Under a Blood Red Sky (1983)


 
1. Gloria 2. 11 O'Clock Tick Tock 3. I Will Follow 4. Party Girl 5. Sunday Bloody Sunday 6. The Electric Co. 7. New Year's Day 8. 40

 

Before U2 were mega stars and selling out football stadiums with Vegas like theatrical productions, they were a simple band that played in semi-unassuming places such as Red Rocks in Denver, Colorado. Strangely, this, to date, is the only official live album in the band's catalog.

This captures them in their most basic form - simply playing live to a group of hugely adoring fans with little fanfare. The music and the performance is spectacular. Six of the eight tracks are chosen from their first three albums, with two songs not yet released officially. Which begs the question, why only eight songs? This album was branded as a "Mini-LP" when it first came out - and sure enough its not quite long as most "normal" LPs were. Maybe since the band hadn't really taken off at this point, someone thought this would be all the public would really want. Its a bit of a shame, because the video of the same concert featured a lot more songs. Perhaps a special edition CD will be released in the future with more, if not the whole, show. It would be highly welcome.

Go back to the main page
Go To Next Review