U2 • War
Universal-Island Records 1761674
33-RPM 180 g LP
U2’s third (and their first commercially successful) album opens with the machine gun-like rat-a-tat drum of Sunday Bloody Sunday, which was written as a protest against the violence perpetrated on Irish Civilians in 1920 and 1972. New Years Day (the first single to be released from this album), with its haunting opening piano riff, is my favourite track on the album.
The sound quality is nothing special—you won’t be using this one to show off your big vinyl spinning rig!—but the pressing is flat with quiet surfaces. The record is packaged in a heavy cardboard gatefold sleeve, and comes with a bonus sixteen-page booklet containing background notes, song lyrics, and more than a dozen photographs.