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Achtung Baby
A square montage comprised of square photographs arranged in a 4 by 4 grid. The photographs are mostly blue and red in tint, but some are monochrome. They are candid in nature and mostly show four men in various locations, including in an empty street, a crowded festival, under a bridge, in a car, and standing on sand. One photograph is a close-up of a man's hand wearing two rings, one bearing the letter "U" and the other bearing the number "2".
Studio album by U2
Released 19 November 1991
Recorded October 1990 – September 1991
Genre Rock, alternative rock
Length 55:27
Label Island
314-510347-2
Producer Daniel Lanois, Brian Eno, Steve Lillywhite
U2 chronology
Rattle and Hum
(1988)		 Achtung Baby
(1991)		 Zooropa
(1993)
Singles from Achtung Baby
  1. "The Fly"
    Released: 21 October 1991
  2. "Mysterious Ways"
    Released: 24 November 1991
  3. "One"
    Released: March 1992
  4. "Even Better Than the Real Thing"
    Released: 8 June 1992
  5. "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses"
    Released: August 1992

Achtung Baby is the seventh studio album by rock band U2. Produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, it was released on 19 November 1991 on Island Records. Stung by the criticism of their previous album, Rattle and Hum (1988), U2 shifted their musical direction and incorporated alternative rock, industrial, and electronic dance music influences into their sound. The album was darker, more introspective, and at times more flippant than the band's previous work. The album and the subsequent multimedia-intensive Zoo TV Tour were central to the group's 1990s reinvention, as U2 replaced their earnest public image with a more lighthearted and self-deprecating one.

Seeking inspiration on the eve of German reunification, U2 began recording Achtung Baby in Berlin's Hansa Studios in October 1990. Conflict arose over their musical direction and the quality of their material. After weeks of tension, arguments, and slow progress, the group made a breakthrough with the improvised writing of the song "One". They returned to Dublin in 1991, where the majority of recordings were completed. The album title and colourful multi-image sleeve were chosen to confound expectations of the album and the group.

Achtung Baby is one of U2's most successful records. It earned favourable reviews and produced the hit singles "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. One of the most acclaimed records of the 1990s, Achtung Baby is regularly featured on rankings of the greatest albums of all-time.

Contents

Background

U2's 1987 album The Joshua Tree brought them critical acclaim and commercial success, but their high exposure precipitated a critical backlash,[1][2] whereby they were accused of being grandiose, over-earnest, and self-righteous.[2] The band's exploration of American music on their 1988 Rattle and Hum album and motion picture was labelled "pretentious" and "misguided and bombastic".[3]

Despite their commercial success, the group were dissatisfied creatively; lead vocalist Bono believed they were musically unprepared for their success.[2][4] Drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. said, "We were the biggest, but we weren't the best" and that he had become bored playing the band's greatest hits.[2][5] The band described their collaboration with blues musician B.B. King on Rattle and Hum and the Lovetown Tour as "an excursion down a dead-end street" that was misunderstood by audiences.[6][7] Bono said that in retrospect, listening to black music helped the group "get the groove ready for Achtung Baby", while listening to folk music helped him to develop as a lyricist.[7] Towards the end of the Lovetown Tour, Bono announced on-stage that it was "the end of something for U2" and "we have to go away and [...] dream it all up again". Following the tour the group began its longest break from public performances and album releases.[8]

Reacting to the criticism and their sense of musical stagnation, the band began to search for new musical ground.[2][9] They wrote "God Part II" from Rattle and Hum after realising they had pursued the "retro nature of songwriting" and "nostalgia" to excess. The song had a more contemporary feel that Bono said was closer to Achtung Baby's direction.[10] Further indications of change were two recordings they made in 1990; the first was a cover version of "Night and Day" for the first Red Hot + Blue release. U2 used electronic dance beats and hip hop elements for the first time in this recording. The second was Bono's and guitarist The Edge's contribution to the original score of A Clockwork Orange's theatrical adaptation. Much of the material they wrote was experimental, and according to Bono, "prepar[ed] the ground for Achtung Baby". Ideas deemed not appropriate for the play were put aside for the band's use.[11] This period saw Bono and The Edge writing songs without Mullen or bassist Adam Clayton.[11]

In mid 1990, Bono reviewed material he had written in Australia on the Lovetown Tour and the group recorded demos at STS Studios in Dublin.[12] The demos later evolved into the songs "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses", "Until the End of the World", "Even Better Than the Real Thing", and "Mysterious Ways".[13] With a few musical ideas already written, they wanted the new album to be "forward-looking" and a "complete about turn", but they did not know how to achieve this.[14] The beginning of the Madchester movement in the United Kingdom left them confused about how they would fit into any particular musical scene.[13]

Writing, recording, and production

"Buzzwords on this record were trashy, throwaway, dark, sexy, and industrial (all good) and earnest, polite, sweet, righteous, rockist and linear (all bad). It was good if a song took you on a journey or made you think your hifi was broken, bad if it reminded you of recording studios or U2. Sly Stone, T. Rex, Scott Walker, My Bloody Valentine, KMFDM, the Young Gods, Alan Vega, Al Green, and Insekt were all in favour. And Berlin [...] became a conceptual backdrop for the record. The Berlin of the Thirties—decadent, sexual and dark—resonating against the Berlin of the Nineties—reborn, chaotic and optimistic [...]"

—Brian Eno, on the recording of Achtung Baby[9]

U2 employed Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno to produce Achtung Baby; they had produced the band's previous two albums, The Joshua Tree and The Unforgettable Fire.[15] Lanois was principal producer, with Mark "Flood" Ellis as engineer.[9] Eno took on an assisting producer role, working with the group in the studio for a week at a time to review their work before leaving for a month or two.[9][16] By distancing himself from the record, he believes he provided the band with a fresh perspective on their material each time he rejoined them.[17] As he explained, "I would deliberately not listen to the stuff in between visits, so I could go in cold [...]".[18] The "oblique" strategies of the Lanois-Eno team contrasted with Rattle and Hum producer Jimmy Iovine's direct and retro style.[15]

Berlin sessions

The band believed "domesticity [w]as the enemy of rock 'n' roll" and that to work on the album, they needed to remove themselves from their normal family-oriented routines. With a "New Europe" emerging at the end of the Cold War, they chose Berlin, in the centre of the reuniting continent, as a source of inspiration for a more European musical aesthetic.[2][15][19] They recorded at Hansa Studios in West Berlin, near the recently opened Berlin Wall. Acclaimed records made at Hansa included two from David Bowie and Eno's "Berlin Trilogy", and Bowie and Iggy Pop's collaboration, The Idiot.[13] U2 arrived on 3 October 1990 on the last flight into East Berlin on the eve of German reunification.[13] Expecting to be inspired, they instead found the mood in Berlin to be "depressing", "dark and gloomy".[14] The collapse of the Berlin Wall had resulted in a state of malaise in Germany. Many factors contributed to the "bad vibe" that the band felt, including the run-down condition of Hansa and their East Berlin hotel, and the studio's location in a SS ballroom.[14][20]

Morale worsened once the sessions commenced, as the band worked long days, but could not agree on a musical direction.[20] The Edge had been listening to alternative rock and electronic dance music, and to industrial bands like Nine Inch Nails, the Young Gods, and KMFDM. He and Bono advocated new musical directions along these lines. In contrast, Mullen was listening to classic rock acts Blind Faith, Cream, and Jimi Hendrix.[2][11] He and Clayton were more comfortable with a sound similar to U2's previous work and did not understand the proposed new direction.[2][14] The Edge's interest in dance club mixes and drum machines made Mullen feel that his contributions as a drummer were being diminished.[14] Lanois was expecting the "textural, emotional, and cinematic" U2 of the The Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree, and he did not understand the "throwaway and trashy things" that Bono and The Edge were working on.[2] Compounding the divisions between the two camps, which they called the "haircuts" and the "hats",[19] was a change in the band's long-standing songwriting relationship. Bono and The Edge were working more closely together writing material at the exclusion of the rest of the group.[11][21]

"At the instant we were recording it, I got a very strong sense of its power. We were all playing together in the big recording room, a huge, eerie ballroom full of ghosts of the war, and everything fell into place. It was a reassuring moment, when everyone finally went, 'oh great, this album has started.' It's the reason you're in a band - when the spirit descends upon you and you create something truly affecting. 'One' is an incredibly moving piece. It hits straight into the heart."

—The Edge, on the recording of "One"[22]

U2 found that they were "under-rehearsed and under-prepared" and that their ideas were not evolving.[14] For the first time, the group could not find consensus during their disagreements and felt that they were not making progress.[14] Bono and Lanois, in particular, had an argument that almost came to blows during the writing of "Mysterious Ways".[23] Mullen thought it "might be the end" of U2.[14] Eno visited for a few days, and understanding their attempts to "deconstruct" the band, he assured them that their progress was better than they thought.[24][25] By adding effects and sounds, he showed that The Edge's desire for new sonic territory was not incompatible with Mullen's and Lanois' desire to retain solid song structures.[25] In December, a breakthrough was achieved with the writing of the song, "One".[22] When The Edge combined two chord progressions on guitar, the group found inspiration and improvised most of the song in 15 minutes. It provided much-needed reassurance for the band and re-validated their long-standing "blank page" approach to writing and recording together.[22][26]

U2 returned to Dublin for Christmas, where they discussed their future together and all recommitted to the group.[27] They briefly returned to Berlin in January 1991 to finish their Hansa work.[28] Although just two songs were delivered during their two months in Berlin, The Edge said that in retrospect, working there had been more productive and inspirational than the output had suggested.[22][24][29] The band had been removed from a familiar environment, providing a certain "texture and cinematic location", and many of their incomplete ideas would be successfully revisited.[22]

Dublin sessions

In February 1991, U2 regrouped in the seaside manor "Elsinore" in Dalkey, renting the house for ₤10,000 per month.[28][29] Lanois' strategy to record in houses, mansions, or castles was something he believed brought "atmosphere" to the recordings.[29] Dublin audio services company Big Bear Sound installed a recording studio in the house,[28] with the recording room in a converted garage diagonally beneath the control room. Video cameras and TV monitors were used to monitor the spaces.[29] Within walking distance of the Bono and Edge's homes, the sessions at Elsinore were more relaxed and productive.[30][28][31] One song, later released as the B-side "Lady With the Spinning Head", was troublesome, but it inspired three separate songs, "The Fly", "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)" and "Zoo Station".[30] During the writing of "The Fly", Bono conceived an alternate persona based on a pair of oversized black sunglasses that he wore to lighten the mood in the studio.[28][30] Bono developed the character into a leather-clad egomaniac also called "The Fly", and he appeared as this alter-ego for the band's subsequent public appearances and live performances on the Zoo TV Tour.

In April, tapes from the earlier Berlin sessions were leaked and bootlegged. Bono dismissed the leaked demos as "gobbledygook", and The Edge likened the situation to "being violated".[32] The leak created what Lanois described as "a bad scene for a few weeks" and shook the band's confidence.[33] Due to staffing logistics, the group found themselves with three engineers, and it was decided to split recording between Elsinore and The Edge's home studio.[29] Engineer Robbie Adams said the approach "increased the level of activity and enthusiasm. There was always something different to listen to, always something exciting happening."[29] In order to record all of the band's material and test different arrangements, the engineers utilised a technique they called "fatting", which allowed them to achieve more than 48 tracks of audio by using a 24-track analogue recording, a DAT machine, and a synchroniser.[29] Through the end of May, final lyrics and vocal takes had yet to be finalised, but Lanois believed some of the in-progress songs would become worldwide hits.[34]

During the Dublin sessions, Eno was sent tapes of the previous two months' work, which he called a "total disaster". Joining U2 in the studio, he stripped away what he thought to be excessive overdubbing. The group believes his intervention saved the album.[35] Eno theorised that the band was too close to their music, explaining, "[...] if you know a piece of music terribly well and the mix changes and the bass guitar goes very quiet, you still hear the bass. You're so accustomed to it being there that you compensate and remake it in your mind."[17] Eno also assisted them through a "crisis point" one month before the deadline to finish recording; he recalls that "everything seemed like a mess", and he insisted the band take a two-week holiday from working on the album. The break gave them a clearer perspective and added decisiveness.[36]

After work at Elsinore finished in July, Eno, Flood, Lanois, and previous U2 producer Steve Lillywhite mixed the tracks at Windmill Lane Studios.[28][37][38] Each producer created their own mixes of the songs, and the band either picked the version they preferred or requested that certain aspects of each be combined.[38] Additional recording and mixing continued up until the last few days before the 21 September deadline,[39] including last minute changes to "The Fly" and "One".[40] The final night was spent devising a running order for the album. The following day, The Edge travelled to Los Angeles with the album's tapes for mastering.[40] For the band, the finished album was a "watershed" that ensured their creative future.[40]

Composition

"We're at a point where production has gotten so slick that people don't trust it anymore.[...] We were starting to lose trust in the conventional sound of rock & roll — the conventional sound of guitar, in particular — and, you know, those big reverb-laden drum sounds of the '80s or those big, beautiful, pristine vocal sounds with all this lush ambience and reverb. So we found ourselves searching for other sounds that had more life and more freshness."

—The Edge, explaining the band's motivation for seeking a new sound[41]

U2 referred to Achtung Baby's musical departure as "the sound of four men chopping down The Joshua Tree".[1][42] Whereas Bono's vocals were centre-stage in melody and mix on past songs, critics described his vocals on Achtung Baby as being more elusive, dynamic, and lower in the mix.[43][44] His voice is often in a lower register or treated with processing,[45][46] and on many tracks, he sings as a character.[47] The Edge's guitar playing on the album is a departure from the chiming, echo-heavy sound that became his trademark in the 1980s; on Achtung Baby, his style demonstrates industrial influences and utilises a variety of guitar effects, particularly distortion.[3][45] Various critics referred to his style as "metallic",[44][46] while Elysa Gardner of Rolling Stone said his playing created "harder textures".[3] The rhythm section was given a more prominent role in the mix,[47] and hip hop-inspired dance beats appear on several of the album's tracks. Gardner compared the record's melding of guitar tracks and dance beats to songs by British bands Happy Mondays and Jesus Jones.[3] The work of singer-songwriter Gavin Friday, Bono's friend since childhood, was cited as an influence on the "new U2".[48]

In contrast to their previous work, U2 deliberately avoided making political and social statements in their lyrics for Achtung Baby. Instead, the album is more personal and introspective, examining love, sexuality, spirituality, faith, and betrayal.[49][50][51] The lyrics exhibit a darker tone, examining the pain of personal relationships and exuding feelings of confusion, loneliness, and inadequacy.[3][52][53] One of the album's most significant contributions to these themes was The Edge's separation from his wife and mother of his three children. With the break-up occurring halfway through the album's recording, the pain focused him on the album and also influenced Bono's lyrical contributions.[2][14][54][55] Bono cites the births of his two daughters in 1989 and 1991 as major influences.[13] The lyrics were informed by the works of Roy Orbison, Scott Walker, and Jacques Brel, and by The Edge's preference for more personal themes.[43][56][57][58][59] Writer Bill Flanagan credits Bono's habit of keeping his lyrics "in flux until the last minute" with providing a narrative coherence to the album.[60] Flanagan interpreted the album as lyrically describing a character being tempted away from domestic life by an exciting nightlife and testing how far he could go before returning home.[61]

Religious imagery is present throughout the record; in "Acrobat", Bono sings about feelings of religious alienation in the line, "Yeah, I'd break bread and wine / If there was a church I could receive in".[62] The 49th entry in the 33 1⁄3 series of books, entitled Meditations on Love in the Shadow of the Fall, is dedicated to religious interpretations of the album.[63] Although darker themes are present on the record, many lyrics are more flippant and sexual than those from the band's previous work.[43][64] With Achtung Baby, the group sought to recover some of the Dadaist characters and stage antics they had dabbled with in the late 1970s as teenagers but abandoned for more literal themes in the 1980s.[65] While the band had previously been opposed to materialism, they examined and flirted with this value on the album and the Zoo TV Tour.[49]

Problems listening to these files? See media help.

"Zoo Station" announces U2's reinvention, with industrial-influenced percussion, layers of distorted vocals and guitars, and lyrics suggesting new appetites and anticipations.[65][69] The song's introduction was intended to make listeners think the record or their music player was broken, or that it was mistakenly not the new U2 album.[30] Irish rock journalist Bill Graham called the song a "new brand of glam-rock" with "Spartan rhythms and sudden flurries of melody".[70] "Even Better Than the Real Thing" features a guitar riff played with a Digitech Whammy effects pedal.[30] The song's title and lyrics were "reflective of the times [the band] were living in, when people were no longer looking for the truth, [they] were all looking for instant gratification".[30] Bono's inspiration for the lyrics from the ballad "One" was a combination of the band members' struggling relationships, the German reunification, and a letter he sent to the Dalai Lama turning down an invitation to a festival called "Oneness"; Bono's note read "One, but not the same", a line he would incorporate into the song.[22] Eno encouraged the band to musically add more "foreground" to the song, and to "undermine the 'too beautiful' feeling" with his own mix.[22][24]

"Until the End of the World" is written as an imagined conversation between Jesus Christ and his betrayer, Judas Iscariot.[30] The band was inspired to complete the song after meeting filmmaker Wim Wenders, who was looking for music to use in his film Until the End of the World.[30] The final version of "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" closely resembles the original demo of the song, despite extensive efforts to improve upon it.[30] The song's lyrics describe a couple who are experiencing a quarrel. "So Cruel" demonstrates cabaret influences and Bono cites Scott Walker as an inspiration. Written acoustically and rather quickly, the song originally sounded more traditional than what they had envisioned. Flood keyed Clayton's bass part off Mullen's playing of an Irish bodhran, which combined with overdubs, gave it a more unusual sound.[37][71] Thematically, it deals with unrequited love, jealousy, obsession, and possessiveness.[66]

"The Fly", the record's first single, features an industrial sound and layers of distorted vocals and guitars.[68] Bono wrote the lyrics in character as "The Fly", composing a sequence of "single-line aphorisms".[72] He called the song "like a crank call from Hell... but [the caller] likes it there".[30] "Mysterious Ways" features a funky guitar riff and danceable, conga-laden beat. The band struggled to find a melody for the song until The Edge contributed a new effects pedal to his guitar playing.[30] The final product is what Bono calls "U2 at our funkiest... Sly and The Family Stone meets Madchester baggy."[30] "Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World" is a quiet song dedicated to the Los Angeles bar The Flaming Colossus. The lyrics describe a drunken stagger home.[73]

"Ultraviolet (Light My Way)" is another song about a strained relationship and unease over obligations.[74] The song intentionally juxtaposes a trademark of the group, a "repeato-riff" guitar part, with a cliché they had never used, vocals that repeat the word "baby".[75] "Acrobat" uses a 12⁄8 time signature and features The Edge playing a distorted tremolo. Lyrically, it is one of the most personal songs on Achtung Baby, with Bono acknowledging weakness, hypocrisy, and inadequacy.[58] He cites the track as one of his favourite U2 songs.[71] The album's closing track, "Love Is Blindness", exhibits cabaret influences, as Bono had become acquainted with Frank Sinatra.[37] Bono described The Edge's guitar solo that concludes the song as "a more eloquent prayer than anything I could write".[76]

Packaging and title

The sleeve artwork for Achtung Baby was designed by Steve Averill, who had done the majority of U2's albums.[77] To mirror the group's change in musical direction, they considered sleeve concepts that used multiple colour images to contrast with the seriousness of the mostly black-and-white images of their previous album sleeves.[77][78] Rough sketches and designs were created early during the recording sessions, and some more experimental designs were conceived to closely resemble, as Averill put it, "dance-music oriented sleeves. We just did them to show how extreme we could go and then everyone came back to levels that they were happy with. But if we hadn't gone to these extremes it may not have the been the cover it is now."[77] The group's long-time photographer, Anton Corbijn, who was more experienced at monochrome photography, was concerned about effectively capturing colour, but he refined his techniques during the recording sessions.[77]

An initial photo shoot was done near U2's Berlin hotel in late 1990.[79] Most of the photos were black-and-white,[77] and the group felt they were not indicative of the spirit of the new album. They re-commissioned Corbijn for an additional two-week photo shoot in Tenerife in February 1991,[28] for which they dressed up and mingled with the crowds of the annual Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, presenting a more playful side of themselves.[28] It was during the group's time in Tenerife, and during a four-day shoot in Morocco in July, that they were photographed in drag.[28] Additional photos were taken in Dublin in June, including a photo of a naked Clayton.[80] The content of these photos was intended to confound expectations of U2,[40] and their full colour contrasted with imagery on past sleeves.[78]

Three cars hang from the lobby ceiling of a building. The car in the foreground has an orange leopard-skin pattern on the exterior, and it is hanging upside down, facing upwards. Two cars hang in the background facing downwards; the one on the left, facing left, is painted peach with sticks embedded in the exterior; the one on the right, facing right, is painted white with small black words. The building wall behind the cars is a pane of windows.
Trabants from the Zoo TV Tour, displayed at The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The group were photographed with several elaborately-painted Trabants for the album sleeve.

A single image scheme was initially planned for the sleeve, with the group considering several photographs: a cow on an Irish farm in County Kildare, a nude Clayton, and the band driving a Trabant, an East German automobile they became fond of as a symbol for a changing Europe.[77] Ultimately, a multiple image scheme was used, as Corbijn, Averill, the group, and the producers could not agree on a single image;[77] the resulting front sleeve is a 4×4 squared montage.[40] The band wanted to balance the "colder European feel of the mainly black-and-white Berlin images with the much warmer exotic climates of Santa Cruz and Morocco".[77] Some photographs were used because they were striking on their own, while others were used because of their ambiguity.[77] Images of the band with Trabants, several of which were painted bright colours, appear on the sleeve and throughout the album booklet. These vehicles were later incorporated into the Zoo TV Tour set as part of the lighting system.[81][82] The nude photo of Clayton was placed on the rear cover of the album. On the US compact disc and cassette sleeves, Clayton's privates are censored with a black "X" or a four-leaf clover,[83] while vinyl editions feature the photo uncensored.[78] In 2006, Bono said that the sleeve for Achtung Baby was his favourite U2 cover artwork.[84]

The album's title, "Achtung Baby", is German for "Attention, baby!" or "Watch out, baby!", and it was used by the band's sound engineer Joe O'Herlihy during recording.[15] He reportedly took the phrase from the Mel Brooks film The Producers.[40] The title was selected in August 1991 near the end of recording.[77] According to Bono, it was an ideal title, as it was attention-grabbing, referenced Germany, and hinted at either romance or birth, both of which were themes on the album.[40] The band was determined not to highlight the seriousness of the lyrics and instead sought to "erect a mask", a concept that was further developed on the Zoo TV Tour, particularly through characters such as "The Fly".[85] U2 considered calling the album Man (in contrast to the group's debut, Boy), 69, Zoo Station, and Adam, which would have been paired with the nude photo of Clayton.[2][40][77][86] Other possible titles included Fear of Women and Cruise Down Main Street, in reference to The Rolling Stones's album Exile on Main St. and the cruise missiles launched on Baghdad during the Gulf War.[85] Most of the proposed titles were rejected out of the belief that people would see them as pretentious and "another Big Statement from U2".[86]

Release

As early as December 1990, the music press reported that U2 would be recording a dance-oriented album and that it would be released in the summer 1991.[87] In August 1991, controversy threatened to overshadow the November release of Achtung Baby.[42] Sound collage artists Negativland released an EP entitled U2 that parodied U2's song "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and used the band's likenesses on the cover. Island Records objected to the cover, believing fans would confuse the EP with U2's new record. Island successfully sued for copyright infringement, but it received criticism in the music press, as did U2, although they were not involved in the litigation.[88] The negative headlines were mediated by the success of Achtung Baby's first single, "The Fly". Released on 21 October 1991, a month before the album, the song became U2's second number-one single in the UK.[89] "The Fly" was selected as the lead single because it sounded nothing like U2's typical sound, and it signaled to fans that the group were taking a new musical direction.[30]

Island Records and U2 refused to make advance copies of the album available to the press until just a few days before the release date, preferring fans to listen to the album before reading reviews. The decision came amid rumours of tensions within the band, and it was compared to the Hollywood practice of withholding review copies of films from the media before release whenever they received poor word-of-mouth press.[90] Achtung Baby was released on 19 November 1991 on compact disc, tape cassette, and vinyl record. The album was the first release by a major act to use two so-called "eco-friendly" packages, the cardboard Digipak, and the jewel case without the long cardboard attachment.[83] The album was U2's first in three years and the first comprised entirely of new material in over four years.[16] The group maintained a low profile after the album's release, avoiding interviews and allowing critics and the public to make their own assessments.[15] Instead of participating in an article with Rolling Stone magazine, U2 asked Eno to write one for them.[28]

"Mysterious Ways" was released as the second single five days after the album's release. On the US Billboard charts, the song topped the Modern Rock Tracks and Album Rock Tracks charts and reached number nine on the Hot 100.[91] Achtung Baby sold and charted well on the heels of the first two singles' success. In the US, the album topped the Billboard 200 for a week on 7 December 1991, and it spent 97 weeks on the chart.[92] The album sold 295,000 copies in the US in its first week,[88] and on 21 January 1992, the RIAA certified it as platinum.[93] Achtung Baby peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart,[94] while topping the RPM 100 in Canada,[95] the Australian Albums Chart, and the RIANZ Top 40 Albums in New Zealand.[96] The album sold seven million copies worldwide in its first three months alone.[52]

Three additional singles were released in 1992. "One", released in March to coincide with the beginning of the tour, reached number seven in the UK and number ten in the US charts, and like its predecessor, it topped both the Album Rock and Modern Rock Tracks charts. The song has since become regarded as one of the greatest songs of all-time, ranking highly on many critics' lists.[97] The fourth single from Achtung Baby, "Even Better Than the Real Thing", was released in June. The album version of the song peaked at number 12 on the UK Top 40,[89] while becoming the album's third single to top the Album Rock Tracks chart.[91] A remix version of the song peaked at number eight in the UK.[89] "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" followed as the fifth and final single in August 1992. It peaked at number 14 on the UK singles chart,[89] and number two on the US Album Rock Tracks chart.[91] By the end of 1992, the album had sold 10 million copies worldwide.[98]

Critical reception

 Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 5/5 stars[99]
Austin Chronicle 4.5/5 stars[100]
Chicago Tribune 3/4 stars[101]
Robert Christgau (dud)[102]
Entertainment Weekly (A)[103]
Hot Press (10/12)[43]
Los Angeles Times 4/4 stars[53]
Orlando Sentinel 4/4 stars[45]
Q 5/5 stars[57]
Rolling Stone 4.5/5 stars[3]

Upon its release, Achtung Baby received strong reviews from critics.[32][15] Elysa Gardner of Rolling Stone, in a four-and-a-half-star review, said that U2 had "proven that the same penchant for epic musical and verbal gestures that leads many artists to self-parody can, in more inspired hands, fuel the unforgettable fire that defines great rock & roll."[3] The review said that the album, like its predecessor Rattle and Hum, was an attempt by the band to "broaden its musical palette, but this time its ambitions are realized".[3] David Browne of Entertainment Weekly gave the album an "A" and called it a "pristinely produced and surprisingly unpretentious return by one of the most impressive bands in the world".[103] Steve Morse of The Boston Globe echoed these sentiments, stating that the album "not only reinvigorates their sound, but drops any self-righteousness. The songs focus on personal relationships, not on saving the world."[46] Morse praised the album's sonics, stating "Clanging, knob-twisting sound effects run through the record, as does the metallic, head-snapping guitar of David (The Edge) Evans, who has never shone this brilliantly."[46] In a five-star review, Q called Achtung Baby U2's "heaviest album to date. And best." The review praised the band and its production team for making "music of drama, depth, intensity and, believe it, funkiness".[57]

Time magazine featured a very positive review of the album, calling it an album of "major-league guitar crunching and mysterious, spacy chords" and "songs of love, temptation, loose political parable and tight personal confession". The review declared that U2 had successfully reinvented itself.[104] In a perfect four-star review, the Los Angeles Times stated "the arty, guitar-driven textures are among the band's most confident and vigorous ever". The newspaper noted that despite the "exhilarating and sensual textures", the album is a difficult one for listeners because of the dark, introspective nature of the songs. The reviewer explained that U2 had lost some of its individuality by transitioning from writing inspirational songs in the past to tracks with more dismal subject matter, an area in popular music that was well-covered.[53] Jon Pareles of The New York Times praised the album not only for featuring "noisy, vertiginous arrangements, mostly layers of guitar", but also for the group's ability to "maintain its pop skills". The review concluded, "Stripped-down and defying its old formulas, U2 has given itself a fighting chance for the 1990s."[44] In an otherwise positive piece, long-time U2 supporter Bill Graham of Hot Press said that the album seemed "over-calculated" in parts and that they were trying too hard to be simple, second-guessing their critics [...]".[49] Spin was more critical of the record, calling it an "ambitious failure"; the review welcomed the experimentation but noted that when the group "strays from familiar territory, the results are hit-and-miss".[105]

At the 35th Grammy Awards in 1993, Achtung Baby won a Grammy Award for "Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal", and it earned Lanois and Eno the award for "Producer of the Year". The album was also nominated for the "Album of the Year" award.[83]

Zoo TV Tour

An elaborate concert stage stands. It is comprised of several towers of metal support rigs. Attached are bright lights, many video screens, and suspended cars with headlights shining in the direction of the audience. The lighting is a mix of yellow, blue, and red. A tower on the left bears a logo reading "Zoo TV".
The Zoo TV stage featured a complex setup with over 30 video screens.[106]

In support of the album, U2 launched the worldwide Zoo TV Tour. Like Achtung Baby, the tour was intended as an unequivocal break with the band's past. In contrast to the previous tours' austere stage setups, the Zoo TV Tour was an elaborate multimedia event. It satirised television and the viewing public's over-stimulation by attempting to instill "sensory overload" in its audience.[42][107][108] The stage featured dozens of large video screens that showed visual effects, random video clips from pop culture, and flashing text phrases. Live satellite link-ups, channel surfing, crank calls, and video confessionals were incorporated into the shows.[106]

Whereas the group was known for its earnest performances in the 1980s, their Zoo TV performances were intentionally ironic and self-mocking.[42] Bono performed in-character as several personas he had conceived, including "The Fly", "Mirror Ball Man", and "Mr. MacPhisto". The majority of the album's songs were played at each show, and the set lists began with up to eight Achtung Baby songs in a row as a further sign that they were no longer the U2 of the 1980s.[109]

The tour began in February 1992 and comprised 157 shows over almost two years.[110] During a six-month break, the band recorded the album Zooropa and released it in July 1993. It was inspired by Zoo TV and expanded on its themes of media oversaturation.[108] In 2002, Q magazine said the Zoo TV Tour was "still the most spectacular rock tour staged by any band."[33]

Legacy

The success of Achtung Baby and the Zoo TV Tour re-established U2 as one of the most popular and critically acclaimed musical acts in the world. The group nearly swept Rolling Stone's 1992 end-of-year readers' polls, winning honours for "Best Single" ("One"), "Best Band", "Best Male Singer" (Bono), "Artist of the Year", "Best Album", "Best Songwriter" (Bono), "Best Album Cover", "Sexiest Male Artist" (Bono), "Best Tour" (Zoo TV), "Best Drummer" (Larry Mullen, Jr.), and "Comeback of the Year".[111] The group's reinvention occurred at the peak of the alternative rock movement, when the genre was achieving widespread mainstream popularity. Bill Flanagan argues that by "set[ting] themselves up as the first of the new groups rather than the last of the old", U2 were able to take advantage of the movement and position themselves for a successful future.[112] In the 2006 music reference book 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time and the Artists, Stories, and Secrets, Toby Creswell wrote that "[...] U2 avoided becoming parodies of themselves and being swept aside by the grunge and techno revolutions".[113]

Achtung Baby has been acclaimed as one of the greatest albums in rock history. Publications have placed it among their rankings of the best records. In 1993, Entertainment Weekly placed it at number 28 on its list of the "100 Greatest CDs of All Time".[114] It has appeared on several Q readers' polls of the greatest album; in 1998, it was ranked number 15,[115] in 2003, it was ranked number 10,[116] and in 2006, it was ranked number nine.[117] The Q staff named it the third-best album from 1980–2004,[118] and similarly, in 2008, Entertainment Weekly called it the third-best album of the previous 25 years.[119] In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 62 on its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time,"[120] while the National Association of Recording Merchandisers placed it at number 45 on its "The Definitive 200" list.[121] In 2005, it appeared on Spin's list of "100 Greatest Albums, 1985–2005" at number 11.[122] The following year, the album appeared on a number of rankings, including Hot Press's "100 Greatest Albums Ever" at number 21,[123] the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's television program My Favourite Album at the 33rd position,[124] and NME and The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles and Albums' list of best records at number 40.[125] That same year, Time included Achtung Baby on its list of "The All-Time 100 Albums".[126] Music television channel VH1 ranked it at number 65 on their "100 Greatest Albums of Rock & Roll" program in The Greatest series.[127] The album appeared at number 36 on USA Today's 2003 list of the top 40 albums of all-time.[128] It was listed as one of U2's four records in the music reference book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[129]

Achtung Baby has sold 18 million copies,[130] including eight million copies in the US.[83][131] It is the group's second-highest selling album after The Joshua Tree, which has sold 25 million copies.[132] The success of Achtung Baby prefigured the group's further musical experimentation during the 1990s. Zooropa, released in 1993, was a further departure for the band, incorporating techno influences and electronic effects into their sound.[108] In 1995, U2 and Brian Eno collaborated on the experimental/ambient album Original Soundtracks 1 under the pseudonym "Passengers".[107] For Pop in 1997, the group's experiences with dance club culture and their usage of tape loops, programming, rhythm sequencing, and sampling resulted in their most dance-oriented album.[107]

Video

In May 1992, U2 released Achtung Baby: The Videos, The Cameos, and a Whole Lot of Interference from Zoo TV, a VHS compilation of nine music videos from the album. Running for 62 minutes, it was produced by Ned O'Hanlon and released by Island/Polygram. It included three music videos each for "One" and "Even Better than the Real Thing", along with videos for "The Fly", "Mysterious Ways", and "Until the End of the World".[106] In between the videos were clips of so-called "interference", comprising documentary footage, media clips, and other images, similar to what was shown at shows during the Zoo TV Tour.[106] The release reached a certification of Gold in Canada.[133]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by U2, with lyrics by Bono.

Track Title Producer Length
1. "Zoo Station"   Daniel Lanois 4:36
2. "Even Better Than the Real Thing"   Steve Lillywhite, with Brian Eno and Lanois 3:41
3. "One"   Lanois with Eno 4:36
4. "Until the End of the World"   Lanois with Eno 4:39
5. "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses"   Lillywhite, Lanois, and Eno 5:16
6. "So Cruel"   Lanois 5:49
7. "The Fly"   Lanois 4:29
8. "Mysterious Ways"   Lanois with Eno 4:04
9. "Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World"   Lanois with Eno 3:53
10. "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)"   Lanois with Eno 5:31
11. "Acrobat"   Lanois 4:30
12. "Love Is Blindness"   Lanois 4:23
55:27

Personnel

U2
Additional personnel
Production
  • Producers – Daniel Lanois, Brian Eno, Steve Lillywhite
  • Engineers – Brian Adams, Robbie Adams, Paul Barrett, Flood, Joe O'Herlihy
  • Assistant engineers, mix assistants – Robbie Adams, Shannon Strong
  • Mixing – Robbie Adams, The Edge, Brian Eno, Flood, Daniel Lanois, Steve Lillywhite
  • Digital editing – Stewart Whitmore
  • Mastering – Arnie Acosta

Charts and certifications

Album

Charts Peak position Certification
Australian Albums Chart[96] 1 5× Platinum[134]
Austrian Albums Chart[96] 2 Platinum[135]
Canadian RPM 100 Albums[95] 1 Diamond[136]
French Albums Chart[96] 37 Platinum[137]
German Albums Chart[138] 11 Platinum[139]
Netherlands Albums Chart[96] 39 Platinum[140]
Swiss Music Charts[96] 3 Gold[141]
UK Albums Chart[94] 2 4× Platinum[142]
US Billboard 200[92] 1 8× Platinum[131]

Songs

Year Song Chart peak positions
IRE
[143]		 AUS
[96]		 CAN
[144]		 UK
[89]		 US
[91]
1991 "The Fly" 1 1 16 1 61
"Mysterious Ways" 1 3 – 13 9
1992 – – 1 – –
"One" 1 4 1 7 10
"Even Better Than the Real Thing" 3 11 3 8 32
"Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" 4 9 5 14 35
"Until the End of the World" – – 69 – –
"Zoo Station" – – – – 10

"–" denotes releases that did not chart.

Notes

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  4. ^ Flanagan (1995), p. 24
  5. ^ Flanagan 1995, p. 4
  6. ^ Flanagan (1995), p. 27
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  8. ^ de la Parra (1994), pp. 138–139
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References

External links

Preceded by
Ropin' the Wind by Garth Brooks		 Billboard 200 number-one album
December 7, 1991 – December 13, 1991		 Succeeded by
Dangerous by Michael Jackson
Preceded by
Soul Deep by Jimmy Barnes		 Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album
December 1, 1991 – December 7, 1991		 Succeeded by
Dangerous by Michael Jackson
Achtung Baby track listing

"Zoo Station" · "Even Better Than the Real Thing" · "One" · "Until the End of the World" · "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" · "So Cruel" · "The Fly" · "Mysterious Ways" · "Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World" · "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)" · "Acrobat" · "Love Is Blindness"
U2
Bono • Adam Clayton • The Edge • Larry Mullen, Jr.
Studio albums
Compilations and EPs
Other albums
Under a Blood Red Sky • Melon: Remixes for Propaganda • Original Soundtracks 1 • Hasta la Vista Baby! • The Million Dollar Hotel soundtrack • Live from the Point Depot • U2.COMmunication • Zoo TV Live • U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle • Live from Paris • Medium, Rare & Remastered • Artificial Horizon
Videos and films
Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky • The Unforgettable Fire Collection • Rattle and Hum • Achtung Baby: The Videos, The Cameos, and a Whole Lot of Interference from Zoo TV • Zoo TV: Live from Sydney • PopMart: Live from Mexico City • Elevation 2001: U2 Live from Boston • U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle • Vertigo 2005: Live from Chicago • Vertigo 05: Live from Milan • U218 Videos • Live from Paris • U2 3D • Linear
Tours and concerts
Additional personnel
Lists
Category • Portal • WikiProject • Timeline • Singles

Simple English

Achtung Baby is the seventh studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was put in stores on 19 November 1991. The album came almost two years after the lead singer, Bono, said that the band would "have to go away and dream it all up again," after their 1988 album, Rattle and Hum was criticized.

Achtung Baby shows a very big change in U2's sound because they began to use alternative rock and electronic sounds in the rhythm, more production, and more guitar effects, also including darker and more personal song words. The results were much more adventurous and less traditionally rock-based than their previous albums, and Achtung Baby is one of U2's best-selling and most-liked albums.

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