U2

«The unforgettable fire» - the fourth studio album - released October 1, 1984. It is much more abstract than the War, he was very abrupt change in direction. The album name and much of the material was inspired by a visit of the same name of the exhibition of paintings and drawings in the museum world in Chicago, made by survivors of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The Group was afraid that after an open, simple rock album War, they become "annoying" and "loud rock band", the success of Under a Blood Red Sky, however, gave them a creative and - for the first time - financial freedom. Therefore, instead of a typical, gray group, they are actively experimenting. Adam Clayton said: "We were looking for something that would be more serious, pretentious". Edge admired the ambient and "weird works" of Brian Eno, who along with his engineer Daniel Lanois eventually agreed to produce the record. Chris Blekvell, one of the leaders of Island Records, tried to dissuade the group from this choice, arguing that Eno would "bury them in the avant-garde delirium.

Recording took place in Slane Castle (Slane Castle), Dublin, in the Gothic hall, built specifically for musical performances. The sessions dominated relaxed, tuned to the experiments of the atmosphere . Much more atmospheric than War, The Unforgettable Fire has a rich and harmonious sound. Under the leadership of Larry Lanois playing is freer and more skilful, and Adam - a more "conscious", such that the bass is no longer intruded, but flowed into the overall sound of songs.

Verses songs on the album can be interpreted in different ways, which, together with atmospheric sound gives the expression of the group, "very clear feeling". Bono, who started to study fiction, poetry and philosophy, he realized that his mission was to establish the texts of songs, performed before a small desire, is actually in the writing of poetry. The last two weeks, however, were desperately trying to finish the lyrics, Bono is why it seems that the songs Bad («A bad") and Pride (In the Name of Love) («Pride, or In the Name of Love") and have remained "outline". Typical of the album track The Unforgettable Fire has a rich sound, based on ambient guitar and the rhythm of the winding, and his poetic "sketch" - "a touching story about the journey" with "a sincere sense of sadness". In the song Bad Bono tried to describe the effects of heroin. Pride (In the Name of Love) - the song that best shows the features of U2 music of those years - about Martin Luther King was a hit.

For the album's release was the tour, also called The Unforgettable Fire. It began in Australia in September 1984. It turned out that perform in a live studio recordings rather difficult. One way was to use synthesizers, which were previously used by a group with great reluctance. U2 have been able to cope with the challenges of live performance such worked in the sound on songs like Bad and The Unforgettable Fire, and since then they began to use synthesizers in almost every speech. It was noted that some "unfinished" and "vague" songs sounded better on stage.

U2 took part in a charity concert Live Aid, whose goal was to assist the starving in Ethiopia. The concert took place at Wembley Stadium (London) summer of 1985. Speech by U2 was one of the most memorable. During the execution of Bad Bono jumped off the stage to dance with a fan. This episode showed how he can be close to the audience. The same year Rolling Stone magazine called U2 group eighties.