Description
The Unforgettable Fire is the fourth studio album by the Irish rock band U2, released on Island Records in October 1984. Recording began in May 1984 at Slane Castle in County Meath, Ireland; where the band lived, wrote, and recorded to find new inspiration. The album was completed in August 1984 at Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin, Ireland. The album was produced and engineered by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, with additional engineering by Kevin Killen. (The album title is a reference to “The Unforgettable Fire” – an art exhibit about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The band saw the exhibit in November 1983 in Japan while on their War Tour.)
The Unforgettable Fire was (along with Under a Blood Red Sky) included among CCM Magazine‘s Top 10 Albums of the Year, voted Album of the Year and topping the list featuring ten albums released between November 1, 1983 and October 15, 1984. – For the second year in a row, U2 takes the top position in the critics poll. While ‘The Unforgettable Fire’ hasn’t been as heavily praised as last year’s ‘War’, our critics found it meatier than most 1984 releases. In his December ’84 review, Quincy Smith-Newcomb explained: “While the album doesn’t reach the heights of ‘War’, it marks a necessary stretching point if U2 is to develop into the truly great talent the group’s potential indicates… [it] will be of deep interest to Christians in touch with contemporary artistic endeavors.”
THE UNFORGETTABLE FIRE – U2 – Island 7 90231-1 – Producer: Eno Lanois – List: 8.98 – Bar Coded
Undisputed kings of the hero-rock invasion which swept America from the U.K. two years ago, U2 returns with another inspired – and inspiring – set of powerful guitar rock. Lead vocalist and writer Bono delivers consistently moving lyrics while the band churns raw rock’n’roll. «Pride (In The Name Of Love)» is an excellent first single with thickly layered guitar parts which show off producer Eno’s expert ear for meaningful and simple melody. Sure to rally the troops from AOR to CHR, U2 again shows that determination and energy can make for some classic rock. [Cash Box magazine, October 6, 1984 (Album Reviews section)]
There’s a touch of majesty and a hint of greatness in nearly everything U2 has done. With its fifth album, ‘The Unforgettable Fire’, the Irish quartet tosses off the laurels of past victories. These include last year’s successful album, ‘War‘, the subsequent tour, which yielded still more rave reviews, and a live mini-LP, ‘Under a Blood Red Sky‘, and the ‘Live at Red Rocks’ video. With ‘The Unforgettable Fire’, U2 takes the risk to grow and develop further.
The choice of Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois for production is the first clear sign that U2 does not retrace its proven formula. Previous studio work was primarily marked by the pop sensibilities of Steve Lillywhite. The live LP was given greater guitar depth by Jimmy Iovine. Eno – whose penchant for ethnic polyrhythms and atmospheric exploration is well chronicled in his production of Talking Heads – definitely takes U2 into a new direction.
The U2/Eno collaboration on ‘The Unforgettable Fire’ works far more than it fails. Side one, with U2’s strongest single to date, «Pride (In the Name of Love)», is a noteworthy continuation of U2’s musical quest. «A Sort of Homecoming», the only song with printed lyrics, opens to the steady rhythms of bassist Adam Clayton and the rock-solid drumming of Larry Mullen Jr. Bono’s heartfelt lyrics and passionate vocals dominate, while The Edge’s keynote guitar phrasings are held back a touch too far. Though this is rectified somewhat on «Pride» and «Wire», it’s the norm throughout ‘Fire’.
The title track sports a rich orchestral treatment and gives the most obvious proof of Eno’s presence. The gentle «Promenade» closes out the side with a delightfully romantic touch.
Side two begins with «4th of July», an instrumental lacking definition and direction. «Bad» never gets off the ground, despite vocalist Bono’s emotive howl and pensive falsetto. «Indian Summer Sky» and «Elvis Presley and America» start off well enough, but the latter drones on in a trance-like manner. «MLK» reflects, as does «Pride», on the message and ministry of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. It ends the album on more of an up, thoughtful tone.
‘The Unforgettable Fire’, with its high praise of King’s civil rights work and the suggestion of moving in faith toward forgiveness («A Sort of Homecoming», «Wire», and «Bad»), will be of deep interest to Christians in touch with contemporary artistic endeavors. It seems to be written from a deeply Christian yet abundantly human perspective.
While the album doesn’t reach the heights of ‘War’, it marks a necessary stretching point if U2 is to develop into the truly great talent the group’s potential indicates. With ‘The Unforgettable Fire’ U2 seems to flicker but maintains its flame. [Quincy-Smith Newcomb, CCM, December 1984]
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LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “A Sort Of Homecoming” – 5:26
A2. “Pride (In The Name Of Love)” – 3:46
A3. “Wire” – 4:15
A4. “The Unforgettable Fire” – 4:55
A5. “Promenade” – 2:30
Side Two
B1. “4th Of July” – 2:11
B2. “Bad” – 6:07
B3. “Indian Summer Sky” – 4:15
B4. “Elvis Presley And America” – 6:24
B5. “M.L.K.” – 2:30
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and 12-inch vinyl LP by Island Records. Later re-issued on CD. A 25th Anniversary edition of the album was released in October 2009.
[youtube_sc url=”LHcP4MWABGY” title=”U2 – Pride (In The Name Of Love) (Official Music Video)” autohide=”1″ rel=”0″]
The Unforgettable Fire – 25th Anniversary Edition
I remember my sister telling me how ‘The Unforgettable Fire’ was the soundtrack to her painting for her Art degree at Aberystwyth, around the turn of 1984/5. The ambient textures, the lush, sweeping soundscapes, the occasional broad-stroke such as «Pride (In The Name Of Love)» perfectly matching – if not her muse, then her mood – as she endeavoured artistically, in a remote coastal resort by the Irish Sea. Many miles away on the other side, just a few months earlier, the men behind the music were purchasing their first, modest homes in County Dublin besides the same sea. Having established themselves as Christians in one of the most vital new bands to come out of the post-punk era, U2 now broke fresh ground and formed a production partnership which would come to characterise their future sound(s) and influence nearly every decision they were to make; artistically, commercially, politically and spiritually. Brian Eno was an atheist listening only to black gospel when this young Irish band first approached him. In fact, he’d listened to nothing else for three years, so disillusioned was the Roxy Music keyboardist with conventional rock and its rituals. He suggested that the French-Canadian catholic musician, Daniel Lanois, join him, initially to pass the gig over to him. Realising that the band wanted to play on to his own tune, Eno stayed and the result was something which, a quarter-century on, hasn’t dated at all; despite criticism at the time that it was merely a “transitional album”. Titles like «Elvis Presley And America» and «4th July» alluded to their growing obsession with the States; the title-track along with «A Sort Of Homecoming» even now are remarkable feats of songwriting and arranging; the band members clearly competent by now, to pull them off. Two Martin Luther King tributes (the other being the meditative «MLK») weren’t enough at the time to prevent the feeling that this was a less-overtly Christian album than its three predecessors. But closer inspection of «Bad» – which Bono recently admitted he wished he’d developed more – reveals a piece of art notable for its spiritual yearnings for the sake and state of the souls of others. Indeed, this was a group moving away from religious sloganeering towards artistic engagement, highlighted by subtle use of Biblical metaphors: red wine puncturing skins, mountains disappearing into the sea and so on. Reaching a quiet crescendo midway, with «Promenade», we’re in a living room on the Irish coast, with its sentiment of moving “up the spiral staircase/ To the higher ground”. Van Morrison couldn’t have put it better. ‘The Unforgettable Fire’ was a song and an album inspired by paintings from Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors, which Bono associated with his impressions of the account of Sodom and Gomorrah. Indeed, he quotes the line from Genesis: “…and don’t look back,” Spiritually and artistically, they never did. [John Cheek, Cross Rhythms, October 2009]
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