Reviews
 Covers
James Taylor
This Is the Life
Amy McDonald
Live in Gdansk
No Bull (Live in Madrid, Spain 1996)
What Happened?
The Lone Sharks
Nine Lives
Steve Winwood
Moneyland
Various Artists
I'm Not There (Original Soundtrack)
Various Artists
Home Before Dark
Neil Diamond
Toby Keith's 35 BIGGEST Hits
Toby Keith
|
U2
Original Release Date 1984
After the breakout success of War, it became obvious that U2 had established themselves as a band with a ‘Message’. The question remained, though, whether or not they could enunciate it clearly, and if they could, would they be able to retain their fan base without compromising their level of focus. As if in response to their own questions, the band focused even more deeply inward on The Unforgettable Fire , as if they were challenging everyone – even themselves – to stay the course and stick to their iconoclastic path. With the making of this album, there was no compromise on the part of U2. As a result, they made their most focused album to date while simultaneously expanding their root audience, proving in the process that being true to yourself is often the only way to go.
While touring America to support War, a certain obsession with our culture started to set in with the bandmembers, and it is bluntly apparent throughout The Unforgettable Fire . Elvis Presley, Martin Luther King, Jr. and our day of independence all figure prominently into song titles and lyrical themes. "Pride (In the Name of Love)" was the album’s first single, a powerful tribute to MLK that is actually worthy of the man’s spirit, determination, and of course, pride. The presence of Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois is inescapable here, giving the band a sonic presence that overwhelms the band’s previous three albums. Songs that were destined to be ignored by radio are nonetheless aural wonders, especially for what is essentially a three-piece outfit with a vocalist. "Wire" is a wonder of relentless, high-tension rhythm, while "Promenade," "4th of July" and "MLK" contains the kind of atmospheric production for which producers Eno and Lanois are best known.
"A Sort of Homecoming" kicks off the album beautifully, as it is one of Bono’s most poetic constructions. It describes a dream filled with striving, longing, and searching…running away from sadness and pain and toward a light. Sure, it’s a simple metaphor for hope, in which Bono succinctly captures his sense of faith in something bigger, or at least better, but it’s a powerful image, set to a powerful rhythm. The title track displays the depth of attention that went into the album’s production, with counter-rhythms supplied by orchestral effects that indicate a mellow shift away from the "BIG ‘80s" sound and toward something much more pensive. "Bad" makes this swing even more obvious. "Bad" is good. Really, really good – certainly my favorite U2 song to date. I never heard Bono sound better than he does on this song. His strong voice and larger-than-life presence is spot-on perfect for this chorus, shouting, "I’m wide awake! I’m wide awake! I’m not sleeping" as if he were waiting for the coming of his savior.
It’s fairly easy to discern that U2 is the type of band that searches for new material by ‘playing’ their way through a few musical ideas, and expanding on them as inspiration strikes. This used to mean poorly constructed songs. In the hands of Eno and Lanois, though, these experimental, half-baked ideas become fertile soil. The Unforgettable Fire is full of truly superb songwriting, but even gentle, spacious experiments in sound like "4th of July" are produced to a sparkling gloss. U2 were prepared to stay around, and this is the album that proved they had the goods to do it.
Grade: 
 
|
More Music Reviews
More Movie Reviews
More Book Reviews
More Concert Reviews
Powered by Millennium Communications Inc.