Boy by U2

Boy is the debut studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was released on 20 October 1980 by Island Records and was produced by Steve Lillywhite. Boy contains many songs from the band's 40-song catalogue at the time, including two tracks that were re-recorded from their original versions on their debut release, the EP Three. Boy was recorded from July to September 1980 at Dublin's Windmill Lane Studios, which became U2's chosen recording location during the 1980s. It was their first time working with Lillywhite, who employed unorthodox production techniques such as recording Mullen's drums in a stairwell, and recording smashed bottles and forks played against a spinning bicycle wheel. The band found Lillywhite to be very encouraging and creative, and he subsequently became a frequent producer of their recorded work. Thematically, the album's lyrics reflect on adolescence, innocence, and the passage into adulthood, themes represented on its cover through the photo of a young boy's face.Boy received generally positive reviews and included U2's first single to receive airplay on US radio, "I Will Follow". The album peaked at number 52 in the UK and number 63 in the US, and was followed by the band's first tour of continental Europe and the US, the Boy Tour. In 2003, Boy was ranked number 417 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". In 2008, a remastered edition of Boy was released.