The Unforgettable Fire

U2 - The Unforgettable Fire

The Unforgettable Fire
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Music CD Cover

Artist: U2
Brand: U2
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1996-04-19
Music Label: UNIVERSAL
Product features:
  • U2 THE UNFORGETTABLE FIRE
Soundtracks:
  1. Sort of Homecoming
  2. Pride (In the Name of Love)
  3. Wire
  4. Unforgettable Fire
  5. Promenade
  6. 4th of July
  7. Bad
  8. Indian Summer Sky
  9. Elvis Presley and America
  10. MLK

Free Music Notes for The Unforgettable Fire

Free Music Review: Unforgettable! Absolutely Unforgettable!
Hit: 5 Stars

The album that I would likely view as their most non-commercial album that they have ever made to date, U2's 1984 magnum opus "The Unforgettable Fire" could very well be my favorite album of their entire catalog. This builds upon the greatness of their previous albums and their 1983 breakthrough album "War". For those whose familiarity with U2 is confined to just to the "Joshua Tree" through their "All That You Can't Leave Behind" eras are likely to be surprised at the vastly different style of this album but still, this is worth checking out. I think that this album is more keyboard oriented than any of their other albums from before or since then. It's probably that my tastes lean more towards keyboard-oriented music that makes me love this album so much. I find it very hard to believe that this album came out way back in 1984! A lot of music that came out around that time period dated pretty quickly and sounds extremely dated today and sounded so even by the time "Joshua Tree" came around. "The Unforgettable Fire" on the other hand, was many years ahead of it's time when released and as it approaches it's 20th year of existence, it is every bit as fresh and vibrant and doesn't even sound dated at all. I could play this against "All That You Can't Leave Behind" and still hardly notice it's age. Quite a large number of reviews have labeled this album as uneven. Uneven? Yeah right! This album is strong the whole way through. All of the songs are absolutely delightful, ALL OF THEM!

We've all already heard "Pride In The Name of Love" as well as the haunting and passionate "Bad". I definitely believe that these two songs deserved all the popularity that they got then and still get today as they are among their best singles to date. There are two famous hit songs that are entitled "Bad". One is by Michael Jackson and the other is the other hit single of "The Unforgettable Fire". No offense to MJ but While I enjoy the MJ song quite a lot, U2's "Bad" to me is far superior and has such a haunting mix of passionate dynamic vocals, haunting keyboards, and a dark moody undertone to it and the result is one of my all time favorite U2 songs. The song grows more and more passionate and builds up towards the last two minutes and climaxes with such incredible power that "Bad" is just phenomenal. I love the haunting moody ambience that fades into the night after the beats and guitars end. While Bono has written passionate and mature music in the years since then, his abilities have never matched what he had done on this incredible song. What's even more amazing is that this song uses mostly just two chords and still comes out being a masterpiece track! With Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois as producers, this song has some keyboards that sound similar to those on Peter Gabriel's "Red Rain" although no where near as strong as those on the latter.

The non-singles on this album in my opinion are among my favorites though. "A Sort of Homecoming" is in my opinion, the best opening track on any of U2's albums beginning this album on a passionate and haunting note with passionate lyrics and dark yet intense moody atmospherics to create a truly marvelous and unforgettable. "Wire" is just energetic mayhem with a high-pace rhythm and edgy guitar playing by Adams. Many seem to really dislike the fifth and sixth tracks "Promenade" and "Fourth Of July". It's a deep shame as these really do such a fantastic job of blending moodiness with dark ambience, electrifying guitar bubbling guitars and breezy atmospheres. To me, this is my favorite 'lonely cloudy evening' theme song. The title to "Fourth Of July" may be a bit deceiving as it has no explosive styles that would make one think of actual fireworks but on the other hand, it would evoke images of seeing the fireworks but from a great distance as to not hear the popping sounds of them at all and thus I have to say that I absolutely adore this song. "Indian Summer Sky" is very much like "Wire" but as multi-rhythm like that track is and is slightly more acoustic than the former but still is a good song. "Elvis Presly and America" is a great and odd track with pounding pulsating drum beats and a mix of ambient blues and alternative rock. This is an excellent song and I totally defend it on here. The final track on here "MLK" is an odd and haunting closer to this haunting and elegant masterpiece with a hazy and ghostly ambient breeze for the melody and the sound of a breeze that fades into the night.

U2 may have struck multi-platinum with their next two albums "Joshua Tree" and "Achtung Baby" but from my perspective, U2 reached their early artistic pinnacle on this record and while U2 have been the masters of reinvention throughout their career, I cannot deny that U2 have never toyed with passion, poetic lyric writing, atmospherics, darkness and moodiness the way they did on "The Unforgettable Fire" and this album is an album that must be included by ALL U2 fans' collection, both casual and die-hard fans. And so U2 closes out their early period on a phenomenal note and ushered in the era of superstardom and selling millions and millions of albums while retaining their artistic ability and punch to this very day. Please buy this album. I cannot recommend it enough. When I was done listening to this album, I felt like I had floated off the surface of the sidewalk during the album playing and finally softly touched back down when "MLK" faded into the night. It's that good! Just sheer and utter imaginative brilliance this record has! Even if you have the singles on the 1980-1990 hits CD, the non-single tracks on here warrant buying this album anyway. If only I was old enough to experience this when it was in it's heyday (I was barely two when this album came out), it would've been unbelievable! To Henry Rollins, no pun intended but take a chill pill man! ::-)

The Unforgettable Fire Poster

CD format: featuring the remastered album

This special edition marks 25 years since the album's original release in October 1984. Recorded at Slane Castle, Ireland, The Unforgettable Fire was the first U2 album to be produced by Brian Eno and Danny Lanois, and spawned two top 10 UK singles - "Pride (In The Name Of Love)" and "The Unforgettable Fire".


An appreciable leap forward in almost every fashion from the group's first trio of albums, The Unforgettable Fire is its first with the production team of Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. And while they take a strong hand in wrestling U2's music out of the mainstream and into a more individualistic area, it's the songs themselves that demand a more subtle approach. Moody gems such as "A Sort of Homecoming" and the entrancing "Bad" set the table for more explosive fare such as "Pride," "Wire," and the title track. This is the album that made U2 a career act, showing that their music could grow by leaps and bounds, even at the hand of another, without sacrificing its soul. --Daniel Durchholz
The Unforgettable Fire finds U2 caught between the taut angry rock of War and the kinetic, spiritual energy of The Joshua Tree. That's not a bad place to be, but like any crossroads it has its moments of indecision. "Pride (In the Name of Love)," "Wire", and the heroic "Bad" rank with their finest work. "4th of July" and "Elvis Presley and America" do not; hence this album's unstable foothold in their canon. Its strengths make it a must for fans, but its weaknesses make War, Joshua Tree, or Achtung Baby a better place to start. --Michael Ruby

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