In October 1980, the band that would eventually become one of the biggest and most popular in rock history, released their debut record. Originally called The Hype, the band now known as U2 released
Boy, which had some minor success, as the first track "I Will Follow" was a minor hit, and "Out of Control," which was released as a part of a mini-EP in Ireland before the debut hit record stores, met with a bit of success previously. This debut is a fascinating record, considering it had the attitude of punk at times, but with elements as powerful as Bono's voice and stage presence, and The Edge's signature guitar sound, they had a much bigger sound than your average punk record. I don't think anyone would say they heard this and knew U2 would become as big as they eventually would, but there was definitely something special that was detectible in there amongst the raw fury of many of those tunes.
I didn't hear U2 until around 1983-1984, and didn't really get into them until 1987-1988, so this was not a record I knew right away. In fact, I don't think I ever actually heard
Boy from start to finish until sometime in the last 10 years, so I think not hearing it until after nearly everything else they had done was seeded deep into my musical consciousness, made me appreciate it more, as I went in thinking, "Let's see where it all began," rather than judging it on merit alone, which may or may not be the best approach, but there it is.
Aside from those two "hits," other standouts are "The Electric Co.," which would be taken to another level when played live, like so many of their songs, and the back-to-back of "An Cat Dubh" and "Into the Heart" featured a deceptively creative guitar hook by Edge, not to mention becoming one of those duos that would always be played together, helped by the fact that they do run into each without any stoppage. The rest of the album has its moments, but nothing that is overly notable. Overall, this is a very solid debut record, and the classic U2 elements were on display from the very start.
Regarding this thread, how long my write-ups will be, and how frequent updates will be, will depend largely on participation. I am not sure how many people will be interested in this thread, since there aren't a ton of U2 fans here, so I will see how feedback is early on and go from there.