Release of debut album Boy

Released in October 1980, Boy received generally positive reviews. Paul Morley of NME called it “touching, precocious, full of archaic and modernist conviction”, while Declan Lynch of Hot Press said he found it “almost impossible to react negatively to U2’s music”. Bono’s lyrics reflected on adolescence, innocence, and the passage into adulthood, themes represented on the album cover by a closeup of an adolescent Peter Rowen, the younger brother of Bono’s friend Guggi . Boy peaked at number 52 in the United Kingdom and number 63 in the United States. The album included the band’s first songs to receive airplay on US radio, including the single ” I Will Follow “, which reached number 20 on Billboard ‘ s Top Tracks rock chart. Boy ‘ s release was followed by the Boy Tour, U2’s first tour of continental Europe and the US. Reviewing the band’s early live performances, critics complimented their ambition and Bono’s exuberance, and found the shows to be illustrative of U2’s potential despite lacking polish.