U2's first studio album was called Boy. The Irish rock band's debut album was released by Island Records on 20 October 1980 and introduced the group through songs shaped by themes of adolescence, innocence, and growing up.
Boy was recorded from July through September 1980 at Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin, with Steve Lillywhite as producer. His imaginative production included unusual recording choices, such as placing drummer Larry Mullen Jr.'s kit in a stairwell. The album's cover features a young boy, reinforcing its focus on childhood and the passage into adulthood.
The record included “I Will Follow,” one of U2's earliest widely heard songs, and was followed by the band's first major tour of Europe and the United States. A frequent mix-up is U2's 1979 release Three, an EP rather than a full-length studio album. Boy is therefore the canonical answer when the question asks for the band's first album.