Before I begin I would like to state for the record that I know that Bono is an immense egomaniac and that the band hasn’t made a really good album since the 80’s. I only like their music up to and including this album so I am not one of those modern delusional U2 fans who think they can do no wrong.
I’m pretty sure I bought the cassette of this album in late 1985. It was before Joshua Tree was released and before I transferred high schools so it kind of had to have been that specific year. None of the friends that I had at that first high school liked them so I kind of got into them on my own. I remember hearing New Year’s Day on the radio a few years before and seeing that video on MTV as a young teen. By the time the song Pride, which is on this album, came out they were already on my radar and I decided to take the plunge and buy one of their albums. Thank you mom for giving me the money to buy this!
I can in no way overstate how important this album is to me, because it lead me into liking other bands. I remember reading somewhere about members of The Virgin Prunes growing up with the members of U2. So, I bought one of their albums and instantly got hooked. That in turn made me more open towards other ‘weirdo’ bands like Specimen. Also, I got into a lot of Irish post-punk bands, such as Blue In Heaven, that all had connections with one another or with U2.
So musically what makes this album so darn special? The entire album has a very haunting quality to it. There were hints of this on some of their earlier albums, such as New Year’s Day on War, but they went full force into it on this one. I think the pinnacle of this style on the album is the song The Unforgettable Fire. It’s my all time favourite U2 song and it still gives me major goosebumps.
I know that it’s really ‘in’ to hate all of U2’s work these days, which I think is a shame. Their first five albums are post-punk perfection. If it wasn’t for this album I wouldn’t be the mildly dramatic weirdo that I am today. It made me evolve my musical tastes and widen my horizons.
First US pressing of November Coming Fire by Samhain.
When I was a teen in the 1980’s I had quite the vinyl collection going. I was heavily into U2, The Virgin Prunes, PiL, and other bands that were considered ‘alternative’ during that time. Over the years, for various reasons, that old collection disappeared. I moved around so much after 2000 that there was no way I could hold onto them. The only ones that survived all of the upheaval were the 45’s that I kept in my mother’s linen closet that are still sitting there to this day. I actually plan on sending her some money within the year so that she can mail them to me.
Collecting vinyl has become very popular due to a huge kick of nostalgia that society as a whole is going through right now. What’s really funny about all of this is that the import records that I bought over 30 years ago are cheaper now than they were back then. No joke! An import 12″ single from England could have cost you upwards of $20.00 back in the 80’s, and the same single will cost you only $10.00 now. It’s pretty insane!
I resisted all of this vinyl fetishization for quite a while and I have even made fun of the hipsters who have kept this trend in motion. What got to me was that these people, who weren’t even alive in the 80’s, were buying the music that had for years defined me as a person. The music wasn’t defining for them, rather they bought the music and wore the band shirts because they thought it would make them look hip and trendy. A prime example of this is what has been done to Joy Division. Every member, and ex-member, of New Order now makes a hefty check off of performing Joy Division songs live. A band that they had totally disavowed back in the 80’s has suddenly become their main meal ticket because of the hipster contingent spending gobs of money to have an ‘experience’.
I finally came to the realization about a year ago that I have the absolute right to buy back all of the vinyl I once owned, because I have actual past memories associated with the music rather than creating false ones. For example, I have started to collect and buy all of the U2 vinyl that I used to own. Even though there is a huge resurgence of interest in all things post-punk right now the younger crowd automatically dismisses U2’s early albums, even though they are 100% post-punk in sound and tone. Their loss is my gain because the majority of U2’s work from Boy to The Unforgettable Fire is very affordable. You can get a nice first UK printing of the War gatefold album for only £20.00.
One of the better post-punk songs to come out of the 80’s.
I’m writing all of this just to tell you not to let hipster morons dictate what you can or cannot listen to or buy. Just because hipster scum ‘love’ Joy Division doesn’t mean that you have to stop enjoying them. I’ll be damned if I let a bunch of tragically hip morons dictate what I should or shouldn’t like listening to. I’ll buy the vinyl I want to buy because I genuinely love the music, not because I want to be seen as ‘cool’. I have never been ‘cool’ so why would I want to create a false persona at my age?
I honestly don’t remember when I first heard this song. I know it was sometime in the mid 1980’s, and was probably through me liking U2 since they are both Irish bands. Bono did a duet with Clannad’s lead singer Maire Brennan called In A Lifetime so that is more than likely the reason. Clannad were an Irish band that played traditional Irish music, but they also strayed into pop and new age territory.
It was apparently written by the band for a three part drama television show about the Troubles in Northern Ireland called Harry’s Game, and it was also used in the Sean Bean film Patriot Games. This song is just so damn haunting! I still get goosebumps when I listen to it. In 88 I saw them live in Berkeley California, and when they played this song it totally made me teary. I will always love this song!
No hideous Bono sunglasses or Edge beanies, so it must be early U2.
I have a confession to make. Back until about April of 1990 I was a huge U2 fan. It was around that time that I finally couldn’t take Bono’s bullshit any longer and I totally stopped listening to them. I felt so betrayed by their obvious ‘sell out’ tactics that it took me almost thirty years to listen to their older albums again.
When I talk about early U2 I’m talking about their work up to the Wide Awake In America EP which was released in 1985. So anything past that I just flat out refuse to listen to. When Joshua Tree and Rattle And Hum both came out I initially enjoyed them, but something about them didn’t sit right with me at the time. I think it had to do with two main things; trendies who previously would make fun of me all of a sudden liked them and Bono’s ego started to take over the music of the band.
I started getting heavily into U2 around late 85/early 86. It was such a long time ago that I quite honestly can’t remember the exact year. I remember liking New Year’s Day a whole lot when I would watch MTV as a young teen, so I always knew they existed before I started really getting them. One of the things that drew me to them was the fact that they were involved with Amnesty International and seemed to give a damn about social issues. By 1990 all of that was gone, and the band members starting cheating on the wives, dating supermodels and just basically behaved as if their shit didn’t stink. They became a stereotypical example of a band, instead of rising above that kind of shit like they used to.
I realise that bands sometimes majorly change their sound, but the jump that U2 did was a step too far for me. Rather than the original dark post punk sound that they had going on all of their early 80’s albums they basically became a pop band playing really boring music. I know I’m not the only one who felt this way at the time because there were even articles all about how they lost a lot of their original fan base by the time they made Rattle And Hum.
What’s funny is that all of this really pisses off all of the current U2 fans who enjoy their newer albums. The band basically has two separate groups of fans; people who were around in the 80’s who love only their earlier output, and those who heavily support their newer incarnation. I’ve noticed on a lot of U2 album lists that many of the newer fans will list October as the worst U2 album. It’s actually my favorite U2 album because it is very dark and has a genuine heavy post-punk vibe to it. Actually, I think their earlier work all the way to The Unforgettable Fire are solidly post-punk albums that sound a whole lot more original that all of the wannabe post-punk bands around right now.
Did I get a lot of shit for liking them? I did get some flack from the other weirdos in my area, but U2 were actually considered to be an ‘alternative’ band at the time and not mainstream. They were only considered mainstream once Joshua Tree came out. I think some of the songs off of that album are ‘okay’ but they felt very pallid compared to their earlier songs. I actually made a DIY U2 themed denim jacket in high school, and even drew my own U2 back patch. That was my first ever DIY project and I even had some people ask me in high school if I could make the same back patch for them to use. I appreciated that people asked me but I didn’t want anybody having the same design as I had so I turned them down.
During this time U2 were definitely not the only band I listened to. I was also into OMD, Specimen, The Dead Kennedys, The Sex Pistols, 7 Seconds, Love & Rockets, Public Image Limited, Jesus And Mary Chain, etc…. I even went to see The Cure n 87 wearing that denim jacket and nobody gave me shit for it. I think it was more acceptable back then to be into wildly different sounding bands than it is today. These days youngsters want to be put in boxes without any outside influences, which I think is a damn shame. I saw U2 perform live twice in 87, and I’m grateful that I at least got to see them play a lot of their older songs, something which they didn’t do much of after that.
About a year ago I found myself going onto YouTube and listening to early U2. It brought back so many memories that I bought all of their CDs up to The Unforgettable Fire. I didn’t feel anger any longer because I came to the realization that it is perfectly alright to like only one era of a band that has been around for decades. I still own all of their 80’s single 45’s because they are in one of my mom’s closets, and I have searched for and bought some of their rarer earlier vinyl such as the War picture disc. The funny thing is that they are cheaper now than they were in the 80’s.
Does U2 suck now? Of course they do, but I love their earlier albums. I think, in some way, this would piss Bono off and that makes me happy.
