U2 celebrated the beginning of 1982 with a sucessful tour of London and Dublin, where they performed in front of a crowd of 5000 at the Dublin RDS in January, before leaving for America. Once again, U2 have reaffirmed their position as one of the best live acts in this time.

  In March 1982, U2 relese their new single "A Celebration". Their single successfully entered the UK charts, reaching the top 50. "A Celebration" follows on from "October" of the human spirit, but in a more defiant form - "by the powers that be". The B-side, "Trash, Trampoline and the Party Girl" - a song written by Bono about Adam - seemed totally removed from this, but instead showed U2's spontaneity in writing songs - the song was recorded in two hours. Unlike the other singles, this one was released without a corresponding album.

  Defiance is one of the key themes that defined U2 during the year. In the same year. U2 withdrew from the St. Patrick's Day Parade in New York when Bobby Sands, the leader of the IRA, was made the honorary marshal after dying in prison from hunger during the hunger strike he initiated. Suddenly, U2 felt they did not fit in with an event that put terrorism alongside their Christian beliefs. To make up for the withdrawal, U2 decided to hold a performance at the New York Ritz. Nonetheless, U2 lost an excellent opportunity to gain publicity in America.

  Also in that year, U2 made efforts in finding another producer, since Lillywhite had agreed on producing two albums. But U2 were also determined to take some risks in changing their overall sound especially when NME (New Musical Express) criticised them of being "aground on rock". They seeked Sandy Pearlman, producer for the Clash, Dictators and Blue Oyster Cult as well as Blondie member Jimmy Destri, but all were unsuccessful even if Pearlman did initially provide some spark in the production sessions. At the end, Lillywhite decides to become producer for U2's next album "War".