Achtung Baby

nothing would ever be the same again.
Certainly a pivotal, difficult album for a lot of U2 listeners to swallow (at first). "Achtung Baby" made U2 LOTS of new fans, for whom this CD is ground zero. I'll admit, I hated it at first. I sold my original digipak version of it. It seemed like such a surrender after all the artistic stands they had taken with nearly every preceding album (except the top-heavy "Rattle And Hum," perhaps). Gradually, however, through the gluey mess of production that U2 became further ensnared in over the next several albums, the songs of "Achtung Baby" stayed afloat. I found myself liking them, despite my initial dismissal. I found myself buying all the singles. I found myself re-listening to the album, re-evaluating things a bit. Even back then, though, I noticed that the guitar solo in "Even Better Than The Real Thing" is a bit of a ringer for the solo in Jimi Hendrix's version of "All Along The Watchtower." It's not a perfect album. It's a little heavy-handed lyrically. The production and arrangements sometimes overreach. But 18 years later, this is the "classic" sound of the U2 that U2 became after they noticed their own potential for megastardom. I'll not mince words, I think most of what's been etched by U2 since this disc is pure pretentious twaddle. But I have a soft spot for "Achtung Baby." It's never going to be able to compete with "The Joshua Tree" or "The Unforgettable Fire." But it's a good album; daring even, for its time. "Achtung Baby's" biggest fault is that it's a period piece, and 1991 was kind of a gloomy year musically. Would have loved to hear the raw acoustic demos for this one -- I think the Onion said the same thing about Bob Mould's abyssmal "Modulate" album of a few years later. This would be the last U2 album I would ever buy, one that took some digestion and a bit of coming to terms with the shifting currents of rock music (not to mention Bono's persona) in the 1990s. The tides of music changed irreversibly shortly after "Achtung Baby." A little band called Nirvana would re-write the playbook hot on the heels of this album and nothing would ever be the same again.

Even Better Than the Real Thing
U2 set out to shed the highly musical but bathetically self-serious vestiges of the Joshua Tree, and succeeded mightily. By moving away from their consciously American sounds of the late 1980s and into a more European, club-inspired, danceable sound, they not only renewed their own claim on musical greatness, but they helped usher in the squeaky-clean American pop music of the 1990s in a big way. With manic swings between peppy pop and moody ballads, U2 crafts a lush soundscape. But where the Joshua Tree was an outdoor sound, with ringing guitars seeming to echo off distant cliffs, this album is indoors, smoky, lit by halogen and full of crowds. It has a power every bit as strong as their prior work, but with no lingering vestiges of the post-punk sound that dominated their 1980s work. But for all that transformation, they still engage the same themes that make the Joshua Tree classic. Spirituality, politics, sex, identity: it's all still there. Tracks like "Mysterious Ways," "One," and "The Fly" have a way if sticking with you long after the music goes quiet. That continuity amid change is an important part of why this album retains its massive impact after two decades. Sandwiched between the painful earnestness of the 1980s and the silliness of the 1990s, it might be easy to forget just how powerful a band U2 was at the turn of the decade. But one listen to this timeless album is a capsule reminder. Most of this album remains part of their live concerts, and it's easy to see why. For a while there they were one of the most powerful cultural forces in the world.

One of U2's greatest
Achtung Baby is a great album and necessary for any fan of U2's work. The powerhouse of the album "One" gets support from "Mysterious Ways", "Who's Gonna Ride your Wild Horses", and "The Fly". The underlying tones of "One" make this album perfectly suited to people the world over lost in their own seclusion. The sounds of a man, Bono, yearning for peace and love in the world are emphasized by this album. Purchasing this will be a tremendous benefit to yourself and your music life.

U2's SECOND GREAT MASTERPIECE!!
After the huge success of "The Joshua Tree" in 1987 made U2 a worldwide sensation, there was a brief period where it seemed as if they were going to go out as quickly as they'd came in! But then, in the early 90's, they came out of nowhere with yet another magnum opus and one of the 90's most interesting albums... ACHTUNG BABY!!---was perfection in every way, the same as JOSHUA TREE was! Just put it on and vibe along to every track...there's no junk on this CD! They topped this amazing album with one of the most spectacular live shows in modern rock history....THE ZOO TV TOUR!! They used the grandeuse theatrics of the 70's glam/glitter spectacles like Bowie, Alice Cooper, KISS and others...but they added their own originality to it along with the newer technology and brought it into the 90's! The show was a sell-out everywhere it went!--I saw it in Montreal Olympic Stadium. There were alter-egos (Satan as a charismatic lounge singer!) and of course there were the serious issues that U2 has always dealt with in their music. If you don't already have this one in your collection, get it there immediately!

THE album of the 90's
U2 Achtung, Baby; 1991 Island Records My Rating: 10/10 In the four years between THE JOSHUA TREE and ACHTUNG, BABY, the world around U2 radically changed in a hundred different ways. Corrupt political regimes were falling all over the world, disparate cultures were beginning to converge in a universalist mish-mash, and the old guard of rock and roll was forgotten in favor of fresher, more idealistic sounds. U2 certainly faced the possibility of their own extinction - if it could happen to others, it could certainly happen to them. But like fellow alterna-rock heroes R.E.M., U2 somehow managed to not only find its own place in the music revolution, but to ride said revolution to the top of the charts with another classic album. In fact, ACHTUNG, BABY not only achieves classic status, but manages to capture the international zeitgeist of the early-90's like no other record, combining sounds as disparate as garage rock, euro-pop, and world beat into a completely cohesive and romantic aural experience. The collision of worlds - in this case post-modern relativism with a definite hunger for spiritual experience - is once again U2's thematic recipe for success. ACHTUNG, BABY is doubtless one of the band's top 3 albums, and in the opinion of this humble reviewer, probably their best. 1. Zoo Station (4/5) 2. Even Better Than The Real Thing (5/5) 3. One (5/5) 4. Until the End of the World (5/5) 5. Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses (5/5) 6. So Cruel (5/5) 7. The Fly (5/5) 8. Mysterious Ways (5/5) 9. Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around the World (5/5) 10. Ultra Violet (Light my Way) (5/5) 11. Acrobat (4/5) 12. Love Is Blindness (4/5)