TURN-ONS AND TURN-OFFS IN CURRENT HOME ENTERTAIMENT RELEASES : Excellent Good Fair Poor : COMPACT DISCS

“Boy,” U2. Island. AAD (analog recording). It’s no wonder the lyrics and themes seemed so vague on this 1980 debut by the celebrated Irish rock group. When it was recorded, Bono Hewson, the young lead writer and singer, was only beginning to explore song construction and the matter of what he wanted to say lyrically. Yet the passion in Hewson’s voice and the stirring, uplifting touches in the Edge’s guitar lines fueled this debut with an innocence and ambition that was later realized in such powerful, socially conscious pieces as “Pride” and “Sunday Bloody Sunday.” The CD sound quality: average.