Published on Jun 18, 1998
Personally, I consider this album my first U2 album. Though I
bought
Pop first, I remember hearing and seeing this album come out
and thinking how great it was. I also remember hearing some other
people complaining about U2 selling out and being tools of “the
man.” I never got it and still never do.
Achtung Baby was U2’s follow-up to
Rattle And Hum. (Though, technically, there was an EP
released in between. Also, I think
Achtung Baby is more of a follow-up to
The Joshua Tree than to
Rattle And Hum, but those are discussions for another time).
After the amazing success they had in the late 80s, the public and
the fans wanted to find out what this band of Irish lads would put
out to follow up their success. They were rather surprised, I
think.
Gone were the four quiet lads with their acoustic guitars and
their dreams of changing the world. In came four seasoned rock gods
that were more concerned with getting one more chance at satisfying
their babies. They were loud and glitzy and glammy — definite
shock to their fans. But listen to the music and you will find that
U2 just changed the wrapping. The candy bar was still the same.
Yes, the album was filled with noises and tweaks. You couldn’t
find the dreamy landscape of “Where the Streets Have No Name.”
Instead, you got the sonic barrage of “Even Better Than The Real
Thing” and “Zoo Station.” They mixed in their own brand of rock
with techno (“The Fly”) and managed to still retain that rock edge
(“Until The End of The World”).
But you see, the band had moved away from talking about the
problems of the world. Now, they were interested in the problems of
the soul. “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses,” “So Cruel” and the
over-played “One” all deal with more personal themes. Add to that
the album-closer “Love Is Blindness” and “Throw Your Arms Around
the World” and you can see that the band still spoke the same
language.
They were also smart enough to add other elements to the album.
“Even Better Than The Real Thing” and “Ultaviolet (Light My Way)”
have lyrics that could have been written by any of the glam rock
bands of the late 80s. That’s just it. In the 80s, they opposed
those bands. In the 90s, they took their place and made fun of them
at the same time. Furthermore, the songs are great — so you don’t
mind them being happy and horny for a while.
Finally, there’s “Mysterious Ways.” I think that this is one of
their biggest triumphs ever. Not only because of the cool guitar
licks by The Edge or the way that it slithers, but because this
combines both sides of U2. The song is both deep and light at the
same time. You forget that this is U2 and listen only to the
song.
Achtung Baby marked a change in the style of U2 — which was
later accented by
Zooropa and by
Pop. At this stage, the band was able to create an album
that is as far away from what they were, but an album that was
close to who they were. So much was going on in there that, I
think, they may not equal it. But what do I know.