What I Am Listening To

Unforgettable Fire, U2’s fourth studio album, was released in 1984 and marks its 35th anniversary later this year. It remains my favorite U2 album, and also what I consider their best. This is the peak of songwriting, musicianship, and fortunately not the peak of their ego. They have just enough ego to create songs such as Pride (In The Name of Love) and Bad that are legendary with their power and of course Bono’s vocal performances. They do not have the excessive ego that scars some of their work that comes after 1984. Supported by what I consider the experimentalism of songs like Wire (remember it was 1984) and the beauty of MLK makes this album special. It remains one of the very few albums I can listen to at anytime, one I never tire of, and one that brings me something new every time.

Spoiler alert - look for this to appear somewhere on my upcoming countdown of the greatest albums released in 1984.