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Boy - Deluxe Remastered | 
| Artist: U2
Label: Mercury Records
Category: Music
List Price: £26.99
Buy New: £17.98
You Save: £9.01 (33%)
New (1) Used (7) Collectible (1) from £9.80
Rating:  22 reviews
Sales Rank: 5083
Format: Original Recording Remastered
Media: Audio CD
Running Time: 47
Discs: 2
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 5.7 x 5.2 x 0.6
MPN: 001094602
UPC: 602517616707
EAN: 0602517616707
ASIN: B0013LPS7U
Release Date: July 21, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Tracks:
Disc 1
| • | Twilight | | • | An Cat Dubh | | • | Into The Heart | | • | Out Of Control | | • | Stories For Boys | | • | The Ocean | | • | A Day Without Me | | • | Another Time Another Place | | • | The Electric Co. | | • | Shadows And Tall Trees |
Disc 2
| • | I Will Follow - Unreleased Mix | | • | 11 O'Clock Tick Tock - Remastered | | • | Touch - Remastered | | • | Speed Of Life - Remastered | | • | Saturday Night - Remastered | | • | Things To Make And Do - Remastered | | • | Out Of Control - Single version | | • | Boy/Girl - Remastered | | • | Stories For Boys - Remastered | | • | Another Day - Remastered | | • | Twilight - Single version | | • | Boy/Girl - Live At The Marquee, London | | • | 11 O'Clock Tick Tock - Live At The Marquee, London | | • | Cartoon World - Live At The National Stadium, Dublin |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
There's little in Boy, U2's 1980 debut, to suggest that this was a band bent on world domination. Indeed, there's a charming, if naive, coming-of-age urgency in songs such as "I Will Follow", "Stories for Boys" and "Out of Control" that may startle listeners more familiar with U2's latter-day bombast and stadium-scale theatrics. Bono's viewpoint, still tantalisingly vague and wide-eyed, showed that his penchant for strident polemics hadn't yet gotten the best of him; his anthems are those of a yearning Dubliner barely out of his teens rather than those of a world-weary multimillionaire. The band's sometimes-ragged musical chops work in its favour here, gently burnished to then-fresh new-wave sheen by producer Steve Lillywhite. If the Edge's dense, effects-laden guitar work seems overly familiar, it's only because this album was such a key influence on the whole "rock of the 80s" sound. Though not quite as moody or musically accomplished as October, arguably the band's first masterpiece, Boy still ranks as one of U2's best albums. --Jerry McCulley
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| Customer Reviews: Read 17 more reviews...
 Worth 19.99 August 3, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is my favourite album of all time. Worth every penny of the 19.99. The isn't just a double CD as one of the premature reviews said previously. Its a beautifully packaged book with 2 CD's. Why do people review items before they come out? I'm a life long U2 fan and I have all of the bonus tracks on vynyl so its great to now have them now on CD. The remastering of the main album is vastly superior to the original CD. Who's complaining.
 Not As Exhaustive As You Would Like! August 2, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Imagine, if you will, an alternate reality. In this alternate reality, U2 failed to take the enormous stylistic left turn required to conquer the world, and instead carried on with more of the same after reaching a commercial and creative apex in the mid 80's, and thus, fell victim to the inevitable law of diminishing returns. To this end, U2 carried on making the same type of bombastically naïve records they trademarked in their formative years, never headlined anywhere bigger than a 10,000 seat arena, and eventually fell into disgrace when Nirvana killed the old music dead. In this reality, U2 plodded on for a bit before they split up and made largely ignored solo records.
Think... that's how close it could've been for U2. Instead, as we all know, they invented stadium rock, before turning into some kind of leftfield, weird art music project for most of the 90's, and conquering the world in the 00's as an institution. Until recently, U2 meanwhile, have fiercely resisted the temptation to become a nostalgia act : it is only with these releases and last years "Joshua Tree" set that U2 have started to look like historians. Not for them, the Greatest Hits tour, or the We're-Playing-The-Whole-Of-An-Ancient-Album tour. Until last year, U2 have always been pushing forward.
Taken on their own merits, "Boy", "October" and "War" are good, but not great albums. The sound of a band growing into itself. On "Boy" the songs sound like the products of cramped rehearsal rooms, of snatched moments forged on and off stage, of people exploring themselves and barely scratching the surface of the possibility. The original LP is a classic of its kind, a left-field assortment of songs that told us U2 could go in any direction they wanted to, with influences write large such as the American Art Rock of the 70's, of Television and the Ramones and Talking Heads and also, very definitely, their own people, their own identity, doing only what greats have ever done, in terms of making them sound like more than the sum of the parts, of a product of their environment yet also, definitely their own men. The production is brash and light and the band sound oddly confident (which is almost, but not quite arrogant) in their abilities. "Boy" is an embryo of an album, and thus, perhaps an underlooked addition to their work : it hints clearly at the band they would become whilst telegraphing where they have been. Debut albums rarely came so assured, or competent, in those days.
The bonus disc - as with all the extra tracks on these packages - are unfortunately a unforgivable disappointment for the knowledgable U2 fan. Whilst it thankfully compiles all the bands non-album songs of the era, it cruelly neglects to include both the first demo tape, and the legendary Boston 1981 concert is present only in small fragments as they were later used as b-sides : (both this demo, and the full 60 minute concert, were recently digitally remastered and released on the iTunes only "Complete U2" Box Set so their exclusion is frankly unforgivable). There is certainly space on the discs, with some careful sequencing, to include all the available stuff, and this release is a halfway house that pleases nobody. Quite why it is missing is baffling and a little insulting to fans who prefer the old fashioned age of the physical product. Also missing - though this would've required a third disc - is a televised Dublin 1980 concert which contained several unreleased songs, or the oft-bootlegged early demos. Of the unreleased stuff on the second "Boy" disc, there is a virtually indistinguishable alternate mix of "I Will Follow", two pretty good songs that should've come out at the time ("Speed Of Life" and "Saturday Night"), and a live version of "Cartoon World" from the aforementioned Dublin concert. Overall, whilst the extra disc is an interesting curio, it is sequenced non-chronologically that presents a frustrating experience to actually sit down and listen to, and fails to make much sense, as the band travel backwards in time towards the discs conclusion. The omission of a large amount of previously-released material when there is ample space across the two CD's is also at best baffling, and, at worst the sound of a band missing an open goal to create an overall satisfactory package. Maybe they're holding this stuff back for another box set or reissue in 2018. Thanks guys!
Facinating July 29, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Really nice package with some great insights into the early sound of U2.
Unless you happen to have the 6" vinyl singles from the Boy album most of the tracks on the bonus CD will be new to you. Speed of life is an out-take from the Boy session and fits in with the vibe of the album perfectly. There's also killer live versions of Boy/Girl and 11 o'clock tick tock.
The only weird one for me is Cartoon World which is a bit of an oddity.
In terms of cost I think this package is good value. 15 to 17 quid is only a bit more than what you used to pay years ago for a single CD album.
Oh, and the Boy album itself is brilliant.
Beautiful Set July 25, 2008
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
Beautifully packaged remaster set. Great early extras and great sleeve notes. October and War beautiful sets as well. Can't wait for Under a Blood Red Sky next. In response to previous 1 star reviewer. Purchase is entirely a free choice. The Record Company have not made it compulsory to buy any of these remaster sets. So why complain.
Boy better than ever, extras 'interesting' July 24, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
The remastering has improved on the orginal album, but the interesting thing here is the extra cd. The alternate mix of I will follow is very good and the original version of Out of Control is better than the Boy version. Of the rest, boy-girl (both versions), tick tock (both versions) and Saturday Night (quite clearly the same tune as Fire) are very good, the earlier stuff has a tendency to sound like Devote era Buzzcocks or XTC and the version of Twilight is just plain weird.
One for the fans I think!
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