Monocled Alchemist

k“A Celebration” / “Trash, Trampoline And The Party Girl” (Island Records WIP 6770) March 1982

U2 | A Celebration (Island) 1982 | How come U2 always sound so irrepressibly happy? So full of sumptuous joie-de-vivre? Perhaps it’s because they know that no cheap imitation is ever likely to better the spirit of U2 in full flight, a spirit that’s bracingly illustrated by the exultant power of ‘A Celebration’.

Away from our shores since ‘October’, this serves to remind that U2’s soul music is rarely forgotten (or forgettable).

“I believe in the powers that be | But they won’t overpower me,” challenges Bono. I believe him . . . (Sounds, 27/03/82)

This sounds like an airship travelling quite near ground level, rather fast. Inside the ship are about 100 people all talking away. It’s a misty, cold afternoon. A swirling distant record that I cannot reach. (Eddie Tenpole, Melody Maker, 27/03/82)

First impressions: Christ, it’s closer to J Geils than the U2 you and I know and love and have occasional doubts about. Presently, however, their powerful delivery and Steve Lillywhite’s lively production suck you into the thing; it has all the excitement that the BEF record (for instance) twiddles away in favour of workmanship and detail.

A big, unashamed slab of rock rabble-rousing, this, though perhaps pandering to a certain obvious side of U2’s talents.

What about the unique delicacy that used to offset that stomping power, then? It may still be implicit, but I’d prefer it more to the fore. (Record Mirror, 27/03/82)