Best Albums !: U2. Boy (1980)

Boy is the debut album from Irish rock band U2, released October 20, 1980.

The album was preceded by the single "I Will Follow". The single was a hit on college radio and established a buzz surrounding the group's debut. The song was widely perceived as a religious song, affirming the band's Christian faith, though this has never been confirmed or denied. The song, along with the album, also focuses on Bono's childhood and the loss of his mother at the age of 14.

Originally, Joy Division producer Martin Hannett (who also produced U2's 11 O'Clock Tick Tock single) was supposed to produce U2's debut album, but was too distraught after the suicide of Ian Curtis. Boy was recorded at Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin with Steve Lillywhite producing. Some of the songs, including "An Cat Dubh" and "The Ocean", were written and recorded in the studio. Many of the songs were taken from the band's 40-song repertoire at the time, including "Stories for Boys", "Out of Control", and "Twilight". The Edge recorded all the songs using his natural stained Gibson Explorer.

The album has overtones of sexuality, leading to its enthusiastic acceptance in American gay clubs shortly after its release. Bono commented on this phenomenon, saying "First of all we started out and made Boy, which is a sexual LP, and we changed the cover in America to stop any concern there might be about paedophilia and the like, because it was our first album. But import copies got in and, as you know, in America a lot of music is broken in gay clubs and so we had a gay audience, a lot of people who were convinced the music was specifically for them. So there was a misconception if you like."

The final track on the album, "Shadows and Tall Trees", gives a nod to William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies; it shares its name with a chapter from the book.

Boy's highest position on the Billboard 200 was #63, but after the success of U2's later material, it re-entered the American charts for a lengthier spell. In the United Kingdom it reached #52. "I Will Follow" peaked at #20 on the Mainstream Rock charts.

Despite criticisms of their live shows as predictable and Bono using "too much echo", these early live shows nevertheless helped demonstrate U2's potential, as critics noted that Bono was a very "charismatic" and "passionate" showman, reminiscent of a young Rod Stewart. Boy is the only U2 album from which every song (as well as every B-side) has been performed live at least once.

In 2003, the album was ranked number 417 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.