The Unforgettable Fire signaled a brand new U2. This was a band with new colors in their palette, new approaches to songs and a broader set of emotions. The Unforgettable Fire, much more than the three previous U2 albums, influenced everything the band would do after.

"Pride (In the Name of Love)" is the definitive U2 anthem. The song opens the door to the album. "Pride" was the instantly accessible hit that can draw anyone and then introduces them to the slow burning songs. That model has covered each U2 album and is why a "Greatest Hits" disc is only telling half the U2 story.

With this album, U2 began to do something very well. Romance. Not a pandering type of "baby, baby" romance but a real, emotional sense of romance. Even in lyrics that are rather oblique. Credit much of it to The Edge's guitar sound, but a song like "Promenade" feels deeply romantic.

I'd like to be around
In a spiral staircase
To the higher ground
And I, like a firework, explode
Roman candle lightning lights up the sky

Oh...tell me...
Charity dance with me
Turn me around tonight
Up though a spiral staircase
To the higher ground

Bono has a way with romantic imagery and weaving moments that relate to something more than what we are. Not so much sexy romanticism, but a literary romanticism. He would develop that sense much more on future albums. He called the lyrics on The Unforgettable Fire often not much more than sketches of what could have been great songs - "Bad" being one of the sketches that were not quite finished.

If "Pride" is the albums accessible hit, "Bad" is its emotional core. The Edge and Larry Mullen provide a rhythm to the track while it seems like Adam Clayton is playing something counter to the rhythm. An arresting rhythm translated well live -as all great U2 songs do. "Bad" could stretch and mutate. An anti-pop song that resonates on many different levels. Bono says he feels like he re-writes "Bad" nightly on tour. Adding new lyrics as well as lyrics from other songs. What is a song intended to be for a friend with drug abuse troubles translates to different situations. "Bad" is about a relationship. A relationship with drugs, a lover or anything else for that matter. The lyrical sketches on The Unforgettable Fire turn into watercolors that bleed in and out of each other.

The input of Eno and Lanois can never be underestimated. The band and its duo of producers worked much more as collaborators than band and producer. The result is an album that is both experimental as well as grounded. Had the band taken the experiment any farther they may have lost their audience. Give credit to U2 fans though. Especially those fans that discovered the band from the militant power of War. The fans expect War II would be disappointed, but it did not seem to be a problem as more people than attached to the band. A band that was beginning to establish an element of surprise and innovation with each new release.

As on War, The Unforgettable Fire ends with a prayer. As with "40," "MLK" is a passive elegy to hope and a new promise. Perhaps a lead in to U2 finally delivering on the promise of what they could be.