War is the third studio album by Irish rock band U2, released on February 28, 1983 (1983-02-28). The album has come to be regarded as U2's first overtly political album, in part because of songs like "Sunday Bloody Sunday", "New Year's Day", as well as the title, which stems from the band's perception of the world at the time; Bono stated that "war seemed to be the motif for 1982." While the central themes of their earlier albums Boy and October focused on adolescence and spirituality, respectively,[2] War focused on both the physical aspects of warfare, and the emotional aftereffects. The album has been described as the record where the band "turned pacifism itself into a crusade." War was a commercial success for the band, knocking Michael Jackson's Thriller from the top of the charts to become the band's first #1 album in the UK. In 2003, the album was ranked number 221 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. This album became U2's first #1 album in the UK, supplanting Michael Jackson's Thriller at the top of the charts. In 1989, War was ranked #40 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s".