U2 - Boy revisited

U2- Boy revisited

Imagine, if you will, a strange parallel universe, where U2 had not become the mega-selling behemoths of rock which they are now.  Imagine if they’d only released this one album and sunk without trace, like many of their contemporaries did. Imagine if a fiendishly difficult quiz question was asking what was the name of the lead singer of one-hit wonders U2? It seems impossible. U2 were always going to be successful; and therefore subject to massive acclaim at the hands of the record buying public and incredibly harsh judgements at the hands of the critics. They are such an easy target that there’s not much point running through the list of ways to have a pop at them. But if this had been the only record they’d ever made, would it have all been different?

(I should say that, at this point, in an wholly unfashionable way, that I have always loved U2-right from this record through all the chest-beating and flag waving, wrap round shades, Christianity and tax avoidance schemes. To this day, seeing them live at the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool when on the War tour, was one of the best gigs that I have ever seen in my life. I therefore hold no truck at all with the long line of here-today-gone-tomorrow,Johnny-come-lately,hipper-than-thou,London-centric,public-school patronising fuckhead journalists who condescend to us with their opinions from on high. I don’t care one jot if U2 are the most unfashionable band ever. I like what they do.)

 But this is about “Boy” and I’d bet if this had been their only release then by now if would be lauded as a total classic; a cult album; a forgotten gem and a bit of buried treasure. Instead, it’s seen as yet just another U2 record and I’d think that even people who class themselves as U2 fans wouldn’t necessarily class it as their best record. For me though, and even given the hindsight of time and rose-tinted glasses, it is an uplifting, joyous, ecstatic record. From those very first echoed chords there’s something special about it. Listening to it not as a “U2” record but just as a piece of music I can’t see how anyone would not failed to be moved by it; even just a little bit. It’s timely to recall that when this came out, it was so different and against the grain of everything else. It was all post-punk, long coats, Factory and Joy Division miserablism etc. Along turned up this bunch of Irish kids (and at that time U2 were just kids and not grizzled old rock stars) who came up with something that wasn’t narcissistic, self-centred and introverted but something that was life-affirming and inspirational. And all these years later, it still is.  Just give it a listen and imagine you are in a different universe. You’ll be surprised.