Album notes
U2: Bono (vocals, guitar); The Edge (guitars, lap steel, piano, vocals); Adam Clayton (bass); Larry Mullen, Jr. (drums, percussion)
Additional personnel: Steve Wickham (electric violin); Kenny Fradley (trumpet); Cheryl Poirier, Adriana Kaegi, Taryn Hagey, Jessica Felton (background vocals).
Recorded at Windmill Lane Studios, Dublin, Ireland.
All songs written by U2.
WAR, U2's first gold album, established them as one of the great cutting edge bands in all of contemporary music. From the insularity and ruminative splendor of their studio work, U2 blossomed into a visceral live band capable of turning elegant webs of sound into in-your-face rock and roll. The Edge's innovative guitar work was now augmented by his piano playing (particularly on the hit single "New Year's Day"), while Bono's lyrics turned explicitly to politics for the first time ("Sunday Bloody Sunday").