'More than any other record, 'War' is right for its time. It is a slap in the face against the snap, crackle and pop. Everyone else is getting more and more style-orientated, more and more slick. John Lennon was right about that kind of music; he called it 'wallpaper music.' Very pretty, very well designed, music to eat your breakfast to. Music can be more. Its possibilities are great. Music has changed me. It has the ability to change a generation. Look at what happened with Vietnam. Music changed a whole generation's attitude towards war.'
Bono, June 1983.
'We had to leave the studio at seven in the morning 'cause there was this other band that were starting then. It was incredible - Bono was singing '40' with this other band waiting outside! We'd not even started mixing it yet. Bono was doing the vocal while we were doing the mixing, and we got out by seven. 'New Year's Day' was mixed in ten minutes.'
Steve Lillywhite, producer