What you make of 'War'?

[The Panther]

I think War is a great album, and I like that period of the band.

'Two Hearts Beat As One' and 'Drowning Man' seem to be somewhat unheralded tracks that are rather great.

I guess I'll always like this album since it was maybe the second U2 album I got into (after Joshua Tree), but I think it holds up well -- especially compared to most bands' work from 1982-83. There's a kind of visceral energy to it that was smoothed over a bit on UF, and toned down a bit on TJT. I'm not often in the mood to listen to it, but I always enjoy it.

Discuss.

(Interesting blogged interviews here with Peter Rowan: Peter Rowen: Media)

 

[digitize]

I think it's a good album. Of the two songs you mentioned, I'm not a huge fan of Two Hearts, but I absolutely adore Drowning Man. It's an enormous shame that it got so far in 360 rehearsals but never quite made the cut. I remember Willie Williams saying that they tried segueing Drowning Man into Bad in Barcelona, but they didn't keep it because it was too much "beautiful melancholy"... it's really upsetting, because that could have potentially been gorgeous, and I don't think that beautiful melancholy is really a bad thing (though I guess it is for Joe Stoned who is at the concert for a few greatest hits, or just as an excuse to be stoned).

 

[cobl04]

Haven't listened to it in three or four years, no desire to. New Years Day is one of their absolute best, Sunday Bloody Sunday is up there, Drowning Man is brilliant, but I can take or leave the rest. Like a Song is not as good as I thought it was as a teenager, Two Hearts and Surrender are both pretty great but not essential. Red Light I'd put in that bracket too, cops way too much shit. Seconds and 40 are good.

The Refugee is the worst song the band has ever recorded.

 

[LemonMelon]

First side is terrific, boasting intensity and thematic coherence that gives every note a sense of purpose.

The second half is patchy, and even though I don't actively dislike any track on War, the results are less than the sum of its parts. Also, Two Hearts Beat As One is fluff that's randomly much heavier than it needs to be.

Regardless, the album is faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrr better than most in EYKIW make it out to be. This is the only website I've really seen it criticized, including websites not dedicated to U2.

 

[An Cat Gav]

I think it's a very very good album, and as Panther mentioned it has stood the test of time better than many other albums from 82.
New Years Day is one of their greatest ever songs and a contender for their greatest single but Two Hearts probably would have been better as an album track rather than a single, SBS should have been given the full single treatment worldwide instead.
Surrender, 40, Like A Song and Drowning Man are all beauties and Seconds is probably their most underrated song of all time!!!!
The Refugee is one of my personal faves, I adore it.

 

[Nick66]

New Year's Day is one of U2's best songs, ever. The song is timeless on an album that otherwise sounds a bit dated now.

 

[Galeongirl]

Make love, not war.




But otherwise, good album. Love NYD, SBS and Like A Song... It has 40, which is the best live closer, and there's other decent stuff like Seconds(Edge vocals YAY), Drowning Man and Two Hearts Beat As One.


Red Light has got to be one of the worst songs ever recorded though.
Refugee's not my thing. And I don't like Surrender's whiny vocals either.

 

[blueeyedgirl]

The Refugee is the worst song the band has ever recorded.

 

[lemonfly]

It's a watershed U2 album. If they hadn't had made War, they probably wouldn't have lasted. SBS is one of their most important songs. NYD is in their top 5 best singles. With Drowning Man they demonstrated a musical and lyrical sophistication that was beyond their years. 40 is a great closer, perhaps the third best U2 album closer after LIB and MOTD. And then you have a slew of post-punk gems like Seconds, Like A Song and Two Hearts. Interf is really the only site where I've seen War get a considerable amount of criticism (and, perversely, Bomb get a considerable amount of praise). I've seen boards that are quite anti-U2 that nonetheless acknowledge War as a great post-punk record.

 

[nielsgov]

I've seen boards that are quite anti-U2 that nonetheless acknowledge War as a great post-punk record.

They must have only heard the first half.

 

[The_acrobat]

I feel like this album, more than any other album, sounds very dated to me. It's actually one of my least favorite albums anymore. All the songs sound better in their live versions, except NYD still sounds amazing.

 

[BVS]

I feel like this album, more than any other album, sounds very dated to me. It's actually one of my least favorite albums anymore. All the songs sound better in their live versions, except NYD still sounds amazing.

I second this...

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

Why, I can make a hat or a brooch or a pterodactyl...

 

[prbiker15]

War is a great album. I love SBS, NYD, Two Hearts Beat As One, Surrender and "40". I'm still trying to "dig" Seconds, Drowning Man, and The Refugee, though they are still pretty good songs. Red Light, however..just terrible, in my opinion.

 

[theedgeu2]

I love War all the way through. Every track. I think a lot of that has to do with memories I have that go with listening to the album. War was one of the first U2 albums I got into after I'd gotten Bomb and JT. I've never understood the hate on Red Light, I mean there is far worse stuff that's been recorded in music. I actually really enjoy Red Light and Surrender. And sure The Refugee might seem awful but really I think that song is U2 having a little fun and trying out different things. I know I like to try out writing different songs, whether they turn out good or awful. I think Two Hearts is one of their best songs ever. It's a pretty good up tempo song and I love what they did with it on the Under A Blood Red Sky DVD (same with Surrender). Those songs bloomed live, they had a sort of refreshing vibe about them. All in all I think War is a great album that has stood the test of time and I enjoy giving it a listen, especially on freezing, snowy days where the sky is dark and grey.

Oh and Drowning Man is a beautiful song. Love it.

 

[The Panther]

Agree with TheEdgeU2 that it's a very "wintery" sort of album. It has that association for me -- partly because of the sleeve photos and partly because I often listened to it while wading through snow in Canada.

Curiously, although I've had War on vinyl for many years, I've never really thought about it in terms of the two sides. Side 2 seems to be getting criticized a bit, so let me see...
1. "The Refugee"
2. "Two Hearts Beat as One"
3. "Red Light"
4. "Surrender"
5. " '40' "

I personally love "The Refugee" -- great tune, high energy, good lyrics, and it's over in 3-and-a-half minutes. What's not to love? "Two Hearts Beat As One" is a classic. "Red Light" is certainly the weakest song on the album, but in fact it's not really that bad. Just a bit of much ado about nothing. "Surrender" is great, with a kind of epic ending and the lovely children's choir. And then '40' is clearly a U2 classic.

So, a great side of music overall.

It's probably true that War sounds a bit dated, sonically-speaking, today (as does October), but then again what records from late '82 to early '83 can you think of that don't sound a hundred times more dated than it??

 

[gvox]

In Soviet Kazakhstan, War make you.

 

[cobl04]

I also agree that it sounds really dated.

But if any song deserves every-night live status, it's New Years Day.

 

[Tiger Edge]

War is one of my absolute favorite albums. I even have love for The Refugee.

I believe it's due for a spin...

 

[Scorpionac]

but if any song deserves every-night live status, it's new years day.

+1

 

[Globo14]

i also agree that it sounds really dated.

But if any song deserves every-night live status, it's new years day.

+2

 

[Jazzthief]

Agree with TheEdgeU2 that it's a very "wintery" sort of album. It has that association for me -- partly because of the sleeve photos and partly because I often listened to it while wading through snow in Canada.

Curiously, although I've had War on vinyl for many years, I've never really thought about it in terms of the two sides. Side 2 seems to be getting criticized a bit, so let me see...
1. "The Refugee"
2. "Two Hearts Beat as One"
3. "Red Light"
4. "Surrender"
5. " '40' "

I personally love "The Refugee" -- great tune, high energy, good lyrics, and it's over in 3-and-a-half minutes. What's not to love? "Two Hearts Beat As One" is a classic. "Red Light" is certainly the weakest song on the album, but in fact it's not really that bad. Just a bit of much ado about nothing. "Surrender" is great, with a kind of epic ending and the lovely children's choir. And then '40' is clearly a U2 classic.

So, a great side of music overall.

It's probably true that War sounds a bit dated, sonically-speaking, today (as does October), but then again what records from late '82 to early '83 can you think of that don't sound a hundred times more dated than it??

Sorry, I suck at english so do you think that those albums are dated?

 

[prbiker15]

But if any song deserves every-night live status, it's New Years Day.

Could not have agreed more. To me, I wish it was on the perfect setlist for the last leg. It was the only song that I felt was missing at my show. Mexico City & Montreal got lucky.

 

[U2387]

It's a watershed U2 album. If they hadn't had made War, they probably wouldn't have lasted. SBS is one of their most important songs. NYD is in their top 5 best singles. With Drowning Man they demonstrated a musical and lyrical sophistication that was beyond their years. 40 is a great closer, perhaps the third best U2 album closer after LIB and MOTD. And then you have a slew of post-punk gems like Seconds, Like A Song and Two Hearts. Interf is really the only site where I've seen War get a considerable amount of criticism (and, perversely, Bomb get a considerable amount of praise). I've seen boards that are quite anti-U2 that nonetheless acknowledge War as a great post-punk record.

Exactly!!

I've always been quite shocked at how underrated War is on this board.

For me, I've always thought U2 had 3 masterpieces:

JT, War and AB.

 

[cobl04]

Anyone who got to hear fucking Zooropa has absolutely no right to complain about the setlist.

 

[The Panther]

For me, I've always thought U2 had 3 masterpieces:

JT, War and AB.

Well, it does seem to get little attention here considering it's the album that made their name. Had War flopped or been another October, I don't think the band would have gone on to do much of what they did. War was a #1 LP in the UK.

[Warning: I'm about to get pedantic]:
About 'masterpiece' (one of those words we casually throw around), doesn't the word actually suggest a work that elevates the artist into the level of "master", and thus an artist should have only one masterpiece? That is, once you enter the master-level, you cannot enter it again?

 

[trevgreg]

Probably in the middle of the pack for me in terms of album rankings. I do like it more than the first two albums though, and Like a Song is a really underrated track, imo.

Anyone who got to hear fucking Zooropa has absolutely no right to complain about the setlist.

No complaints from me!

 

[Galeongirl]

Anyone who got to hear fucking Zooropa has absolutely no right to complain about the setlist.

I got Suck in a moment at the same show. That was quite the downer. But Zooropa made up for it.

 

[prbiker15]

Anyone who got to hear fucking Zooropa has absolutely no right to complain about the setlist.

Yeah, that was slightly bad on my part (though I wasn't complaining, it was the perfect setlist). Zooropa was probably the biggest mindfuck of the whole night, so epic.

 

[gvox]

If I had only one complaint...it would be that they do it closer to the album version...but I know, I'm being REALLLLLY picky there.