U2: October

WHEN U2 first hit England in the twilight of 1980, a dull cry of relief rose up from rock's murky depths. U2 were "just what we needed": a return to Dram-rock (music's equivalent of melodrama). In the phrase of Island's press leaflet, "a soaring and emotional rock style that was powerful without being either musclebound or bludgeoning". Live, so it was said, U2 swept audiences into rapture and ecstasy.