tomorrow! Haunting, haunting song. Love the way it builds up to the ending.

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[HelloAngel]

The song October - gorgeous piano and vocals

[lazyboy]

Lol, I remember starting one of these threads about 5 months ago when I first got it, but it was titled something like
"HOLY JESUS MARY AND JOSEPH, OCTOBER IS FECKING AMAZING!!"

It is though, the 1 U2 album I thought that would be shite, cause I heard it briefly back in '97, but I love it to bits. It's got such raw energy, real passion, and I love Edge's guitar on it, well, also Larry's drums, and Adam's bass, and Bono's vocals, feck it, its so brilliant! Damn you Sula, I was over my October addiction, and I have it in college with me, so just gonna have to go back to it

Fave songs? I Fall Down, Stranger In a Strange Place, and Tomorrow

[sulawesigirl4]

mwahaha, I'm here to resurrect your addiction, lazyboy. I usually listen to it at least once a day. I can't get enough of Rejoice.

-sula

[Hewson]

Its a great album and sadly much overlooked, even by many U2 fans.
Rejoice is awesome, so much raw energy.
I wish they'd play something from this album in concert again.

[muh2o]

Back in the days of cassettes (ach!), I would play Boy, October and War so much that they became literally unplayable.

I was a happy camper when CD's came out, otherwise I'd probably have shelled out half of my life's earnings on those 3 albums.

Classics. Timeless. Every song!

[Salome]

great album
personal favs: Rejoice, I Threw a Brick, Gloria, October and Tomorrow

the strength of this album are the lyrics IMO, so I feel Bono is right: "But although you may not get into the individual words, they're what gives it the drive. The sounds are of no use unless they are driven with the passion of the lyrics; the mood of the song is what draws it out of the band. "

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Salome
Shake it, shake it, shake it

[U2Kitten]

I appreciate it!

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[Bonoforever]

Tommorow is an amazing song, I think October is vastly underated!

[This message has been edited by Bonoforever (edited 12-05-2001).]

[camiloj]

Originally posted by muh2o:
Back in the days of cassettes (ach!), I would play Boy, October and War so much that they became literally unplayable.

Classics. Timeless. Every song!

This really sums it up for me. I became a fan in 83 so all I had was those three albums (tapes for me). The entire October album is classic but the songs that really gave me chills were Tomorrow, Scarlet (listen to that song right now!), and With A Shout. I was very active in my faith at the time and this album had special meaning for me.

[Zoocoustic]

I love the song October because it is very easy to play.

The rest of the album is good, but in all honesty it's the U2 album I've listened to the least.

[scatteroflight]

THANK YOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUU SULA!!!!!

October was the first U2 album I bought on CD, which meant I had most of their other albums (the 80's ones anyway) already. I associate it with the hot summer (hot for this part of the world, anyway) just after I finished grade 11--the year I really became a U2 fan. I wrote my last exam, went downtown, bought the CD, went home, played it, and basically didn't stop playing it all summer. So it's still kind of a summer album for me. The riff for Gloria always uplifts me instantly, it makes me want to move around, to dance. I love, love, love the piano on this album. More than on any other U2 album--it has more piano than most U2 albums. Like I Fall Down--there's a powerful and underrated song for you. I Threw a Brick has maybe Larry's best drumming EVER. Those cascading drums at the end make me think of walls collapsing. Rejoice has such a killer riff, and the bit at the end where they just rock out puts tears in my eyes. Fire is admittedly a bit weird but it has very cool guitar. Tomorrow is just one of the most moving U2 songs ever. When he cries out "I'm going outside, mother..." oh, I can hardly take it. And I cry again during the rocking bit at the end. October, well, this is just a beautiful classic. "Ice notes." With a Shout is not my favourite, but "Je-ruuuuu-saaaaaa-leeeemm" is pretty cool. I LOVE Stranger in a Strange Land. From the opening bars it's just a powerful assault. Drums, guitar, everything. And the lyrics are very interesting. Scarlet isn't a classic, in my opinion, but the instrumentation is really very pretty. Is That All...everyone complains "Oh, they should have ended with a quiet song like on all their other albums?" Why not a break with tradition? (and it was only their second so it was hardly a tradition yet!) Awesome riff on this song. Good to sing along with.

Hurrah for what is unquestionably U2's most overlooked and underrated album--even by the band themself. Given the fact that Bono was reciting Psalms, singing Hallelujah and thanking the Almighty on this tour, I don't see why we couldn't have had at least a snippet of GLoria. It's everyone's loss, including their own.

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One day we'd reach the great ocean
At the end of a pale afternoon
And we'd lay down our heads just like we were sleeping
And be towed by the drag of the moon

-Sting

[pax]

October was all I listened to for three or four days after 9/11. It's perhaps the most violent album they ever made. Listening really closely to the lyrics of "Rejoice" was scary...

"Falling, it's falling, outside the buildings are tumbling down..."

And then the line about "says he'll do it again..." ::shudders:: So relevant as to be creepy. I ended up writing a poem about what happened and actually included little allusions to both "Walk On" and "Rejoice." I had a newfound appreciation for October that I never had before.

"Rejoice" is probably my favorite song from October, although after hearing the one quote from Bono about stupid Americans coming up to him and quoting "I can't change the world...", I never heard that line the same way again. I wonder if perhaps he meant it sarcastically.

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If you cannot live together in here, you cannot live together out there, let me tell ya. --Bono

You've got to cry without weeping, talk without speaking, scream without raising your voice... --Bono

[clarityat3am]

In Gloria doesn't it sound like a very deep voice singing the Glorias? Do you think that's a treatment or one of the boys?

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"It's all about drums."

"What's with all the glitter? I thought you didn't like our mirrorball lemon and shit. Well it's too late to change your mind now." -- Bono, Indianapolis, May 10, 2001

"Tonight with us, we have people who turned celebrity on its head. Celebrities are supposed to be somebody special, film stars, rock stars, we're celebrities. Supposed to be heroes, but we're not heroes. We're very selfish people who enjoy what they do, thank you very much. But here tonight we have from the fire department of New York City, from the police department of New York City, men and women that came down to catch the U2 show tonight. Theirs is the kind of bravery that can truly change the world." --Bono, Notre Dame, October 10, 2001

Whether you love me or hate me you can still email me: clarityat3am@hotmail.com

[U2Bama]

It is widely known that this OCTOBER is one of my favorite of U2 albums.

"Gloria:" a psalm of praise;
"With A Shout:" rings so true today;
"Tomorrow:" hope.

~U2Alabama

[The Wanderer]

and I don't even like Gloria!

[scatteroflight]

Originally posted by The Wanderer:
and I don't even like Gloria!

You don't like Gloria, but you like the rest of the album?!

I just love this smiley. I can't decide which one I like better, this one or the purple one that looks shocked and then laughs.

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One day we'd reach the great ocean
At the end of a pale afternoon
And we'd lay down our heads just like we were sleeping
And be towed by the drag of the moon

-Sting

[brettig]

same here wanderer

[DebbieSG]

It's all good. Dripping with faith and inspiration, and I sure heard it!

I just read that just before recording the album, Bono's breifcase full of lyrics was stolen. (This is a recurring theme) Amazing what beautiful words and images resulted. Talk about soul!

And the album cover is cool .