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October | 
 enlarge | Artist: U2
Label: Island
Category: Music
List Price: $34.98
Buy New: $17.90
You Save: $17.08 (49%)
New (52) Used (12) from $17.36
Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 19333
Format: Original Recording Remastered, Deluxe Edition
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 2
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 5.7 x 5.2 x 0.6
MPN: 001094802
UPC: 602517641938
EAN: 0602517641938
ASIN: B0013LPS9S
Release Date: July 22, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
Disc 1
| • | Gloria | | • | I Fall Down | | • | I Threw A Brick Through A Window | | • | Rejoice | | • | Fire | | • | Tomorrow | | • | October | | • | With A Shout | | • | Stranger In A Strange Land | | • | Scarlet | | • | Is That All |
Disc 2
| • | Gloria (Live at Hammersmith Palais, London) | | • | I Fall Down (Live at Hammersmith Palais, London) | | • | I Threw A Brick Through A Window (Live at Hammersmith Palais, London) | | • | Fire (Live at Hammersmith Palais, London) | | • | October (Live at Hammersmith Palais, London) | | • | With A Shout (Richard Skinner BBC Session) | | • | Scarlet (Richard Skinner BBC Session) | | • | I Threw A Brick Through A Window (Richard Skinner BBC Session) | | • | A Celebration | | • | J. Swallo | | • | Trash, Trampoline And The Party Girl | | • | I Will Follow (Live at Paradise Theatre, Boston) | | • | The Ocean (Live at Paradise Theatre, Boston) | | • | The Cry/Electric Co. (Live at Paradise Theatre, Boston) | | • | 11 O'Clock Tick Tock (Live at Paradise Theatre, Boston) | | • | I Will Follow (Live From Hattem, Netherlands) | | • | Tomorrow (Bono & Adam Clayton, Common Ground Remix) |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Album Description
A standard CD and a bonus CD. Bonus CD includes b-sides, live tracks and rarities. Also includes a 32 page booklet with previously unseen photos, full lyrics, new liner notes by Neil McCormick, and explanatory notes on the bonus material by The Edge.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
amazing start September 18, 2008
amzing start for this group, this is a masterpiece in all the extension of the word.
 Boy's ugly sister? September 15, 2008
I got to U2 through Under a Blood Red Sky and only after that did I look out for the first three albums. To sum it up, I must tell you that I wasn't very impressed. Not that they weren't good, but because the best songs were already on the live album and they sounded better.
But of the three albums it was October that I liked best. So I was quite surprised to know that this album was a bit under-appreciated, considered a miss-step sandwiched between Boy and War.
Boy was a wild, rawer album, but October introduced a wider scope to U2s music. True some lyrics seem a bit sketchy, but the rest is just as good as anything on Boy.
Like Boy, October kicks off with a raise-your-arms-to-the-air anthem: "Gloria" stands as tall as "I Will Follow" and both songs are the only indisputable classic on each album. The rest of the album balances between rockers that somehow try to break from the mould left by Boy and a handful of lovely mellower tunes that sound a bit 4AD. "I Fall Down" adds the piano to the U2 palette; "I Threw A Brick Through A Window" marches through some odd rhythm patterns; "Rejoice" rocks harder then anything on Boy. However it is the mellower side of October that truly brings some novelty to U2. "October" (the song), "Scarlet" and "Tomorrow" may be considered a bit underdeveloped but they shine like little pearls among the band's wall of sound, and they are the reason why October is quite special. The sonic landscapes U2 worked on these gems would echo on latter songs like "New Year's Day" or albums like The Unforgettable Fire. It may not be fully accomplished but October is a major stepping stone for what was to come.
In fact I think that the major problem with October was BAD COVER DESIGN. Bad photo, bad models (where the hell is Bono looking at?), even bad lettering, and most of all, dreadful styling. The band looks unease and dressed like a mix of A Flock Of Seagulls and The Chameleons (great band, by the way). A cover like this doesn't really shine between Boy's and War's beautiful black and white close ups. So there you have it.
As for this Deluxe edition, it is beautifully and carefully packaged with some interesting words to read and lots of photos. There are a few photos from the same session that are even worse, but hey, that's history! And for the first time on cd the sound is excellent.
The 2nd cd is basically live versions of some songs that sound very-much-the-same-but-better than the studio versions. And there is "Celebration" and the studio version of "Party Girl". On the down side, you get two virtually similar live renditions of "I Will Follow" that don't bring anything new to the version on Under A Blood Red Sky.
If you are a fan, buy it. If not, stick to the single CD version.
U2's Lost Gem September 11, 2008
U2 is a band that I have to be in the mood for, largely because they have become too popular for my taste these days but also because there music tends to depress me. Plus I agree to a certain extent with what my friend Stu used to say about U2 and Bruce Springsteen, their music just gets too bombastic after a while. But having said all that I must say I am still a fan of the early U2. Their first three albums have always been my favorite with a few exceptions in between ( Achtung Baby and All that you Can't leave Behind I also really liked ). But October is my all time favorite U2 album, I think it is an over looked gem. It has a very organic feel to it. Plus it helps to know that it almost didn't get made. The band almost broke up during that time because of religious beliefs and other conflicts. The conflict on the album is palpable and it gives the music a kind of Gestalt that we never really get from these four Irish boys again.
The albums opener Gloria was one of the first U2 songs I ever heard and it is still a great album opener. The video was so beautiful and mysterious in a way. When MTV first came out this looked like a foreign film compared to some of the other stuff they were showing. The band stood on a barge outside of Dublin and performed to the record. The closing lines were in Latin. This seriously peaked my curiosity. Who were these guys? They seemed other worldly to me then, a 16-year old music fan living here on Long Island
The albums second track I Fall Down was also terrific and had the Edge playing piano for the first time. This was also a song of spiritual struggle. I had never heard a Rock band sing about this stuff. I Threw a Brick Through a widow is song that really turned me on to the Edges guitar playing, it was so unlike the other `guitar hero's' of 80's and here on the this re-mastered edition it has never sounded better.
Rejoice is a track that I had forgotten about and it really sounds beautiful on here. That song really inspired me. It was one of the few records that made U2 special to me. The raw emotion is really there. It has a Folk/Celtic quality that was truly there own. Other songs of notoriety on October would be for me the title track ( October ), Stranger in a Strange Land and of course Tomorrow Bono's moving meditation/evocation on his late mother and the second coming. The sounds on that track in particular are very unique in U2's catalogue, bagpipes, kettle drums and slide guitar. The overall effect is haunting.
This edition is beautifully packaged with liner notes from The Edge (Dave Evens) and includes a bonus disc includes one of the best U2 singles ever; A Celebration. That song is a precursor to what was to come on War the group's far more famous follow up album. War is an excellent record as well. All three ( of the 1st U2 albums ) are being packaged and in this way so I maybe getting the others soon as well. But if I could only have one I knew it would be October. Plus they are kind of expensive.
Brilliant remaster, excellent second CD, stratospheric price September 10, 2008
Having heard this disc at a friend's house, I can attest the sound is truly amazing. The remastering has been done expertly. The second disc is choice as well (though "Trash & Trampoline" has always been a throwaway song & 20-bit remastering can't change that; I'll bet there's an "inside" joke about that I'd love to hear).
I dock the set 1-star for an entirely non-musical reason...
(I MUST ASK THE OBVIOUS QUESTION: the technology to make these disc sound this good existed when they were first issued on CD, so WHY only NOW are we getting CDs of this audio quality? Answer: corporate greed. Something the band has little to do with, obviously. So I'm not taking the Boyz to task, but the greedy record company punks who not only overcharge us but then call us thieves and tell us that ripping tracks for our iPods is a crime! [Steve Jobs must've loved hearing that!])
I just wish these sets weren't so bloody expensive. While U2 out-takes and "B"-sides (back when there was were such things -- dating myself, I know) have usually been of very high quality, I hardly think putting them on a CD justifies these very high prices. I admit I did dig in and spend $50 for "The Joshua Tree" "Deluxe" package, but it includes a DVD concert video, whereas these sets don't. But I've always considered "Joshua Tree" to be the pinnacle of U2's artistic achievement; with the exception of a few tracks (e.g. "Desire", "Mysterious Ways", "Beautiful Day") they have never again reached that level (after all this was the album that led Rolling Stone to call U2 the "Band of the 80s" and the album, the album of the 80s; admittedly Rolling Stone--quite justifiably--isn't taken seriously for their criticism, I mean look at their abysmal treatment of Rush over the DECADES!!).
But the four pre-Tree discs were also outstanding, each disc getting better and better. And perhaps the precipitous decline in quality following "Tree" is understandable. How much brilliance can one artist (or group thereof) be expected to create in one lifetime? Thus "Zooropa", "Pop Mart" and other blatantly, rock-by-numbers albums were inevitable. One almost gets the feelings the albums were recorded simply as an excuse to tour. Personally, I wish they'd just tour and leave the utterly forgettable music unwritten and unrecorded. As it stands, they are backloading their legacy with throwaway discs that will never be considered in the same league (or even the "same ******* sport", to quote Quentin Tarantino) as their first five masterpieces.
But, getting back to my theme: guys, come on!, lower the prices. You pay ZERO income tax on your artistic earnings and you can't need the money (even Imelda Marcos couldn't spend that much money). Your label obviously WANTS it, but surely you're in a position to dictate terms.
I paid $200+ for two back-of-the-arena loge seats three years ago. And I've owned all of their albums up to "Rattle & Hum" inclusive (I even have the unfairly maligned movie of the same name on HD-DVD, which sounds and looks absolutely gorgeous).
So, lower the prices, take smaller bites and remember, not all of us are willing to burn up our credit cards to complete our collections.
Another Great U2 Album "October" August 1, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This one is so far the second best remaster behind the first album. Excellent sound and highly recommended to fans as well as collectors. As with all the U2 material, had all the second CD material on vinyl. If your really looking for excellent U2 recordings, get this one and the first one as well. If you already have this on CD originally, it still a fine album but the second disc adds all the extra excitement.
Search out little site on the web "Judemac Forever" and drop us a visit.
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