Reviews (page 2 of 12)
Great album.
DEFINITELY A GREAT ALBUM. WITJ STUNNING COVER.
Rate: 10/10
Pretty good
The first bars of the first track grab you and announce that this is going to be special. I don't care what you may think of Bono or U2 this is fantastic from start to finish.
This album gets a lot of hate, but I'm not sure why. This album was a complete departure from their earlier albums. It was a ballsy move. Personally, I love both phases of this band's evolution. I feel that they went a little off the rails after this album, but this one is a great album for me.
I personally think this is one of U2's best albums.
I certainly don't think Bono became less concerned about the fate of poor African children in the early 90s, but believe it or not, this is a U2 album without the political slogans. Yes, that happens! And that's not the only innovation; compared to the sound of their previous works, it's like we're hearing a completely different band here. I think fans who listened to this album for the first time felt the same way the average English fangirl of The 1975 heard the song "People." No blasphemy, it's just that U2 became danceable on this album for the first time, so much so that George Michael would envy it, without forgetting their post-punk roots: The Edge's riffs are still jagged and crumbling, the rhythms are still pumping, though Bono's voice gets a bit tiresome by the end. I generally like the country sound of previous Rattle and Hum, but it’s a good thing it failed in the charts, thereby forcing the band to reinvent themselves and release this album.
If you are part of Gen X like me, this album is part of the soundtrack of your life. This is the album when U2 moved from their 80s sound into something more experimental. This is another full-like album for me. The Edge was doing some intense guitar work.
Conocía U2 pero no esté álbum, la verdad que excelente. 10/10
The first time I heard U2 I was 12, on a bus traveling to a Pop Warner football game. The guy I was sitting next to had a walkman and he said listen to this, they're the best band in the world and they're going to be around forever. It was some song off their latest album War and I didn't really like it. He also played me some Journey and I didn't like that either. Now, 43 years later I get U2 as my 1001st album and I'm tripping down memory lane like it was yesterday. Jeff was right, U2 is going to be around forever. But anyway, if you told me that One was the greatest song of the 90's I wouldn't argue with you. Just an excellent album.
I mean what an album. One, Even Better than the Real Thing, Mysterious Ways?! But then Whose Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses and So Cruel!! Sheesh.
I will fight anyone who says this isn’t a perfect album.
Admittedly U2 are easy to hate on, but this thick’s the boxes of variety, accessibility and most importantly as part of this project , enjoyable.
I am not a huge U2 fan but this is a very good album. 5 stars. or A.
Favorite Track: Mysterious Ways
Have you ever gotten into a band, like in the middle of their run, like right after their huge album that made them superstars? And you listened to their next album over and over and over again, but then never really listened to another album by that band? U2 is that band for me. , U2 released the Joshua Tree and by the end of that, they were the biggest rock band in the world. I never listened to that album, though I had, of course, heard all the singles on the radio. Their next studio album was Achtung Baby. My older brother had a ton of cassettes, and Achtung Baby was one of those cassettes. I have no idea why, but I “borrowed” it and listened to it all spring of my senior year in high school. Then, when I finished listening to it, I never listened to another full album by U2 again. That seems weird to me, looking back now. Though I guess in those days, I was getting more into CDs, there was no Spotify, so you had to plunk down $20 or so to buy a CD, and unless it was an album with glowing reviews, or one of my favorite acts, I just didn’t buy it. However, sometimes I’d buy a CD if the album cover looked cool or the band had a cool name. I remember Stomp Box being a band I took a chance on, but it did not pay off. Though they toured around this area in Nashville and Bowling Green quite often. I digress. Track 1 is Zoo Station. Ah, yes, this was the Zoo tour or something like that. If U2 were the biggest band in the world at the time, this album and tour made them the biggest band in the universe. It was huge. It seems this album might have been the time U2 wanted to experiment a bit more than just drums, guitar, bass, and vocals. There is an effect on Bono’s voice, and the music is a bit electric. This song isn’t much and actually a bad start for the album, I think. Track 2 is Even Better Than The Real Thing, and I love this song. It was the fourth single off the album, and I remember it being everywhere for months. It charted in the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was number one on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. The song is even more prescient today than it was in 1992. Everyone is seeking these short-term dopamine hits and not searching for true love, true connection, the real thing. There isn’t anything wrong with instant gratification, but don’t make it your factory setting. Great song, and the Edge’s classic guitar sound propels this song. Track 3 is One, and this was the monster hit off the album. Such a great song, sung with passion. The song is about relationships, but not necessarily between lovers. Bono wrote it during a time the band had issues that threatened to tear them apart. The song also reflected the reunification of Germany during that time. I think this song, if it were to come out today, would reflect the division that’s going on in our country and world right now. Whatever you want the song to be about, it’s a beautiful song and just written and played perfectly. Track 4 is Until The End of The World, and it opens with a killer bass line from Adam Clayton, followed by the signature tone of the Edge. The Edge, while he isn’t a flashy guitar player like Steve Vai, he's a great mood setter. Whereas a lot of guitar players in the late 80s used the adage that more is better, the Edge does more by playing less. His style is all tone and feel, though he does have a great guitar solo in this song. Maybe I was wrong about the Edge. He sure is showing off at the end of this song. Oh, wow. I thought I’d check out the lyrics, and as I read them, I noticed they were sung from the perspective of Judas Iscariot. “I took the money I spiked your drink... I kissed your lips and broke your heart.” U2, or at least Bono, isn’t shy about his Christian beliefs, and he’s a brilliant writer. Just listening along, you might never realize the subject of the song. It’s a great song, whether you know the subject or not, though. Track 5 is Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses and it was the last single off the album, though I’m not sure I remember this song. The chorus hits, and I remember this song now. It seems no one in the band liked this song. There were even a couple of producers who thought the song wasn’t quite finished before it was recorded and released. I wouldn’t say it's a bad song. It’s a big, arena rock song about breaking up. , which The band released a different version of the song called Temple Bar Remix on the 30th anniversary edition of Achtung Baby that they liked better than the original. Temple Bar Remix is less arena rock and more acoustic guitar and piano. However, both sound very similar. Track 6 is called So Cruel and it's another breakup song, though this one has a more new wave feel. It’s synths, electric drums, and a piano. Very sparse arrangement. Here comes The Edge. The build in this song is slow and quiet, but it’s so good. Track 7 is The Fly, and it was the first single and introduction to the new album, as it was released about a month before the album came out. Right away, the song sounds different from most U2 songs. Very funky, rock riff to start, and then Bono, as The Fly, begins almost rapping his lyrics. This is almost industrial rock. Apparently, U2 wanted to inject a little sex and moral ambiguity into their music, hence, The Fly. Life is messy, we all sin and make mistakes, sometimes big ones. But there is also a danger to pursuing perfection and fame. Bono describes The Fly as a phone call from Hell by someone who loves being there and is telling the other person on the end of the phone that more will join him, even those who portray themselves as perfect. Track 7 is Mysterious Ways and that opening riff is one of the best in rock history, in my opinion. I love this song. I can remember listening to this over and over. The song is about embracing love and the mysterious ways of a woman. I love the percussion in this song. This was the second single from the album, and it was as big as One was. That funky breakdown leading into the last minute of the song is brilliant. This song makes me feel happy. Track 12 is Love Is Blindness and it’s amazing. Just a slow-burning song about a failing relationship. It’s bleaker than most of the songs on here, but the Edge’s guitar work really shines. I was convinced this was a must-listen album in 1992. I assume this won’t be the last U2 album on the list. I reviewed Joshua Tree earlier in this journey, and I think I like it a bit better. But Achtung Baby is the album that really made me a fan. I think it’s a great album, and you should listen to Joshua Tree and then this back-to-back. You can hear what U2 was and what they would go on to become in a matter of three to four years.
nice
Another fantastic album! From start to finish very strong. What I love about this album is that I can hear the future Zooropa album in some of the songs as well as earlier songs from Fire and Tree.
Super Dope
Day 240 U2’s best album imo. Highlights One Ultraviolet Acrobat
I mean it's still good.
Muy bueno. Buena música.
One of the best pop albums.
Одна из самых ненавидимых групп из-за сгустка пафоса в очках, но если оценивать только их музыку, то люди стали забывать, какой вклад они внесли. Я еще со школы вызубрил все их альбомы, но конечно стараюсь особо об этом не распространяться... После прорывных 80х и знакового The Joshua Tree, в 90е они выпустили трилогию альбомов с более современным и танцевальным звучанием. Но основная электронщина будет дальше, а Achtung Baby - это скорее переходный период. В спорах о новом направлении группа чуть не распалась, и песня One как раз помогла им объединиться и идти дальше, так что она знаковая и для самой группы, и в целом один из их главных хитов, хотя по мне это даже не лучшая песня на альбоме. Другие синглы Mysterious Ways и Even Better Than the Real Thing как раз более современны по звучанию (для 1991 года я считаю это вообще была пушкабомба, спасибо Брайану Ино за звук), и особо люблю The Fly за шикарный гитарный звук и фирменный фальцет Габоно. В остальном отметил бы мягкие Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses и So Cruel, и, пожалуй, все. Love Is Blindness хорошая вещь, но по подаче группа как-то не попала, слишком скучно. Джек Уайт позже спел ее с надрывом, и гораздо лучше передал драматический потенциал песни, чем, собственно, ее авторы. Сам альбом наверно ближе к четверочке, но уж больно люблю эти синглы.
Лучшая песня: Love is blindness Худшая: Who's gonna ride your wild horses Не люблю U2, ожидал блевотину, получил приятный альбом
Sería un 4, pero me gusta mucho U2 me di cuenta, que banda del re carajo, subvalorada para mí gusto, se gano 5 estrellas, discaso
Great album! The point break for the irish band.
me llevé una sorpresa, no tenía grandes expectativas, y me sorprendió. Muy buen disco, grandes momentos como "One" y "Who's gonna ride your wild horses".
I know it's "cool" to hate onU2. You would think Bono was some kind of sicko how he is called out, yeah he can appear sanctimonious but the hate is like he's some Gary Glitter/that lost prophets type level creep. But I am not having it, I like this record, like it quiet a lot, it has some storming tracks, One is worth price of admission. Hadn’t heard this in a long time, and was expecting it to be a let down, it wasn't, it brought back a lot of memories and for those and the music 5 Star
久しぶりに聴いたら思ったより良かった。 One最高。
Haters gonna hate on U2. I get it - they come across as so self-serious during certain eras (ok, most of the time) - but they make great fucking music!. Here they did an awesome job reinventing themselves with fresh sounds and getting silly and coy about the aforementioned self-seriousness. And some of these damn songs are pretty relevant right now. Listen to Acrobat. Really, go ahead, I'll wait
Great album. All time fave!
A classic
about as good as it gets
Ah, remember when these guys were decently talented and not just a bunch of wankers? Good times.
2000-luvun alku, Helsinki, Neitsyt-orkesteri, Kivihaka. Niin, albumihan on vuosimallia 1991. Toki nimi U2 oli tuttu mutta en ollut antanut bändille mahdollisuutta päästä mun levylautaselle. 2000-luvun alussa käytiin karaokessa. Paljon. Siihen aikaan erittäin hyvä ystäväni Juho Kulkas lauloi aina One -biisiä tältä albumilta. Usein istuttiin iltaa joko mun kämpillä Kivihaassa tai Juholla Pikku-Huopalahdessa. Ja koska Juho oli bändimme basisti, oli keskustelut usein musapainottteisia. Juho tutustutti minut U2-maailmaan erityisesti tämän albumin kautta, jota kuuntelin ja diggailin noihin aikoihin paljon. Jostain syystä albumi on unohtunut. Nyt kun sitä kuuntelee, niin albumi on kerrassaan upea. Tämä on ainakin itselleni vielä vahvasti ALBUMI eli biisit pitää kuunnella siinä järjestyksessä, kuin artisti on ne levylle pistänyt. Rikos kuunnella shufflella. Hittejäkin tarjolla, kovia sellaisia, mutta itselleni nousee ykköshetkeksi albumin lopusta biisikaksikko Ultra violet (light my way) ja Acrobat (mielenkiintoista kompittelua jälkimmäisessä). Helppo 5/5.
A classic from my high school days.
Almost perfect
U2’s finest & pure quality
Ihana!! Rakastin ja klassikoita mukana
One
A classic. There seems to be a trend on hating U2, but they've remained themselves so many times and have made so many top albums. They went "commercial" and people act like they took a shit on your doorstep. Iconic songs on this album, and sonically so different from their previous albums at the time.
One of the most masterful reinventions in the history of rock, featuring a triptych of the best producers of the last 50 years - Eno, Lanois and Flood (the latter serving as engineer). Though the bombast and self-importance they’ve been criticized for is not quite as toned down as perhaps the band intended, the radically new sounds and clear-eyed experimentation on Achtung Baby successfully create a jagged edge for Bono's romanticism to push up against. 'Zoo Station' is a perfect example of the balance U2 achieves: one feels at once like a stranger in a strange land and at home in the familiar euphoria that U2 uniquely provides. Much credit must go to the Edge, who largely abandons his signature chiming guitars in favor of a series of the hookiest buzzsaws you've ever heard, and, again, the production team for an impeccably adventurous (Eno), vibey (Lanois) and sonically decadent (Flood) album. And sure, Bono is always a little over the top and cringey, but if that's the price of too much heart, I'll take it.
Almost every song is a good one
One my all time faboalbums saw this tour as well
An amazing album for U2 that changed music and them. And they never reached that high level again. It feels like the culmination of decades of rock and alternative and underground music finding the forefeet balance with each other and pop accessibility. To me it feels like it encapsulates what is possible with music.
They had the magic from the beginning if you ask me. I love U2, I'm shameless about that, this is a great record. Nuff said!
oh, like i need to listen to this to rate it. hands down their best, and those final 3 songs are the perfect album-enders. i was happy to listen to this yet again
Day766 - out of the four u2 albums i’ve had so far this has been my second favorite.. really good songs but who’s gonna ride your wild horses stands out
me too
I shoplifted this cassette tape from a chain drugstore in 1992. I then got a copy of it on CD for a penny from Columbia Record Club. Then a few years later, I downloaded it on Napster. And now, U2 is getting a fraction of a penny per song for me to listen to it on Spotify. I feel like I should mail Bono a $50 bill. Anyone have his address?
Such a great album, I don’t think that I gave it enough credit in the past because I would always compare it to my favorite U2 album, Joshua tree
Fantastisch! toegankelijk maar ze doen ook wel wat avontuurlijke dingen, en zoveel emotie. Een van mn favoriete albums allertijden. Highlights: Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses, Ultra Violet, Acrobat, Love is Blindness
Really great album. Different from their previous albums
Excellent!!!
love it of course. one of their best. beginning to end
אלבום מדהים
Career high, by a country mile
Stone cold classic.
I forgot how much I love the songs "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" and "Until the End of the World"
Heard this top to bottom at the sphere. Definitely a core memory.
Never got into U2, so this was my first listen thru. I can see why they were huge
Понравилось.
Hammer!!!! : )))
Absolutely brilliant! U2 reinvented their sound in this one. Heaps of classic tracks. Every song is sonically interesting.
The greatest reinvention from one album to the next in rock n' roll history.
Top 5 best Irish records, easily. Probably Top 3, if we're being honest.
masterpiece though I have listened to this many times as a teenager and so it emotionally resonates with me super hard so I can't be objective about it but I love it so much
rly good gives 80s and shoe gaze
Great album, every song is good, most are bangers. Can basically play tracks 1-10 with no real drops. The last two songs are good, but have a slightly different feel. One and Mysterious Ways are huge hits, but absolutely don’t sleep on the other tracks - they are all great production.
Still quality
I C O N I C
Following Rattle and Hum was always to be difficult but this album is almost a different band. Thoroughly enjoyed this classic
i really enjoyed this, might be my favourite U2 record
Pure magic!
Les U2 haters sont tellement edgy. 4.5 étoiles
Love this one I think their best
Classic
One of the best!
An argument can be made that this is U2's best album, and it is an astonishing reinvention of a band who had just rode their anthemic sound to its peak and logical conclusion with "The Joshua Tree." A more experimental and dance-oriented sound than that and prior records, the pop songwriting remains every bit as strong, and there are very few missteps across its twelve track. A damn near perfect album.
Two times in the past three days I have happily gasped at the albums that were generated. The previous one was The Queen Is Dead, and today I got Achtung Baby. These are two seminal albums from my twenties that were played hundreds of times back then. I recall in 1991 when the first single, The Fly, was released and thinking "what the hell is this?" It was definitely not the U2 we were used to, and there was no way to know what was to come. What did come was amazing. I loved this record immediately and felt that they could do no wrong (even thought there were a few missteps along the way already). I didn't realize this would be their last great album, but they did have an impressive run anyway. I was excited to give it a listen today, as I hadn't played the whole record through in quite some time. What I felt then was what I felt today. This is one amazing album. If my least favorite song is Mysterious Ways, and I don't think it's bad at all but just not as interesting as the rest, then I still love it. One is always a song I can go back to, but my favorites are the less popular tracks such as So Cruel, Ultra Violet, and Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses. Thank you to the generator for an excellent start to the week.
There are so many things that make this a great album, one could go on and on. The specific things that struck me this time, listening to it for the first time in a while: The pleasing sonic quality of The Edge's guitars and his unique approach to playing; Bono's voice is a little raspy - like he's singing on a tired voice - and it just pairs perfectly with the guitar sound; And the songs are just fucking great ... and unique.
My thoughts on this album, poorly articulated and poorly organized: 1. This is a very 90s album. 2. When this album came out, it seemed to me to be a departure from U2's prior efforts. My assessment hasn't really changed. 3. I know some guitarists who are dismissive of the Edge as a guitarist because, I dunno, his playing is simplistic or something. That may be true, but holy shit the dude just slays on the guitar atmospherics on this album. 4. Re: that last point, I wonder if the guitar atmospherics has something to do with the fact that Daniel Lanois produced this album. There's certainly other albums he's produced (and played guitar on!) that have excellent atmospherics. Mostly, I'm thinking about Fever In, Fever Out by Luscious Jackson, but also the Red Dead Redemption 2 soundtrack. 5. Overall, I really, really liked hearing this again and sort of wonder why I stopped listening. Maybe because so many recent U2 albums have felt like duds to me?
I was in college in architecture school when this album came out. This album was super popular and a bit artsy so it was played a lot in architectural studios of the era. I spent a lot of time in those studios listening to it. I saw the Zoo TV tour. Normally, I would say nostalgia would be weighing heavily on my rating, but I had completely forgotten about this album and haven't listened to it in at least 20 years. I'm sure I've heard One or Mysterious Ways on the radio, but I had erased a bunch of songs on this like So Cruel, Acrobat and The Fly, which I'm pretty sure was a single. I guess having four producer/engineers involved was a good choice because the album sounds great. I like that they tried something different, apparently in large part because the Edge was listening to Nine Inch Nails and KMFDM, as well as Eno understanding the mission. If you told me you hate this album because of Bono's bombastic, over-emotive singing, I would get it. It's kind of interesting how they embraced a libertine Berliner aesthetic and got less pretentious and forced in the song and lyric writing but the singing went the other way.
Moderate-level U2 fan as I may have reported before. This is the band at the peak of their powers, I think. Pretty sure this was one of the few CDs that my wife and I both brought to our marriage, but it's been a while since I've played it all the way through and I'd forgotten about some of the songs. Not a bad one in the bunch; most are full-on great. Mysterious Ways may be their best kick-ass radio-friendly anthem, and I don't think I'll ever get tired of it.
5/5 - This was a really exciting release when it came out. The production was so different and a big step away from where they had been headed with Rattle and Hum. I probably hadn't listened to this all the way through in 20 years. Still knew every song, and it's just great. I'll probably listen to it again today.
awesome
Excellent album. Zeitgeist is the word for it
This really is peak U2, they were never more re-inventive than this. The Fly alone mints this album but round it out with the rest and ifs just pop rock perfection.
I grew up listening to U2 so I don't hold Bono's pretentiousness against the band because I love the music. Killer album in a killer catalogue. And still one of the best live bands I've ever seen. Favorites: One, Until the End of the World, Ultra Violet, Acrobat (for the amazing guitar), Love Is Blindness Would I listen to it again: Yes
Første tanke var at U2 bare er en kæmpe please for mig, skulle til at skrive guilty pleasure men de er jo bare mega gode. Der er en masse Danceable rock på var min tanke med Groovy riffs og bongo trommer og basslines der er funky. Så det var fra start 90’erne og tænkte med det samme på madchester. De har åbenbart været i Berlin og blevet inspireret lidt af den elektroniske og industrielle lyd hvilket man sagtens kan høre. Det er også lidt mørkt i det som giver mening, fordi de gik igennem skilsmisser og tab flere af dem. Jeg synes også der er noget underligt sexet over lyden, specielt på mysterious ways både i lyrik, vokal og beat. De var åbenbart tæt på at gå i opløsning pga kunstnerisk krise, hvor bandmedlemmer var opdelt. Shimmer guitaren er mega fed. Synes sgu bare det er virkelig godt album, kan godt lide alt ved U2 stort set
One alone is enough for the 5. Stellar
All time fav
So do I love U2 now? This was great. For me the Edge was the star of this album and not Bono, which is maybe why I liked it so much. His guitar parts were awesome and his backing vocals elevated every song they were featured in. "One" is obviously a classic, but "The Fly" was also a highlight for me.
4.5
The true coming of age album for U2. Everything that came before led to this masterpiece. From the jarring start of Zoo Station through the chorus wails of Love is Blindness, there simply isn’t a bad track on this album. Just needs the Perfecto mix of Even Better Than The Real Thing to elevate it further. Nothing they’ve done since reaches this quality.
I'm surprised how much I don't hate this
Forgot how many great songs are on this album! So good!
Superb album.
I don't think every track is great, but songs like One, The Fly, Mysterious Ways, and Ultraviolet are close to perfect. Other such as So Cruel, Until the End of the World and Even Better Than the Real Thing are so solid. It's one that I should revisit more than I do. 5 Stars.
I always thought I didn’t believe in musical guilty pleasures - if you like a song or artist, why should you feel bad about it just because someone else has decided it’s uncool? Then I signed up for the generator and realised that I’m weirdly defensive when it comes to liking U2. So fuck it - I got this album for Christmas when I was 14 and I still love it.
Is U2 Rock? I don’t know their official definition, but they felt like rock to me. Their reputation was GenZ was spoiled due to the iTunes infiltration - they didn’t give us a chance to love them. Found myself adding almost every other song to my liked. 5/5.
Even though I really liked this album when it came out in 1991, and don't listen to it as often anymore, it's still a classic that deserves recognition. The reinvention from their earnest '80s sound to this darker, more experimental approach was genuinely bold - incorporating industrial and dance influences on tracks like "The Fly," "Mysterious Ways," and "Zoo Station" showed real artistic courage. It's become increasingly fashionable to be a U2 hater amongst Millennials and Gen Z, rating albums like this 1 star just because Bono's annoying or the iTunes thing. But Achtung Baby was legitimately groundbreaking and influential. The production, the songwriting, the willingness to blow up their image - it all worked. So yeah, fuck the haters. 5/5
La bomba termonuclear de mi juventud se unió a la de mi adolescencia en este disco. Fue el primer disco que me compré en CD. A cambio de la pérdida de un vinilo enorme con las letras en la funda tenía un disco enano con un libreto que ganaba en facilidad para escucharlo una y otra vez sin poner la aguja sin cara A ni cara B, una nueva experiencia. Mágico.
**_Achtung Baby_ by U2: In-Depth Review** Released in 1991, _Achtung Baby_ is not only a pivotal moment in U2’s career but also a landmark in rock history. Coming off the critical backlash to _Rattle and Hum_, the band retreated to Berlin’s Hansa Studios and reinvented themselves. The result was a sonically daring, emotionally raw, and thematically complex album that redefined U2 for the 1990s. --- ### 🎧 **Music and Production** Musically, _Achtung Baby_ marked a radical departure from U2’s anthemic, reverb-soaked sound. Embracing industrial, electronic, and alternative rock influences, the album is darker, more textured, and more rhythm-driven. - **Industrial Edge**: Tracks like *Zoo Station* and *The Fly* open with metallic guitar riffs and distorted rhythms, signaling a new sonic direction . - **Electronic Textures**: Songs like *Mysterious Ways* and *Even Better Than the Real Thing* incorporate dance beats and synths, reflecting the band’s interest in Madchester and club culture . - **Production Team**: Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois returned as producers, encouraging experimentation and even erasing anything that sounded “too much like U2” . The production is intentionally fragmented, rejecting the polished grandeur of _The Joshua Tree_ in favor of something more chaotic and alive. --- ### 🖋️ **Lyrics and Themes** Lyrically, _Achtung Baby_ is U2’s most introspective and emotionally fraught album. Bono drew heavily from personal turmoil, including the Edge’s marital breakdown and the band’s internal tensions. - **Love and Betrayal**: Songs like *One*, *So Cruel*, and *Love Is Blindness* explore the pain of fractured relationships with brutal honesty . - **Identity and Irony**: The album is steeped in irony and self-awareness. *The Fly* introduces a new persona for Bono—flamboyant, cynical, and media-savvy—mocking celebrity culture and the band’s own earnest image . - **Spiritual and Existential Undertones**: Tracks like *Until the End of the World* and *Acrobat* grapple with guilt, redemption, and disillusionment, often using religious imagery . The lyrics are less about grand political statements and more about emotional disintegration, making the album feel intimate and human. --- ### 🎭 **Themes and Conceptuality** _Achtung Baby_ functions as a concept album about **disillusionment, transformation, and reconciliation**. The narrative arc moves from confusion and chaos (*Zoo Station*) to emotional collapse (*Love Is Blindness*), with moments of clarity and connection in between (*One*, *Ultraviolet*) . The album’s title and cover art—featuring a distorted image of a man in drag—reflect themes of **identity fragmentation and reinvention**, both personal and artistic. --- ### 🌍 **Influence and Legacy** _Achtung Baby_ had a seismic impact on 1990s music and culture: - **Alternative Rock Catalyst**: It helped bridge the gap between classic rock and the emerging alternative scene, influencing bands like Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, and R.E.M. . - **Visual Innovation**: The Zoo TV Tour revolutionized live performance with multimedia overload, satire, and sensory overload, setting a new standard for stadium shows . - **Cultural Commentary**: The album’s ironic tone and media-savvy persona prefigured the postmodern skepticism of the digital age. It also reaffirmed the album as an artistic statement in an era increasingly dominated by singles. --- ### ✅ **Pros of _Achtung Baby_** - **Bold Reinvention**: U2 successfully shed their old skin, embracing a new sound without losing their identity. - **Emotional Depth**: The lyrics are raw, personal, and universally relatable. - **Sonic Innovation**: The fusion of rock, industrial, and electronic elements was ahead of its time. - **Cohesive Concept**: The album flows as a unified narrative, both musically and thematically. - **Cultural Impact**: It redefined U2’s image and influenced a generation of musicians. --- ### ❌ **Cons of _Achtung Baby_** - **Not Immediately Accessible**: The dense production and darker tone can be off-putting to fans of U2’s earlier, more uplifting work. - **Overplayed Singles**: Songs like *One* and *Mysterious Ways* have suffered from radio saturation, potentially dulling their impact. - **Less Anthemic**: Those seeking the soaring choruses of _Where the Streets Have No Name_ may find the album too subdued or introspective. - **Some Tracks Feel Dated**: A few electronic elements haven’t aged as gracefully, especially to modern ears. --- ### 🏁 **Conclusion** _Achtung Baby_ is U2’s most daring and complete artistic statement. It’s a record of transition—not just for the band, but for the culture around them. By embracing uncertainty, irony, and sonic experimentation, U2 didn’t just survive the '90s—they helped define them. > “It’s the sound of four men chopping down The Joshua Tree,” they said. And from its ashes, they built something entirely new—fragile, beautiful, and unforgettable. --- **Essential Tracks**: - *One* – A haunting ballad on unity and fracture - *The Fly* – A genre-bending critique of fame - *Mysterious Ways* – A groove-laden meditation on love and spirituality - *Love Is Blindness* – A devastating closer on emotional blindness **Final Verdict**: _Achtung Baby_ is not just U2’s best album—it’s one of the greatest reinventions in rock history.
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Ça y va fort sur le U2 ces derniers temps. Le voyage à Berlin s'en vient et un partie de l'album me met dans l'ambiance. Zoo Station //// Until the End of the World conçue pour le long film de Wim Wenders et que j'ai écouté récemment.
C’est de bon ton en 2025 de rire de U2… en effet ils ont fait des affaires assez quétaines, mais je ne comprend pas le hate. Cet album est incroyable. Un son très different de Joshua Tree mais quand même très maitrisé. U2 qui fait du genre d’alternatif? Wow. One, ballade classique des 90s Mysterious Ways classique dansant. J’ai beaucoup aimé Who’s gonna ride your wild horses, ainsi que Ultra Violet. J’ai déjà hâte de le réécouter. (Désolé félix, War je n’embarque toujours pas complètement)
HELL YEAH MORE U2
Damn two in a row of albums my parents love, so I grew up listening. Lotta great memories, super fun album
Mesmerizing. Atmospheric, Brian Eno produced, Alt-rock playing-U2 has never been better. The imagery and tone of this album is the essence of U2 cool before they sold out and made yuppie rock such as "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb."
Pure 90s U2 bliss. I loved quite a few of the songs on this album.
To hell with the pretentious haters, this is a great album! U2 was at the top of their game in the 80's & 90's.
One of the best albums of the 90's
Funny how my hate U2 gets. This was a fairly groundbreaking album back in the day - U2 goes Eno - and it still holds up quite well indeed. Let's just not dwell too much on a lot of the stuff they did a bit later and enjoy this for what it is.
Zoo Station, The Fly, Even Better than the Real Thing, One, Acrobat, Both “World” songs… This album was a wild reinvention and I loved it.
Started to call this a 4 but based on the number of songs I'd come back for it's got to be a 5
I have always really loved this album. Perhaps because it was the only time that I got to see them live, but feel like Edge is amazing on this one.
I highly respect U2 while this may not be their best it still was very good
Love u2
This was my first favorite album when I was 9 years old. I heard “Mysterious Ways” on my sister’s stereo and later tracked down the album, falling deeply in love with it. All these years later, through many developments in my musical taste. I still love it, though I don’t know how I would have felt about it had I first encountered it later in life. I think it’s unquestionably U2’s best album objectively speaking. Ironically, “Mysterious Ways” is now one of my least favorite tracks, though “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses” is indisputably the low point of the record (it does have a killer bridge section, though.) “The Fly” and “Until The End of The World” have always been faves. Recently I’ve come to appreciate “Trying To Throw Your Arms Around The World”. Am extremely fortunate to have been able to see them perform this record in the Las Vegas Sphere last year! Really needed this on a challenging day today.
Best Song: Mysterious Ways I enjoy U2 quite a bit. I knew about 85% of this album from being in high school when it came out and the radio playing several of these songs pretty much non-stop. The songs I didn't know were not as good as some of the more popular ones but nothing that would detract from the strength of the album. 5/5.
U2 has become the poster child for haughty and overly aspirational bands/musicians that take their music incredibly seriously and believe it's necessary everyone hears it. I'm not sure that reputation was assisted in any way from pushing one of their albums on to the iTunes playlist of every living human being that dares to use the Apple product. Yet, they are capable of making good music (which is, of course, a subjective opinion) when they really want to. Achtung Baby is an excellent example of the band working to make good, interesting music. There are days you could convince me Achtung Baby is as good of an album as the Joshua Tree. There are also days I feel like listening to The Joshua Tree for no particular reason and I'm not sure I can say the same for Achtung Baby. There isn't one certain song I can recommend here, as I think this entire album deserves to be heard. Would I download it into everyone's iTunes library so they MUST take action not to hear it? Absolutely not. U2 is full of themselves and often come off as a bit douche-like. Achtung Baby is full of great songs and they somehow managed to recover from whatever they were trying to do with Rattle & Hum to make another classic collection of songs.
A masterpiece of early 90s rock/dance/tech fusion.
“Zoo Station” was fun! “Even Better Than The Real Thing” is kinda cool and trippy. Thomas likes “Mysterious Ways”. “Ultra Violet (Light My Way” was fun too.
This was great. Every song was enjoyable. Five stars.
Wow.
Probably my favorite U2 album, and a contender for "if you are stuck on a deserted island and only have 1 album to listen to". Edge's guitar soars, Bono can take his voice up to 5th gear. It's all good. Sadly I read some of the reviews and there seems to be a group think where it's popular to bash on U2 and Bono in particular for being a prat or wanker. These same folks like Oasis and Kanye, so all I have to say is people are strange. "I'm only hanging on To watch you go down, my love"
I had only been familiar with the pop hits played on the radio, but overall this album is more contemplative, richer, and deeper than I expected.
U2 in their prime...still sounds great.
My favorite U2 album, and one of my favorites of all time. I just love this record. It was so important to me when I was younger. Such good memories of listening to this thing. I have every song and sound memorized. If every copy of this thing disappeared I could recreate it from memory. The only song I don't love is "Trying to Throw Your Arms Around the World." Everything else is amazing. It can only be - FIVE STARS
excellent
Sometimes too much of a good thing can lead to taking it for granted. That's how I've been treating U2's "Achtung Baby" over the years. I've listened to it so many times that I put it to one side, and if I did play anything from it, it was the "Hits". I forgot how good it is. "Achtung Baby" marked a radical and deliberate reinvention, moving away from the earnest, anthemic sound of "The Joshua Tree" towards a darker, more experimental, and industrial aesthetic. The result is a dense album that sounds unlike anything they had done before. It's a creative high point for the band, full of excellent songs. Five stars. Would I listen to this album again? Yes Would I buy this album? I did. 1- "Zoo Station"- The distorted introduction tells you that this album is very different to its predecessor. Thrilling. - 5 2- "Even Better Than the Real Thing"- A real dance, club feel. A Great riff. The remixed single is great too. - 5 3- "One"- Iconic. Just wonderful. U2's most recognisable song? Timeless. - 5 4- "Until the End of the World"- Lyrically oblique. Lovely guitar solo. - 4 5- "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses"- 3 6- "So Cruel"- An under appreciated track from "Achtung baby" and always one of my favourites. Raw and stripped down, especially compared to what comes next! - 5 7- "The Fly"- Bold and noisy. The lead single before the album was released. A great riff, great guitar and a great rock song. It was the introduction of Bono's "Fly" persona. This was the sign post that U2 had transformed their sound. - 5 8- "Mysterious Ways"- A funky, dance-oriented single that brought a fresh sound to U2 and rock music. Larry Mullen Jr.'s drumming and Adam Clayton's bassline are the stars of this track. - 5 9- "Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World"- Gentle and melancholic . Again, a track I've underappreciated over the years. - 5 10- "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)"- A little more "old school" U2. 4 11- "Acrobat"- I had forgotten how much I liked this song; the brooding feel and a quite fantastic guitar solo. - 5 12- "Love Is Blindness"- Sombre and atmospheric. - 5 Total - 56 Average - 4.7 81/1001
Solid album front to back.
Their best album. An absolute time capsule of pop rock.
Ska försöka hålla mig kort men jag har mycket att säga om den här skivan. Vi börjar här: Oj vad den LÅTER bra, fortfarande. Soundet är fantastiskt. En av rockhistoriens bäst ljudande album i min bok, hatten av till framförallt Flood för det ljudmässiga. Är inte det här albumet lite bortglömt efter all bespottning U2 fått utstå de senaste 25 åren? Jag tycker det. Här är dom ju faktiskt både intressanta och har låtar nog att vara bära sig själva. Redan inledande skrammel och ackord i Zoo station sätter tonen om ett stilbrott, om en annan U2-värld. Bara referensen i låttiteln till den mörka trasiga filmen "Wir kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo" (som ju Bowie delade med sig av musik till under sina Berlin år) visar att den froma USA-vurmen från Joshua... och inte minst Rattle... är ersatt. På Achtung... är U2 subversiva, det är sex, hedonism, ljusskygga gestalter på ljusskygga platser som lockar, och med U2-mått mätt visas det upp tämligen explicit. "Until the end of the world" är exempelvis en twistad "Sympathy for the devil" i skuggan av Berlinmurens fall. Musiken styr bort från armviftade arenor och mot grafittiprydda väggar i skumma lokaler, även om den inte når riktigt hela vägen dit. Kvinnorna är syndfulla, mörka och elaka och rör sig i Mysterious ways. Även om Bono inte är någon stor textförfattare så hittar han här en tämligen aptitlig ton, där han vacklar mellan vilket ben han ska stå på, det är inte så jäkla självgott och proklamerande. Avslutningsdubbeln "Acrobat" och "Love is blindness" är helt magnifik, kanske U2s två bästa låtar. Den senare är en asfaltsspsalm skulle kunnat varit med på vilken av Thåströms plattor som helst efter "Skebokvarn...". "The fly" är en jättebra singel i sin egen rätt, men det är nåt helt annat att höra den inleda b-sidan på albumet, där kommer den än mer till sin rätt. Hela albumet känns så oerhöft genomarbetat i allt från stora bitar som tematik och sound till de mindre bitarna som låtordning. Jag måste nämna 'Even better than the real thing" också, vilken jävla rocklåt, som fortfarande låter modern, det är lite av en käftsmäll att upptäcka den igen faktiskt. Som ni hör är jag ganska så lyrisk över den här. Visst man hade kunnat strippa den på kanske 2 låtar och det finns rum för synpunkter i olika riktningar. Men kontentan är ingen hade gjort den här typen av skiva bättre 1991. Det är världens största band som lyckas förändra sig och det radikalt och dessutom bli många gånga bättre än innan. Achtung baby är en femma inte för att alla låtarna är fantastiskt mycket bättre än andra skivor utan tack vare helheten. Det är ett fullständigt lyckat album och jag älskar album när man utnyttjar format när det är mer än en samling låtar.
So many iconic songs, good listen
By 1991, the music everyone was listening to had changed. The New Wave of the 80s, had given way to the Alternative of the 90s and U2 was starting to look like the last decade. Having already messed around with Roots Revival to profound effect, U2 knew that changing their style didn't mean music business death. This is the genesis of Achtung Baby: a reinvention of U2 for the 90s. The Edge's signature jangly guitar is still there. Bono's urgent vocals are still there. The style, however, is clearly alternative. The grinding guitar opening of Zoostation, the lead song on the album, sounds more like The Breeders than 80s era U2. The muted vocals of Until the Ends of the World were not classic U2 but certainly of the time. And yet, Mysterious Ways, the big hit, could be an outtake from Joshua Tree. Despite this mélange of 90s and late 80s styles, Achtung Baby is not a jumble. The production is so clean, the song list so well thought out, that it hangs together like a movie soundtrack. Achtung Baby extended the career of U2 by another 15 years, ushering in an era of experimentation and allowing them to weather the horrid experiment in electronica called Pop. By the mid-2000s they were phoning it in and from then on were mostly a legacy band despite a rash of underperforming, dull albums in the 2020s. Achtung Baby, however, moved the band into the 90s without fundamentally changing who they were.
Listened to this album back in college
Hit after hit after hit. They all have a similar sort of sound, but i enjoy that sound so hard to fault this album apart from maybe a lack of wound variation
Fantastic pop rock
So much hatred for this album based simply on the fact that people don't like Bono. Christ, get a life people. You can hold whatever opinions you want about the man -- but when he was at his peak Bono Vox Superstar moment, which was basically this album -- he was one of the most amazing frontmen ever to grace a stage. I never appreciated Elvis until I saw him get warmed up in an old video of "Aloha from Hawaii." Same with most of the young heads on here who need to give this a chance. Because goddamn what an incredible album this is. It exploded all over the place just as I turned 21. This was my (and a lot of other folks') absolute soundtrack through the college years. No weak tracks -- the closest to one might be "Acrobat" which is nonetheless still a banger. Elite songwriting. Edge in utterly stellar form with his guitar weirdnesses. It's a cohesive whole from Zoo Station to Love is Blindness. (I remember having the lyrics to the latter printed out in a "fancy" font on an old Apple printer.) I used Ultra Violet on so many actual mixtapes -- the kind we used to make on Maxell 90 minute cassette tapes to woo each other with. Every note on this album ties to a memory of mine. Five stars, easily. One of my desert island discs. Hell of a lot more interesting than most.
Flood and Eno. every song's foundation, its rhythm is so tight and opens up to lyrics intuitively. Like even if you don't like Bono, listen and ignore the lyrics. The pockets are so natural and deep.
This is a great album. Felt such a new sound whilst all the key components of U2’s existing sound being there. Zoo station is such an under appreciated opener and sets the tone for the whole album. This is one of those albums where virtually every song could've easily been a single, which obviously means tracks like One ,the Fly snd Mysterious Ways were pretty fucking special to be the singles.
U2 and I are like old flames - I’ll go years without listening to them much at all, and then, out of the blue, we meet up and end up spending a month together revisiting all our favorite haunts and memories. Then we part ways until the next time. I don’t really get why my relationship with them has always been so sporadic. Especially when an album like this can play three times through while I was listening and working, and I was happy to hear it again. “The Fly” is some of the best guitar and vocal interplay they’ve ever done. And I think that is the defining factor to this era of U2. Their early albums are fantastic, and have this forward and driving motion to them - anthemic with all the parts following a shared path on the journey. I’m oversimplifying, but pointing out the major impression. The era that Achtung Baby is a part of finds the strands of music weaving in and out of each other - meandering and dancing toward the last few bars. That is a long way to say I love this album.
Yet another album that holds so much meaning for me so, again, very hard to be subjective. After "Joshua Tree" and "Rattle and Hum" I never expected this album. From the opening guitar alarm of "Zoo Station," the new sound and creative reinvention literally blew me away. I listened to this album non-stop in 1991 and it helped get me through a difficult year. Listening now, the Edge, with assistance from Eno and Lanois, took it to another level and th rhythm section of Mullins and Clayton Jr never sounded better. And, other than one of the worst lines in history-- " a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle"-- Bono's lyrics and vocals shine as well. They took this creativity and pushed it even more with their next album, "Zooropa," but this album has only gained in its majesty and another one of my desert island discs.
I love this album and have it on CD. I played the heck out of this and really thought this was a heavier sounding U2 that I really enjoyed. 5 stars for me
An excellent reinvention and a perfect example of pop rock for the 90s. Probably their best album.
U2 at their peak. Brilliant. 5/5
Lots of fantastic songs. I was just going to rate it from my many listens in the past but I decided to revisit it to be sure. Glad I did, as I listened to the deluxe version with many great extra tracks too. My favourite u2 album!
Bono has an ego that can blot out the sun. But he can sing. This is the first time I've listed to this entire album in probably 20 years. It's better than I remember. Not a single bad track here, and most are incredible. Easy 5.
U2 is in my top 10 of all time!
Holy crap. Holy CRAP. I'd heard the big singles ("Mysterious Ways") and I didn't realize just how STRONG that album was beyond the singles. Like, there are half a dozen songs on there that aren't breakout singles just because the singles are SO STRONG. Partially it's my age (I just turned 40), but to me, this era of U2 is what ROCK is. Funky, hard but not metal or alt. Fun, intense. Loved this one to death.
I'm not a U2 fan but this album, where they stepped away, albeit temporarily, from taking themselves so seriously, is one that I gravitate to. There is some excellent stuff here - "The Fly", "Mysterious Ways", "Even Better than the Real Thing", "One", Ultra Violet". Achtung Baby is grittier, rockier, dancier, and generally more satisfying than anything they did before, or since. Even Bono sheds the pomposity that seems ingrained in his personality and the result is gem of an album. There are still grandiose moments but here they serve the music rather than bolster the band's self-importance.
Probably the last great U2 album. Saw the original Zoo TV tour (1992?), as well as the opening night at The Sphere in 2023. They’re still phenomenal performers, even if their changes in circumstance have dulled the fire of their later work.
I don't know that I've ever listened to this straight through, but it's so good.
One of the first compact discs I ever purchased at the Simi Valley Target. Back when they packaged them in those long sleeves, and then also put them in the plastic containers to prevent theft. It was always an ordeal buying CDs in the early days of establishments that didn’t want their inventory of new releases stolen. But that’s enough about the monotony of purchasing CDs in the olden days. I knew of U2, I knew many of their songs, but this was MY first album of theirs, and while I also believe Joshua Tree is a brilliant front-to-back album, this one is more personal to me. It’s also one of the first CDs I clearly remember purchasing with my own money because in late 1991 I didn’t yet have as much disposable cash as I would even just 6 months later. So, when you’re relegated to a small handful of CDs that you own, you will often relisten to the same ones, which is what happened here. While their earlier material had an Americana vibe, when you play this album, it’s like they’re the same yet completely different. They had successfully reinvented themselves with this album. The album presented a rich tapestry of music that I had never heard before, and I was entranced. I felt like a grown-up listening to this record.
U2 went big with the sound and created a great record. It is such a departure from the Joshua Tree sound and it works. Unfortunately this is the sound they will just put on rinse and repeat for the next 30 years.
I secretly like this record, don’t tell anyone. Damn this is good, some bands wait their whole career to write a song as good as One. Who’s gonna ride your wild horses might be even better. Remember when the video for One was just a Buffalo? A fucking Buffalo, look it up. Then they made one that looked like a Heineken ad with Bono. Who ever was in charge of the visuals around this record should be strung up. While I’m ranting this record was so damn good the next one the released Numb as a single with video. What balls. The absolute arrogance to realse a song of Edge rapping and swing if it would stick. Also you hated that? Here’s Lemon. Lemmmmmon! I have a complicated relationship with U2. I think I’m finally old enough for this record. Also they really deserve a pass for the whole ITunes album based on how much great music they gave us. BTW I don’t really like U2 but goddamn it I respect them.
The best
This is probably my favorite U2 album and there are several good ones. This album has a gritty undertone that I like and don't get from their other material. My favorite track is Mysterious Ways but pretty much all the tracks are very good.
Classic, one of my first albums :)
This is the best album of the 90s.
Sjá dóm 727/690. Þetta er U2 platan mín og betri en Joshua tree. Hér er allt að gerast, alls konar skemmtilegheit, tíundatugartöffheit og drama. Mér finnst hún frábær og skammast mín ekkert.
Fantastic
After half a decade of indulging in American aesthetics, U2 decide to embrace their European selves. This was the result of a band being attuned to and aware of the changes in their musical environment, makes all the right decisions and producing their best work. A very vibrant and diverse mix of alternative sounds and dance music influences that make U2 sound fresh and like a new band, but still unmistakably themselves. Many other brands struggled with the change of decade, but U2 navigated those changes expertly, and did it again at the turn of the following decade, albeit to less spectacular results. Key tracks: Even Better Than the Real Thing One Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses So Cruel The Fly Mysterious Ways Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
U2 are a band I have more respect for recently, but we definitely had this album growing up. The highs are really some of their best work, even if they got weird for a bit after this. I like a few of their albums better overall, so this is probably a 4.5 for me but I'm bumping due to importance.
4 stars. Great album, great music, great lyrics.
Great album!
This is where U2 got really interesting again. I bought it one of the first weeks I lived in Spain and it scared me. I thought they had sold out when really, I had no idea what that meant. I sold the record to a friend the next day. But I kept hearing "The Fly" though shop windows and it always entranced me. When I got to college, it was everywhere. I told people I was a fan of their "old stuff". Then, a couple of albums later, I bought Pop and went back and made up for lost time with this and Zooropa. I felt like a fool and, it was good to learn that I was. From then on, I never discarded another album after the first listen or bought into the sellout trope. Achtung Baby changed my mind, my life and my record collection - forever.
known album, almost the best U2 album
Sonic journey of gloomy regrets
My favorite album of all time, and probably the greatest U2 album. A great guitar album, every track sounds different but never boring. This album launched a new era for U2, which I personally enjoy more than the 80's. It's also worth noting that I believe this was the best album of it's year, even when facing the likes of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Guns n Roses, Michael Jackson and others.
Following The Joshua Tree was no easy feat—an almost impossible task, in fact. But U2 rose to the challenge not by repeating themselves, but by reinventing their sound. Achtung Baby marks a bold and brilliant departure from their earlier work. With this album, U2 leaned into experimentation, embracing new sonic textures and a more modern, edgy feel. The lyrics carry deeper emotional weight—often more reflective and positive—and the melodies are vibrant and fresh. The result is a confident, innovative record that stands tall in their discography. Highlights include the hauntingly beautiful “So Cruel”, the emotionally charged “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses”, and, of course, the iconic “One”—a song that has become one of U2’s most enduring anthems. Honestly, every track holds its own, making this a cohesive and thoroughly enjoyable listen from start to finish. Favourite song: One Least favourite: None – every track shines in its own way. Album artwork: Easily U2’s best cover. It's vibrant, chaotic, and full of energy—just like the music. There's so much to look at; it perfectly captures the spirit of the album.
Banger after banger.
not a note out of place. capolavoro !! masterpiece of an album
Okay, I didn't think I'd give this a high score...But I was very wrong. Bono creates a connection and pulls at your heart, hard sometimes. He made me feel a few things, even at 8 a.m.
overall a stronger start (thank you “zoo station”) than that of the other u2 album i reviewed (joshua tree). “one” brings me back to when my parents would glaze u2 and try to put me on. i was wrong for not listening! “until the end of the world” has a GREAT bass line and some INSANE lyrics. probably my favorite track. however, the next track, “who’s gonna ride your wild horses” was giving KISS THE GIRL from the little mermaid with all those “sha la la’s”. “the fly” mixes genres (a bit of rap, a bit of rock, a bit of pop) really well. i also enjoyed this track more so than the others. “mysterious ways” is also a classic (which i was already familiar with). “acrobat” has some SICK instrumentals. “love is blindness” is a really sultry closer and is akin to a tango (which i love). probably my second favorite track! overall, this album is SUPER respectable and had some bangers, even if i wasn’t the biggest fan of some of the other tracks. would still rate 5/5.
Great journey, never listened to U2 through like this and it really suprised me. A nice mix of more rock, experimental, electronic... really enjoyed the listen!!!
Absolute masterpice. A collection of amazing tracks that frame the brokeness of modernity in an unique way. Yes, it's pretty melancholic, but the melancholy just lifts the message. Love it or hate it, it's a classic. A five-star classic! 10/10
Amazing - so many good songs on such an early album
Wow did not expect this much rocking and distortion on a U2 record. And it still has pop hits too on top of it. What a great record
mamma mia raga. un altro caposaldo della mia infanzia che non avevo mai ascoltato per intero. errore madornale.
I love it
The last really good U2 album.
One great track after another. They reinvented themselves and still ruled the rock world.
Like it or not U2 was a generational band defining 80s and 90s pop rock. They are surely NOT the most talented group of musicians ever assembled but they didn't have to be They wrote great songs and preformed well, entertaining millions. Argue thier peak all you want but the fact that they released at least 3 great abums over an 8yr period tells ya something
As great as I remembered. A feast of sounds and imagery, coming together with real soul to it. Love.
Achtung Baby, it's promotion, and the ensuing Zoo TV tour were flagrant and seemingly proud declarations that U2 are the biggest sellouts in the history of rock-'n'-roll. "Every artist is a cannibal, every poet is a thief. All kill their inspiration and sing about the grief." That should be Bono's epitaph. How do you go from opposing Apartheid South Africa to "I'd join the movement if there was one I could believe in"? Apartheid is still happening, and worse. Crickets from Bono and U2. And how do you write songs like Bullet the Blue Sky, Where the Streets Have No Name, and I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For and then take meetings with war criminals? But if you can somehow forget about all of that... and just objectively listen to Achtung Baby as an album of music, it is pretty great. I hated it the first time I heard it. Not only because of the above mentioned moral and ethical concerns, but because it was such a jarring departure for U2 musically. It took me years to warm to it, and listening to it again I realize I don't care about it enough to really revisit it much. But it is a great album. So 5.
Bono’s lyrics, the Edge’s guitar riffs, Larry Mullen Jr’s drums and Adam Clayton’s smooth bass! What a stellar album. I believe they’re second best next to Joshua Tree. I remember the first time I played it, Zoo Station was such a move from their previous work, but hooked me immediately. One was just magical. Played it at my wedding! So many great tracks on this album. I can still remember the Zoo TV tour concert at Jack Murphy stadium in San Diego. The stage was so amazing. Like nothing I’d ever seen for a concert before. So cutting edge, just like the album at the time, yet still true to who they were. I’ve probably seen U2 more times than any other band, besides the Cure, and never tire of their amazing talent.
Fucking loving this album, truly forgotten just how good it is saw them twice on this tour awesome.Confession I was working at Butlins UK and a friend had a U2 ticket and I was desperate to go but didn't have one. She said she was feeling unwell (nothing serious) I then proceeded to paint a nightmare scenario where by she would all but die in a concert crowd! She then gave me the ticket but would not take any money for it ☺️ Favourite lyric: In my dream I was drowning my sorrows But my sorrows, they learned to swim* *Borrowed I know from Frida Kahlo
Wow - what a great album! So many all time winning tracks.
Their best album- funky Eno mega pop with great guitar and anthemic tunes.
Honestly, I don't know if it's the nostalgia, or it just hits me better than it did when I was 22. I mean I always kind of had it high cuz I always had it at a 4½ star rating, but this is really getting close to 5 this listen. This album really is a bridge between '80s U2 and 90s U2. Now granted, I was not the biggest on *Zooropa* or *Pop*, but I always admired them for taking major chances as one of the if not the biggest band of the time. Yeah, this was kind of my end of the line with U2 not really because of this album. Yes this album had minor flip-offs to their '80s sound (especially the opening track and the first single). The next two albums basically was the big middle finger to who they once were. This album honestly is a masterpiece at teetering the the line between accessibility and trying something daring and new. *Joshua Tree* is still my only five star album by them, but this is actually pretty close. (9.85) ★★★★½
Love this album. I think it's a great example of a band doing a huge left turn, getting a little bit more experimental, but also making a super accessible album. Sounds great with Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno collaborating on the production work. Not really a dud track here, though I tend to be a little sick of the big singles compared to some of the deeper cuts. Highlights for me are "The Fly", "Until the End of the World", "Ultra Violet (Light My Way)" and "Acrobat". 5 Stars.
Really really really really really really really really great widescreen, anthemic, blockbuster dancey indie rock pop from Bono and crew. A grand overhaul and rejuvenation of their sound after the crusty dull fumblings of Rattle & Hum, a true solid classic for the 90s and also the opportunity to see bassist Adam Clayton’s ding dang on the back cover. Songs like One, Mysterious Ways and Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses are just grand slammer choons and the worst songs here aren’t really bad at all. Main only drawback of this record is that it isn’t really quite as good as The Joshua Tree. Given that Joshua Tree is ‘The Real Thing’, Bono is being quite misguided singing that Achtung Baby is Even Better Than The Real Thing. Even Faith No More’s The Real Thing I would probably put above this one. Still 5 stars for the site.
This is one of my favorite U2 albums. Mysterious ways is probably my favorite track.
Top 5 album for me. Not sure how I’ll pick a single track to be the top one, but here we go. So Cruel might have to be my darkhorse favorite track. It catches me every time. Mysterious Ways, though… More to consider Ultra Violet gets strong consideration Trying to Throw Your Arms Around the World should be considered, but JUST barely out of top 3 So Cruel for the win
Vinyl: Want Fav Song: So Cruel
This one's too damn easy. Top 10 all timer for me, when the wind is blowing right it's at the top. Doesn't matter how many times I spin it, once it starts I'm riding to the end. U2's best sounding album in my opinion, radio hits all over this one, and the non-radio stuff is just as good if not better. So Cruel, Ultra Violet, I could go on.
This album holds a lot of fond memories for me, and in my opinion is probably one of their best efforts.
I was 20 years old when this album came out. I think most of my 5 stars are a result of nostalgia....regardless, loved it then, love it now.
very good i like it
U2 gets way too much hate.
Dit is het album van U2 dat tijdens mijn jeugd uitgebracht is (15 jaar oud). Geweldig album, geweldige band. Niks meer aan veranderen!! *****
Loved it
See my review of "Joshua Tree" from May 2022. Copy/paste it here. I think one actually edges it out by a little, but both great albums.
Ugh. On paper I find U2 quite irritating. Bono is a sanctimonious fool, The Edge relies on his pedals too much, and their last 20 years are just vacuous nursery rhyme nonsense. And yet. And yet. This is why they got so big. Few bands can turn that kind of earnest post-punk rock into stadium material while keeping some depth. There are several absolute classic songs on here - in particular, The Fly is one of the weirdest songs to ever reach #1 in the UK. Years of parody haven't spoiled One or Mysterious ways. Every song sounds totally different, the rhythm section are tight. The guitars are HUGE. Yes, a few lyrics are a little clunky - "A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle" etc - but they're few and far between. In American Psycho, Patrick Bateman sees U2 perform and is unsettled by a performance of genuine emotion. Even though they may now be an example of insufferable rock star arrogance, this album is undeniably brilliant. Annoyingly so.
Excellent album - one of their best
I'm totally putting aside any notions I have about certain band members and am rating this solely on the music itself. I knew of this album and heard a couple of songs but I've never heard the whole album. I was quite surprised, I really enjoyed this album and didn't think I would. There really weren't any bad songs and there were some great songs. I love Larry Mullen Jr's drumming!
I Sony News to listen to this, this is Life soundttack
This album is U2 doing what U2 does best. Reinventing itself again, lyrics that make you think--or at least wonder what's going on, and music that you just want to play again. Favorite songs: Even Better Than The Real Thing One Until The End Of The World Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses Mysterious Ways Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World
Welp, it’s time for the last U2 album of the list. I’m sure many people would be really happy in my position, while others might crave more U2. I myself am certainly not tired of hearing U2, but I’m also not hankering for another outing with their albums, you know? Fortunately, I ended up finishing with what many consider to be the band’s magnum opus, Achtung Baby from 1991. This and its predecessor, the equally acclaimed The Joshua Tree, are generally seen as the two top dogs of U2 albums. Do I agree? Yes. Yes I do. I’m not even sure which of these albums is better! I think Achtung Baby does a great job of distinguishing itself from The Joshua Tree. When you make an album as hugely successful as that one was, most bands would probably try to recapture that success in a safe way. U2 actually managed to go against that a bit with Achtung Baby by making something a bit different. I love it! The sound kind of harkens a bit back to the earlier days of albums like War, with a bit of foreshadowing for later releases, mixed in with things that make the album itself special. The songs have good balance between more abrasive and polished songs. Of course, I have to specifically call out “One” as being a real gem of a song. The instrumentation is pretty varied, which actually gives this album a bit of an advantage over The Joshua Tree for me since I felt that album was a bit repetitive of on the sound front. I still enjoy the core of U2. Overall, I can definitely see why people call this their best album. I myself am a bit torn, but it’s close enough for me to give this the same score as The Joshua Tree, which happens to be a low 5/5.
„Achtung Baby“ ist das siebte Studioalbum der irischen Band U2. Es wurde in mehreren Aufnahmestudios produziert, darunter die Hansa Studios in Berlin sowie Studios in Dublin. Das Album markiert eine deutliche stilistische Veränderung, die sich von den vorherigen Rock- und Arena-Sounds der Band entfernt und stärkere Einflüsse aus Alternative Rock, Industrial und elektronischer Musik aufweist. Besonders hervorzuheben sind Stücke wie „One“, das mit seinem ruhigen, melancholischen Charakter zu den bekanntesten Liedern der Band zählt, sowie „Mysterious Ways“ und „The Fly“, die den experimentelleren Klang des Albums widerspiegeln. Der Gesamtsound ist geprägt von verzerrten Gitarren, elektronischen Elementen und einem oft dunkleren Ton. Mit diesem Album hat U2 ihre musikalische Richtung erweitert und sich klanglich neu erfunden. Es gilt als ein bedeutender Wendepunkt in ihrer Karriere und hatte einen großen Einfluss auf die Rockmusik der 1990er-Jahre.
up the lads
What a great, nostalgic listen! U2 gets a lot of hate today but I still love them, maybe because I found them during their early days. Either way, this was touted as a critically acclaimed shift to a new sound for the band at a time that their sound was getting stale. And it hits for me, start to finish. While the whole album is great, I gotta call out “One” as one of the best songs of the 90s; the songwriting is so sublime that it can make me cry depending on my mood. Like all great art it resonates on multiple levels, from romantic and personal to socially conscious and universal. “Mysterious Ways” is nearly as good.
My favorite album by any artist. The songs can be listened to individually but really work better as a whole piece. They work so well playing off of each other. Highlights: "Zoo Station" (perfect opening track, sets the mood and shows the band's stylistic change), "Even Better Than the Real Thing" (interesting double tracking of Bono's vocals--one higher pitched than the other. Also, nice guitar textures from The Edge.), "Until the End of the World" (nice percussion and a deeper vocal performance from Bono), "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" (so much emotion in the wall of guitars and Bono's lyrics and vocals), "So Cruel" (the repeating piano riff is subtle, but memorable), "The Fly" (similar vibe to "Zoo Station" with more intriguing lyrics by Bono), "Mysterious Ways" (a classic), "Ultra Violet (Light My Way)" (slow burner, but the music and vocals gain passion as it goes on)
Phenomenal remastering.
Listened Before? Oh Yes. "Her skin is pale like god's only dove screams like an angel for your love but then she makes you watch her, from above... And you need her like a drug" Added to Library? Y Songs added to playlist: Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World
Great album. It might be their last "great" album. This was one of the soundtracks of my college years.
I go back and forth between whether "Achtung Baby" or "The Joshua Tree" is U2's best album. The album is a total surprise that resurrected U2 from a stylistic rut. The grating electronic rock of the opening tune, "Zoo Station," signals such a break from the arguably pretentious "Rattle and Hum period, followed immediately by another anti-Joshua Tree song, "Even Better Than the Real Thing." And "One" is a transcendent song. U2 at the top of its game.
Favorite tracks: Zoo Station, So Cruel, Mysterious Ways, Ultra Violet Knew the hits but never listened to the album before. I liked it on the first listen, loved it on the second. This is so up my alley. Unique, passionate, genre-merging. I think I take for granted how distinctive U2's sound is. Also, Mysterious Ways is such, SUCH a good song. God, the energy!!!
One of the greatest albums of the early 90s; U2 at their best. If you haven't ever heard this album, why not?!
I probably like this more than most people. Since if it is nostalgia, but there are also since great songs here. Here's a question: How do I love U2 but hate Coldplay?
A profoundly important album for me growing up. It holds up and is awesome!
Videos made it even more enjoyable 5/5
Great album as far as I'm concerned. Definitely one for my collection, so I'm giving it five stars.
This is #day197 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and... I can't believe this is the third consecutive 5 out of 5 album this week. My first conscious exposure to U2 came in 2004 when I was 14. The Vertigo video aired on the M1 channel here in Ukraine, and suddenly, there was this "new" band to pay attention to. I asked my mother to buy me a CD of How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (though I didn’t quite remember the album’s name and wrote "How to Explain an Atomic Bomb" on the paper—“Dismantle” was a word I didn’t know back then). Over time, though, I was a bit disappointed, as I expected more songs of Vertigo caliber. That said, Miracle Drug, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, and especially City of Blinding Lights are still some of my favorites. Eventually, I gave the CD to my cousin, which I now regret. As time passed and I grew older, I rediscovered U2. I remember anticipating No Line on the Horizon, which I also own on CD. As for How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, I recently bought the 20th-anniversary vinyl reissue, which is gorgeous and a way to make up for my earlier mistake (Yes, having a physical copy of an album is essential to me). But let’s focus on Achtung Baby... This is U2's experimental album. It's an album where they reinvented themselves. While still stadium rock at its core, it mixes alternative rock, industrial, and electronic dance music, giving it that quintessentially 90s feel. The Zoo TV tour was spectacular, and Anton Corbijn’s photography from this era is iconic. With Love Is Blindness on this record, how could anyone rate it a 1? There are so many great songs here, Acrobat being a hidden gem. Don't let the bastards grind you down. Looking forward to #day198.
Still brilliant after all these
👍🏼
Loved it
Achtually Blander, but I’m ashamed to say I really enjoyed it.
Once considered one of the greatest bands of the 80’s and 90’s, it seems as of late that U2 is now considered a band that has overstayed its welcome. Admittedly, I haven’t really listened to nor sought out any ‘new’ U2 (especially from the 2010’s or 2020’s) but I can honestly say that Achtung Baby is my favourite U2 album (and definitely one of my favourites of all time). For context, I was a latecomer to the U2 phenomenon. At their peak, I had only heard and enjoyed a few of their songs and the first album I had listened to was (the underrated?) Zooropa. Zooropa was beloved by my then girlfriend and I liked it well enough to seek out more in their back catalogue. I found that Achtung Baby had been their previous release, didn’t recall any songs from the album, so I started there. My mind was blown! I was not prepared by their fierce, dense sound and their unrelenting, pulsating energy. It felt so fresh and modern. I remember thinking to myself that I had never heard anything like it before. And I loved it! Listening to it again (and it’s been awhile) I’m reminded of the first time I heard it - every new song seems to be even better than the last song, and every other song seems destined to be one of the best songs of all time. I can admit it’s definitely an album of the 90’s, but that sound is still thrilling and charming. Interestingly enough, my recent listen reminds me of The Beatles’ Revolver album - where a band enjoyed experimenting with all kinds of new-to-them sounds, exhilarated by the freedom to - deliberately - defy expectations. Achtung Baby pushed and pulled their ‘U2 sound’ and the results are delightfully dizzying. It’s a fun listen because the band seems to be having the best time while effortlessly reaching new career heights! Bono, The Edge, Adam and Larry are at the peaks of their creative powers, constantly taking unexpected and exciting turns (no doubt in large part to the encouragement of an electric trio of producers - Steve Lillywhite, Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno!). It’s a long album (a product of the age of the CD?) but every song is irresistibly memorable. As much as I still love this album, and I do, there is a slight sadness that hangs over it. As U2 leapt into the 1990’s with such ferocity and eagerness, in hindsight, it’s a shame that every album since has never come close to capturing this lightning in a bottle effort again. They’ve made good and enjoyable albums but Achtung Baby remains their best work. I would love to see U2 prove me wrong and pull off another masterpiece. My Favourite Songs? (I do love them all but here are 5 I really really love): Even Better Than the Real Thing Until the End of the World So Cruel Mysterious Ways Ultra Violet (Light My Way)
What an awesome band U2 are!
Fuck u2
A complete reinvention unlike any other band in history. A master class of sonic waves, lyrical prowess and a complete understanding of the post Berlin message. This is unlike any other album out there and is a true work of art.
Woah. It’s like U2 but really good. Elaborate and deliberate. 4.7
The last good U2 album? Loved this growing up, for nostalgic reasons going to give a 5 rather than 4.
Reminded me why I bought this tape back in college. Love is Blindness is a great one.
Ok
10/10
★★★★¾
Light 5 mi ha beccato nel Mood perfetto Mi ha messo nostalgia anche se non l ho mai ascoltato prima
Achtung achtung, dieses Album ist eine echte Überraschung
Für mich das Beste Album von U2. Elektro meets Songwriting. Klirrende Gitarre meet tiefe Gefühle. Hammer gut.
i see you
Another one I hadn't listened to in a long time. Enjoyed it as much as I did back when it came out.
Once heck of an Album. It's either this or Joshua Tree for U2s best album.
Nicht das beste U2 Album aber immer noch eine der besten Platten.
There may be no album that I've listened to more than this one, and almost all those listens came when I was 13 to 15 years old. I never listen to this anymore. Probably haven't in 25 to 30 years and I still know every note. How do you judge nostalgia?
Another college staple. U2 was huge in high school and this record was a big departure from those earlier records. I loved this though and it’s probably my favorite from them. Still never seen these guys live - I think I’ll still have a chance. That said everything after this record is complete trash. Totally overrated. After listening in its entirety for the first time in years I can say the pacing of this record is outstanding. Great flow. This album is a 5. Great stuff.
Today’s album is brought to you by one of my funko’s and his brother. Quite enjoyed it. Love the Britishness of it. Also, girlboss father likes the band, so obviously loved much. Great sound overall. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This record was a game changer for U2. Great song after great song. "One" is always a gut wrencher for me
Never really listened to this when it came out and have regretted it. What a fantastic album, especially after Rattle and Hum which I wasn’t keen on.
Fuck yeah
This album and Joshua Tree. chefs kiss!
This is one of my favorite albums.
Great record, no skips. Their best record.
Stonking classic.
A fav of all time. such a good reinvention and Enos production is excellent
The one with "The Fly". The one with "Mysterious Ways". The one with "Even Better Than The Real Thing". The one with "Until The End Of The World". And finally, yes, the one with "ONE". To be a little more specific, it's the one album where U2 realized they could go for somewhat more abrasive moods and off-kilter, borderline "industrial" flourishes at times, along with a sly, more cynical outlook with postmodernist overtones, instead of their usual wide-eyed elatedness. Given that you also have a fair share of ballads and heartfelt feelings in the record (such as the emotions found in "One"), the whole is quite well-balanced, allowing the Irish band to enter the nineties without looking too much at odds with the quick sonic evolution of those pivotal years, and therefore prolonging their relevance for a little while (as sales figures proved). The times they were a-changing *again* and heading to Berlin right after the fall of the wall, along with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois as producers to catch the mood of those years, was probably the right move. Up to that point, Bono, The Edge and co. had always been sly foxes, both artistically and business-wise, and *Achtung Baby* didn't disappoint on that front. But what really matters is that the music still had the distinctive U2 touch in spite of the recent change of mood. *Achtung Baby* was not exactly the same sort of work of the band had accomplished before. And yet they managed to stay as relevant as they were for pop culture at large. Some walls have fallen sooner because of erosion or unpredictable revolutions, after all. 4.5/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums, rounded up to 5 9.5/10 for more general purposes (5 + 4.5) Number of albums left to review: around a hundred, as I've gone over the 1000 line and this generator is including albums from all editions of the book Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 437 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 258 Albums from the list I won't include in mine: 319
Little overrated but still a huge album and very good
Some of my closest friends HATE U2 with a passion, I mean REALLY hate them. Some U2 'douchebaggery' is warranted. Bono can be an outspoken twat. Adam Clayton can't play bass and often looks like a complete dick (ironic as his dick appeared in a photograph on the back of the vinyl edition of this album). Even I didn't want 'Songs of Innocence' the free album they 'gave' everyone in 2014 that apple helped us to remove from our accounts by having to introduce a new 'remove' option. I'm also against bands with multiple entries in this 1001 challenge unless their sound or musical approach has changed. I'm gonna let this one pass as a multiple entry as it marks a departure from their previous sound and a cool collaboration with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois (a pair of awesome dudes). It's also a very nostalgic album, 1991 was a big year for 19 year old me! Most of my peers were fans of the classic U2 sound (Joshua tree, war etc) but this album had flavors of alt rock, industrial and even dance and hit a sweet spot for me. The sounds that the EDGE generates with his guitar/effects/processors is next level. My fav tracks are: Ultraviolet (the Killers do an amazing cover) Love is blindness (Jack Black does an amazing cover) Mysterious Ways and obviously One! (there is an awesome version, not cover, of this song by Chris Cornell, https://youtu.be/MG9nqWoLjns?si=mDm4dTqMAM5iIusZ It seems an embarrassing thing to say these days, but this is my favorite U2 album, and I do like this band. There, I said it.
Stunning album and an instant favourite from its release, and still one of my ‘go to’ albums to this day. It was a complete change from the 1980s U2. I didn’t think they’d make a better album than the Joshua Tree, but this comes very close. The introduction of the distortion to the guitars mixed with a very dancey foundation to a lot of tracks was new for them. Even Better Than The Real Thing is perfection. No bad songs on here, just happy memories of a very care free time. I also love the album cover, and all of the artwork surrounding its release and the visuals for their tour and their videos from this era too. Happy happy days.
Essential album in rock history. You can feel the Brian Eno's contribution all over the place (I may have a soft spot for this one because I absolutely love Bowie's Berlin period). U2 were top of the game and weren't afraid of reinventing themselves. Also, considering some of my prior reviews, I must admit than the historical reputation of this album is actually matched by its delivery.
Il faut que je vous avoue un truc : ma relation avec U2 a toujours été compliquée, pour ne pas dire schizophrène. Dans les années 80, pour le mec qui passait ses nuits à user des vinyles de The Cure, Joy Division ou Sonic Youth. U2, c'était l'ennemi, c'était le gigantisme, la grandiloquence, le rock de stade messianique et boursouflé. Bono et sa coupe mulet, ses sermons sur l'Afrique entre deux hymnes fédérateurs, ça me filait de l'urticaire. "The Joshua Tree" était un grand disque mais "Rattle and Hum", avec son documentaire prétentieux en noir et blanc, avait achevé de les transformer en caricature d'eux-mêmes. Ils s'étaient peints tout seuls dans un coin, condamnés à être les gentils sauveurs du monde pour l'éternité. Alors en 1991, quand on a entendu parler d'un nouvel album, franchement, l'indifférence était polie. On s'attendait à une redite, à un "Joshua Tree 2.0", avec des guitares encore plus "cristallines" et des textes encore plus "engagés" et sur ce point on avait tort, tellement tort. Puis est arrivé "The Fly". Ce premier single, c'était un choc. Un "appel téléphonique de l'enfer", comme l'a dit Bono lui-même. Fini le son clair de The Edge, place à une guitare saturée, distordue, sale. La voix de Bono n'était plus celle du prêcheur, elle était filtrée, sardonique, presque méchante. Qu'est-ce qui s'était passé ? Ce qui s'était passé, c'est Berlin. Sentant le besoin de "tout réinventer", le groupe est parti enregistrer dans la capitale allemande réunifiée, là où Bowie, sous la houlette d'un certain Brian Eno, avait lui-même accouché de sa trilogie la plus audacieuse. Et comme pour Bowie, Berlin a servi de catalyseur, mais aussi de révélateur d'une crise profonde. Les sessions étaient tendues, le groupe au bord de l'implosion, dans le doute permanent. C'est dans cette obscurité, ce chaos, qu'ils ont trouvé la lumière. "Achtung Baby" est un disque de déconstruction, c'est le son de U2 qui tue U2. L'album s'ouvre sur "Zoo Station" et son riff de guitare qui sonne comme une scie sauteuse industrielle. On est à des années-lumière des plaines du Far West, on est dans une usine désaffectée, sous les néons blafards. L'influence de l'électro, de la musique industrielle de l'époque (on pense à Nine Inch Nails, à Ministry) est palpable. C'est un disque qui sent le cuir, la fumée froide et le métal. Les producteurs Brian Eno et Daniel Lanois ont poussé le groupe dans ses derniers retranchements, les forçant à abandonner leurs vieilles recettes pour explorer des textures sonores inédites. Le résultat est un album froid, oui, mais d'une beauté glaciale. Il est théâtral, sombre, et d'une richesse incroyable. Même les tubes planétaires qui s'y cachent sont à double fond. "Mysterious Ways" est un funk déglingué et hypnotique, et puis il y a "One". Le slow ultime des années 90 car tout le monde a cru que c'était une chanson d'amour, l'hymne à l'unité. Bono s'en est toujours amusé : "Les gens me disent qu'ils l'ont passée à leur mariage. Vous êtes fous ? C'est une chanson sur la rupture !". Il y aurait juste un bémol, l'album manque cruellement d'énergie "rock" brute car "Achtung Baby" est un disque qui se vit plus de l'intérieur. L'énergie n'est pas dans le tempo, elle est dans la tension, dans les textures, dans le conflit permanent entre la mélodie et le bruit. A une exception, "Acrobat" qui est peut-être le morceau le plus sous-estimé de leur répertoire. C'est une tornade de rage contenue, une rythmique nerveuse et complexe sur laquelle Bono crache sa bile. C'est le coeur noir et battant de l'album, le moment où le vernis craque complètement pour laisser voir le muscle et le nerf. À la radio, à l'époque, j'était déboussolés et je passait ce U2-là entre un morceau de Ride et un autre de The Jesus and Mary Chain. Ils avaient brouillé les pistes. Étaient-ils devenus "indie" ? Non, bien sûr que non. Ils étaient devenus autre chose, ils avaient réussi ce que très peu de groupes de leur stature parviennent à faire : un virage à 180 degrés, une prise de risque absolue qui s'est transformée en triomphe artistique. Pour moi, "Achtung Baby" n'est pas seulement à égalité avec "The Joshua Tree". Il lui est supérieur, car si "The Joshua Tree" était l'aboutissement parfait de leur première vie. "Achtung Baby" lui est le début, infiniment plus courageux et passionnant, de leur seconde. C'est l'album qui a prouvé qu'ils n'étaient pas juste le plus grand groupe du monde, mais aussi l'un des plus intelligents. Un 5/5 sans discussion possible. C'est leur chef-d'oeuvre. L'album qui m'a fait, pour un temps, ravaler mon cynisme et admettre que, oui, U2 pouvait être un très, très grand groupe.
Gritty and glimmering, this album pulls you in with its mix of dark and bright sounds. It’s a bit like Bowie’s Berlin phase but cranked up. Synths resonate alongside edgy guitars, creating a vibe that’s both moody and catchy. There’s tension and release, a back-and-forth that feels just right.
Pretty great
Looove
Albumi #103, 08.11.2024 Achtung Baby oli omana yläasteaikanani yksi päräyttävimmistä musiikkikokemuksista. Levyn soundi oli Joshua Treehen verrattuna jotain todella erilaista ja bändin habitus loikkasi aimo harppauksen kiinnostavampaan suuntaan. Yksi merkittävimpiä albumikokonaisuuksia oman matkani varrella.
This album got worn out by playing so often back in ‘91. Actually it was a CD. A great example of a band reinventing its sound. Not a bad song on the album, I mean CD.
Piece of art. Love it
Wonderful album
What can I say other than Achtung Baby is one of the best albums of the ‘90s? https://richcain.substack.com/p/project-1001-achtung-baby-by-u2?r=4ztyq
I liked it. U2 just gives such a positive 90s vibe
U2 has reinvented themselves a few times in their career. Of all the first albums in each reinvention process, Achtung Baby is my favorite. I'm well aware that U2 is absolutely not for everyone, I understand. But for me I like them a lot and this album ranks high on the list of my favorite albums by them. Achtung Baby is worthy of being on this list. It's well produced and has a great order to the songs. The album is a departure of what they had been doing. In no way did this album break a musical mold, but it did break a U2 mold and opened them up for the electronic period they embraced soon after.
I'm unironically angry at how good this album is. I want to continue to think of U2 as being pretentious, generic leftover 80's pop-rock.
Back when I really enjoyed U2, and at the height of the MTV era.
01) Zoo Station - 10,0 02) Even Better Than The Real Thing - 10,0 03) One - 10,0 04) Until The End Of The World - 10,0 05) Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses - 10,0 06) So Cruel - 10,0 07) The Fly - 10,0 08) Mysterious Ways - 10,0 09) Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World - 10,0 10) Ultra Violet (Light My Way) - 10,0 11) Acrobat - 10,0 12) Love Is Blindness - 10,0 TOTAL: 10,0 (100/100) Current ranking: 5/341 I took my 1991 "Achtung Baby" cassette tape off the shelf, who knows if it would still play? I think it's so worn out from listening, at school it was borrowed all over the class. The covers are worn from being turned around in my hands... I loved this album and I still love it now, 33 years after. For me, this is the best U2 album and one of my favorite albums in general. Favorite song? They changed over the years. It used to be "One" and "So Cruel" and currently it's "Zoo Station" because I visited Berlin just last week so the memories are still fresh :-)
Pre Bono being a douchebag. This is solid front to back
I can finally give U2 a 5. We’ve gotten two different U2 albums before this – 1983’s “War”, and 2000’s “All That You Can’t Leave Behind”, so this falls pretty much right in the middle of those two albums. Those averaged out to a 3.5, and I could never really give either album a 5 because I just didn’t think it hit on a consistent level of quality and thematics throughout the listening experience. This album does that in spades and more – this is a fully coherent album from front to back, with not a single solitary miss (ok, maybe “Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World” is a little too hokey, but shh). The band is on fire, Bono’s vocals have genuinely never sounded better to me, and ultimately, this is just a joy to listen to and a kind of triumph for 1991. I noted it several times while listening, but a lot of this sound felt like a more refined version of “All That You Can’t Leave Behind” to me – that’s a lot of praise, I think. This sort of soundscape is what traditional rock returned to in the late 90s after its collective grunge era brought on by Nirvana and Pearl Jam, so to hear it in 1991 just tells me that U2 were a bit ahead of the curve. That’s not to say the influence of grunge and industrial rock isn’t felt all over this album, it just doesn’t dominate the entire thing, and for my ears, after the amount of 90s grunge we’ve gotten, is deeply refreshing. There is a middle ground somewhere in there, and I’d say this album strikes that middle ground perfectly. I could keep going, and try to break down individual tracks, but I feel like whatever words I write couldn’t do them justice (although huge shoutout to “One”, that’s my first time hearing it and it was incredible to me). This is absolutely worth the listen, and beyond deserving to be on the list. Just a stellar album, and an easy 5.
Increíble. El mejor disco de U2. Esto justifica hasta las últimas cosas que sacaron que están bastante feas.
This is very close to a 5 for me - I decided I have too much nostalgia about this one to be properly objective and rated it a 4 to be more realistic. I spent a LOT of time with this record when I was a kid. It was the first CD I ever bought and for a while it was the only CD I had! I know this record inside-and-out and there's so much I love about it. I love the diverging guitar/bass parts in some of these tracks. The Fly is doing it for me right now but it’s a thing they were into in this era. The Edge has som really really rad guitar stuff on this record. I would love a remaster that pulls the vocals back and lets the guitar through a bit better. Of course that’s part of The Edge’s charm also that he’s ‘way back there’ in the mix so much I forgot the fantastic guitar solo in the last track Love Is Blindness. It’s a good perf from Bono but that is like an Edge/Lanois opus - really fantastic guitar stuff I always kind of wish One wasn’t on this record - it’s got a different rep from being mega overplayed on every radio station and early-2000s TV drama I was a huge fan of Wild Horses when I was a kid and it lived up to my memory. I think that might actually be my favourite track. Mysterious Ways is obviously the big kicker on this one and I feel like it's aged really well. It sounds like it's from 1990-ish but it doesn't feel old. Oh screw it 5 stars.
yes
U2 at their best.
I loved this tour
It isn't my favorite U2 album, but it is still damn good. "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" is one of my favorite of their songs, and "Love Is Blindness" might actually be my favorite (especially The Edge's solo performance). Then you have "One", "Even Better Than The Real Thing", and "Mysterious Ways" are all also just fantastic songs. Just a fantastic album!
Man I loved this album when it dropped. Still do but don’t revisit that often. Had been a U2 fan since War, but Rattle and Hum left me cheesed out. When I heard first bars of Zoo Station kick off I was back in. Perfect marriage of lyrics, song, performance and production. And it hit me at a time in my young adult life where a lot of it felt personal, and that lives long. Several sections still bring me close to tears. I should probably see a doctor for that.
Great album songs plus some of the best of the classic. Such a great album. I really like it! What is that? U2?
One of my favorite albums of all time. First time I listened to it I actually hated it. But then I spent some time with it and now love it. Their best by far.
Great bass lines, melodious and duschirdant at the same time- catchy!
One of their best and one of the best of all time
Strong album. I listened a couple times because it grew on me the more I relaxed into its sound and the more familiar it became. I really like some of the deeper cuts too. The 1 star reviews by some on this site seem completely unserious and childish. Just had to say that.
It's hard for me to judge U2 objectively, because they were such a huge part of my youth. But, it has been a long time since I listened to this album the whole way through, so it sounds quite fresh. This really was a big departure from U2's earlier work, and their experiments really paid off. It's arguably their last great album - and definitely their creative peak. There are some really interesting sounds on this; right from the start with the industrial intro to Zoo Station, the jagged electronic sounding guitar on Mysterious Ways, and the growling bass and vocals on The Fly. I thought I would have found One hard to listen to, since it was so overplayed, but I was actually quite moved listening to it again yesterday. The production is fantastic as well, Brian Eno doing his usual excellent work. I forgot just how dark the lyrics on this are, and I think I most of the allusions to the German reunification and the Bible went over my head listening to this as a young teenager. So I enjoyed having a read of the meanings of the lyrics on the deeper cuts like Until the End of The World, Acrobat, and Love is Blindness.
This is the first of many comeback LPs that U2 would release. They reinvented themselves for the 1990s, and it's an effective move. The album still holds up.
This is, hands down, U2s best album (with Rattle & Hum being a close, but somehow different second). Produced by Brian Eno and engineered by Flood, U2 completely reinvented themselves, after having achieved everything possible with the sound of their first five studio albums, culminating in the Joshua Tree. There is relly not a single bad song on the album; The Fly, One, Mysterious Ways, and many more show what the band could achieve when they didn't take themselves too seriously and when Bono got rid of his messiah complex. 5/5
Too much of my real life is wrapped up in this one. I was 16-17. At my most objective I have to say, as U2 albums go, this is pretty solid all the way through. You can quibble over melodramatic lyrics or what have you, but at the end of the day, that's the DNA of U2. And this is probably the last time it really worked.
while u2 was already a critically acclaimed band at this point, achtung baby was where the band reinvented their sound and image to a more electronic dance/alternative influenced one. this was a gamble that paid off tremendously in that it launched the band into the stratosphere commercially. i am admittedly mostly a casual fan of the band, but this is my favourite u2 album. it is brilliant from start to finish and one of the best albums of the 90’s, a decade full of great music. highlights: “even better than the real thing” “one” “mysterious ways” “love is blindness”
I love this album. It's sad what U2 has become at this point. One is a great song, absolutely beautiful. So Cruel wasn't a single, but it's a great song as well. Mysterious Way is another great U2 song. I think this is an undoubtedly better album than The Joshua Tree. Better hits (One beat With or Without You for greatest U2 song) and much better album cuts. Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around the World is another great album cut. I like relationship U2 better than political U2.