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32 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
U2 arrives as an arena rock powerhouse, November 11, 2004
The 1985 release of "Unforgettable Fire" vaulted U2 into heavy video rotation and arena rock. With the production team of Brian Eno/Daniel Lanois at the helm, the group's sound shaped with new keyboard textures and lots of layering of The Edge's guitars. Some might say the disk was over-produced. We also get Bono's trademark emotive breathing on several tracks.
I wavered between giving this 4 or 5 stars, so 4.5 might be the best assessment. The primary reason most people got this album was for the mega-popular anthem "Pride (In the Name of Love)" with its Christ imagery ("one man betrayed with a kiss...") and Martin Luther King, Jr. theme ("early morning, April 4, shot rings out...") and memorable guitar melody. Great vocal performance by Bono and backing by The Edge (oh-oh-oh-oh). An instant classic.
"Pride" aside, this disk has a number of excellent tracks. One of my all-time favorites is "A Sort of Homecoming" and I especially like the lyric "faces ploughed like fields that once gave no resistance." There's a strong Ireland theme here, and this is a great leadoff song. One drawback is that I think the mix is a little muddy.
"Wire" is a high energy piece with a chunky bassline, great drums, and very cool guitars.
"The Unforgettable Fire" really brings out the guitar atmospherics, along with a string section, and another powerful vocal from Bono.
"Promenade" is not a bad song, but it's really a sound-alike to many of the other songs, and not a particularly memorable memory.
"4th of July" is a sonic instrumental introduction to "Bad", which is one of the best songs on the disk. Great simple guitar melody and vocal performance with the "I'm wide awake...and I'm sleeping" rise and fall dynamics. Perhaps some of Adam Clayton's best bass work to this point. Check this song out on the "Wide Awake in America" live EP. It's a beautiful tune.
"Indian Summer Sky" is like "Promenade" in that it's not a bad song, but not as good as its sound-alike, "Wire."
"Elvis Presley and America" shows U2's growing love affair with Americana. It's a nice ballad.
"MLK" is the true Martin Luther King, Jr. tribute, a gospel-like vocal over some light keyboard textures. It's a great under-stated performance by Bono and nice closer for the disk.
The strengths by far lift up the few weaker tunes, and this disk is very listenable in its entirety.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
My Favorite of U2, August 18, 2003
By A Customer
This album is their least commercial of all, but the most artistic, in my view. The cascading drums of 'A Sort of Homcoming' begins the passionate journey, which is The Unforgettable Fire. It's interesting to hear the musical progression from 'Boy' to this record, in only 4 short years (I'm assuming that Eno and Lanois' influence had a big part in that evolution). 'Pride' is the only departure on an album that cares more about taking you on a passionate journey, than feeding you songs with a hooky chorus. Some of my favorites include, ' A Sort of Homecoming', a great opening force of raw passion and spirit, 'Wire', which reminds me of some the music of today, although with more depth and focus, 'The Unforgettable Fire', with its haunting guitar overlaying and strong supporting string arrangement, 'Prominade', for it's beautiful story of falling in love in a seaside town and it's poetic lyrics, and of course, 'Bad', which is a fantastic build type song that reaches a pinnacle of emotional passion. I love every song on this album, including Elvis Presely and America, and everytime I hear the opening of Edge's guitar on 'Pride', it reminds of of that fall of 1984 when the airways were filled with Cindy Lauper, Madonna, hair bands, and a host of New Wave synth [stuff] and remembering that great guitar work just blowing me away. For a 20 year old who wanted something raw, yet powerful, that was music to my ears and thank God U2 was there to keep mainstream rock honest and back on course. 'Joshua Tree' and 'Achtung Baby!' may have a better collection of pop tunes, but when I want to hear U2 at their artistic pinnacle I always put in Unforgettable. This record is timeless and it still stands up today. I'm somewhat looking forward to U2's next, which should be coming out late this year, but I'm not expecting anything to match what was done from '84-'91. I just hope they continue to be as passionate as ever, regardless of what Henry Rollins says about them. (...)
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Unforgettable Fire, June 11, 2000
This is undoubtably the most fine U2 album written.What one of the other reviews says is true - it is the bridge of the gap between the albums such war and Joshua Tree. This bridge, in my opinion, makes for the best U2. What makes this album extra special is that each individual musician works his instrument to levels of mastery never seen in any other U2 album. Joshua Tree may be the best known album, but I can't help thinking that it is dominated exclusively by the guitar work of the Edge. The later albums although each of them are outstandingly clever and well crafted, become more dominated by information technology. The Edge - in The Unforgettable Fire his work varies from the energetic vibrance of Wire and Pride to the sultry brilliance of Bad and Promenade. As far as guitar is concerned, the syle is so varied the album doesn't represent the mere product of a working musician, but a master in every area. Moreover I have never heard in any other band a guitarist with the same style of Edge - how many songs have you heard on the radio with the same guitar playing? Larry Mullen Jr. in my opinion represents the very escence of U2. In The Unforgettable Fire he is more open in his drumming than in any other Album. Without his varying drum lines and patterns U2 would not be U2 at all. In this album he combines his Sunday Bloody Sunday brilliance with his extreme technical perfection to produce such an amazing result that it is hard to give any respect to other drummers. Try listening through Pride, A Sort Of Homecoming and Wire and The....every song and listen for the extremely understated excellence. It is hard to count out Mr Clayton because his bass in this album is simply formidable.the sound of the title track is made by him in harmony with the Edge. When you stop to listen to the song, instead of letting it pass through ear to ear - like U2 does because it seems to be like life itself - Adam Clayton's bass work is what holds it all together. I won't go into the styles of Bono but I'm sure you will all agree that his input is absolutely invaluable. A Sort of Homecoming, as #1 serves to get you in the rythmn of the new U2 beat. It's frenetic drumming and logical but random guitar create such an atmosphere as to actually lift your feet of the ground. It does actually sound like travelling from place to place on tour - which is I think what it is about. This is a relatively forgotten song but a delight that people only discover now, 16 years on, if they but the album. Pride simply goes without saying. Simply everything about this song is perfect. Down to a T. It doesn't seem to be remembered as a groove for Martin Luther King, moreover as a powerfull swerve into the reality of life and love. This song contains so much atmosphere that it is hard to forget where you were everytime you've listened to it in a public place. Wire is a great bridging song between 2 of the 3 greats of the album. This is the song though that, in my opinion, opitimises the 1980s U2 sound. Frenetic drumming, fast guitar work, groovy bass and Bonos vocal chords on full. Complete with all of his well-loved quirks. The Unforgettable Fire is the most atmospheric song of the album. It does not conform to the normal rules of U2 - it has musically more side to it. It is my favorite song of the album. It was written by Bono after visiting an exhibition (called the Unforgettable Fire) in one of the Japenese Cities hit by an atom bomb in WW2. I can't really see how the lyrics convey this fact but that is irrelevant. The song wells up such massive feelings of nostalgia and fogotten memorys that it is ill met in excellence, in my opinion, by any other U2 song. Promenade is another atmospheric great, along with 4th of July. It is fully understandable why they put both of these shorter tracks on the album - to give the listener a bit of a break after the first 4 and before Bad. Nevertheless, Promenade I see as a mini Unforgettable Fire. This song is utterly made by the excellence of the Edge. It has very much the same nostalgeic effect as the song before. Bad, is many people's favorite on the album. Many pop singers count it as their favorite song ever, when asked. I love it, as I do all U2 songs, but for me it does not conjure up the same power as the songs formerly mentioned. It is definitely the crescendo in Larry Mullen's drummin' that makes the song, and for all you out there who want to know what it is about. I'm running out of time, but all the other songs on the album have the same U2 effect and are no worse one from the other. Try listening to them, and maybe you'll get the same effect as me. To close, if you have not bought this album you are missing out on a huge chunk of life. If I could I'd rate it 10*. Everytime you listen to the first line - "and you know its time to go" - it sounds different and more exciting.
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