40 years of U2´s The Unforgettable Fire
In late 1983, U2’s War tour took them to Japan. There, they visited Iwakichi Kobayashi ´s exhibition (survivor of atomic bomb in Hiroshima) titled “The Unforgettable Fire”. Its title inspired the album released on 1 October 1984.
After three studio albums and one live, “reinvention was necessary.” The band decided to call Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois to produce and assist in their experimentation. “I thought it was a great idea to get someone in to help us develop in a different way. It seemed we had done very well on three chords and the truth but we needed someone who could take our songs in a different direction, add new textures and explore new ways of using the studio,” said Larry Mullen Jr.
The early sessions were at the Slane Castle, and then the songs got mixed at the Windmill Lane Studios. It was amazing to see this creation process recorded at the castle’s ballrooms. The documentary The Making of The Unforgettable Fire is essential to understand how this environment has influenced the band members and the crew. It attracted them, since they were looking to capture the natural acoustics of a room.
“I hoped this record would change people’s perception of the band. This was U2 evolving and really opening up, bringing light and shade and experimentation to the music. Taking risks, I suppose,” told Larry.
Some say the album is the first with a cohesive sound. Larry Mullen’s drumming and Adam Clayton’s bass become looser and subliminal, supporting the songs in a better way. “At that time Larry Mullen had developed an amazing powerhouse hit-hat technique. We saw this as a window of rhythmic opportunity, why not apply Larry’s hit-hat technique to other drums? A timbale to the right and a tom-tom to the left instantly gave Larry new colors to work with. This transformation propelled the rhythm to a new position for the band. The song “The Unforgettable Fire” displays my point,” said Daniel Lanois.
“The Unforgettable Fire was an album that none of us expected to make. When we started work on it there wasn’t a well formed vision of where it would go — but there was a huge amount of creative energy around, and a feeling on everyone’s part that we were after something new,” said Brian Eno.
The experimental production took U2 to a sound with “art and sensibility”. It feels like it’s more adult, than the punk roots of the first albums. Although The Unforgettable Fire was a reinvention, it still remains as the sound of U2.
“The Unforgettable Fire, when it was released, caused a certain amount of confusion among friends and foes alike. What is this? “Pride (In The Name of Love)” and “Bad” immediately stood out as potential classics, but what about this over six-minute ‘ambient’ track “Elvis Presley and America”? Put that record on again. Slowly the magic began to work and we got the flow of it. In my review for Dutch music magazine OOR I have it the thumbs up. I used the phrase ‘healing music’ which I had come across in a 1981 interview with Bob Dylan,” said Bert van de Kamp. “In many ways The Unforgettable Fire was groundbreaking, innovative and influential; a stepping stone for future masterstrokes, starting with The Joshua Tree. But that’s another story.”
By Fernanda Bottini
Communication: Journalist/PR
Massive U2 fan who writes about the Irish group for 20 years
Email: febottini@gmail.com
