december hotel
U2

Album Review

Achtung Baby

Track Listing

  1. Zoo Station (4:36)
  2. Even Better Than the Real Thing (3:41)
  3. One (4:36)
  4. Until the End of the World (4:39)
  5. Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses (5:16)
  6. So Cruel (5:49)
  7. The Fly (4:29)
  8. Mysterious Ways (4:04)
  9. Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World (3:53)
  10. Ultra Violet (Light My Way) (5:31)
  11. Acrobat (4:30)
  12. Love Is Blindness (4:23)

Album Review

What does postmodernism sound like? Well, since you ask, I refer you to track one, "Zoo Station." Seriously, this album captures a cultural shift amazingly well. The shift that happened to U2 between Rattle and Hum and this album is the same shift that the world has been experiencing. As The Unforgettable Fire sounded like Slane Castle to me, this album sounds like Berlin in 1990.

Sociology aside, this album kicks some serious ass. I consider Achtung Baby to be U2's most complete and cohesive album. U2 were at their peak here. I think Bono's voice peaked with Achtung Baby, and I think their sound peaked here as well.

I think that once Achtung Baby was out, they really had nowhere new to go that would be as good, so they just went nuts and experimented with other stuff in the '90s. I guess that's why, for me, U2 just need to make more music like this. If they brought together their styles from the '80s, mixed in the edginess of Achtung Baby, and kept cranking out albums, I'd be a happy man.

For me, the standout song from Achtung Baby is "So Cruel." Don't ask why, but as the years pass, this song just gets better and better.

Review by Chris

Album Review

Few musical acts have reinvented themselves as dramatically as Irish group U2 did when they entered the '90s. To ensure their survival for the next ten years and retain the unofficial title of the "Biggest Band in the World," they moved from the organic rock of '80s classics such as The Joshua Tree toward emerging electronic sounds.

Throughout the next decade, they dazzled the world with elaborate stage shows and lead singer Bono's many personalities, including The Fly and MacPhisto. What started it all was the post-Cold War, post-Berlin Wall, postmodern smash Achtung Baby. Its twelve songs ranged from the simple yet beautiful "One" to the dance-inflected "Even Better Than the Real Thing" and the funky, mystical "Mysterious Ways."

With five hit singles, U2 had the blueprint for the perfect rock album for the '90s. At the time, the question was whether they could do it again in the next century.

Review by atlantismusic

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