A Cure For the Itch

U2
The Unforgettable Fire (1984)

Ah yes, the Mullet. A lost iconic hairstyle that defined the 80’s. Bowie, Duran Duran….you name it, the biggest acts of that era had to go through that phase. But none looked more ridiculous than the U2 front man himself. Bono’s mullet was crazier than McEnroe’s on-court theatrics. But thankfully, that is not what is remembered of them in that era. Before they became the “biggest rock band in the world”, before “Beautiful Day” and before “Joshua Tree”, there was, probably THE most significant moment in U2’s career, the appointment of Brian Eno to produce “The Unforgettable Fire”.

From the interviews i’ve read, apparently it wasn’t an easy feat for the Irish lads to convince Brian to get on board. He was hesitant because the type of music they produce was completely at the opposite end of the music spectrum. But U2 was bold and feeling experimental, seeking a new sound at that point. And so, a historic creative collaboration began that grew and expanded over the next two decades. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the release of “The Unforgettable Fire” and a special edition of the album has been released. In conjunction with the release, I thought it’d be nice to revisit the album since I’ve not done so in a long time.

The songs that managed to survived through the ages from the album are the anthems like “Pride” and “Bad”, which are staples on their live sets. But the rest of it has sorta been laid to rest. So listening to the entire album again was actually quite a treat. Throughout the album, you could hear how the band and Eno stretched each other’s creativity limits. Bono’s desire to rule the stadiums with anthems were fiercely met with Eno’s persistence that they need to be more sonically inclined. That really tested the boundaries and pushed the band to see how far they were willing to transform. There was no common ground to stand on but a constant tug of war. But that is when things gets interesting. NEW and interesting things are conceived and sometimes, magic starts to happen.

Tracks like “Wire”, “Promenade” & “Elvis Presley and America” are probably some of the most experimental music U2 has attempted, but the track “Bad” is where the magic truly happens. A song about heroine addiction that ends with revelation and all the -tions you can think of, this song just builds and builds off Larry’s amazing drumming, with no real chorus or hook, relying solely on the emotion that Bono bring to the song and the end product is nothing short of a masterpiece.

But perhaps the title track “The Unforgettable Fire” is and will be the best song to pay tribute to this monumental album release back in 1984. With a beautiful melody and the most 80s sounding song off the album, this is the tune to take you back to that moment. Maybe that is why the band decided to pull this one out of the “dead catalog” and revisit it one more time on the current “360 Tour”. What a great surprise that was!

U2 – The Unforgettable Fire