The Unforgettable Fire might not be the album that first comes to mind when it comes to the most monumental achievements of U2. It’s a great album, but doesn’t get the same accolades as other band records like The Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby, or All That You Can’t Leave Behind.
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But you could argue that no album was more important in the band’s ability to sustain long-term success than this 1984 release. Forty years later, the heat from when U2 first lit The Unforgettable Fire lingers within all the wondrous music they released in its wake.
Becoming Unforgettable
Many bands who achieve immediate success lack the wherewithal to know if that success is the durable kind, or if it’s the type that peters out when musical tastes change. U2 sensed they needed to change things up following their 1983 album War, even if the rest of the world probably figured the Irish quartet were doing just fine.
War propelled them to new levels of worldwide popularity on the strength of songs like “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and “New Year’s Day.” Individual members of the band were clearly brilliant, and the band possessed a knack for anthemic songs about topics that scared away most pop bands. But the bold, bright sound conjured on their first three albums wasn’t all that different from what other young rockers were delivering at the time.
With a vague notion that they wanted their music to deepen in every way, the band pivoted on a dime to make The Unforgettable Fire. First, they decided to make it not in a studio, but in a rented Irish castle. The hope was the bigger space would allow them to capture the intricacies of their live sound in more effective fashion.
But the most strategically important move was their choice of producer. Steve Lillywhite had done right by them on their first three albums, but the band wanted someone with a fresh, off-kilter approach. To their record label’s dismay, they turned to Brian Eno, the former Roxy Music member known for his atmospheric solo records and the idiosyncratic touches he brought to several classic Talking Heads albums.
Eno’s artiness and the band’s earnestness seemed an odd fit. But Eno didn’t work alone. He brought with him his engineer Daniel Lanois, whose skills as a musician helped communicate to the band about what the pair needed. The process of making The Unforgettable Fire was a protracted one, such that the band was working on it right up until the moment that the tapes were due. As the finished product proved, the effort was worth it.
How Well Does The Unforgettable Fire Hold Up After 40 Years?
If there were any concerns that Eno and Lanois’ presence might somehow dilute the potency of U2’s previous records, they were quickly allayed by “Pride (In the Name of Love),” the lead single off The Unforgettable Fire. The Edge’s guitar approach rattles the windows, while Larry Mullen Jr.’s drums crackle with intensity. Bono’s lyrics might be a bit of a muddle in their approach to the subject but when he tears into the chorus, all is forgiven.
The impact of the new producers can be found as you dive deeper into the album. Opening track “A Sort of Homecoming” is a fine example. Whereas previous U2 songs almost took a new wave approach wherein each instrumental part existed on its own island, here is a song where the players all weave inextricably among each other. It makes the moments when Bono’s vocals rise out of the mix even more thrilling.
The Unforgettable Fire also includes “Bad,” perhaps the band’s best-ever non-single. Even though it’s allegedly about heroin’s deadly impact, the thrillingly measured buildup to the exclamatory high points can’t help but render the song uplifting. “Wire” and the title track rev up the pace but keep the nuance, while “MLK” finds the band delivering a hushed, consolation-filled closer.
Not everything on the album rises to those peaks, but even the more routine songwriting moments are elevated by the band’s newfound assurance in allowing the music to simmer a bit from time to time. The Unforgettable Fire changed everything for U2, forging a path destined for longevity they’ve followed ever since.
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