Somebody please explain the UF comparisons?

[xovonob now!]

I don't understand how people are comparing HTDAAB to Unforgettable Fire? Didn't that album consist of Pride, Wire and a bunch of semi-impromptu meloncholly atmospheric meanderings?

I love Unforgettable Fire, but I don't see anything in the lines of MLK, Bad (which drifts on for quite a while losing itself in undirected passion), Sort of Homecoming and Elvis Presley and America (which was entirely unscripted). Even the slower How to Dismantle Songs don't sound like that to me. Plus HTDAAB has really tight rockers like Vertigo, Love Peace or Else and Scometimes. Not to mention the fairly poppy Original of the Species.

please explain!

 

[mikal]

Yahweh reminds me a lot of UF for some reason. otherwise, Edge's guitar work is comparible to how he played on UF.

 

[xovonob now!]

okay. i'll buy the yahweh comparison. Especially the first 20 seconds of the song with the sort of guitar wind-in section.

 

[kakvox]

I don't see the specific connection either, but u2's sound does bleed throughout all their albums. I do disagree about UF being a "bunch of semi-impromptu meloncholly atmospheric meanderings", though. I Love the Unforgettable Fire. Absolutely love it.

 

[Sleep Over Jack]

I think Miracle Drug is UF-like, the middle part especially with the ethereal backing vocals.

 

[Sharik]

Album title-wise, there are some interesting connections. The Unforgettable Fire is a reference to the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima during World War II. And HTDAAB, well, that explains itself. Also, HTDAAB marks, give or take a month, the 20th anniversary of UF.

Production-wise, the albums are different, but that's to be expected since 20 years of musical experience and technology separate the two. However, musically, especially with COBL, Edge's signature guitar style certainly bridges the two albums. The songcraft for HTDAAB is certainly more structured than UF, often regarded as ethereal and atmospheric, but the grander themes are still addressed.

 

[Shade]

To my ears, the only other album I've ever been able to connect sonically to The Unforgettable Fire is WAR. They both have that same - the only word I can think of is distant - sound. Like the band is very, very far away from where you're standing, and you're almost hearing the report of the music more than the music itself. That sound has always fascinated me, and it hasn't appeared since. I actually asked Daniel Lanois about that sound after I saw one of his shows, years ago. He said that he couldn't speak for WAR, but said that on The Unforgettable Fire, they achieved that effect just by messing around with different reverb and compression treatments in the mixing phase, and that that was why 'The Three Sunrises' and 'Love Comes Tumbling' sound so much cleaner and more up-front than the album tracks and the other B-sides. You can tell just by listening that they didn't go through that process, and the clarity is much more in line with what came before and after.

 

[one4u2]

COBL is like a track they left off of UF...

 

[Shade]

COBL is like a track they left off of UF...

What songs from that album would you compare it to?

 

[one4u2]

I wouldn't compare it to a particular song, IMO it can be an additional track....It reminds me of that era

 

[Shade]

But, what about COBL leads you compare it to that album, and not, say, The Joshua Tree or Achtung Baby or any others?

 

[one4u2]

....It reminds me of that era

 

[Shade]

Okay, let's try this again - what about it reminds you of that era?

 

[one4u2]

What is this an interview!

 

[Shade]

What is this an interview!

Take it easy, man. I was just curious.

 

[one4u2]

I'm not a dude

 

[Shade]

I'm not a dude

Wow. You take offense easily.

 

[Bono's shades]

To me the mood of UF is murky and mysterious and HTDAAB is straightforward and direct. I really don't see the connection.

 

[kakvox]

To me the mood of UF is murky and mysterious and HTDAAB is straightforward and direct. I really don't see the connection.

I totally agree.

 

[Axver]

UF paints landscapes in my mind. Many songs on Hut Dab do the same. So do many on JT. I compare all three albums.

 

[Stefan]

I would say that the main guitar/synthesizer on "City of blinding lights" sounds a bit similar to the synthesizer on "The Unforgettable Fire" (the song). Also the other guitars on "City..." sound like UF-JT era.

 

[boystupidboy]

heres my tuppence worth-"They sound bugger all like each other"

 

[MaxFisher]

I too am puzzled by the comparisons to UF. Personally, I can't imagine COBL being a track on UF.