October (U2 album)

October
Studio album by U2
Released	12 October 1981 (1981-10-12)
Recorded	April and July–August 1981
Studio	Compass Point (Nassau, Bahamas) Windmill Lane (Dublin)
Genre	Post-punk
Length	41:05
Label	Island
Producer	Steve Lillywhite
U2 chronology
Boy (1980) October (1981) War (1983)
Singles from October
"Fire" Released: 27 July 1981 "Gloria" Released: 5 October 1981

October is the second studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was released on 12 October 1981 by Island Records, and was produced by Steve Lillywhite. The album was lyrically inspired by the memberships of Bono, the Edge, and Larry Mullen Jr. in a Christian group called the Shalom Fellowship, and consequently it contains spiritual and religious themes. Their involvement with Shalom Fellowship led them to question the relationship between the Christian faith and the "rock and roll" lifestyle, and threatened to break up the band.^[1]

After completing the third leg of the Boy Tour in February 1981, U2 began to write new material for October, entering the recording studio in July 1981. Just as they did for their 1980 debut, Boy, the band recorded at Windmill Lane Studios with Lillywhite producing. The recording sessions were complicated by Bono's loss of a briefcase containing in-progress lyrics for the new songs, forcing a hurried, improvisational approach to completing the album on time.

October was preceded by the lead single "Fire" in July 1981, while its second single, "Gloria", coincided with its release. The album received mixed reviews and limited radio play. In 2008, a remastered edition of October was released.