Studio album · No. 4
The Unforgettable Fire Songwriting Credits by U2
Produced by Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois · Engineered by Daniel Lanois, Brian Eno, Kevin Killen, Randy Ezratty
Holds writing credit on 10 of 10 tracks
Authorship Breakdown 10 / 10 documented
Scored across the 10 tracks with documented writers, by whether U2 carries a lyricist or composer credit.
Share of the 10 tracks where a band member is credited, by role.
By the Numbers
Every one of the ten tracks carries the same credit line: music by U2, lyrics by Bono. That uniformity is easy to take for granted, because Eno and Lanois shaped this record at close range. Lanois loosened Mullen's drumming and pushed Clayton's bass under the songs instead of through them, and Eno's treatments changed what the guitars did in the mix. "4th of July" exists only because the two producers rolled tape while Clayton and the Edge improvised, and it is still filed as a U2 composition. Neither producer took a writing credit anywhere on the album, and the band kept that split with them through The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby.
U2's fourth album traded the arena rock punch of War for something looser and more atmospheric, made with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois in the summer of 1984. The band moved into Slane Castle in County Meath to write and record, then finished the album at Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin. Bono left several lyrics deliberately unfinished and called them sketches, a decision that shaped both the title track and the album's biggest hit, "Pride (In the Name of Love)".