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."
Recorded from September to November 1982 at Windmill Lane Studios, it was produced by Lillywhite and is the group's third consecutive album developed at the studio with the producer. While the central themes of U2's previous albums Boy and October were adolescence and spirituality, respectively, The band began recording the album in September 1982 at Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin with producer Steve Lillywhite, their third consecutive record at the studio with the producer.
The album's opener, "Sunday Bloody Sunday", an ardent protest song, stems from a guitar riff and lyric written by the Edge in 1982. Following an argument with his girlfriend, and a period of doubt in his own song-writing abilities, the Edge – "feeling depressed... channeled [his] fear and frustration and self-loathing into a piece of music." Early versions of the song opened with the line, "Don't talk to me about the rights of the IRA, UDA". Mullen said of the album in a 1983 interview, "I think the drumming has always been pretty simple, I don't think it needs to be flashy. For War I use a click track, something I haven't used before, it's a way of keeping time in my headphones. When I listened to the music in time with the click track I knew I had to bring it down to the real basics. Hopefully for the next LP it will be more complicated, I'll move on. I think of it as a musical progression for myself because I learned a lot recording this album, just about my own style and that's what I wanted to do. I think there is a definite style on War where there isn't on the previous albums."
The studio version of "40" was recorded during the final hours of the recording sessions in November 1982. Bassist Adam Clayton had already left the studio, and the three remaining band members decided they did not have a good song to end the album. Bono, the Edge, and Mullen Jr. quickly recorded the song with the Edge playing both the guitar and bass parts. Bono called the song "40" as he based the lyrics on Psalm 40. In live versions of the song, the Edge and Clayton switch roles, as Clayton plays guitar and Edge plays the bass.
Composition
The sound of War is arguably harsher than that of the band's other albums. A major reason for this is that the Edge uses far less delay and echo than in previous and subsequent works.
War opens with the protest song "Sunday Bloody Sunday". The song describes the horror felt by an observer of The Troubles in Northern Ireland, specifically Bloody Sunday. Already a departure from the themes of innocence and spirituality displayed on the group's first two albums, "Sunday Bloody Sunday" introduces the album with a startling, military-esque drum beat by Larry Mullen, Jr., a fuming solo by the Edge that segues into staccato bursts reminiscent of machine gun fire, and pointed lyrical couplets such as: "And today the millions cry / We eat and drink while tomorrow they die." The album as a whole is more direct than the ambient October. Bono said in 1983,