5/5 'into the half lights and through the flame'
  by Deven Gadula (san francisco, ca, united states)
U2 is much more than a rock band. By now this proper name could stand for and define the awareness of the fact that we are all in it together. Like it or not, you will not find your complete peace and happiness amid the misery of others. There is some invisible web connecting our consciousness and every single thought matters. You are in pain when your child or mother is and just because the reaction is significantly less immediate on the national or planetary level, does not mean it is any different. You too are affected and yes, so much could be directed towards both of you. Plenty of meaning in U2. Bono is great with meanings. He understands all of the above and in the beautiful straight from the heart Irish way he tries to make us aware of our destiny.
I know that this is the album which neither contains most of U2's hits (Joshua Tree would probably be that album) nor is it the album which brought us their first greatness. However, to me Unforgettable Fire is the most important album of U2 and the one which contains their most powerful song. The atmosphere of the Unforgettable Fire brings on the passion of what is at hand, desire and impatience towards great things ahead, and gratitude for things fulfilled and accomplished. There is peace approaching but the spirit is still so used to fighting. The sound belongs to the earlier phase of this special band's career. It is still raw at times but it builds into quite dramatic landscapes.
Few are the bands which have given us more breath taking songs than U2. It is not an easy choice but for me the most powerful of them all is Bad. Its beginning does not reveal it but its progression is spectacular. It must be that special energy coming out of earth in Ireland and not only these guys are tapping into it (please listen to Mostly Autumn). I know it is not Guinness because I used to tap into that for a while (and I just got sleepy). Who knows, perhaps Bad will not affect you so much, but please listen to it on repeat 1 at least 7 times. My next favorite song here is the title song. This one starts like it means it so you can sense its power right away. Pride is one of U2's most known songs and Promenade is very strong as well. As far as the rest of their great career, to be very honest, although I respect U2 tremendously, ever since the beautiful day played everywhere I have had problems with their newest things and it is possible that I have omitted something recent and great. I have compiled their music back in 1998, named it
Into The Half Lights And Through The Flame, and left it unchanged:

1. Slug
2. Love Is Blindness
3. Bad
4. Rowena's Theme
5. Running To Stand Still
6. The Unforgettable Fire
7. October
8. With Or Without You
9. Your Blue Room
10. Promenade
11. One
12. Where The Streets Have No Name
13. Miss Sarajevo
14. All I Want Is You
15. Pride
16. edit
17. New Year's Day


4/5 Could've been 5 star with better song selection
  by Khyber900 (Monrovia, CA USA)
The Unforgettable Fire was perhaps U2's most important record, as it marked the band's first transition towards megastardom. After providing the world with 3 impressive records, and arguably 2 masterpieces in Boy and War, U2 did not rest on its laurels but embarked on an ambitious journey with producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois to create their first experimental record that opened the way to the Joshua Tree and everything else.

Eno and Lanois found The Edge to be the perfect outlet for their love of ambient experimentation. Edge developed an amazing wall of sound with the guitar, using lush texturing of guitar overdubs, drones, chorus effects, echo, suspended chords, added 7ths and 9ths, and fine tuning his melodic sense while Adam Clayton provided the critical backing (and chord changes, since Edge doesn't often play full chords). Bono found an outlet for his inner soul singer and Larry Mullen Jr. found that he could also play along with synthesizers, keyboards and electronic drum effects.

However, while Eno and Lanois stimulated U2's creativity, the downside is that the record sometimes frustrates the raw anthemic power of U2. In addition, though Eno/Lanois have helped U2 produce their best records, they always seem to leave great songs on the cutting room floor. The most egregious example was the band's decision to leave 'Sweetest Thing' off The Joshua Tree (which the band admits was a big mistake). On The Unforgettable Fire, the omissions were even more egregious.

The first 6 songs on this record rank with any 6 that U2 has ever done. Pride in the Name of Love is probably the best song U2 has ever written. A Sort of Homecoming, Wire, The Unforgettable Fire, Promenade, 4th of July, Bad, and MLK are also compelling tracks that have stood the test of time. However, the record falls apart somewhat on tracks like Indian Summer Sky and Elvis Presley and America. Furthermore, the true value of the songs was not realized until U2's amazing concert tour, in which they re-worked many of the layered tracks for the live stage, and came up with some incredible arrangements. The live versions of A Sort of Homecoming and Bad, in particular, trounce the versions on the original record. Those tracks were so good that the Wide Awake in America EP became a hot seller and helped people appreciate The Unforgettable Fire and widen the fan base.

There were also several great tracks that were left off the original record - The Three Sunrises, Love Comes Tumbling (both of which are on the Wide Awake in America EP), Boomerang, and Sixty Seconds to Kingdom Come. Each of these tracks is far superior to either Indian Summer Sky or Elvis Presley in America, and if they had been added to the original release, this record would have been regarded as a near masterpiece.

So if you are downloading a version of the record to your ipod, this is what it should look like (in my opinion):

A Sort of Homecoming (Live Version)
Pride (In the Name of Love)
Wire
The Unforgettable Fire
Promenade
4th of July
Bad (Live Version)
Love Comes Tumbling
The Three Sunrises
Boomerang
Sixty Seconds to Kingdom Come
MLK
A Sort of Homecoming (recorded version)
Bad (recorded version)

5/5 Their best ever.
  by Dirk Olivier (SL name) (USA)
I consider this to be U2's best album. There are both catchy pop songs on it ( Pride was a big hit in it's day, and Wire is also quite catchy ) but most of all the songs are extraordinarily well written and totally their own. Of course they have influences but from what I have heard, there has never been another record that sounds like this one. Side two is far less accesible than one, but the patient listener will be rewarded with emotionally deep and passionate music if she or he listens to it enough to start to get a feel for the music and lyrics. I hope this review helps someone out there choose this album. If you enjoy it half as much as I have I think you will be richly rewarded.

5/5 The Great Fire of 1984
  by w.irving
U2 had a lot going for them in the early 1980's. With three solid albums under their belts including their U.S. breakthrough, `War', the lads of Dublin decided it was time to play with fire. In other words they were poised to release something uniquely out of tune with the garbage piling up on the empty-headed pop scene. As it is said, where there is smoke there's fire and where there is U2 you have an album here so good it laid waste to everything else on the charts in the Autumn of `84, while refreshingly misrepresenting the band as Ireland's response to the last call of new wave. Okay, TUF didn't soar to the top of the charts, but its methodic ascent gave us plenty of time to relish a selection of songs that would brand the band as true architects of their craft. So where does one begin to train the water on a conflagration that burned off the long grass of a field under an `Indian Summer Sky' during that certain Fall? Well, the phenomenal success of `Pride'{in The Name of Love}, one of their biggest singles ever, is a testament to the group's rallying cry for freedom and a blast heard `round the world, thanks to its radio- friendly composition. If this is their anthem song, then `Bad' is the LP's signature cut. All of the factors for a melodic equation merge here for a perfect U2 number; those powerful, unmistakable vocals, forceful, precision guitar playing, nimble drumming and a throbbing bass during the refrain. `Promenade' is a peaceful ride through the English countryside, but when the Edge plugs into `Wire' things really heat up. His tight and intense guitar work here, puts him in an elite class few other players occupy. `A Sort of Homecoming' is a lyrical gem forged not from a cauldron of gloom and doom, but rather from a warm safe seat by the fireplace. On this one, Bono and his mates wax positive singing of hope and salvation, as if an endearing phoenix has just risen from the ashes to bring its message of revelation. However, in naked contrast to most of TUF's content is the absorbing title track. Its suggestive story aside, this song is simply outstanding, with a fluctuating score, vital orchestration and adventurous vocals that puts the band's front man in a class also, few others deserve to be. There is, at the very tail end of the piece, a barely audible 4 or 5 note fade out. Brief, yet stirring, it is a conclusion that would give a cinematographer the closing shot of his dreams. This is the record that really brought U2 to the shores of America, where they would, only 4 albums into their recording career, blaze a trail through the musical wilderness of the 80's with nothing shy of the scope of the country in their sites. The Fire is still burning just as bright today, like a pilot light that's never had to be re-ignited...an eternal flame of a masterpiece.


4/5 A hidden gem
  by David
U2's older albums have a much better sound. This is a very good & less popular one.