U2 are a terrible, terrible band. They stand for everything that is embarrassing about stadium filling music and whilst they are undoubtedly influential their grandiose showboating (nobody needs to perform inside a giant claw) and tendency to relax into earnest ballad mode almost all the time makes their music a lot like slipping into an overtly colourful coma. Plus there’s Bono. Yeah…

However, before they were the world’s biggest band and before they were akin to watching your father dance to what he calls ‘hippity-hop music’ and before they became a byword for embarrassing they made War. Released in 1983, War features all of the components that make up a U2 record but they are employed subtly without the bluster of previous or subsequent records they would make and features a band impassioned, angry and feeding off of great chemistry and innate talent.

The record – their third – opens with one of the most brilliant and recognisable drum patterns of the last thirty years and sets a tone for the album to come. Simultaneously soaring and sharp the band utilise a dichotomy between stadium rock and agitated punk to create the oddly fidgety and compelling “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” a song that soon became their staple, and it’s clear to see why.

“Seconds” soothes despite a wonderfully bizarre drum production, people talking in the background and a pause for an audio clip from a documentary about women in the army. “New Year’s Day” is still as stirring now as it was upon release and is uplifting and bleak at the same time. “Two Hearts Beat As One” features some of The Edge’s best guitar work and “40” sums up and ends the album perfectly, although it stands as a reference point for where the band would go on subsequent records, becoming lost in the netherworld of balladry and dullness.

The reason this album works so well is its tightness. Nothing is too overblown or overproduced. Bono uses his voice effectively and his lyrics are bleak but relatable, the drums are more than just a bedrock and The Edge uses far less delay than he ever had or would, leading to a crisp, precise and twitchy sound, which suits what is essentially a collection of protest songs perfectly.

U2 would later go on to become world beaters, obviously, but in doing so one can’t help feel that they eschewed what made them great in order to reach a larger audience. As it is this record stands alone in their back catalogue as the one time where they sounded like nobody else and were proud of it.