U2 Achtung Baby, Early 90's Cool, and the Birth of a Supergroup

U2 are a contentious subject. It is often impossible to gage whether Bonor, sorry, Bono, is a pathetic, sorry again, prophetic saint, or complete pretentious twat. I would, despite his good deeds, tend to side with the latter. Plus, I think his music - sorry - their music (since, despite the size of Bono's head, I'm sure there is just enough room for others in the band) has been shite for the last decade. And so, I'd like to say that the verdict is still out on U2, except Bono's security probably didn't let the jury in. Meooooowww! Anyone spotting a trend here? Well, I guess I'm about to contradict it since I bloody love Achtung Baby, hard as it is to admit. The Joshua Tree - the band's prequel to Achtung Baby - is often revered as their classic, though I'm going to stick my neck out and disagree, whilst also ripping Bono to shreds at every opportunity.

This album has sold over 18 million copies world wide. It got a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal. It had several huge hit singles - most notably #1 single The Fly, and the timeless classic One. It gained maximum star reviews in Rolling Stone, Q Magazine, The Orlando Sentinel, L.A Times, Entertainment Weekly, AllMusic Magazine and The Austin Chronicle. It is listed in the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Q Magazine charted it as the 15th Greatest Album Ever, Rolling Stone #62 in their 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time poll, and VH1 cited it as #65 on their Greatest 100 Albums Of Rock & Roll. Achtung Baby reached #36 on USA Weekly's list of the Top 40 Albums Ever, and established U2 as the biggest band in the world. The resulting Zoo TV Tour was one of the most successful tours in Rock History, lasting over two years and consisting of 157 concerts. I could go on and on and on but I don't want this paragraph to sound like a modest conversation with Bono, so I'll stop there. I guess you're probably getting the picture anyhow.

Produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno (a spectacular combination to have as a production team considering their career achievements individually), Achtung Baby was a major change in direction for the band. They themselves described this record as "the chopping down of the Joshua tree" - a brilliant analogy in itself to describe their experimentation. It opens with the mesmerising, industrial sound of Zoo Station, and is followed by the amazing Even Better Than The Real Thing, a stinging, intense, rip-roaring dance/rock classic. One, possibly one of the greatest and deepest ballads ever written, is one of several immense highlights throughout this record. Where these inspired lyrics came from I'll never know: "Did I ask too much?/More than a lot?/You gave me nothing/Now it's all I got/We're one but we're not the same/We hurt each other then we do it again." Whatever Bono was reading at the time dug his soul up, for sure. The guitar work by The Edge is super-special.

Until The End Of The World is more like commercial U2 with a killer hook, Whose Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses a booming anthem, and The Fly, their number one single, an atmospheric electro freak out with an unforgettable chorus. My favourite track on the album, and, along with One, my favourite U2 song of all time is the majestic Mysterious Ways. The guitar work echoes some strange hybrid between Johnny Marr and John Squire, the vocal a searing performance, the bass outstanding, and Larry Mullen's drumming just out of this world. It is just about as good as you can get a song to sound on record. There are a few songs that lie in the shadows of these monsters on Achtung Baby. Trying To Throw Your Arms Around The World is pleasant enough but passes without much thought, as does the sparse So Cruel. Ultra Violet (Light My Way) is the only weak spot on the record for me, though the following Acrobat is utterly compelling in its mysteriousness. The gorgeous Love Is Blindness is the perfect calming morning after an action-packed night out, and a fabulous end to a great record.

If the Bono of today wants to continually forget what he does best (write music) and continue to save the world then, unfortunately, the great U2 are finished. Whilst he's been dining with Nelson Mandela, and Henry VIII or whoever the fuck else he sucks up to, the music has suffered. Achtung Baby in my eyes is the last GREAT thing they did - a reminder of what this band are capable of, and an absolute classic album for anyone who is into music, regardless what genres you may lean towards.