Opening with the ominous, fiery protest of "Sunday Bloody Sunday," War immediately announces itself as U2's most focused and hardest-rocking album to date.
Blowing away the fuzzy, sonic indulgences of October with propulsive, martial rhythms and shards of guitar, War bristles with anger, despair, and above all, passion.
Previously, Bono's attempts at messages came across as grandstanding, but his vision becomes remarkably clear on this record, as his anthems ("New Year's Day," "40," "Seconds") are balanced by effective, surprisingly emotional love songs ("Two Hearts Beat as One"), which are just as desperate and pleading as his protests.
He performs the difficult task of making the universal sound personal, and the band helps him out by bringing the songs crashing home with muscular, forceful performances that reveal their varied, expressive textures upon repeated listens.
U2 always aimed at greatness, but War was the first time they achieved it.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sunday Bloody SundayBono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, Larry Mullen, Jr. | U2 | Play | 04:40 | 10 MB | 33 MB |
| 2 | SecondsBono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, Larry Mullen, Jr. | U2 | Play | 03:22 | 7 MB | 20 MB |
| 3 | New Year's DayBono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, Larry Mullen, Jr. | U2 | Play | 05:37 | 12 MB | 36 MB |
| 4 | Like a Song...Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, Larry Mullen, Jr. | U2 | Play | 05:00 | 11 MB | 33 MB |
| 5 | Drowning ManBono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, Larry Mullen, Jr. | U2 | Play | 04:14 | 9 MB | 25 MB |
| 6 | The RefugeeBono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, Larry Mullen, Jr. | U2 | Play | 03:40 | 8 MB | 21 MB |
| 7 | Two Hearts Beat as OneBono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, Larry Mullen, Jr. | U2 | Play | 04:03 | 9 MB | 27 MB |
| 8 | Red LightBono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, Larry Mullen, Jr. | U2 | Play | 03:48 | 8 MB | 23 MB |
| 9 | SurrenderBono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, Larry Mullen, Jr. | U2 | Play | 05:37 | 12 MB | 38 MB |
| 10 | "40"Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, Larry Mullen, Jr. | U2 | Play | 02:38 | 6 MB | 16 MB |
| 42 mins | 98 MB | |||||
| 42 mins | 276 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arnie Acosta | Remastering |
| 2 | Steve Averill | Art Direction, Cover Design |
| 3 | Bono | Composer, Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals |
| 4 | Candida Bottaci | Production Coordination |
| 5 | Adam Clayton | Bass, Composer |
| 6 | Anton Corbijn | Photography |
| 7 | The Edge | Composer, Guitar, Guitar (Steel), Piano, Vocals |
| 8 | Cheryl Engels | Remastering Producer, Research |
| 9 | Jessica Felton | Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 10 | Iain Finlay | Photography |
| 11 | Kenny Fradley | Trumpet |
| 12 | Taryn Hagey | Vocals (Background) |
| 13 | Adriana Kaegi | Vocals (Background) |
| 14 | Kevin Killen | Assistant, Engineer |
| 15 | Steve Lillywhite | Mixing, Producer |
| 16 | Steve Matthews | Production Coordination |
| 17 | Thomas May "Beno" | Technical Support |
| 18 | Shaughn McGrath | Package Design |
| 19 | Paul McGuinness | Management |
| 20 | Sally-Anne McKeown | Production Coordination |
| 21 | Larry Mullen, Jr. | Composer, Drums, Percussion |
| 22 | Cheryl Poirier | Vocals (Background) |
| 23 | Scott Sedillo | Mastering Assistant |
| 24 | Paul Thomas | Engineer |
| 25 | Paul S. Thomas | Engineer |
| 26 | U2 | Primary Artist |
| 27 | Gordon Vicary | Mastering |
| 28 | Bill Whelan | Producer |
| 29 | Steve Wickham | Violin, Violin (Electric) |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |