Hands up if you are still willing to call yourself a U2 fan? Don’t fret I’m not here to bully you. When people ask me who are my favourite bands of all time, U2 somehow end up in that conversation. So yeah, I’m a fan. I’ve ridden the U2 rollercoaster for decades now. For all their success, Ireland’s most successful band still cops a lot of hate. Most of that has its origins in frontman Bono’s grandstanding and sometimes “on the nose” social activism. On the other hand U2 are for the most part beloved for their enduring, earnest, influential and impassioned rock music. Massive anthems like Where the Streets Have No Name, With or Without You and One are loved universally. Even their deep-cuts like Drowning Man, A Sort of Homecoming, So Cruel and Kite are obsessed over by fans like myself.
Their highly anticipated first full-length album (of original new songs) since the release debacle of their 2017s Song’s of Experience will be out later this year. I am looking forward it. In recent months they issued two surprise EPs which have been widely praised by critics and fans alike. They contrast sharply thematically with the Days of Ash EP focuses on politically-charged songs like American Obituary and Song of the Future, while the Easter Lily EP embraces the deeply personal lyricism Bono is famous for in songs like Yours Eternally and Coexist. Personally I prefer Easter Lily over Days of Ash because it seems much more in line with the classic sounding U2 I grew up with.
Fellow music blogger Kenneth Corsini on his site BourbonAndVinyl earlier this year made some interesting observations about Easter Lily. He says, “The Edge’s guitar on this EP is giving me real The Unforgettable Fire vibes. I keep hearing this spidery guitar and it gives me goosebumps.” The comparisons are undeniable. I couldn’t agree more. So why is it that The Unforgettable Fire (whether it’s the song or the album as a whole) is still so familiar to fans like us? Arguably it’s because their music has a timeless quality to it. Moreover, it still after all these years means something anchoring our memories and gaining even more relevance.
From the mid 1980s to early 1990s U2 were an unstoppable force. 1984 was a particularly important year for them. While the widely recognised, anthemic hit Pride is a great rock sing-a-long and tribute to civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., I can’t help but think that the title track from The Unforgettable Fire is the better mature sounding song. It is also a more profound piece of music artistically especially because of its atmospheric brilliance.
The Unforgettable Fire is often considered one of the best songs of 1984 because it marked an important shift in U2’s sound, moving away from their post-punk influences toward a more cinematic, ambient, and emotional style. In the early 1980s there was a period of renewed tension and fear of nuclear war. So it doesn’t surprise me that U2’s inspiration for the song is tied to the WW2 atomic blasts of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. However the song is so abstract that it could mean any number of things. It could easily stands as an introspective song about spiritual yearning, letting go and or even a fraught relationship.
U2 songs often feel brutal and brave and this track is to my mind emotionally powerful. At almost five minutes where do we start in peeling backs its layers? The song’s magical intro always comes to mind first with The Edge’s chime-like guitar. It soon shifts textures introducing Larry Mullen’s brooding drums, Adam Clayton’s nominal, steady bass and Bono’s evocative, tortured vocals, “Ice, your only rivers run cold/ These city lights, they shine as silver and gold/ Dug from the night, your eyes as black as coal.”
Bono’s vocal performance in particular is unquestionably brilliant throughout the song as he shifts from a haunting falsetto to a soaring, impassioned wail, notably in the chorus. Once Bono hits those high notes there is no going back my friend! My favourite Bono lyrics come midway through the song just before the stirring string arrangement hits. Bono cries out loud, “Walk on by, walk on through/ So sad to besiege your love so head on/ Stay in this time, stay tonight in a lie/ I’m only asking but I, I think you know/ Come on take me away/ Come on take me away/ Come on take me home/ Home again.”
Those of you who fancy yourselves as music aficiandos need to listen to this song. U2’s genius is on full display here. The orchestral string arrangement is nothing short of epic. Most critics and listeners agree it provides the emotional weight of the track. It marks not only a highpoint of the song but a deliberate welcomed departure from U2’s earlier records. It’s a passage of music that is key to this track as much as the interplay between Edge’s atmospheric guitar playing and Bono’s vocal melodies.
Rearview Mirror 
While I’m not particularly impressed with U2’s output over the past 20 years, I still dig these guys. I pretty much like everything they did through “Rattle and Hum,” as well as their excellent first live album “Under a Blood Red Sky.”
Even after “Rattle and Hum,” U2 had some great songs here and there. I was fortunate to catch them in New Jersey in 2017 during their Joshua Tree 30th anniversary tour – one of the best shows I’ve seen to date! 😎
One of my favourites for sure.
Have you heard their new song? Street of Dreams. My verdict is still out. It sounds new and fresh but at the same time it sounds nostalgic and familiar, especially The Edge’s guitar.