6 keepers
keeper avg .500
Though it's well documented that the band had difficulties making Achtung Baby, sometimes you need to break a few eggs; in this case a complete change of approach gave us an album that was a game-changer for rock music. Indeed, it's also well-worn lore that producer Brian Eno's job was to erase anything that sounded too much like U2. I do remember the impression that (then new songs) "Zoo Station"****, "The Fly"****, and "Mysterious Ways" made on me as a proto-music-aficionado when a classmate played them for my small bunch of friends at school (way back in '91). The Edge had acquired some new toys and they were making sounds that I'd never heard anyone make with a guitar. Also, the Edge had been listening to a lot of dance and industrial music before recording, and the combination of these rhythms, Edge's heavily filtered rock guitars, and Bono's new goofy, satirical approach was a sound nobody had heard before.
However, though Larry Mullen Jr's drums are streamlined a bit to accommodate The Edge's new aesthetic, Eno missed a few spots. Songs like "Until the End of the World"**** and "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)" still have The Edge's familiar stutter-y riffs, and Bono still hasn't lost his earnestness on anthemic tracks like "One"**** and "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses"****. These elements or songs that weren't far removed from pre-1991 U2 give the album a tension that seems to reflect conflicts in the band that flared up during the creation of the album.
Still other songs tread a third way, breaking new ground for the band while not sounding like they came from Mars. "Even Better Than the Real Thing" still seems sonically insignificant to me but it was definitely a jumping-off point for many future U2 hits. Though the delayed guitar on "Acrobat" is right from The Edge's oldest playbook, Mullen's fittingly evocative 6/8 rhythm would surely influence a fair amount of subsequent British rock; my only problem with the song is Bono borrowing an important-sounding phrase like "don't let the bastards grind you down" for a throwaway line. And Edge's guitar on lounge-y ballad "Love Is Blindness"**** includes atmospheric textures, quiet moans, and punchy wails. Only "So Cruel" and "Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World" provide no interest for me. It's difficult to honestly assess songs like "Even Better Than the Real Thing", "One", and "Mysterious Ways" that have been ubiquitous for my entire adult life, but a handful of deeper cuts made revisiting this pivotal album worthwhile.
Comments