'' is an album by
Irish Rock Band U2 , released on
November 19 ,
1991 (see
1991 In Music ). The album was released nearly two years after lead vocalist Bono announced the band would have to "go away and dream it all up again", following the mixed reception of 1988's ''
Rattle And Hum ''.
"Achtung, Baby!" in German means "Attention, baby!" or "Careful, baby!" Frequently used by the band's soundman during the making of the album, the phrase came from the
Mel Brooks film ''
The Producers ''.
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One of U2's best-selling and most critically acclaimed albums, ''Achtung Baby'' was a vast departure for the band, adding more European than American influences, especially the avant-garde theatrics of
David Bowie ,
Lou Reed , and other artists. Bono has often described the album as "the sound of four men trying to chop down
The Joshua Tree ". During the
1970s , Producer
Brian Eno collaborated with Bowie in the same Berlin studio in which U2 did its earliest session work for ''Achtung Baby'', and the Edge uses guitar effects and pedal similar to those used by Bowie on albums such as ''
Low '' and ''
"Heroes" ''. U2 sampled techniques and sounds from other musical genres previously unused by the band, including Dance, House and Electronica, whilst maintaining their original feel of rock and roll. The album's new sound was a source of conflict in the band because
The Edge and
Bono favored the new sounds they were coming up with while recording their sessions in Berlin, while drummer
Larry Mullen, Jr. and bassist
Adam Clayton were partial to the band's traditional sound. The conflict amongst the members of U2 very nearly led to the band breaking up, but the fighting subdued after The Edge, struggling with two bridge sections for the song "Ultra Violet (Light My Way)" was encouraged to combine them by the band and producers Eno and Lanois. The band rallied around the riff and was inspired to write the song "One". It essentially changed the band's entire outlook on the album. It helped bring the band back from the brink during recording sessions and it was responsible for a renewed sense of optimism towards the material they had already recorded. Leaving Berlin on a high note, the band was able to complete the rest of the album in Dublin. While ostensibly a song of loss, "
One " and its three separate music videos came to be seen by the band, and many of its fans, as an anthem extolling hope wrought from despair.
''Achtung Baby'' was also darker sounding than previous efforts, thanks in large part to songs such as "So Cruel", "Acrobat", and "
Love Is Blindness ", which deal with themes of helplessness, broken relationships, and (in the case of "Love is Blindness") violence in the name of love. The spiritual yearning of U2's eighties work began to take on a more existential, despairing element in ''Achtung Baby''. The band's political activism moved to the
AIDS crisis and environmental issues, even using the CD single and one of the song's videos to draw public attention to AIDS. At the same time, the band also took on a lighter tone, electing to use
Irony rather than earnestness in its music and public appearances, and poking-fun at its own self-importance during the 1980s. This evolving outlook culminated in the pleaful soul-searching (and jaded skewering of contemporary life) on
1997 's ''
Pop '' and would not subside until the more hopeful tracks on
2000 's ''
All That You Can't Leave Behind ''. Other tracks included the distorted opener "Zoo Station," the danceable single "Even Better Than The Real Thing," and the thumping rocker (and future live favorite) "Until the End of The World," originally written for the soundtrack of
Wim Wenders ' eponymous 1991
Science Fiction film. The song may be an allegorical afterlife confession of
Judas Iscariot .
The album was supported by the
Zoo TV Tour , a ground-breaking multimedia concert production.
# "
Zoo Station " – 4:36
# "
Even Better Than The Real Thing " – 3:41
# "
One " – 4:36
# "
Until The End Of The World " – 4:39
# "
Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses " – 5:16
# "
So Cruel " – 5:49
# "
The Fly " – 4:29
# "
Mysterious Ways " – 4:04
# "
Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World " – 3:53
# "
Ultra Violet (Light My Way) " – 5:31
# "
Acrobat " – 4:30
# "
Love Is Blindness " – 4:23
The music was credited to U2, with words written specifically by Bono and the Edge.
"The Fly", "Mysterious Ways", "One", "Even Better Than the Real Thing", and "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" were released as singles.
On the
Billboard Music Charts (North America), ''Achtung Baby'' topped the Billboard 200 chart. It won a
Grammy Award for
Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal .
In
1998 ''Q'' Magazine readers voted ''Achtung Baby'' the 15th greatest album of all time; in
2003 the
TV Network VH1 placed it at number 65. Also in 2003, ''Q'' declared its third track, "One", "the greatest recorded song of all time".
''Achtung Baby'' was voted #62 on
Rolling Stone 's top 500 albums of all-time.
'Achtung Baby' was voted #11 on
Spin 's Best Albums of the Last 25 Years list.
1991 The Fly The Billboard Hot 100 No. 61
1991 Mysterious Ways Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 1
1991 The Fly Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 2
1991 Mysterious Ways Modern Rock Tracks No. 1
1991 The Fly Modern Rock Tracks No. 1
1991 The Fly Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales No. 44
1992 One Adult Contemporary No. 24
1992 Even Better Than The Real Thing The Billboard Hot 100 No. 32
1992 Mysterious Ways The Billboard Hot 100 No. 9
1992 One The Billboard Hot 100 No. 10
1992 Who s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses The Billboard Hot 100 No. 35
1992 Even Better Than The Real Thing Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 1
1992 One Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 1
1992 Until The End Of The World Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 5
1992 Who s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 2
1992 Even Better Than The Real Thing Modern Rock Tracks No. 5
1992 One Modern Rock Tracks No. 1
1992 Until The End Of The World Modern Rock Tracks No. 4
1992 Who s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses Modern Rock Tracks No. 7
1992 Who s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses Top 40 Mainstream No. 28
1992 Even Better Than The Real Thing Hot Dance Music/Club Play No. 27
1992 Mysterious Ways Hot Dance Music/Club Play No. 42
1992 Even Better Than the Real Thing Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales No. 35
1992 Mysterious Ways Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales No. 29
1992 One Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales No. 44
1997 One Canadian Singles Chart No. 19
U2 entered the studio in late 1990 and began recording the album before they had written any material, mainly improvising and developing ideas into songs. The more interesting ideas were preserved on working tapes. In April 1991, these tapes fell into the hands of bootleggers, well before the album's November release date. The most widely circulated compilation of these tapes is the three-disc ''Salomé: The Axtung Beibi Outtakes'', released in February 1992.
Since these songs were leaked very early in the production process, they provide a rare insight into the band's songwriting process. On the same note, many of the ideas—including eight different takes of the song "Salomé"—were frustratingly undeveloped, so the bootleg remains a curiosity strictly for hardcore fans. "There were no undiscovered works of genius, unfortunately, it was more just gobbledy-gook." --Bono
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Some of the ideas were revisited—there are, for instance, early instrumental versions of "Even Better Than the Real Thing" and "North and South of the River" (the latter of which wouldn't be recorded by the band until
1997 )—and one song—the
B-side "Where Did It All Go Wrong?"—was even released as a rough composite of the two takes available on the bootleg. There are also a handful of developed ideas that were wholly abandoned, such as "She's Gonna Blow Your House Down", a song the group had been working on since the ''Rattle and Hum'' days.
