In 1987, U2 released The Joshua Tree. It had lots of hits. It became one of the biggest selling albums of all time. The group was the biggest grossing concert draw on the planet. Then something happened. They decided to film The Joshua Tree tour as it crossed America. The film that was supposed to document the band “discovering” America came across as self-indulgent navel gazing to some critics. They were criticized for being self-important, self-righteous, pretentious and bombastic. And some of that was true – Bono on-stage banter can be self-righteous, and just downright annoying. Toward the end of their tour in 1989, Bono announced at one concert that "we have to go away and ... dream it all up again." That they did, but what led up to these guys having to come up with something different?
The Unforgettable Fire [1984] –After the first three albums produced by Steve Lillywhite [Boy, October, and War], U2 went in another direction and hired Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. The songs were more like soundscapes of ambient experimentation. Bono described the album as “a beautifully out-of-focus record, blurred like an impressionist painting.” The lyrics don’t sound like they’re focused on anything in particular, as if they are works in progress. The title track takes its title from a traveling art exhibition about the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but the song isn’t overtly anti-nuclear. A keyboard-driven song, it sounds “big,” somewhat cinematic like a miniature movie. I’m not sure what it’s about, but it sounds great. I think that was the whole idea of the album anyway – new sounds. The Edge played more keyboards than before. The guitar isn’t as forward in the mix as before. A Sort of Homecoming was inspired by the works of poet Paul Celan, who wrote that “poetry is a sort of homecoming.” It sounds like a lot of guitars played at the same time, just slightly out of phase of one another to give the guitar sound a “shimmering” effect. Bad is reportedly about heroin addiction. The lyrics are so obtuse I’ll have to take Bono’s word for it. Elvis Presley and America is a lyric improvised o the spot and it sounds like it – it doesn’t make a damn bit of sense. Pride [In the Name of Love], the most “normal” sounding song on The Unforgettable Fire, is a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. It’s the only song that seems to have any sort of focus.
The Joshua Tree [1987] – Also produced by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, this album has hard-hitting sound with strict song structures. Most songs were recorded “live”. American and Irish roots music influenced the music. Unlike The Unforgettable Fire, these songs are focused on very specific things. Lyrically the album echoed the band’s political and social concerns – faith [I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For], drug addiction [Running to Stand Still], the death of a friend [One Tree Hill], government brutality [Mothers of the Disappeared], social injustice [Red Hill Mining Town], Reagan’s foreign policy in Central America [Bullet the Blue Sky]. This was a “serious” album.
Rattle & Hum [1988] – This one was produced by Jimmy Iovine. It combined live tracks from The Joshua Tree tour and new studio tracks. Some of the studio tracks sounded like they could’ve been on The Joshua Tree [Desire, Hawkmoon 269, Love Rescue Me, Heartland, All I Want Is You], others further explored their new-found fascination with “American music” [Angel of Harlem, When Love Comes to Town]. One song sounded unlike anything else on the album – God Part II. The live tracks paled in comparison to those presented on Under a Blood Red Sky and Wide Awake in America. By now they were the biggest act in the world, but they were unsure of themselves. Larry Mullen Jr. once remarked “we were the biggest, but we weren’t the best.” It’s no wonder after this experience they decided to have a re-think about what direction to take their music.
With Achtung Baby, U2 got away from being so serious. Bono said that on this album he wanted to explore the subject of sex and fidelity. He wanted to get away from those outside concerns to subject matter that was more personal. Not only was the subject matter different, the sounds the band made were very different. They began using synthesizers, distortion, and electronic beats derived from alternative music, dance music, and hip-hop. The Edge began to use a variety of effects on his guitars that made them sound like they were other instruments. I’ve seen his pedal board from that time. There were so many different pedals because each song had its own unique sound, I often wondered how he could remember which effect went with which song. This was before he got a computer to keep track of such things [to see said computer, watch It Might Get Loud]. Not only did The Edge’s guitar get the electronic treatment, so too did Bono’s voice. That can be heard from the very first song.
Zoo Station - The first song—Zoo Station—blasts open with a barrage of electronic sounds and distortion. Bono's voice is processed so heavily, it barely sounds human. If you strain you can make out what he's saying: "I'm ready, ready for what's next." I guess what was next was freaking out your audience by putting out something like this that is radically different than anything you’ve done previously.
Even Better Than the Real Thing – what would that be? Oral sex perhaps? You tell me…
One - This is the best song on Achtung Baby. It’s probably the best song in their whole catalog. A common interpretation of "One" is that it is sung in the voice of a son who is HIV-positive confronting and reconciling with his conservative father. But there’s more to One than that. While recording Achtung Baby the band split into two camps – the rhythm section [Larry Mullen Jr. and Adam Clayton] were more conservative. Bono and The Edge wanted to get more adventuresome. Things were getting so bad for them they seriously thought of breaking up U2 and calling it a day. The band was having trouble communicating, they were having trouble getting songs down on tape. One such time was during the recording of Mysterious Ways. The Edge figured the song needed another section and goes to the piano in the big room to come up with a middle eight. After playing for a while he has two possible parts and isn't sure which one would be better for the song. He played both of them for Lanois and Bono to see which they prefer. They liked them both -what would it be like if The Edge put them together? The Edge started playing the two new bits in the studio, and Larry and Adam picked up on it and played along. Inspired, Bono got a brainwave - "Is it getting better, or do you feel the same? Is it any easier on you now that you've got someone to blame?" It went from there and became this wonderful song. The only effect I could detect on Edge’s guitar was a Leslie speaker, but very subtle, not in a George Harrison kind of way.
Until the End of the World - Mat Snow wrote in Q magazine that this song was a dialog between Judas and Jesus. The Edge confirmed that, saying "there's an Irish poet named Brendan Kennelly who's written a book of poems about Judas. One of the lines is, 'If you want to serve the age, betray it.' That really set my head reeling. He's fascinated with the whole moral concept of 'Where would we be without Judas?'
Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses - this was one of those especially difficult songs the band recorded. According to Adam Clayton, "It's a great torch song, with melody and emotion, but I don't think we ever captured it again and we have never really been able to play the song live."
So Cruel - Thematically, it deals with unrequited love, jealousy, obsession, and possessiveness. On an album dominated by Martian guitars, this one is a piano song.
The Fly – I love this song. It could be Zoo Station’s twin. The guitar sounds are just unreal. It sounded nothing like anything I’d heard from U2 before. The drums sound like Larry Mullen Jr. is beat the shit out of garbage cans, and Adam Clayton has a very thick-sounding bassline holding down the bottom end. His tone on this song would bring a smile to Jack Bruce. According to Bono, "I always felt like 'The Fly' was this phone call from Hell. You know, with the distorted voice and shit. It's a call from Hell—but the guy likes it there! 'Honey, I know it's hot here . . . but I like it!'
Mysterious Ways – I love this one too. She moves in mysterious ways… It’s got a Middle Eastern vibe to it that sounds very cool. Having seen the video, I’ll never hear this song without seeing the belly dancer, who I think is The Edge’s wife [she wasn’t before the video shoot]. Given their earlier work, I never thought I would utter “U2” and “belly dancer” in the same sentence, but here it is.
Trying to Throw Your Arms Around the World – like Mr. Horse used to say on Ren & Stimpy, “no sir, I don’t like it.”
Ultra Violet (Light My Way) – meh…how many times can you say “baby baby baby light my way”? Apparently if you’re Bono, you can’t say it enough. Zzzzzzz…..
Love Is Blindness – the final song. Not sure what to say about it except that I like it.
Author Bill Flanagan wrote a book about touring with U2 during this period. In his book, U2: At the End of the World, he writes:
“The last three songs face the big issue of how couples begin to reconcile the suffering they force on each other. In "Ultra Violet" the singer pleads with his love to light his way home, only to find that "the day is as dark as the night is long." The couple crawl into bed together, unable to sleep. He marvels at his own hypocrisy: "I must be an acrobat to talk like this and act like that." They decide that if they can't sleep maybe they can speak their dreams out loud and (Bono's quoting Delmore Schwartz here) "begin responsibilities." The album fades out with the conclusion that "Love Is Blindness," the inability to distinguish day from night.”
That’s a better explanation than anything that I can come up with so I’ll go with it. I’m sure there are many who will disagree with what I’ve written about the other songs, but that’s just my opinion.
Achtung Baby definitely broke the U2 mold. This album turned them into rock stars, not that there’s anything wrong with that. Until this album came out, I thought Bono was so serious all the time that he wouldn’t recognize the punchline of a joke if he tripped over it. Happily, Achtung Baby proved me wrong. Subsequent albums, Zooropa and Pop come too mind, continue the work begun on Achtung Baby. To these ears, U2 seems to make like-sounding albums in groups of three, and with Achtung Baby they started something that for them was a pretty radical departure. After Pop they reigned in the experimentation somewhat and got back to making some more serious music. But thanks to what they’ve done with Achtung Baby they showed what was possible, and they still incorporate some of the musical elements from this work into their current work. Achtung Baby is a truly significant work that deserves every word of praise thrown its way.
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