Achtung Baby - U2

Artist: U2 Album: Achtung Baby (1991) It may surprise one or two people on here, but I like quite a few albums by U2. That is to say I like U2 up to and including Zooropa (1993). Since then they've become as dull and predictable as The Rolling Stones. Today they embody everything that is musically wrong about rock music, yet twelve years ago they released a cutting edge album that caught many a listener on the hop. After the indulgent, yet in ...
...the sound of the band." Achtung Baby is in every sense a brave record. Larry Mullen's drumming bows respectfully to hip-hop/baggy sounds without sounding over the top. Adam Clayton's basses are slick and give a brooding, late-night feel to the slower tracks. Most crucially The Edge's guitars are captivating. Whether it's the wall of sound guitars of "Zoo Station", the angular shapes he makes on "...End Of The World" or the stunningly innovative lead ...

andystrong 08.12.2003 · Read full review
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Review of Achtung Baby - U2

...of the bunch from 1991’s Achtung Baby album and a huge No 1 single. They were fresh faced, wide eyed young things with acne and attitude when they started, but by the time that the dark vistas of that single swamped everything else on Top of the Pops that week, that month, that year, this band had conquered America, conquered our hearts, conquered their nerves and became the epitome of COOL. While partly recorded in Dublin, much of the album emerged ...
...he always abhorred), although by Achtung Baby the joy had partly given way to dramatics, dynamics and twisted bitterness as Bono developed from a snot nosed kid to a sleazy, cynical adult, rarely seen without his wraparound shades and affected sneer, a sort of Elvis for the 90’s but having traded the hamburgers in for a line of coke and film star cool. Bono was always the leader, the angel, the brain, but it was The Edge who was the spirit, the ...

dave27 17.09.2002 · Read full review
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Review of Achtung Baby - U2

After U2 announced at the end of the Lovetown Tour in 1989 that they were going to have to go away and dream it all up again a lot of people believed this was the end of the worlds biggest band. What actually happened was the band took a few years to re-invent themselves and return with a fresh new sound. There are not many bands around that could do this and there are even less that would be willing to take the gamble, especially given U2's position. ...
...U2's heaviest album, which has the most throwaway title. This was apparently intentional, as it would mislead people who read too much into titles. So getting to the music itself was it worth the wait? Zoo Station (4:36) ================== The album opens with this track. It is an excellent opener. This was more evident when it was the opening track at the ZOO TV tour. The track starts off with heavy use of guitars. Bono's voice is almost unrecognisable ...

tommy7 11.03.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Achtung Baby - U2

After their trip into the American heartlands to rediscover their roots on the "Rattle and Hum" U2 returned home for their next foray into the recording studio. Well they overshot by several hundred miles and ended up in Berlin / East Germany for "Achtung Baby" as you may have guessed from the title. Like Bowie and Eno on the Low album they took in the industrial influences for the latest instalment in their musical journey. The cover is a montage ...
...included a controversial full frontal picture of a certain band member that leaves his religion in no doubt (this is on the back cover).. The album opens very quietly with a distant cowbell (musicians cowbell not cow's cowbell) , which is joined by some industrial noise and superb slurring guitar riff by the Edge taking into the stunning "Zoo Station". This is the track I took my title from and the lyrics are appropriate. "Are You Ready For the ...

mikeydred 10.04.2001 · Read full review
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...have friends who feel that Achtung Baby is just a little too different to even be compared to the Joshua Tree, but I beg to differ. This album has been an unfailing source of entertainment and enjoyment to me since I purchased it nearly 10 years ago. It's hard to believe that it's been that long since it was released. Achtung Baby contains many tunes about the complexity of relationships. Relationships would be a bore if they were too easy, and ...
..."Even Better Than The Real Thing," it is evident that this man is begging the object of his affection/ adulation to just give him one more chance to prove himself as a worthy lover. It is as though he has put this person on a pedestal, and most likely for the wrong reasons. In the song, "One," the theme is hurt and the inability to make another person happy. This is so often a frustrating point in relationships, when one person is trying and trying ...

Pelenya 29.07.2001 · Read full review
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...TV tour to promote the Achtung Baby album, which, apart from Stay (Faraway So Close), which for me is an underrated excellent ballad, is a forgettable album, Passengers and Pop, which were also influenced by the music comming from Europe, This is a new direction from the classic album of The Josua Tree and The Unforgettable Fire, which are filled with Stadium Rock anthems, which, at that point had defined U2. This is really Europop meets Rock and ...
...know that you are in for an interesting journey indeed. - Zoo Station is a Railway station in Berlin, the European Influence sets itself out from the start. My favourite track is the soft ballad of One, which, although it is regarded as a soft 'love ballad', is actually about breaking up. I am able to listen to this track over and over again and never get tired of hearing it. They have recently re-worked it with Mary J Blythe singing the most of ...

charlesnewton 28.10.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Achtung Baby - U2

After some of the best albukms ever released of the eighties, U2 did it again and plucked this fine offering out of the bag. EVery track is as good as the last, except Love is Blindness, but no track could follow acrobat and succeed. Zoo Station a modern rock brilliant. Even better tha n the real thing is another great song and One is a beautiful slow love song that will have you in tears. Until the end of the world picks up the pace, and Who's Going ...
...straight from the mind of Bono. So Cruel is a slow rock song that you will be singing along to, and The Fly, one of U2 ' s number one hits is sheer genius from Edge's guitar. Mysterious Ways is another one of Edge's guitar master mind, and as the album approaches Acrobat you better get ready to tap your hands on the nearest available surface. ...

jelfsy16 10.09.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Achtung Baby - U2

...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 ...
...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 ...

Ajaygee 06.10.2005 · Read full review
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...broadcasts from around the world. This tour also saw Bono telephone the President of the US live, a pizza delivary company ('I'd like to order 10000 pizza's for detroit')and many more. Achtung Baby is a must buy, and if you can spare the cash, so is ZooTV live from Sydney. ...

TomHolt 14.07.2000 · Read full review
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...to (my favourite U2 album) Achtung Baby. By far their most adventurous album (in terms of intricacies/ stylised creativity), Achtung is and was the best album this exceptional band ever committed. Filled with 12 of the most urgent, meaningful and dark songs you will ever hear, Achtung Baby marked the landmark which directed the band to where they are now (and of course, where they sat themselves throughout the 1990's). From start to finish, each ...
...of "Zoo Station" and "Even Better Than The Real Thing", via three of their best ever songs ("One", "Who's Gonna Ride..." and "Until The End Of The World"), U2 came out of a relative rut (they were close to splitting at the inception of this record) and proved they had the stuff to succeed at an all-new level. I can't think of a more astonishing album in the 1990's, or at least one with such high ambitions. The truly startling thing, even by U2's ...

Wiggywoo 30.07.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Achtung Baby - U2

The Joshua Tree is seen as their best but this is the view held by people who are too scared to delve further into their past. This now gets the respect it so rightly deserves and is usually there or thereabouts in best album ever polls. Bono is in the best form of his life on this album and it sounds like he had reached his maximum range. He proves his songwriting credentials on this with some ease.Edge shows that he is an underrated but effective ...
...on the bass but never shows anything more than basic competency. The other half of the rhythm section is the oddly named Larry Mullen Jr, he is a top quality sticksman and makes up for the boring steady eddy bass playing. This is U2 at their experimental and cutting edge best. They moved away from their stadium rock format and it was a move that paid off bigtime. On this album they had discovered distortion and used well while still maintaining ...

Gavin6 17.01.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Achtung Baby - U2

...help re-invent the band. Achtung baby is an explosive album with an entirely new sound throughout. Most of the cover is great, a patchwork of colourful imagery which is attractive and easily spotted on a shop shelf but the nude image of bass guitarist Adam Clayton on the inside sleeve may have been a bit unwanted for most of us, but regardless of that it did reach number 1 in the Rolling Stone magazine's best album cover that year. More importantly ...
...Band: U2 Album: Achtung Baby Release: Novermber 1991, Island records Track Listing 1: Zoo Station 2: Event Better then the real thing 3: One 4: Until the end of the world 5: Who's gonna ride your wild horses 6: So Cruel 7: The Fly 8: Mysterious Ways 9: Tryin to throw your arms around the world 10: Ultra-Violet (light my way) 11: Acrobat 12: Love is blindness ...

Conna 24.07.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Achtung Baby - U2

"Achtung Baby" is simply one of the all-time greats. From the rawness of "Zoo station" the to hair raising "One" this is U2's greatest moment. This is the album that set the scene for the music of the nineties. U2 have always led the way in their time but this was something special. As Larry Mullen said refering to the ZOO TV tour "people are coming to listen to us live and watch tv -what more do you want" This is not just another album for ...

johnpaul 24.07.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Achtung Baby - U2

What a great album, this album is rockin! It features songs such as Even better than the real thing, the fly, mysterious ways, zoo station, until the end of the world, so cruel, whos gonna ride your wild horses, one, trying to throw ya arms around the world, ultra violet (light my way), acrobat and love is blindness! All of these songs are great, slow, fast, emotional, deep, and they really get you thinking, great lyrics and of course what a voice ...

Sharon124UK 12.07.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Achtung Baby - U2

I waited nearly a year to buy this album, and boy was it worth the wait. I know that being a u2 fan my opinion is slightly biased, but i swear that if you bought this album you would not be dissappionted. It is my opinion that every song on this album is fantastic, amazing, totally unbelievable, infact every song is a classic. The opening track zoo station, certainly pulls no punches, it launches you full force into the 'new u2' of the 90's. With ...
...to pick the best but i believe that there is one song that is a cut above the rest, One. The moment I heard this song, even before buying the album, I knew that no other song could match it's tear factor (well maybe with or without you but that's it) When I say tear factor I mean it has the power to make you cry every time you listen to it, but for a very good reason. It is my opinion that this is the greatest album ever written, recorded and produced. ...

mskitschley 27.10.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Achtung Baby - U2