October

U2’s second album opens with “Gloria”, its searching vocal set against the Edge’s ringing guitar. October arrived in 1981, while the group was still finding ways to turn its urgency into songs.

The title track offers a striking change of scale. Piano and a brief vocal replace the force heard elsewhere, giving the middle of the album a moment of stillness. That quieter passage helps make the surrounding restlessness audible; the record has more than one way of reaching for an answer.