U2 Achtung Baby - 20th Anniversary Edition

One of the most iconic rock bands of all time, U2 might never have reached the Nineties had it not been for the group’s seventh album. After its massive success in the Eighties, the band had fallen into a rut of seriousness and pomposity and desperately needed retooling. Achtung Baby was it. Recorded in Germany shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Achtung Baby broke new ground with its adventurous mix of alternative rock, industrial and electronic dance music and songs that were more introspective than anthemic. The 1991 album, says Bono, was “the sound of four men chopping down The Joshua Tree.”

The making of the pivotal album, produced by Daniel Lanois with Brian Eno, was the subject of the acclaimed recent documentary From the Sky Down, which opened the Toronto International Film Festival. The film explores the creative tension, what the Edge calls a “potentially career-ending series of difficulties,” that led to became U2’s best album. Now, to celebrate its 20^th anniversary, U2 is re-releasing Achtung Baby in five separate formats, including standard and deluxe editions as well as box sets that come with remixes and rare archive and concert footage.

The strength of the album lies in its bold experimentation, from the jagged guitars of the ominous “Zoo Station” and the tribal beats of the exotic “Mysterious Ways” to the inspired street poetry in the swirling chaos of “The Fly.” Lyrically, Bono had never sung so directly of his emotions in lusty songs like “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses” and “Even Better Than the Real Thing.” “Give me one more chance,” he pleads in the latter, “Let me be your lover tonight.” The album’s highlight is the deeply soulful ballad “One.” When Bono sings “We’re one, but we’re not the same, we get to carry each other,” he strikes a spiritual note that elevates U2 into true greatness.