U2 - The Unforgettable Fire: Deluxe Edition

Remastered for it’s twenty-fifth anniversary, ‘The Unforgettable Fire’ is the pinnacle of U2’s first, irony free incarnation.

Available in a variety of formats, the ‘Deluxe Edition’ is bundled with a second disc of rarities, demos and live tracks including the ‘Wide Awake In America E.P.’ with its skin prickling version of ‘Bad’. Other songs are less essential but ‘The Unforgettable Fire’ single’s B-side ‘Bass Trap’ is a gem, sounding like a church going Verve.

Of course, ‘The Unforgettable Fire’ was the band’s first material produced under the tutelage of Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois and its atmospheric framing still entrances today, not without flaws but a classic none the less.

8/10

Words by Nick Annan