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*[[Robert Christgau]] (B+)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=u2 |title=U2 |publisher=Robert Christgau |first=Robert |last=Christgau |accessdate=2009-10-28}}</ref>
*[[Robert Christgau]] (B+)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=u2 |title=U2 |publisher=Robert Christgau |first=Robert |last=Christgau |accessdate=2009-10-28}}</ref>
*[[Helium.com]] (favourable)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.helium.com/items/517785-album-reviews-the-unforgettable-fire-by-u2 |title=Album reviews: The Unforgettable Fire, by U2 |work=Helium.com |first=Benjamin |last=Ray |accessdate=2009-10-28}}</ref>
*[[Helium.com]] (favourable)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.helium.com/items/517785-album-reviews-the-unforgettable-fire-by-u2 |title=Album reviews: The Unforgettable Fire, by U2 |work=Helium.com |first=Benjamin |last=Ray |accessdate=2009-10-28}}</ref>
*''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]'' {{Rating|5|5}}{{cn|date=October 2009}}
*''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]'' {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.qthemusic.com/2009/10/q_classic_album.html |title=Q Classic Album: Winner - U2's The Unforgettable Fire - News - QTheMusic.com |accessdate=2009-10-29}}</ref>
*''[[Rolling Stone]]'' {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/u2/albums/album/87234/review/6067874/the_unforgettable_fire |title=U2: The Unforgettable Fire |work=Rolling Stone |first=Kurt |last=Loder |date=1984-10-11 |accessdate=2009-10-28}}</ref>
*''[[Rolling Stone]]'' {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/u2/albums/album/87234/review/6067874/the_unforgettable_fire |title=U2: The Unforgettable Fire |work=Rolling Stone |first=Kurt |last=Loder |date=1984-10-11 |accessdate=2009-10-28}}</ref>
*[[Sputnikmusic]] {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?albumid=7629 |title=U2: The Unforgettable Fire |work=Sputnikmusic |first=John |last=Cruz |date=2006-05-16 |accessdate=2009-10-28}}</ref>
*[[Sputnikmusic]] {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?albumid=7629 |title=U2: The Unforgettable Fire |work=Sputnikmusic |first=John |last=Cruz |date=2006-05-16 |accessdate=2009-10-28}}</ref>

Revision as of 17:40, 29 October 2009

Untitled

The Unforgettable Fire is the fourth studio album by Irish rock band U2, which was released in October 1984. The band wanted a different musical direction following their harder-hitting 1983 album War, and employed Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois to produce and assist them experiment with a more ambient and abstract sound. The resulting change in direction was at the time the band's most dramatic.

Recording began in March 1984 at Slane Castle, where the band lived, wrote, and recorded to find new inspiration. The album was completed in August 1984 at Windmill Lane Studios. The album features atmospheric sounds and lyrics that lead vocalist Bono has described as "sketches". Many songs also feature lyrical tributes to Martin Luther King Jr. The Unforgettable Fire received generally favourable reviews from critics and produced the band's biggest hit at the time, "Pride (In the Name of Love)", as well as the live favorite "Bad", a song about heroin addiction. A 25th Anniversary edition of the album will be released in October 2009.

Background

U2 feared that following the overt rock of their 1983 album War and the subsequent War Tour, they were in danger of becoming another "shrill", "sloganeering arena-rock band".[9] The success of the Under a Blood Red Sky album and the Live at Red Rocks video, however, had given them artistic—and for the first time—financial room to move.[10] The band had recorded their first three albums with producer Steve Lillywhite,[11] and rather than become another formula band, experimentation was sought.[12]

We knew the world was ready to receive the heirs to The Who. All we had to do was to keep doing what we were doing and we would become the biggest band since Led Zeppelin, without a doubt. But something just didn't feel right. We felt we had more dimension than just the next big anything, we had something unique to offer. The innovation was what would suffer if we went down the standard rock route. We were looking for another feeling.

Bono on The Unforgettable Fire's new direction.[13]

Following a show at Dublin's Phoenix Park Racecourse in August 1983, one of the final dates of the War Tour, lead vocalist Bono spoke in metaphors about the band breaking up and reforming with a different direction. As bassist Adam Clayton recalls, "We were looking for something that was a bit more serious, more arty."[13] The band had thought of using Jimmy Iovine to produce a new record. However, they found their early musical ideas for the album to be too "European" for an American producer.[14] They also considered approaching Conny Plank.[15]

Guitarist The Edge had a long appreciation of musician Brian Eno's work[16] admiring his ambient and "weird works".[17] Island Records executive Chris Blackwell initially tried to discourage them from their choice of producers, believing that just when the band were about to achieve the highest levels of success, Eno would "bury them under a layer of avant-garde nonsense".[18] Eno was also initially reluctant;[19] when the band played him their 1983 live album Under a Blood Red Sky, his eyes "glazed over" at its overt rockness.[20] His early doubts were resolved by Bono's power of persuasion and his increasing perception of what he called "U2's lyrical soul in abundance", traits which had become less evident on the rockist War album. Eno commented that the band were "constantly struggling against it as if as if they were frightened of being overpowered by some softness".[21] Eno, along with his engineer Daniel Lanois eventually agreed to produce the record. In Bill Graham's words, Eno's task was to "help them mature a new, more experimental and European musical vocabulary."[22]

Recording and production

With Steve [Lillywhite, producer of U2's first three albums], we were a lot more strict about a song and what it should be; if it did veer off to the left or the right, we would pull it back as opposed to chasing it. Brian and Danny were definitely interested in watching where a song went and then chasing it.

Adam Clayton, on how the The Unforgettable Fire's producers approached the album[23]

Recording for the album began in March 1984, with the initial sessions being held at Slane Castle, County Meath. A Gothic ballroom in the building built for music was used which provided a relaxed and at times, experimental atmosphere.[24][25] The band and crew stayed in the castle during recording.[26] One day, the band went so far as to record naked. "We got into gaffer art", commented Bono.[27] The generator powering the studio often broke down and most of Edge's guitar parts were recorded with the amplifier outside on the balcony with plastic over it to shelter it from the rain.[28] The ballroom turned out to be too large, so recording was moved to a library in the castle which was smaller, surrounded them by books, and provided improved sound quality.[26] Much of the album was later recast in the Windmill Lane Studios,[29] where they recorded from May 6-August 5.[30]

The melody and the chords to "Pride (In the Name of Love)" originally came out of a 1983 War Tour sound check in Hawaii. The song was originally intended to be about Ronald Reagan's pride in America's military power, but Bono was influenced by Stephen B. Oates's book about Martin Luther King, Jr. titled Let The Trumpet Sound: A Life of Martin Luther King, Jr. and a biography of Malcolm X to ponder the different sides of the civil rights campaigns, the violent and the non-violent.[31] Bono would revise the lyrics to pay tribute to King. "Pride" went through many changes and re-recordings, as captured in a documentary included on the The Unforgettable Fire Collection video. Another song, the sparse, dreamlike "MLK" was written as an elegy to King.

The ambient instrumental "4th of July" came about almost entirely through a moment of inspiration from Eno. At the end of a studio session, Eno overheard Clayton improvising a simple bass figure and recorded it "ad hoc" as it was being played. The Edge happened to join in, improvising a few guitar ideas over the top of Clayton's bass; neither knew they were being recorded. Eno added some treatments and then transferred the piece straight to two-track master tape — and that was the song finished, with no possibility of further overdubs.[32]

Twelve days before the official finishing date, Bono announced he couldn't finish the lyrics, and the band worked 20-hour days for the final two weeks.[33] Bono later said he felt songs like "Bad" and "Pride (In the Name of Love)" were left as incomplete "sketches."[18]

Composition

A far more atmospheric album than the previous War, The Unforgettable Fire was at the time was the band's most dramatic change in direction.[34] It has a rich and orchestrated sound and was the first U2 album with a cohesive sound.[34] Under Lanois' direction, Larry's drumming became looser, funkier and more subtle, and Adam's bass became more subliminal, such that the rhythm section no longer intruded, but flowed in support of the songs.[24]

The album's lyrics are open to many interpretations, which alongside its atmospheric sounds, provides what the band often called a "very visual feel".[34] Bono had recently been immersing himself in fiction, philosophy and poetry, and came to realise that his song writing mission—which up to that point had been a reluctant one on his behalf—was a poetic one. Bono felt songs like "Bad" and "Pride (In the Name of Love)" were best left as incomplete "sketches",[18] and he said that "The Unforgettable Fire was a beautifully out-of-focus record, blurred like an impressionist painting, very unlike a billboard or an advertising slogan."[35]

The opening track, "A Sort of Homecoming" immediately shows the change in U2's sound. Like much of the album, the hard-hitting martial drum sound of War is replaced with a subtler polyrhythmic shuffle, and the guitar is no longer as prominent in the mix.[36] Bono had been reading the work of poet Paul Celan, whose line "poetry is a sort of homecoming" inspired the song's title. Celan's profound spiritual doubt contrasts with U2 members' previous religious certainties, and the song's line "on borderlands we run...and don't look back" suggests the band is more comfortable with the contradictions between rock and his religious beliefs.[37]

"Wire" is a song where Bono tried to convey his ambivalence to drugs. It is a fast-paced song built on a light funk drum groove.[38] The song shows the influence of Talking Heads, with whom Eno had worked.[39] The band cite a traveling Japanese art exhibit of the same name commemorating the victims of the bombing of Hiroshima, which the band attended in Chicago, as inspiration for the song and album title.[40][41]

Typical of the album, the track "The Unforgettable Fire", with a string arrangement by Noel Kelehan, has a rich, symphonic sound built from ambient guitar and driving rhythm; a lyrical "sketch" that is an "emotional travelogue" with a "heartfelt sense of yearning".[42]

Bono tried to describe the rush and then come down of heroin use in the song "Bad".[43]

"Elvis Presley and America" is an improvisation, based on a slowed-down backing track from "A Sort of Homecoming", that takes the album's emphasis on feeling over clarity to its furthest extreme. Another song, "Indian Summer Sky", was a social commentary on the prison-like atmosphere of city living in a world of natural forces.[citation needed]

Album and single releases

The Unforgettable Fire was released on 1 October 1984. The album took its name and much of its inspiration from a Japanese travelling exhibition of paintings and drawings at The Peace Museum in Chicago by survivors of the atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.[18][44] The castle depicted on the cover is Moydrum Castle.[45]

"Pride (In the Name of Love)" was released as the album's lead single in November 1984, and it was at that point the band's biggest hit. It cracked the UK Top 5 and the U.S. Top 40 and would ultimately become the group's second-most frequently played song in concerts.[46]

"The Unforgettable Fire" was released as the second single in April 1985. The song became the band's third Top 10 hit in the UK, reaching #6 on the UK Singles Chart and #8 on the Dutch singles chart, but did not perform as well in the U.S.

Reception

Bill Graham of Hot Press wrote in 1996 that The Unforgettable Fire was U2's most pivotal album and that it was "their coming of age that saved their lives as a creative unit."[47] Niall Stokes, also of Hot Press said that "one or two tracks were undercooked" due to the deadline crush but that it was U2's "first album with a cohesive sound" on which "U2 were reborn".[48]

The Unforgettable Fire Tour and Live Aid

In support of the album, the band launched The Unforgettable Fire Tour, which saw U2 shows moving into indoor arenas in the United States. Consisting of six legs and 112 shows, the tour commenced in Australia in September 1984 where translating the elaborate and complex textures of the new studio-recorded tracks to live performance proved to be a serious challenge.[34] One solution was programmed sequencers, which the band had previously been reluctant to use. Sequencers were prominently used on songs like "The Unforgettable Fire" and "Bad"; since then, sequencers are now used on the majority of U2 songs in live performances.[34] Songs criticised as being "unfinished", "fuzzy" and "unfocused" on the album, made more sense on stage. Rolling Stone magazine, for example, critical of the album version of "Bad", described its live performance as a 'show stopper'.[49]

U2 participated in the Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium for Ethiopian famine relief in July 1985.[50] U2's performance was one of the show's most memorable; during the song "Bad", Bono leapt down off the stage to embrace and dance with a fan. Initially thinking they'd "blown it", it was, in fact, a breakthrough moment for the band, showing a television audience of millions the personal connection that Bono could make with audiences.[51] All of U2's previous albums went back into the charts in the UK after their transcendent performance. In 1985, Rolling Stone magazine called U2 the "Band of the 80's," saying that "for a growing number of rock-and-roll fans, U2 have become the band that matters most, maybe even the only band that matters."[52]

Track listing

All tracks are written by U2, with lyrics by Bono

No.TitleLength
1."A Sort of Homecoming"5:28
2."Pride (In the Name of Love)"3:48
3."Wire"4:19
4."The Unforgettable Fire"4:55
5."Promenade"2:35
6."4th of July"2:12
7."Bad"6:09
8."Indian Summer Sky"4:17
9."Elvis Presley and America"6:23
10."MLK"2:31
Total length:42:38

In 1995, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab remastered the album and released it as a special gold CD. This edition has slightly different running times, most notably an extended 2:39 version of the instrumental "4th of July".

In 1985, the band also released the supplementary Wide Awake in America EP, which offers live performances of "Bad" and "A Sort of Homecoming" along with two B-sides (previously unavailable in North America).

The Unforgettable Fire Collection

Untitled

After the album's arrival in 1984, U2 released The Unforgettable Fire Collection—a VHS compilation of the album's music videos with a 30-minute making-of documentary of the album. The documentary was later included as a bonus feature on the band's live video release, U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle, as the site of the concert film—Slane Castle—was the same as the location of the documentary.

  1. "The Unforgettable Fire" – directed by Meiert Avis
  2. "Bad" – directed by Barry Devilin
  3. "Pride (In the Name of Love)" – directed by Donald Cammell
  4. "A Sort of Homecoming" – directed by Barry Devlin
  5. The Making of the Unforgettable Fire documentary – directed by Barry Devlin

25th anniversary edition

A remastered 25th Anniversary edition of the album was released on 27 October 2009 by Mercury Records.[53] The album's remastering was directed by The Edge, who also directed the remastering of the band's previous releases. Four physical editions of the album will be available, two of which contain a bonus CD, and one with a DVD. The bonus CD will feature B-sides from the album, live tracks, and two previously unreleased songs—"Disappearing Act" and "Yoshino Blossom". The DVD will feature live footage of the band as well as a documentary about the album. The four editions are as follows:[54][55]

  • CD format – Remastered album on CD
  • Deluxe Edition – Remastered album on CD, bonus CD, and 36-page booklet
  • Limited Edition Box Set – Remastered album on CD, bonus CD, DVD, 56-page hardback book, and five photographs
  • 12" vinyl format – Remastered album on a gramophone record and 16-page booklet

Bonus CD

No.TitleNotesLength
1."Disappearing Act"Unreleased track from The Unforgettable Fire sessions4:35
2."A Sort of Homecoming" (live)From Wide Awake in America EP4:07
3."Bad" (live)From Wide Awake in America EP8:00
4."Love Comes Tumbling"From Wide Awake in America EP4:52
5."The Three Sunrises"From Wide Awake in America EP3:53
6."Yoshino Blossom"Unreleased track from The Unforgettable Fire sessions3:39
7."Wire" (Kervorkian Remix) 5:12
8."Boomerang I" (instrumental)B-side from "Pride (In the Name of Love)" single2:48
9."Pride (In the Name of Love)" (extended single version)A-side from "Pride (In the Name of Love)" single4:43
10."A Sort of Homecoming" (Daniel Lanois Remix) 3:18
11."11 O'Clock Tick Tock" (long version)B-side from "Pride (In the Name of Love)" single4:11
12."Wire" (Celtic Dub Mix)From 1985 NME 7" vinyl promo4:36
13."Bass Trap"B-side from "The Unforgettable Fire" single5:15
14."Boomerang II"B-side from "Pride (In the Name of Love)" single4:50
15."4th of July" (long version)B-side from "Pride (In the Name of Love)" single2:26
16."Sixty Seconds in Kingdom Come"B-side from "The Unforgettable Fire" single3:15
Total length:69:34

Bonus DVD

  • "The Unforgettable Fire" music video, directed by Meiert Avis
  • "Bad" music video, directed by Barry Devlin
  • "Pride (In the Name of Love)" music video, directed by Donald Cammell
  • "A Sort of Homecoming" music video, directed by Barry Devlin
  • The Making of The Unforgettable Fire - documentary directed by Barry Devlin
Additional Material
  • U2 at A Conspiracy of Hope Concert – live from Giants Stadium, 15 June 1986
  1. "MLK"
  2. "Pride (In the Name of Love)"
  3. "Bad"
  • U2 at Live Aid – live from Wembley Stadium, 13 July 1985
  1. "Sunday Bloody Sunday"
  2. "Bad"
  • "Pride (In the Name of Love)" Sepia music video, directed by Donald Cammell
  • 11 O'Clock Tick Tock – Bootleg version, live from Croke Park, 29 June 1985

Chart positions and sales

Album
Country Peak position Certification Sales
Australia 1[citation needed]
Canada 3x Platinum [56] 300,000+
France Gold[57] 100,000+
The Netherlands Gold[58] 40,000+
United Kingdom 1[citation needed] 2× Platinum[59] 600,000+
United States 12[citation needed] 3× Platinum 3,000,000+[citation needed]
Singles
Year Single Chart Position
1984 "Pride (in the Name of Love)" Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 2[citation needed]
1984 "Pride (in the Name of Love)" The Billboard Hot 100 33[citation needed]
1984 "Wire" Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 31[citation needed]
1985 "Bad" Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 19[citation needed]

Personnel

U2
Additional personnel

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "The Unforgettable Fire". Allmusic. Retrieved 2009-10-28.
  2. ^ {{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/release/8bzf/ |title=Review of U2 - The Unforgettable Fire |work=BBC Music |first=Daryl |last=Easlea |date=2009-02-11 |accessdate=2009-10-28]}
  3. ^ "The Unforgettable Fire". CCM Magazine. Retrieved 2009-10-28.
  4. ^ Christgau, Robert. "U2". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 2009-10-28.
  5. ^ Ray, Benjamin. "Album reviews: The Unforgettable Fire, by U2". Helium.com. Retrieved 2009-10-28.
  6. ^ "Q Classic Album: Winner - U2's The Unforgettable Fire - News - QTheMusic.com". Retrieved 2009-10-29.
  7. ^ Loder, Kurt (1984-10-11). "U2: The Unforgettable Fire". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2009-10-28.
  8. ^ Cruz, John (2006-05-16). "U2: The Unforgettable Fire". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 2009-10-28.
  9. ^ Pond, Steve (1987-04-09). "The Joshua Tree Album Review". Rolling Stone. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  10. ^ Stokes (1996), p. 50.
  11. ^ Graham (1996), p. 21.
  12. ^ Graham (1996), p. 21.
  13. ^ a b McCormick (2006), p.147
  14. ^ Graham (1996), p. 21.
  15. ^ Graham (1996), p. 21; Stokes (1996), p. 50.
  16. ^ Graham (1996), p. 22.
  17. ^ McCormick (2006), p. 147.
  18. ^ a b c d McCormick (2006), p.151
  19. ^ Graham (1996), p. 21.
  20. ^ McCormick (2006), p. 148.
  21. ^ Graham (1996), p. 21.
  22. ^ Graham (1996), pp. 21-22.
  23. ^ 1984 interview on American radio with Carter Alan, taken from Graham (1996), p. 22.
  24. ^ a b Stokes (1996), pp. 50-51.
  25. ^ Graham (1996), p. 23.
  26. ^ a b Dobuzinskis, Alexn (26-10-09). "U2 took "unforgettable" trip to castle for '84 album". Reutersn. Retrieved 27-10-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  27. ^ Stokes (1996), p. 50.
  28. ^ Graham (1996), p. 22-23.
  29. ^ Graham (1996), p. 23.
  30. ^ "Unforgettable Fire". The Unforgettable Fire Collection. Documentary. 1984.
  31. ^ McCormick (2006), p. 145.
  32. ^ Stokes, Niall, Into the Heart: The Stories Behind Every U2 Song.
  33. ^ Graham (1996), p. 23; Stokes (1996), p. 50.
  34. ^ a b c d e Parra (1994), pp. 52-56
  35. ^ U2.com | Discography
  36. ^ Graham (1996), p. 23.
  37. ^ Graham (1996), p. 23-24.
  38. ^ Stokes (1996), p. 53.
  39. ^ Stokes (1996), p. 53; Graham (1996), p. 24.
  40. ^ Stokes (1996), p. 54.
  41. ^ Graham (21996), p. 24.
  42. ^ Stokes, Niall (1996). Into The Heart: The Story Behind Every U2 Song. Australia: HarperCollinsPublishers. p. 55. ISBN 0-7322-6036-1. {{cite book}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  43. ^ McCormick (2006), p.152
  44. ^ Stokes (1996), p. 54.
  45. ^ U2: U2faqs.com - Geography FAQ
  46. ^ All songs U2 played without snippets - U2 on tour
  47. ^ Graham (1996), p. 21.
  48. ^ Stokes (1996), p. 50.
  49. ^ Henke, James (1985-07-18). "''Wide Awake in America'' Album Review". Rolling Stone. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  50. ^ Live Aid: A Look Back At A Concert That Actually Changed The World MTV.com. Retrieved 31 October 2006.
  51. ^ Parra (2003), pp. 72-73
  52. ^ U2, the Only Band that Mattered in the '80s? about.com. Retrieved 31 January 2007
  53. ^ "The Unforgettable Fire 25th Anniversary Edition". U2Wanderer.org. 5 July 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-24.
  54. ^ "The Unforgettable Fire Remastered". U2.com. 17 September 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-21.
  55. ^ McGee, Matt (16 September 2009). "Belgian U2 fan site reports Unforgettable Fire remasters track list". @U2. Retrieved 2009-09-21.
  56. ^ CRIA
  57. ^ Disque En France
  58. ^ NVPI
  59. ^ BPI

References

  • Graham, Bill (2004). U2: The Complete Guide to their Music. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-9886-8. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • McCormick, Neil (2006). U2 by U2. London: HarperCollinsPublishers. p. 145. ISBN 0-00-719668-7. {{cite book}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  • Parra, Pimm Jal de la U2 Live: A Concert Documentary, 1996, Harper Collins Publishers, ISBN 0-7322-6036-1
  • Stokes, Niall (1996). Into The Heart: The Story Behind Every U2 Song. Australia: HarperCollinsPublishers. ISBN 0-7322-6036-1. {{cite book}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
Preceded by UK number one album
13–26 October 1984
Succeeded by
Preceded by Australian Kent Music Report number-one album
29 October – 4 November 1984
Succeeded by