Achtung Baby

#282/1001 🇮🇪 As a band U2 are much maligned and maybe they should have called it a day after (the underrated) Zooropa album. This is a stunning record though, and not one that i have overplayed over the years. The strenghs undoubtedly come in tbe may singles - proper arena anthems. Best Tracks: One, Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses, The Fly, She Moves in Mysterious Ways.

This one had so much play in my CD player when it came out, that it practically merged with it. But I haven't listened to it in years and honestly, it hasn't aged well. The grandiosity of U2 songs just doesn't do it for me, nor does their production style.

Zoo Station - 3.5/5 Even Better Than the Real Thing - 4/5 One - 4.5/5 Until the End of the World - 4/5 Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses - 4/5 So Cruel - 3.5/5 The Fly - 4/5 Mysterious Ways - 4/5 Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World - 3.5/5 Ultra Violet (Light My Way) - 4/5 Acrobat - 4/5 Love Is Blindness - 3.5/5 I've mostly known U2 as a really bombastic band, as they will make music that sounds bigger than it actually is. See The Joshua Tree and its popularity. So how do they follow up upon that? By making a more subdued version of that album that expands on the sounds on the prior album while also making something new. I wouldn't necessarily say its better than any of their other offerings but it's still a good piece of work. Overall: 4/5 Favorites: One

Some good songs, but a bit of filler too. Better than that album they forced onto my iTunes

U2's foray into alternative and dance music starts off with a real clunker, an almost clumsy track whose rhythm isn't made for dancing. While things improve on the next track, that kind of still-rock, not-quite-dance energy persists through most of the album. As much as this is painted as a new start for the band, it's really the same ideas in a new package. There are lofty lyrics, lots of references to Jesus, and dramatic song titles. The songs are mostly midtempo and rarely get going under the weight of their ideas. "One" is the best example of this, with a good groove but heavy lyrics (that second chorus is very clever though). There are some good moments - "The Fly" has an infectious chorus and daring guitars on the verses, and "Mysterious Ways" is smooth and catchy. But this is unlikely to convince anyone who isn't a U2 fan already.

I like U2. Not a big fan of this album though. Joshua Tree? Yes please. This, a generous 3.

Album cover is strange, could have maybe just picked 1 of the 16 available and went with that. Personally 3:1 and 4:4 are my favorites. This album is completely nothing to me. Looking over the songlist, I genuinely cannot remember a single track, lyric, or ANYTHING about this album at all. This is nothing to say of the quality however, its still decent. I would not look at a person strangly for liking this, but for me, I just absolutely did not find this interesting in the slighest. So much so, that I found it very difficult to even pick my favorite and least favorite songs. Best Song: One. Worst Song: So Cruel.

U2 exploded onto the scene in the 80’s with hits like Sunday Bloody Sunday, and the Joshua Tree album, which lends credibility to Achtung Baby. Songs, Even better then the Real Thing and Mysterious Ways have stood the test of time.

I'm not sure how to feel about this album. On the surface, it is an enjoyable listen, with catchy hooks and choruses — but that is where it stops. I did not take anything away from this record, because it feels pretty generic. I definitely understand the appeal, with the amazing first half, but the second half is turning me away slightly. It feels that what made the first half great is lost in the end, which is disappointing, but at least we have the starting few tracks.

I haven’t followed U2 at all during their career, so I came to this with open ears. It was a great listen. Reading the reviews, I am reminded to keep listening with an open mind as much as possible. I dislike a whole bunch of the music on this list, but I try not to spew hate if I don’t appreciate the music.

My Uncle loved U2 so this was nice to listen to.

Für meinen ersten Eindruck von U2 ist es eigentlich ziemlich gut, für mich ist es etwas kitschig und mehr average Pop-Rock, aber das ist auf keinen Fall etwas schlechtes und im Gegensatz sehr schön.

This exercise has shown me that I really don't like U2. Even the One good song on here is enervating since I apparently detest Bono's voice. Surprisingly disappointing.

Its easy to dislike U2 due to Bono so I will try my best to avoid letting prejudice cloud my review, but its tough. Obviously, One is a very good song. And there are other devent pop songs in here. But it is a statement of stadium pop/rock with not much soul to it. Its very of its time and Bono is still a dick.

My feelings for Bono aside, this is actually a really good album. I really cannot stand Mysterious ways though. The album kind of deteriorated after the wild horses song. first 5 songs is a 4, the rest of the album is a 3. One and Who's gonna ride your wild horses are the standout tracks. 3.5 stars

7.5/10 best song - who’s gonna ride your wild horses

Solide!

Said it before, proably say it again... U2 is just so bland. 4/10

Day 59 Bono saved my cat's uncle's owner's girlfriend's cousin's life. Still think War was better tho Fav track: So Cruel

meh

4 stars

I hate U2 and Bono, but One is an incredible track.

Pretty solid album with a few skippable tracks. I find it hard to deal with U2's almost mawkish lyrics but they do have an undeniable charm.

Good on an absolute scale, but not relative to what came before and after.

did not enjoy

By this point the rough edges had been sanded to a smooth pop friendly sheen. They still have an unmistakable sound here and know how to write good pop hooks. I'd still rather listen to everything up through The Joshua Tree before this one. Note: Sure have been a lot of 3s lately. Ready for something that pushes some boundaries.

nice try bono, but i wasn't alive in the 90s so your silly little powers dont work on me

I'm conflicted about this. I love some of the songs so much, especially "The Fly", "Ultra Violet", "Acrobat" and "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses". But this time around I didn't like Achtung Baby as much as I remember from my teenage years. I would have rated it a 5/5 then.

This has been my unpopular opinion album. I like a lot of the early U2 post-punk(ish) stuff, and think that The Joshua Tree is a masterpiece. This was the critically acclaimed darling that never clicked with me. As always with this list, giving it another chance with an open mind. My mind isn’t completely changed but I’ve warmed up to it a little bit. The Fly really stood out on this listen, and the production is excellent across the entire album. My opinion didn’t change about songs I don’t like (looking at you One & Mysterious Ways.) If I go back to U2 it won’t be this album but at least after this close listen I get why it’s adored.

- It admittedly annoys me that every U2 song has its own Wiki page. With regard to this album, a lot of the discussion is how this it was such a huge break from their previous work and that now they were darker, cynical, more ironic........okay. Sure, Jan. - I honestly like a fair number of these tracks. In particular, "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" (the best song) and "Ultra Violet" are extremely nice listens and "The Fly" is interesting. - Do not like the whole vibe of "One" or any other time Bono is in this register. ("So Cruel" is similarly annoying to me.) - Apparently this is when Bono started taking on his personas...like MacPhisto. He means well...but god, is he such a dummy.

It was okay, but nothing memorable for me. U2 is one of those bands I could never really get into, despite their popularity.

First listen to this one, nice!

Don’t hate it don’t love it

RATING: 10/10 HIGHLIGHT: Ultraviolet (Light My Way) LOWLIGHT: Tryin’ to Throw Your Arms Round the World

I went into this predetermined this is around when U2 went south. It's not, it's a pretty solid album with some great hits. I still wanna open hand bitch slap Bono.

The last big U2 before I abandoned them. Some gems on here

i would also be viscerally angry if a u2 song were on my phone without my consent, as i am learning!

You definitely have to take Bono with several grains of salt, but I'd say this is still a very solid album if the pretentiousness/cornyness doesn't turn you off immediately.

If this album was force released on us through iTunes instead of the shite one they chose instead, I may not hate them like I do now. Well, maybe if Bono wasn’t a pompous, megaphone on top of a mountain fuckface screaming look at me and listen to my worldly humanitarian bullshit. And the Edge didn’t look like Alli G. Maybe just maybe every album they put out would sound like this one to me. But it doesn’t. This is good as far as asshole bands go. Another one of those albums where the singles bang out while the lesser known songs dangle over a pit of irrelevancy. Choice cut: One

This album is largely an exception to my general Indifference/dislike of U2. It is mostly a pretty solid rock album. A couple of the tracks I don’t particularly love and it is a tad long, but not horribly so. 3.5/5

6/10 - better than U2's poppier sounds but Bono's voice can still be annoying

I was hesitant about this one, but honestly it might be the better of the U2 albums I've heard on here. The songs didn't feel forced, nor purely engineered to make pop-rock money. There were quite a few meh moments, but I also enjoyed others. 3/5

The start of U2’s slide into being a vehicle for fashionable causes more than a great band. To be sure, there are some high quality songs here, headlined by Even Better Than the Real Thing and One for me. But too much of this is just a bit bland and uninteresting. Too many long songs that never really get going in the same way as the other U2 album I’ve had, War.

U2 continues to be one of those classic bands that just don’t fully click with me. I possibly like this album slightly more than my previous one of theirs from this list, 1983’s ‘War’, but it’s pretty much a toss-up. There were a few standouts: ‘One’, ‘Until the End of the World’, ‘So Cruel’, ‘The Fly’ and ‘Love Is Blindness’ were all good tracks, and the rest were all largely decent too, but nothing here blew me away, and the overall quality definitely dipped in the back half. The incredibly echoey, reverb-laden production is really not to my taste either.

That's a good album. But I got Overexposed to it so I couldn't get enthused to it having to listen to it again

Didn't realise One was a U2 original

meh

this guys voice reminds me of the song girls and boys by blur

Not for me 😒☝️

I went into this album expecting to not like it because I’ve always been turned off by U2 in the past but I was very pleasantly surprised. This album had some great songs and I will definitely have to come back and listen to this one again.

That wasn't as torturous as I thought it was going to be. Post-80s U2 is not something I would ever seek out to listen to but this was good background music.

Really good

In 1991 this would have been an easy five stars. They felt like a great band then (with The Joshua Tree probably still their height), reinventing themselves for the post cold war world and postmodern times, their sound changing. Of course it's hard to hear that again, with everything that came after, and their massive fall off in quality. And they're probably responsible for Coldplay. So I've spent the day pretending that it's the early 90s, and I'm 17 again and trying to remember how the world felt, and to see if I can buy into it again. And I really can. I somehow still know all the lyrics, and it's cohesive and well paced as an album. Music time-travels like nothing else, and that was a great time to be young. So a brief nod of recognition to when they were genuinely great. It didn't last.

I listened to this on a broken Walkman when it came out, and the right speaker didn’t really work all the time. The Wild Horses song sounds completely different because the left channel is wildly different than the right channel, so I was surprised when I finally heard it on the radio, and discovered that I had been missing the whole lead guitar part in the opening. I still hear it wrong in my head.

3.6/5 Favorite Songs: Even Better Than The Real Thing One Until The End Of The World The Fly Mysterious Ways

I am not a fan of U2 and haven't listened to this album since probably 30 years ago. Zoo Station and the other pieces with a hint of industrial sound still resonate quite strongly with my musical taste. I expected to hate instead stuff like One, but surprisingly I didn't. Again, production is the key. Wikipedia informs us that Eno claimed that his role was "to come in and erase anything that sounded too much like U2". Another proof that he is a genius, the gods bless him. The outcome is the only U2 album that I can listen to and enjoy. [I had completely forgotten Love Is Blindness. For a few years I thought it was a song written by Jack White. It's a pretty good tune and here makes a good ending of the album. Jack's version is one order of magnitude better though]

I am very familiar with this album and the history of U2. I love the change of direction they took with this album, but it did have to grow on me a bit. They are one of the biggest bands in the history of rock music for a reason.

There's something about U2 that I dislike intensely and being obliged to listen to this album was going to confirm that. However, I very reluctantly have to admit that this album is not without merit. Perhaps my dislike is more about the whole super stadium status of U2 and that old thing or being disclined to like the kind of people (mostly men) who think they're amazing.

The boys w a solid outing

Well. I guess this cemented the fact that I’m a Joshua Tree fan.

The members of the band are clearly pretty pretentious, but it's stupid to deny that this is an album that deserves to be here. It has some great songs and is one of the best by a band that has clearly had a big and ongoing influence. The best songs are great and, despite the criticisms in other reviews, there's actually a few instances of interesting experimentation where they go outside what you might expect from something dismissed as middle of the road rock

My son said, "I understand why a lot of people don't like this band, it's really boring." Anyway, he's been disowned.

Boring

Actually not horrible. Pleasantly surprised.

6 - AVERAGE

Enjoyable Album though I'm unsure of the vocal performance. It doesnt ruin the album but feels like it's holding back its full potential.

The hits hit and the non hits seem like filler.

I kinda like this album, I’m not a big U2 fan, though I like a lot of their early work, and I can see why they are so popular, Bono is a class act, plus the band🤣

Fuck man, what a great album! I thoroughly enjoyed this album. This last track Love is Blindness is fucking great! 5 stars

Rock, 1991 -> 3

8/10

I've always felt I should really like U2 more than I do . . . Remember first hearing them while at art collage in 82 or first half of 83? - think it was the album "War" but not really getting into them at the time and I'm still struggling - even after listening carefully to this. Think it's the Edge's guitar riffs and solos which for me personally are U2's redeeming feature, just managing to lift this from a 3 to a 3.5

Way between when it gets all fuzzy and alternative. And obvs One is a great song.

Who actually likes U2? Who cares about them? I've never met a fan or heard them discussed by music fans. These songs are all very dull and I don't recognise any of them, none are really big hits that get radio or club airplay. If I have heard One or The Fly before, I didn't register it at the time. There's the big echoey guitar sound, which is all effects, as Bill Bailey says, but I don't hear any of the supposed alternative, industrial or electronic dance music influences on this album that Wikipedia notes. If you like this, if you like U2 it makes me think you have been spoonfed your music your whole life and you have never taken a single step off the beaten track. Congratulations to the reviewer who said that the entire band sound like session musicians fulfilling their contracts, that's exactly the experience, this album sounds that flat.

meh

Not as frustratingly boring as the last U2 album? I guess 2?

One of my favorite albums of all time and the last incredible album by U2. Give all the 1 star ratings you want to Bono or U2, but there is no denying the quality of this album start to finish.

Zoo station is good the rest is quite boring in comparison.

I know folks love it but I just can’t get into it compared to their other albums

Even put some of the songs on a playlist. Was worried it was gonna be screechy when it started off but luckily not!

I have an inexplicable fondness of U2 and though their vocals are rough at times and there were some mediocre songs in this, the album is a solid 4

Heard it before. I genuinely do think this is a good and interesting direction for U2 and I appreciate the fact they took it. That said I still enjoy it about the same as any other U2 album sooo... 2/5

Fine, but nothing special. No songs particularly stood out to me

Me surpreendeu, tinha um certo preconceito

Har hört sämre men svag tvåa

I knew some of the singles and I love One but this is the first time hearing the rest of the album and ya it's great.

A really great mid-afternoon nap.

“Mysterious Ways” is a banger that I’ve always liked; it sounds great in the car. The rest of this is new to me and pretty good. Anthemic, spacious, passionately performed songs. Bono has a great voice for this kind of rock music and I appreciate The Edge’s understated lead guitar work. But it didn’t knock me over or anything. It was fairly enjoyable. Just a respectable arena rock record.

Inoffensive but not for me

Змішані враження від альбому. Він трохи хіт енд міс, але попадання не те щоб сильно вражають, як і промахи не особливо провальні. Можна зайти з твердження, що тут U2 шукають виходу зі старого звуку і дійсно тут відчувається зміна направлення, порівняно з альбомами 80х. І мабуть дійсно звук та продакшн тут найбільш цікава штука на альбомі, адже пісні знову ж таки просто непогані. І гітарна робота в окремих піснях з одним довгим акордом типу бреееееееееень через ефекти і потім паузи - не зовсім моя. Мабуть треба відчувати. Повертаючись до початку, альбом - норм. Я поставив 3.5.

Якщо ю2 80х мені в принципі подобається, то ю2 90х і далі - не дуже. Дуже унилий альбом, з якого я не запам'ятав жодної пісні окрім звісно one, яку чув до того (і не сказати що вона мені сильно подобається). Ну хіба що ще можу виділити Acrobat, яка має такий собі трохи кьюрівський вайб. Але в цілому - нудота.

I don’t quite see this as the masterpiece some do, but it’s pretty uch wall-to-wall quality and I wouldn’t argue if somebody said this was their best.

matig en verouderd

Good pop rock album

12 songs I have always enjoyed a fair share of U2 songs, although I had never listened to an entire album of theirs before this. Really liked, and I think they are overhated tbh. Can Bono be a pretentious, insufferable, preachy bellend? 100%. Does that influence my view on his music? Nope, not really. And while I do think some of their later work has obviously declined in quality, this is a solid, good album.

Notable Textzeile: We crossed the line Who pushed who over? It doesn't matter to you It matters to me „So cruel“ ist finde ich stellvertretend für dieses Album und die Band. Bono jault über irgendwas, das Klavier macht di-da-dum, das Schlagzeug klingt okay aber ist völlig uninspiriert und niemand hört, dass das angeblich eine Gitarrenband ist mit besonderem Gitarristen. Es gibt wirklich nur sehr wenig von U2 das ich besonders finde. Und hier ist bis auf One nix drauf. Und das ist auch besser wenn es andere spielen und singen. Weil es natürlich kompetent gespielt und produziert ist keine 1.

Ein gutes PopRock Album mit großen Hits und viel Abwechslung. Trotzdem gefallen mir die Dinge, die U2 hiermit zurück lassen, eigentlich besser. Gleichzeitig ist das Gitarrenspiel auch hier einfach genial. Gerade noch

Ist das lowkey boring? Ja. Sind da belanglose Cover wie Fortunate Son und Paint it Black drauf? Ja. Was soll das? Bezeichnend dass genau die Albumversion von "One" die schlechteste ist die ich von U2 gehört habe. Funktioniert live vermeintlich viel besser. Das schläfert mich alles ein.

A great album / with a few stinkers mixed in

After getting off to an incredible start with their first two records, U2 has continually struggled ever since to find a convincing way forward, trying on one ill-fitting set of clothes after another. After finally turning their back on their arena rock phase, *Achtung Baby* finds the band accessorizing their sound with industrial bits, wah-wah guitars (wow, now *that's* forward-looking) and wacky vocal effects. It's not a good look for them - all of these embellishments can't make up for the weak songwriting which sounds like the product of a band that has exhausted its core creativity.