Achtung Baby - U2 > Reviews > Different Sounds - Same brilliance.

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Groundbreaking
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Songs, Lyrics, Sounds, world domination
Disadvantages:	absolutely none

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I am not your average U2 fan. Being a heavy rocker most of my teenage years, U2 were almost a dirty word since Kerrang controversially called them the New Led Zep! Sacrilege we cried! and hurried off to our Motley Crue albums ( i was 15 for gods sake!)

I guess what put me off U2 most wasn't their music as much as their neo-political image - I thought they were just too goddam preachy! I liked the songs off Rattle n Hum which give me an insight into their earlier work and even a heavy rocker would have been really blinded not to have noticed The Joshua Tree.

So I admit it...I sneaked a listen to the Joshua Tree - but other than the singles- all of which are stunning - I felt the rest of that album still reeked a bit of prechiness. Again, my dalliance with U2 was checked.

Then Achtung Baby came along and my girlfriend bought it and I only breifly listened to it. Then on one holiday abroad I stuck it on in between Pearl Jam albums I guess, and really listened to it. I don't think I listened to much else that holiday.

I could be wrong but I felt the lyrics were just that little bit more biographical and a little less preachy. I like that. The lyrics to songs like The Fly are just outstanding.

The overall sound is just enormous. After Led Zep, U2 must have one of the best rhythm sections in rock. Nothing flashy, just insistent and in keeping with the music. The Edge's work is just what sets U2 apart though - the guitar sounds, the riffs, the textures.

Bono is a great singer and again his voice finds a texture it never found before, in my humble opinion.

Unlike The Joshua Tree, I love every song on this album (Mysterious Ways being my least favourite, but i understand the appeal). Songs which don't get an awful lot of fanfare - Acrobat, Trying To Throw Your Arms Around The World, Ultra Violet, Zoo Station - all great songs.

As a midway convert to U2, I guess i don't have the same baggage about their 'departure' in style as some of their older New Wave era fans will. But it allowed me to get into them, and i have gone backwards into their catalogue and it has taught me how narrow minded a music fan i was...but salvation was at hand.

I won't do the boring track rundown thing - this album is a classic - if you don't have it in your cd collection- it is a cd collection in name only.