October is U2’s second studio album, released on 12 October 1981.
The album followed Boy, U2’s 1980 debut, and was recorded during a difficult period for the band. Bono, The Edge, and Larry Mullen Jr. were involved with the Christian group Shalom, which caused the musicians to consider how their religious beliefs related to their work in a rock band.
October includes songs such as “Gloria,” “I Fall Down,” and “Fire.” “Gloria” became one of the album’s best-known tracks and helped introduce U2’s developing combination of spiritual themes and post-punk music.
The album is sometimes confused with War, which followed in 1983 and brought U2 much greater commercial attention. October was not U2’s first album and did not contain “Sunday Bloody Sunday”; that song appeared on War. Its title refers to the month of its release rather than a historical event.