Take the attitude of a student, never be too big to ask questions, never know too much to learn something new. ~ Og Mandino
Modern Life is Rubbish
“To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage and kindness… The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.” ~ Howard Zinn.
"Sometime in your life, hope that you might see one starved man, the look on his face when the bread finally arrives. Hope that you might have baked it or bought or even kneaded it yourself. For that look on his face, for your meeting his eyes across a piece of bread, you might be willing to lose a lot, or suffer a lot, or die a little, even." ~ Daniel Berrigan.
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The words hit a nerve. It was in another time. There was this elderly man, a destitute i would guessed. Saw him every so often on my way to work. He would normally sit on a pavement. Alone. There was no one
Been reading a book on philosophy lately. Immanuel Kant most important work "The Critique Of Pure Reason" touches on the doctrine of space and time. It's always interesting to consider the question of humans perception of these two elements from a philosophical point-of-view instead of the normal scientific view.
"Space" is for extroverts. For they liked travelling, seeing and visiting new places, and liked visual stimulation more. Films, photography are their medium.
i often heard or read people asked "why is there evil in the world?"; Why do we have so much injustices and killings against our own human kinds? If we believed that all of life is just a learning experiment, then perhaps we could understand better why the need for evil and injustices. For what do we compare goodness, kindness and justice if they do not have an opposite counterpart? And humans is the only lifeform on earth who could choose which experience she would based her life on. For only humans have this freewill of 'choice'.
Life is a journey and at the end of it, what do we discover if not ourself. The train never really stops. It passes each station. Day passed into night. Night chase the light of day. Without emotion, With no memories. We are the passengers of this train. We longed for the next stop to arrived, to hope that it is our station. But there are many more stations still. Each one would take us to a different destination. From the stations we passed. Each of us fill our memories by the view outside the train window. Each different. Each distinct. We recall some. Yet we forget others.
Finally, i get my hands on my favourite music album of the 80's-u2's 'The Unforgettable Fire' remastered album. And what kind of music is showcased in this album? Well, it's rock music but with a heavy touch of ambience (read: keyboards and synths, and reverbs) to create an atmospheric soundscape of experimental music. It is not ambient music but it's also not the usual classic rock music.
This album is different, both in sound and production, from their previous three. It is recorded in Slane Castle and Windmill Lane studio, Ireland. And they had Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois as producers and engineers for the first time. Whilst their first three albums, namely 'Boy', 'October' and 'War' were mainly out-and-out post-punk, stadium rock, this one is very different.
It's a one-off thing in terms of their musical sound as they would not repeat this sound ever again. There's a sense of atmosphere and space in the sound that is not found in other rock records of the time. Their next album, the one which establish them as a mainstream rock act, 'The Joshua Tree' continues the 'spacey', wide-vista guitar sound to an extent but is heavily influenced by American blues and rock n'roll.
Why the 'remastered' album since i already have the original album? Well, the sound of the original 1984 album, in CD format, is not something to shout about. If i remembered right, an article in an audio magazine (forgot the name) mentioned that producer Brian Eno said the album was mixed for playing on a 'boom-box', since most people play music using that equipment at the time. This is from memory, so i could be mistaken. The cd sound it produced was 'tinny' with a narrow dynamic range, lo-fi so to speak, that doesn't do the music justice. But the music on the album is a different thing altogether. Until today, it still sounded timeless. Although the band and to an extent Bono himself had grand ambition for themselves during its release, it is truly a work of art. Experimental in its approach and sound, not the commercial fodder that so many of us (mis)took for music and art these days. These days, their album's name is too long while the music itself usually fall short of expectation.
Not trying to write a review of the album as so many has been written on this already. But a track by track articulations of the album is justified since this is one album that i really loved and which makes me take a step to change my life many years ago.
The album opens with 'A Sort of Homecoming'. It is one of their most emotionally affecting song and a great album opener. More so than "Where The Streets Have No Name" from 'The Joshua Tree'. Larry Mullen's drum on this track is most fascinating. Eschewing the straight-forward rock drum patterns on the other albums, it richochets and swirls with interesting variations. i could listen to the drums alone and still find it fascinating each time. Together with Edge's guitar which give the song, and the whole album in particular, its atmospheric feel, this song is certainly the highlight. Only one word-brilliant.
'Pride (In the name of love)' is one of their biggest single. The most straight-ahead rock piece, it has that sing-along, stadium rock feel and a good video. Incidentally, this is the first song which introduced them to me way back in my schooldays. i remembered not liking this one because it's so 'loud' and it's a rock song. Preferring the ear-friendly 'new wave' of Duran Duran and Culture Club.
Moving on to 'Wire'. Fast, with a passionate energy. Ambient guitar intro which seems to suggest space but then the drums and bass kicks in. The sound is dense and suffocating with the guitar providing the breathing 'space' as it moved along like a speeding train. A short and dizzying ride.
And then, the title track 'The Unforgettable Fire'. No other albums they made since then and before has "atmosphere" written over them. The sound that permeates the air before the song proper is what makes them 'magical'. And it's more evidently so in this song. This is the reason they brought in Eno and Lanois. The keyboards are just beautiful and the drums and guitars, instead of driving the song, only adds to the musical textures. It's apparent a lot of thought is put into its creation. To create something out of nothing takes time and effort. A lovely song and 'lovely' is not something that usually describe a rock song. Brilliant.
'Promenade'. Another lovely song. Not only the song but the words itself. With the guitar sounding like the keyboards. "Up the spiral staircase to a higher ground". Sometimes, it does feel like it. The short instrumental '4th of July' follows. Nothing much to say about this except as an intro to the second act perhaps. They never put an instrumental in any of their albums, before and after. Perhaps, this only served as an experimental side to this work.
Their most-played song on their live-set, 'Bad' is one of the longest song here. This slow-build, social commentary about heroin abuse does not quite 'work', at least for me. Bono's vocal is in great form on this, though. Next up is 'Indian Summer Sky'. The guitar, some parts driving but mostly used sparingly (like lightning flashes), that lends it a sense of foreboding gloom amidst the tight rhythm of Adam Clayton's bassline. The "hup hup" vocal parts gives the song an urgent feel somehow.
While 'Elvis Presley And America' with its semi-mumbling vocals and indiscernible chorus is hard to listen to for someone who had grown up listening mostly to commercial rock and pop melodies, the track itself is fascinating because of that. The rhythmic pattern is hypnotic on repeated listen. The closer, 'MLK' is a lullaby. And it's a beautiful, emotionally affecting one. They never close an album on a lullaby ever again.
No, it's not a perfect album. That is not important. Perfection doesn't exist in this world. This could be a pop album. They could sing country or perhaps add in some jazz. No, genre is not important too. It's the striving for perfection that makes this a musical work of art. It's also the reason the same could not be said of their later works.
"Burning hearts with limited tools made for a family practice. The usual tug of war-experimental music at one end of the rope and pop song at the other end-kept us up many late nights" ~ Daniel Lanois.
Poetry in music. It is the sonic equivalent of motion blur perceived by our sense of sight.
That just about sums up this experiment in music and art.
And finally, a short description of the sound quality. Is the remaster better than the original recording? Yes it is. Aside from a higher level of sound, it has more clarity than the 'muddy', low-fidelity sound of the 1989 master. The drums are distinct with more 'punch', and bass is deeper. Guitars sounds brighter, especially those short, atmospheric chiming parts. The texture of the songs could be felt as it's meant to be. Overall, the remastered version is a marked improvement without compromising on quality by being overly compressed.
The Unforgettable Fire (original 1984 master)
The Unforgettable Fire (2009 remaster)
As the simple diagram above show, the remastered version has a higher sound level. But the dynamic range relationship of the two mix (the difference between the softest and loudest sound that humans can perceived) are still maintained without clipping, as in so many of today's recording.
This album is not meant to be a lo-fi musical experience.
A review of the remastered album can be found in Pitchfork.
