It is always strange when I
randomly roll the exact same band twice in a row, but here we are.
Disc 569 is…. The Unforgettable Fire
Artist: U2
Year of Release: 1984
What’s up with the Cover? A castle ruin. The
liner notes don’t indicate what castle it is and I really wanted to know so I
broke with my usual practice and looked it up. Turns out it is Moydrum Castle,
located near Athlone, Ireland. Of
historical note, it is a ruin because in 1921 the IRA burned it down.
The picture is a good one, but I
could have done with a colour other than magenta to frame it in, like a nice
emerald green. The magenta just makes the cover a bit garish despite Moydrum’s
imposing presence.
How I Came To Know It: When this album came out in 1984 I was firmly in my
heavy metal phase, and not terribly inclined to listen to bands like U2 that
were all the rage with the preppie set.
However, my friend Rob was a bit more open minded. One night when I was hanging out at his place
he said he wanted to play a song off of “Unforgettable Fire” for me. Needless to say, I was dubious, but he was a
persuasive guy when he wanted to be.
He
turned off all the lights and we sat in the darkness and listened to “MLK.”
It was awesome. I wouldn’t say
that night I got over my distrust of all things non-metal, but it was the
beginning of the journey. Thanks, Rob!
How It Stacks Up: We have seven U2 albums. Of those seven I’d put “The Unforgettable
Fire” tied for first place with “The Joshua Tree.” They are very different, so when I want singles
I listen to “Joshua Tree” but when I want a nice mood piece I got with
“Unforgettable Fire.” If I had to
choose, I’ll put “The Unforgettable Fire” first, if only because on every
listen I find myself appreciating it more, but it is really a dead heat.
Rating: 4 stars
It is very hard to artificially
establish a mood. A mood has to be
something that comes naturally from within you, and if you feel it strongly
enough it washes over others as well.
That’s how “The Unforgettable Fire” works, as it builds a mood that
lives somewhere between inspiration and melancholy.
As I just noted in the review for “All
You Can’t Leave Behind,” the production decisions of Brian Eno and Daniel
Lanois perfectly suit this band, and there is no better example of this than “The
Unforgettable Fire.” The Edge’s nerdy
guitar work, with all of its feedback looping and reverb could easily go wrong,
but with Eno and Lanois on the sound board it fits in perfectly, and the duo
have the good sense to let Bono’s voice soar over the top of the big pillowy
clouds of sound.
Because this album presents itself
as a single mood piece, it is hard to pick out individual tracks. The record as a whole takes on a life of its
own, and the sequence of songs is done so artfully I sometimes got so lost in
my musically inspired reverie that I didn’t notice when a new song started.
This can be a bad thing on some
records, where you are left with the feeling that there are no peaks and
valleys to the music, and no dynamics that allow you to find auditory
landmarks. Not here though – when an
album does it this well it just makes you appreciate it all the more.
And while picking out individual
tracks cheapens the listening experience, some of these tracks are so damned
good that not singling them out would be a crime of its own.
The most obvious is “Pride.” It was never a huge hit in North
America like it was in the U.K. but it should have been, and everyone who discovered
U2 a couple years later with the “Joshua Tree” album quickly went back and
found this gem.
The song is about Martin Luther
King Jr. It would be easy to say it was
about his assassination, which features prominently, but it is really about
King’s spirit, and his unquenchable thirst for justice. The Edge’s guitar intro is instantly recognizable
and one of my favourites in music, even if it is accomplished with weird
technical tricks (I’ve not been able to appreciate the Edge the same way since
I saw a documentary which revealed his approach to playing the guitar is not
unlike someone mastering a video game).
Back to the song, which is a
beautiful homage to a very important figure in mankind’s most important mission;
to make our civilization kinder and more just.
The day after we’ve all been inundated with stories about the fiftieth
anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, it was great to be reminded of
someone like King, who made a much greater difference in the lives of
Americans.
The best song on the record is
also probably the best U2 song ever, “Bad.” It comes right after a solemn little
instrumental called “4th of
July” that leaves you expectant for something great to happen. Then something great happens. Again, the Edge is on his game with a gentle
rolling guitar riff, punctuated with very high notes in all the right places.
“Bad” is one of the greatest break-up songs ever. It hits me in the gut every bit as hard as U2’s
other classic in the genre, “With or
Without You” and if anything is slightly more beautiful for its
subtlety. It is a song about a man who
loves so much he cannot let go, even though that’s what he knows would be
right. The whole song is brilliantly
constructed musically and lyrically.
Here’s a favourite section:
“If I could throw this
Lifeless lifeline to the wind
Leave this heart of clay
See you walk, walk away
Into the night
And through the rain
Into the half-light
And through the flame”
If he could he would. But he can’t and that’s what makes the song
so damned heartbreaking.
The album ends with “MLK” a second tribute to Martin Luther
King Jr. Where “Pride” is a defiant celebration of his work, “MLK” is a quiet prayer for the man.
When I first heard this song at 14 years old in my friend Rob’s basement
it blew me away. We played it three
times in a row that night, each time savouring the way Bono’s voice filled the
room with his gentle tribute, and his heartfelt wish for Dr. King:
“Sleep, sleep tonight.
And may your dreams be realized.”
“Pride,” “Bad” and “MLK” provide the ballast for this album
and raise it up. There are weaker songs
on the album (“Indian Summer Sky”
comes to mind, and “4th of
July” is nothing to write home about without being followed by “Bad”), but as part of the whole they are
welcome adjustments to the mood the album creates. If you know the song “Pride” from a greatest hits package, or an i-Tunes download, do
yourself a favour and see how it fits into the record as a whole.
Best tracks: A Sort of
Homecoming, Pride, Wire, Bad, Elvis Presley and America, MLK
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