On this day, in 1983, U2 released their album “War”
10912 Mins Read
War is the third studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was produced by Steve Lillywhite, and was released on 28 February 1983 on Island Records. The album is regarded as U2’s first overtly political album, in part because of songs like “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and “New Year’s Day”, as well as the title, which stems from the band’s perception of the world at the time; lead vocalist Bono stated that “war seemed to be the motif for 1982.”
U2 recorded the album from September–November 1982 at Windmill Lane Studios with Lillywhite producing, the group’s third consecutive album made at the studio with the producer. While the central themes of U2’s previous albums Boy and October were adolescence and spirituality, respectively, War focused on both the physical aspects of warfare, and the emotional after-effects.Musically, it is also harsher than the band’s previous releases. The album has been described as the record where the band “turned pacifism itself into a crusade.”
War was a commercial success for the band, knocking Michael Jackson’s Thriller from the top of the UK charts to become the band’s first number-one album there. It reached number 12 in the United States and became the band’s first gold-certified album there. While poorly received by British critics at the time of release, War has since gained critical acclaim. In 2012, the album was ranked number 223 on Rolling Stone‘s list of “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time”.The group supported the album with the War Tour through the end of 1983.
In the UK, the album entered the charts at No. 1. War entered the US album charts in the Top 20 and eventually climbed as high as No. 12. War also reached No. 23 on the Top Pop Catalog album chart and became U2’s first Gold album in the US, eventually being certified multi-platinum by the RIAA with 4 million units sold. It also earned a Gold record in Switzerland and Silver record in the UK. In the Hot Press Reader’s Poll, it was voted No. 1 best album and best LP sleeve. UK magazine New Musical Express voted both the album and sleeve as No. 3 in its annual poll. And in the New Zealand Rip It Up Poll, War was voted the No. 1 album.
