U2 - The Unforgettable Fire (1984)

Note: this release was originally purchased as an LP, later replaced by a CD.

I became a fan of U2 when I first heard my buddy Jim's copy of the War album and became even more enamored with the group after I bought my cassette of Under A Blood Red Sky and wore it out over Christmas break 1983. Needless to say, this release was highly anticipated by yours truly. I wouldn't say I was initially disappointed, but I wasn't exactly thrilled with this album upon it's release in late 1984.

When I was 18 years old, I wanted the album to rock, but the music here is more moody than what I expected, so I listened to what was side one (the first five tracks) of my LP much more often than side two. The influence of the 1982 Simple Minds album New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) on The Unforgettable Fire has been discussed many times, including these articles from Pitchfork and The Irish Times. To my mind, it begs the question "why didn't the band hire New Gold Dream producer Peter Walsh to produce Unforgettable Fire?" I'm just asking, not complaining. I think Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois do fine work on the album even though I've never come across a mix that wasn't a little muddy so I'm going to guess crispness wasn't the goal with these tunes. Still, the album contains U2's finest single, so that fact alone places it in the top half of the band's eight releases during the 1980's (yes, I'm counting EPs because I'd have Under A Blood Red Sky at the top of that list). 

Press of the time:

• Rolling Stone (★★★): "seems to drone on and on"
• Stereo Review: "represents a significant expansion of U2's heretofore limited musical vocabulary."
• High Fidelity: "vinyl evidence of a band in transition."
• Record Mirror (+++¾): "Brian Eno's production was an important and not unwise choice"
• CashBox: "another inspired - and inspiring - set of powerful guitar rock"
• Billboard: "A cloudy, obtuse and daring outing"
• Robert Christgau (B+): "Eno has shaped this record to accentuate Bono's wild romantic idealism, and while I prefer his moral force I have to admit that the two are equally beguiling to contemplate and dangerous to take literally."

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #12
• Billboard CD: #12
• CashBox: #5
• CashBox CD: #11
• Rolling Stone: #3

Tracks: Pride is my all-time favorite U2 song and it's not even a close race. The rest of the album doesn't quite measure up (how could it?), but I also dig A Sort Of Homecoming, Wire, and the title track. I also like Bad, but the definitive version of that song is on Wide Awake In America. I wasn't a fan of MLK until I heard a church choir perform an exquisite arrangement of the piece that exposed the simple beauty of the music while reinforcing the message of the lyrics:

Sleep
Sleep tonight
And may your dreams
Be realized
If the thunder cloud
Passes rain
So let it rain
Rain down on him
So let it be
So let it be

Now I recognize the song for the great album-closer it is.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: On Monday, February 25, 1985, U2 held a concert at Reunion Arena in Dallas. At the time, I was a freshman at a nearby university; only an hour's drive from Dallas. However, my friends and I couldn't score tickets to the show, so we were stuck in the dorm that evening. The concert was sponsored by a local radio station - I think it was KEGL (Eagle 97) but who the hell knows - and starting a few hours before the show, they started playing the entire U2 catalog. During the show, the remote DJs would give brief concert updates along the lines of "the band has taken the stage" or "they just played Sunday Bloody Sunday" before kicking it back to the studio to play more U2 records. We just moped around the dorm room, listening to the radio, and kicking ourselves for not trying harder to get tickets. And then up for a 8:30 AM ear training class the next morning.

Previously revisited for the blog:

The Joshua Tree (1987)	Under A Blood Red Sky (1983)
Wide Awake In America (1985)	October (1981)

U2 - The Joshua Tree (1987)

Note: this release was originally purchased as a LP, later replaced by a CD. I believe my CD is the 1992 reissue.

I bought this album upon its release in 1987 and listened to it very regularly for about six months. After I burned out on it, a friend asked if I'd sell my LP to him. I was 21, in college at the time, and wanted some beer money so I made that deal fairly quickly. While the Top 40 singles continue to get played on classic rock radio stations, I haven't heard the complete album since late '87. I recently spotted this CD in the used bin and picked it up. It's been a good, long while, let's give this a spin.

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #1
• CashBox: #1
• Rolling Stone: #1
• Billboard Pop CD: #1
• CashBox CD: #1

Press of the time:

• Stereo Review: "U2's most mature and compelling album to date."
• Smash Hits (9 out of 10): "their finest effort yet"
• Rolling Stone: "could be the big one"
• Robert Christgau (B): "something special--mournful and passionate, stately and involved"
• Billboard: "almost every song is a thought-provoking piece of rock"
• CashBox: "This band captures more power and energy than bands using five times the Marshall stacks."
• Musician: "Sure they get too ambitious, and sometimes that looks a little silly. But U2 offers two choices - stand on the side and snicker, or climb down and join in the game. How much invitation do you need? "

The album won Grammy Awards for Album of the Year and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. In Rolling Stone's latest edition of their "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" (2020), The Joshua Tree came in at #135.

Tracks: I had forgotten they front-loaded the thing, leading off with the album's best song followed by the other two hit singles. I can guarantee side one of my LP got much more play than side two. Of the eleven tracks, five rightly hit the Billboard rock singles charts:

Song	Rock	Hot 100
With Or Without You	1	1
I Still Haven't Found...	2	1
Where The Streets Have No Name	11	13
Bullet The Blue Sky	14	-
In God's Country	6	44

Bullet The Blue Sky, one of U2's most political tunes, wouldn't have been out of place on October - I could do without the earnest spoken word section, but overall I dig it. I had completely forgotten Running To Stand Still and today I'm thinking that it may be the second best song on the album. Red Hill Mining Town has catchy hook at the chorus but I keep waiting for the band to really tear into the arrangement but it just keeps an even keel throughout. I immediately recognize the riff in track 7, In God's Country, and then surprise myself by singing along until it ends abruptly. I vaguely recall the remainder of the album - the bluesiness of Trip Through Your Wires, the Simple Minds knock-off One Tree Hill, the structureless Exit, and the powerful Mothers Of The Disappeared  - which suggests that I probably lifted the needle after In God's Country more often than not. As with most U2 albums, The Edge brings the goods throughout, ably produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno.

Exclusive CD longbox photo courtesy of
Dirk Digglinator of the Hambonian Archives.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: During the summer of 1987, between my junior and (first) senior year in college, I returned home to live with my parents, took a couple of early morning classes at the local community college, and had a job working with commercial glass, mainly as a glazier. At the time, my parents lived across the street from an elementary school which had some basketball goals on its playground. After work, I'd go shoot at the school and participate in the occasional pickup game. For reasons I can't put my finger on, this album always makes me think of that basketball court and that summer.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Wide Awake In America (1985)
Live: Under A Blood Red Sky (1983)
October (1981)

U2 - October (1981)

Note: the CD I listened to was not one of the 2001 or 2008 reissues.

In an earlier post, I wrote "U2 has always been about sound rather than songs" and while I probably lifted that comment directly from some critic, the sentiment certainly rings true on this release. I prefer earlier U2 albums to anything post-Joshua Tree and while this one suffers a bit from the dreaded sophomore slump and a bit of bad luck, I like to spin it every now and then.

I'm not much for lyrics, but Bono's notebook with early lyric drafts for this album turned up missing after a March 1981 show at a Portland bar. So Bono had to quickly scramble to write new lyrics for the album which explains the lyrics, which lean heavily on familiar Christian imagery, yet somehow aren't as preachy as the stuff Bono would ultimately write. That kindasorta explains why we get a song titled Rejoice and then an entirely different song (Scarlet) where the only lyric is "rejoice."

Yes, there were Bibles dotted around the room during the recording. There was a fair amount of that. But I was so busy trying to pull teeth - trying to make an album - that it sort of washed over me. It was completely chaotic and mad in the studio and, obviously, Bono's lyrics being lost contributed to the atmosphere.

-producer Steve Lillywhite

But back to the music. To my ears, October is a U2 album where the band plays as a band, with each member having equal value. In later releases, I feel the rhythm section is undervalued, but not here. This makes the arrangements better in my opinion and, in this particular case, creates an emphasis on the rhythmic aspects of the music and yes, sound rather than songs.

Press of the time:

• Trouser Press: "this is a damned good record"
• Musician: "Deliriously melodic, rhythmically insistent"
• Billboard: "This much anticipated second album continues in the vein established by the first."
• Record World: "expands its textural and dynamic boundaries"
• Robert Christgau (B-): "As they push past twenty their ambitions are showing, and suddenly the hope-addicts whiff both commerce and pretension."
• Record Mirror (★★★): "This is U2 in purgatory."

"The Green Tornado"?? And Larry doesn't even rate a surname?

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #104
• Billboard Rock: #28
• CashBox: #102
• Rolling Stone: #25

In The Village Voice's annual 'Pazz & Jop' critic's list, this album placed at #39 for 1981.

Tracks: From what was side one (tracks 1-5), my top picks are Gloria, I Fall Down, and Rejoice. Track 6, Tomorrow, is beautiful but far too heart-wrenching for me to even go into and then they pair it with the somber title track. I want to skip both to spare my emotions, but I can never bring myself to do so. Of the remaining tracks, I prefer Stranger In A Strange Land and the aforementioned Scarlet.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Around the time this album was released in 1981, I was wrapping up my second season of high school marching band. We performed at every football game, but the team went 6-4 that fall and missed out on a playoff berth, ending our early morning marching rehearsals the first week of November. Incidentally, I didn't have much else happening on Friday nights at the time, so it didn't matter to me that my weekends were suddenly free.

The marching band's show theme that year was a based on the Six Flags over Texas (the actual historical flags, not the theme park chain). So we played a Spanish song, a French song, Deep In The Heart Of Texas, etc., representing all six countries ending with an arrangement of Neil Diamond's "America." During that last song, we dressed up the tallest guy in the band in an Uncle Sam outfit and marched him out waving an America flag so the crowd would feel obligated to stand and applaud - a tried and true marching band method for receiving a standing ovation. The history of Texas as told through the six flags was a creative idea for a show, but you sure as hell couldn't do it in this day and age as we played the traditional song Dixie during the CSA portion of the show. Not only that, we formed a huge rebel flag on the field while playing that damn song

The adults involved should have known better. In my own defense, I was just a 15 year old kid doing what he was told, like any average student playing the game of school. In terms of social awareness, it was a very different time - which, admittedly, isn't the best excuse - but 40 years on, it's certainly embarrassing but hardly surprising: as of this writing, my hometown still has a confederate monument on the courthouse square. Shameful. However, a politically incorrect marching drill has absolutely nothing to do with this U2 album other than coincidental timing and the fact that the boys of U2 would never stand for such nonsense, so never mind. As you were.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Wide Awake In America (1985)
Live: Under A Blood Red Sky (1983)

U2 - Wide Awake In America (1985)

Note: this release was originally purchased as a cassette tape, later replaced by a CD.

EPs from the early '80s didn't often see a CD release, but when you're U2 they make exceptions. (Now if we could only see some CD releases of Dekadance and Twisting By The Pool, but I digress.) Advertised as "A special low priced collection of live recordings and out takes from The Unforgettable Fire tour and album 1984-85." These days, they'd just tack these tracks on the end of Deluxe Edition CD and brickwall the things, but fortunately these tracks sound as good as I remember them on my Pioneer car deck back in the summer of '85.

As with most U2 recordings, Edge steals the show, but all band members put their best foot forward here, especially on the two live tracks.

Press of the time:

• Rolling Stone: "of interest primarily to die-hard fans"
• CashBox: "Tight performances and impassioned lead vocals"
• Billboard: "U2 has been enjoying an incredible hot streak"
• Robert Christgau (B): "Epic humility--take it or leave it."

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200 : #37
• CashBox: #26
• Rolling Stone chart: #21

Tracks: the two live tracks are both better here than their studio counterparts on The Unforgettable Fire. It's a close contest for my top tune on this EP between Bad and Three Sunrises; the latter sounding like it might have been an outtake from War but with vocal harmonies The Association would be proud of. I'm not wild about the final cut, Love Comes Tumbling, which sounds to me more like an Echo & The Bunnymen b-side than a U2 b-side.

All tracks recorded in England, so I'm guessing the EP title was a marketing ploy. Well, it worked on this guy.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: This cassette was in heavy rotation in my car during the summer of 1985. As a public school teacher, I've enjoyed some great, carefree summers in my life, but that summer after my freshman year in college certainly ranks right up there.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Live: Under A Blood Red Sky (1983)

U2 - Live: Under A Blood Red Sky (1983)

Note: this release was originally purchased as a cassette tape, later replaced by a CD, later replaced by the 2008 Deluxe Edition with DVD.

CD: recorded in Boston, Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado, and Sankt Goarshausen Germany, May-August 1983.
DVD: recorded on June 5, 1983 at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado.

U2 will go down as one of the best live bands in the history of rock and roll. In November 1983, the band released what they called a "mini-LP" live album for a "special low price" - 8 tracks, 35 minutes, $5.99. I'll go out on a limb here and call this U2's best album. Back when the band was in their early 20s and before Bono developed his God complex, they could really rock. U2 has always been about sound rather than songs and they sound really good here. I was a fan of U2 from 1983's War through 1987's The Joshua Tree. I really haven't had much use for them since then. I lost all respect for Bono when he tried to teach BB King about the blues in Rattle and Hum.

Press of the time:

• Stereo Review: "ranks with the great concert recordings"
• CashBox: "Recommended"
• Record Mirror (++++): "A little winner"
• Rolling Stone (★★★★): "sheer rock & roll energy"
• Trouser Press: "Real solid...but necessary?"
• Robert Christgau (A-): "I never figured they'd turn into a great arena-rock band."

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #28
• Billboard Pop CD: #26
• Billboard Rock: #19
• CashBox: #19
• CashBox CD: #19
• Rolling Stone: #6

Tracks: All 8 tracks are good, but I'm partial to Gloria, The Electric Co., "40", and the definitive version of Sunday Bloody Sunday.

DVD: Fun to watch if only for the clothing and hair styles in the audience. There are some problems with light streaking, but those aren't too distracting. The sound is good enough that I should take the time to rip the audio to mp3 files. I like that we are treated to a live version of one of my favorite U2 songs, Two Hearts Beat As One. Seeing the band live here reinforces my belief that the real musical force behind U2 is The Edge. He moves effortlessly between guitar, keyboards, bass, and vocals. When do we get a solo CD from The Edge?

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: My original cassette (which I still have) never left the Pioneer car stereo in the Markmobile in December of 1983. Around that time, in an effort to woo a girl named Gloria, I gave her a copy of the cassette and told her to listen to the song titled Gloria. Even back then I knew that was a lame idea. Needless to say, that effort didn't work.