Achtung Baby

Description

Achtung Baby is the seventh studio album by the Irish rock band U2, released on Island Records in November 1991. The album was recorded at Hansa Ton Studios in Berlin, Germany; and in Dublin, Ireland at Dog Town, S.T.S., and Windmill Lane Studios; and was produced by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, with Steve Lillywhite producing track A5.

The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 Top Albums, while topping the charts in many other countries. Five songs were released as commercial singles, all of which were chart successes, including “One”, “Mysterious Ways”, and “The Fly”. The album has sold 18 million copies worldwide and won a Grammy Award in 1993 for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. The record was reissued in October 2011 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of its original release.

[Brian Quincy Newcomb, Harvest Rock Syndicate, November 1991]

How long we have waited. Not just to hear the new songs, but to witness the next step in the career of U2. Every album has presented a distinctive theme, but the underlying message has always been the way in which the light is able to pierce the darkness. On ‘Achtung Baby’, the theme is simply the darkness itself. The question must be: Are U2 just exploring the darkness, or are they actually living in it? They certainly appear to be isolated from the church, as Bono gives the clearest insight yet into his inability to suffer the church. In «Acrobat» he sings, “I’d break bread and wine if there was a church I could receive it in.” And what of the Christian lifestyle? The clue may be in the same song: “And I must be an acrobat, to talk like this, and live like that.” Musically, the album is strong, with the rhythm section sounding like they’ve been listening to The Stone Roses. A couple of tracks even approach a dance groove! For the most part, the playing resembles the mood: gone is the precision of The Joshua Tree’, replaced by loose chords and wild sounds. U2 will no doubt continue to fascinate us with their pilgrimage, but the direction of that journey has never been less clear. It all seems a long way away from the band who began their first album with a track called «I Will Follow». [Karl Allison, Cross Rhythms, February 1992]

> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/achtung-baby/1443063058)

LP tracklist:

Side One
A1. “Zoo Station” – 4:36
A2. “Even Better Than The Real Thing” – 3:41
A3. “One” – 4:36
A4. “Until The End Of The World” – 4:39
A5. “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses” – 5:16
A6. “So Cruel” – 5:49

Side Two
B1. “The Fly” – 4:29
B2. “Mysterious Ways” – 4:04
B3. “Tryin’ To Throw Your Arms Around The World” – 3:53
B4. “Ultra Violet (Light My Way)” – 5:31
B5. “Acrobat” – 4:30
B6. “Love Is Blindness” – 4:23

Note: Simultaneously released on cassette, 12-inch vinyl LP, and CD by Island Records.