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Critic Reviews
100
Eschewing the production techniques of its era, the album sounded strangely lo-fi on its release, and now simply sounds timeless.
3y
100
With an album as rich and rewarding as The Unforgettable Fire as a introduction, the possibilities for the future seem limitless.
5mo
83
The collaboration with production and electronics wizard Brian Eno and his protege, Daniel Lanois, began here. The pair do their best to craft U2’s sometimes overblown ideas.
10y
80
Working with producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, U2 created a dark, near-hallucinatory series of interlocking soundscapes that are occasionally punctuated by recognizable songs and melodies.
13y
60
The Unforgettable Fire seems to drone on and on, an endless flurry of chinkety guitar scratchings, state-of-the-art sound processing and the most mundane sort of lyrical imagery (barbed wire is a big concept).
11y
Obviously this isn't literally a prototype of Joshua Tree but at times it feels like it in a good way. I don't think it is as great as Joshua Tree but it is definitely a great album in their catalog. The Eno production is great as always and I feel like even though War is a great album and I like it a little more, their sound really started to develop much more
I always liked this album and I always thought it was underrated. Relistening to it was a pleasure, I love the production of Brian Eno and I can see his influence, and l love the more "ambient" sound U2 have in this album. The first four tracks are the best tracks in this album, all bangers, from the opener "A Sort Of Homecoming", to the huge hit "Pride (In The Name Of Love) to, personally, the best tracks in the album and the song that gives the name to this album ... read more
Less 'classic material' here than on 'The Joshua Tree' it could be argued, but overall I prefer it a shade.
Eno's influence is more perceivable through the production (parts of 'Indian Summer Sky' and particularly 'Wire' remind me of his Talking Heads sound) and whereas sometimes the lesser tracks on 'Joshua' just sounded like filler for the sake of filler, here the 'also-rans' still serve the album and feel like they're adding to the 'bigger picture'.
Sure, for some the album will end on a ... read more
It's really not that good there is a few good songs overall I wouldn't see myself relistening to this much
anotha @Szala rec anotha U2 album. i gotta say i actually enjoyed this more?
yet again it starts with a great track run in the beggining with The Unforgettable Fire being my fav song of theirs so far!
Promenade is kinda disappointing tho cuz i was hoping it'd develop a little more and then it just ends on a fade out. 4th of july provides a nice breather in the middle of the album. Bad sounds like a brief window into what they fully fleshed out on The Joshua Tree.
if i had to guess why ... read more
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Track List
| 1 | A Sort of Homecoming 5:28 | 88 |
| 2 | Pride (In the Name of Love) 3:50 | 92 |
| 3 | Wire 4:19 | 86 |
| 4 | The Unforgettable Fire 4:55 | 92 |
| 5 | Promenade 2:35 | 77 |
| 6 | 4th of July 2:16 | 73 |
| 7 | Bad 6:08 | 91 |
| 8 | Indian Summer Sky 4:19 | 81 |
| 9 | Elvis Presley and America 6:23 | 68 |
| 10 | MLK 2:33 | 75 |
Total Length: 42 minutes
Comments (4)
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1mo
Since the Beatles and Fleetwood Mac have had a big resurgence on younger people/vinyl collectors, i feel like U2 will be the next big band that comes back
