Revisiting: U2, Volume 2 (1984-1988)
Hey! Welcome back! I'm glad the dudes of Dublin (clever, right?) and their early music hasn't scared you off. This next era is one of great quality and slight disappointment. We'll get two consecutively successful records (one of which people claim is their finest) and end the era with, arguably, their worst record. Seriously, it's trash.
I'm dubbing this era the "Joshua Tree era" and with good reason. Joshua Tree came at a pivotal point in the band's history. The release of War gave them all sorts of artistic credibility and gave them heaps of license to work in whichever direction they chose, but it's Joshua Tree that pushed them into rock star status, which as will get to later, is one of the reasons I think people despise this band. But we'll save that for another day. Let's get into the goods...
The Unforgettable Fire (1984)
Producer: Brian Eno & Daniel Lanois
Hey look, a production team change. After three consecutive albums with relative newcomer Steve Lillywhite at the helm, the band brings musical heavyweights Brian Eno & Daniel Lanois into the studio for their fourth album The Unforgettable Fire. And upon listening this change is completely obvious and beneficial.
The bands sound on previous records was built around a very traditional rock and roll song structure (verse, chorus, verse, bridge, etc). On The Unforgettable Fire songs are more placed in the realm of "rock n' roll ambient". Songs ebb and flow around a tone or chord structure. The music moves rather than starts and stops. The use of tonal experimentation is all over this one, and none of this is a shocker with Eno on board as producer.
As an artistic step in a new direction, this album pays off. I'm not the biggest fan mostly because the album really falls apart in the last few tracks. But that's not to knock brilliant pieces like "A Sort of Homecoming", "Bad", and "The Unforgettable Fire". This record certainly has a lot of legs to stand on. And is very much a step in the right direction for the band.
7/10
The Joshua Tree (1987)
Producer: Brian Eno & Daniel Lanois
The Joshua Tree, if ever there was an album that was the complete sum of all parts, this is it. U2 kept Eno and Lanois on board for this one. And musically this is the merging of early U2 (Boy, October, War) with The Unforgettable Fire. The band sought a "cinematic" quality for the record and the early twangs and pings of The Edge's guitar reverb on "Where the Streets Have No Name" showcase a mission accomplished.
This album is stacked with radio ready, anthemic, sing at the top of your lungs tracks. There isn't a weak track on this album. Hell, look at the first four cuts off the album and try to find fault in any of them. U2 made an album with 11 PERFECT songs on it. However, I would argue that this doesn't qualify for their best outing. Or as Aristotle might put it "11 perfect songs does not a perfect album make".
I do genuinely love this album, and it's the type of album I'd never say I'm NOT in the mood to listen to on a given occasion. I dig it. I love imagining Bono belting these songs out at packed stadiums with a grin on his face. They were rockstars after this album and I love that. Others, however do not. And that's lame, but we'll get to that later. It's unfortunate that their next effort would be such a monumental collapse. Ready for me to shit all over something? Let's get started...
9/10
Rattle and Hum (1988)
Producer: Jimmy Iovine
Okay, here goes, there has NEVER been a bigger momentum killer than this album in the history of rock n' roll. I would argue that point until I'm blue in the face. This is trash. There are so very few things about this album that are worth consuming.
First awful thing about this album, it's mostly made up of live recordings of other peoples' songs or their own previous work, BUT THE ALBUM ISN'T marketed in such a way, it's almost a trick. Some of these rendition are passable. The live rendition of The Beatles' "Helter Skelter" is pretty cool and that's mostly because I really love that song. Their live versions of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and "Pride (In the Name of Love)" are cool to hear but their still songs we've heard before. Now, let's get to the new songs.
So, U2 thought it would be cool to give us their take on old American blues, R&B, and soul on this record. But here's the problem, that sound really only works for Bono's super emotive voice and soft white boy falsetto. Every one else in the band is just giving us a 'color by numbers' performance. It's awful. It's barely coherent. And worst of all it's obscenely derivative. Just listen to "Angel of Harlem", can't you just imagine the band hanging out at Bob Dylan's house and finding the sheet music for that discarded song and saying "Oi, fellas, I've got an idear" (that's my best typed out Irish accent).
This album is easily their worst and maybe one of the most disappointing albums I've ever come across. And with any other band, this album would have killed a career. But, good things are about to come and change EVERYTHING.
1/10
I still love these dudes, I'm still a strongly converted fan who's onboard for whatever comes my way from U2. As a fun little treat, and because we all love lists, I'll start ranking the albums at the bottom the end of each post. So, without further adieu, my rankings after 6 albums:
1) War (1983)
2) The Joshua Tree (1987)
3) The Unforgettable Fire (1984)
4) Boy (1980)
5) October (1981)
6) Rattle and Hum (1988)
As always you can find me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram if you want to tell me how much you love Rattle and Hum. Please do because I'd love to tell you how wrong that opinion that is and in defense I'll present the best piece of evidence. A copy of the album.
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