Achtung Baby is the seventh studio album by rock band U2, released on 19 November 1991. Stung by criticism of their previous album, Rattle and Hum, the band made a deliberate change in musical and thematic direction with the album. Achtung Baby incorporates alternative rock, electronic dance, and industrial influences into U2's music. Thematically, the band replaced their previous earnest image with a more ironic one.
Seeking renewal and inspiration on the eve of German reunification, the band began work on Achtung Baby in Berlin's Hansa Studios in October 1990 with producers Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno. Conflict arose within the band over the quality of the material and their musical direction. Weeks of slow progress, arguments, and tension subsided when the band quickly improvised the song "One", which was a breakthrough for the album sessions. The band was more productive in the studio after recording sessions moved to Dublin in 1991.
Sonically, the band referred to the album as the sound of "four men chopping down the Joshua Tree". Thematically, it was a more inward-looking and personal record; it was darker, yet more playful than the band's previous work. Commercially and critically, Achtung Baby has been one of the band's most successful albums. It produced the hit singles "One", "Mysterious Ways", and "The Fly", sold 18 million copies worldwide, and won a Grammy Award. The album and the subsequent multimedia-intensive Zoo TV Tour were a crucial part of the band's 1990s reinvention. In 2003, the album was ranked number 62 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".
Background
U2's 1987 album, The Joshua Tree, brought them critical acclaim, great commercial success, and high exposure, but it was also the beginning of a backlash against the band. The band were accused of being grandiose, over-earnest, and self-righteous, and this criticism increased with the release of Rattle and Hum the following year.[11][12] Negative press and critical reaction to Rattle and Hum called the album "misguided and bombastic" and "pretentious". The album's intended homage to American music legends was interpreted as the band acting too self-important and placing themselves as equals with the likes of Bob Dylan and The Beatles.[13][14][15]
Despite their level of success, the band were affected by the criticism and felt dissatisfied with their live performances. Drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. said of the band, "We were the biggest, but we weren't the best".[16] There was a sense within the band that Rattle and Hum was the end of something,[17] and that the collaboration with blues musician BB King on the album and 1989's Lovetown Tour was "like an excursion down a dead-end street", one that audiences did not quite get.[18] Still, lead singer Bono said that listening to black music had helped the band "get the groove ready for Achtung Baby" and listening to folk music had helped him develop as a lyricist.[18] Towards the end of the Lovetown Tour, Bono, said onstage in Dublin that "this is just the end of something for U2" and that "we have to go away and … and dream it all up again". After the tour ended in January 1990, U2 began its longest break to date, which included a two-year break from public performance until the 1992 Zoo TV Tour.[19]
Pre-recording
In reaction to the criticism of Rattle and Hum and their own musical stereotypes, U2 began to search for new musical ground. [20] One of the first indications of this was the song "God Part II", written near the end of the Rattle and Hum sessions after a late realisation that they had pursued roots rock to an excess. With a more contemporary feel, Bono said the song was in line with Achtung Baby.[21] More hints of change were two 1990 recordings that used electronic dance beats and hip-hop elements for the first time. The band recorded "Night and Day" for the first of the Red Hot + Blue releases, and Bono and guitarist The Edge contributed to the original score for the Royal Shakespeare Company's theatrical version of A Clockwork Orange. Bono later said that this early experimentation was "preparing the ground for Achtung Baby".[22] Ideas not deemed appropriate for the play, including guitar riffs and keyboard parts, were put aside for the band.[22]
Edge was listening to a lot of dance music and industrial bands, such as Nine Inch Nails, the Young Gods, and KMFDM. In contrast, Mullen was listening to Blind Faith, Cream, and Jimi Hendrix records.[12][22] In addition to this divergence in band members' listening tastes, Bono and Edge were working closely on songwriting away from the rest of the band. This change in the band's long-standing relationship left Mullen and bassist Adam Clayton feeling excluded from the songwriting process.[22] Bono and Edge became advocates for experimentation with dance and alternative music trends, which was at odds with Mullen and Clayton.[22] Band members were interested in Roy Orbison, Scott Walker, and Jacques Brel and The Edge had wanted to go towards a more personal style of writing.[23]
Bono had written material during the Lovetown Tour of Australia and spent mid-1990 sorting through it. The band recorded demos at STS studios in Dublin that evolved into "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses", "Until the End of the World", "Even Better Than the Real Thing", and "Mysterious Ways". These undeveloped tracks were taken into the studio for the Achtung Baby sessions.[24] The band wanted the new album to be "forward-looking" and a "complete about turn", but they did not know how how this could be achieved.[25] The beginning of the Madchester movement in the UK left U2 confused about how they fit into any particular musical scene.[24]
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…
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U2 brought back the production team of Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, who had produced the band's 1984 album The Unforgettable Fire, which was one of their most audacious shifts in musical style.[14] Lanois, who had become recognised in his own right having worked with Bob Dylan and Peter Gabriel, was principal producer, alongside engineer Flood.[20] Eno took on an assisting producing role at various intervals.[20][26] Steve Lillywhite, whose credits included producer on U2's first three albums and several tracks on The Joshua Tree, mixed several Achtung Baby tracks.[20][26] The "oblique" strategies of the Lanois-Eno team contrasted with producer Jimmy Iovine's direct and retro style on the previous Rattle and Hum album.[14]
The band saw "domesticity as the enemy of rock 'n' roll" and that to work on the new album, they had to get away from their normal family-orientated routines. A new Europe was emerging and Berlin, at the heart of the reuniting continent, was proposed as a source of inspiration and renewal to move towards a more European aesthetic.[12][14][27] The band chose Hansa Studios, located near the recently opened Berlin Wall, as their recording location. It was where Eno and David Bowie had recorded albums in the so-called "Berlin Trilogy" in the late 1970s, and where Bowie and Bono's idol Iggy Pop had recorded The Idiot.[24] The band arrived in Berlin on 3 October 1990 on what was the last flight into East Berlin the day before German reunification.[24] Expecting to be inspired, the band instead found the mood in Berlin "depressing", "dark and gloomy".[25] The collapse of the Berlin Wall resulted in a state of malaise in Germany, and the band's dilapidated hotel and the Hansa Studios' location in a former SS ballroom added to the "bad vibe".[25]
Friction within the band over their musical direction and the quality of their material added to the tense atmosphere. Bono and Edge continued to advocate for a new musical direction, based on the alternative rock and European electronic dance music by which they were inspired. Clayton and Mullen, on the other hand, were more comfortable with a sound similar to U2's previous work and did not understand the new direction.[12][25] Mullen was listening to music by drummers Ginger Baker of Cream and John Bonham of Led Zeppelin for drumming inspirations, yet Edge was delving into dance club mixes and advocating drum machines, leading Mullen to feel that "his input was being diminished".[25] Lanois was expecting the "textural, emotional, and cinematic" U2 of the The Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree and found it difficult to understand the intent of the more "throwaway and trashy things" the band was working on.[12]
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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.
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The band went to Berlin hoping their existing ideas would become completed songs, but they found they were "under-rehearsed and under-prepared" and that the ideas were not evolving into "fully-fledged songs".[25] Bono and Lanois, in particular, had an intense argument that almost came to blows during the writing of "Mysterious Ways".[29] Moreover, the band members' roles and responsibilities were being redefined. Bono and The Edge's close songwriting relationship became a source of confrontation and conflict with Mullen and Clayton in Berlin.[25] On one occasion, Mullen was irate that the other band members had abandoned him at the hotel to record in the studio.[30] For the first time, the band could not find consensus during their disagreements and felt that they were not making progress. Mullen thought it "might be the end" of the band.[25] A breakthrough was achieved with the writing of the song, "One".[28] When Edge combined two chord progressions that he was playing on guitar, the band found inspiration and quickly improvised most of the song at Lanois' encouragement. It provided a much needed reassurance for the band and re-validated their long-standing "blank page" approach to writing and recording.[28][31]
The band left Berlin at the end of 1990 to continue work on the album in Dublin.[32] Although the band had delivered just two songs in three months in Berlin,[33] The Edge said in retrospect that working in Berlin was more productive and more inspirational than the output had suggested. The band had been removed from a familiar environment, providing a certain "texture and cinematic location", and many of the musical ideas that band had recorded in Berlin would be revisited with success in Dublin.[28] In April 1991, tapes from the album's earlier Berlin session's were leaked and bootlegged, about which Bono said, "There were no undiscovered works of genius, unfortunately, it was more just gobbledy-gook."[34] U2 completed the majority of the album's work in 1991 in Dublin at the seaside mansion "Elsinore" in Dalkey, which was within walking distance of Bono and The Edge's homes.[32] Writing and recording there proved to be much more productive than in Berlin. One song, "Lady With the Spinning Head", later released as a B-side, proved troublesome, but it inspired three separate songs, "The Fly", "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)" and "Zoo Station".[32]
With Flood and Steve Lillywhite in charge of mixing songs at Windmill Lane Studios,[35] the band found the process difficult and rushed to complete songs. With work on the album concluding in August, additional recording and mixing continued up until the last few days, including last minute changes to "The Fly" and "One".[36] Once the lyrics and the mixes were finalised, the album had come closer to a more traditional U2 sound.[12] The band spent the final night devising a sequence order for the album.[36] The following day, Edge travelled to Los Angeles with the album's tapes for mastering over five days.[36] Bono referred to the completed album as the sound of "four men chopping down the Joshua Tree".[37] Upon its completion, the band saw it as a "watershed" album that ensured their creative future as a group.[36]
Composition
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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 or rock & roll - the conventional sound of the 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 [38] |
While Bono's vocals were centre-stage in melody and mix during the band's 1980s work, his voice on Achtung Baby was more elusive and featured him singing in different characters.[39] Edge's guitar moved from the bright and echoing trademark sound to a muddier and, at times, industrial sound. The rhythm section was given a more prominent role in the mix,[39] and hip-hop-derived beats are on half the album's tracks. The guitar-heavy songs mix harder textures and new effects, along with dance music influences akin to young English bands of the time, including the Happy Mondays and Jesus Jones.[40] The work of singer-songwriter Gavin Friday, Bono's friend since childhood, was cited as an influence on the "new U2".[41]
Thematically, U2 deliberately "stepped off their soapbox" of political and social critique of their previous work, and the album was a more introspective record, with a number of songs exuding confusion and loneliness.[42] Compared to the youthful exuberance on much of their 1980s work, Achtung Baby was a more direct and complex examination of pain in personal relationships, and covered love, sexuality, spirituality, and faith, in addition to betrayal.[43] At the same time, it was more flippant and overtly sexual than the band's previous work.[44] Achtung Baby sought to recover some of the Dadaist characters and stage antics that the teenage U2 had dabbled with in the late 1970s but had been pushed aside for more literal themes over the course of the 1980s.[45] While the band had been outwardly opposed to the materialism of the 1980s, Achtung Baby and the Zoo TV Tour examined and flirted with those values.[46]
In 1990, Edge separated from his wife of six years and mother of his three children. The pain of the separation strongly influenced the album, particularly evident in Bono's lyrical contributions.[12][24][26] Bono cites the enjoyment of his first child born in 1989 as a major influence on the album, as was his wife's second pregnancy during the album's 1991 recording. While no previous U2 song had used the word "baby", it appears 27 times on Achtung Baby and is one of the reasons for the album title. Bono says babies are also behind the line of the opening track "Zoo Station": "I'm ready, to say I'm glad to be alive" / "I'm ready, I'm ready for the push…".[24]
"Zoo Station" dramatically represents the band's reinvention. With distorted vocal tracks and industrial percussion, the lyrics of the album's opening track can be read as a statement of intent and suggest new appetites and anticipations.[48] The song's introduction of distorted guitars and crashing percussion was intended to sound like the record or hi-fi was broken, or that mistakenly it was not the new U2 album.[32] Similarly, "The Fly", with its industrial sound and distorted vocals and guitar, was chosen as the album's first single because it sounded nothing like U2.[49] Bono described the guitar part as if "a fly had broken into your brain and was buzzing around."[32] Bono wrote the lyrics in character as "The Fly", stating the song "was like a crank call from Hell… but [the caller] likes it there."[47]
Distinct guitar effects characterise many of the album's other songs. "Mysterious Ways", known for its funky guitar riff and danceable beat, began as an improvisation over a drum machine, with the band only liking Clayton's bass line.[47] After The Edge introduced a new effects pedal to the song, the song's writing progressed.[47] The final product is what Bono calls "U2 at our funkiest... Sly and The Family Stone meets Madchester baggy."[47] "Acrobat", which is played in a 12⁄8 time signature, features The Edge playing a distorted tremolo. Lyrically, it is one of the most personal songs on Achtung Baby with Bono acknowledging personal weakness, contradictions, and inadequacy.[23] Bono cites the track as one of his favourite U2 songs, although he was not satisfied with the recording.[50] "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)" features U2's 1980s "repeato-riff" guitar. Thematically, it is another song about a relationship under strain, with unease over obligations.[51]
"Even Better Than the Real Thing" originated from a chorus guitar riff developed during the recording of Rattle and Hum,[52] but it was after The Edge played the riff on a newly purchased Digitech Whammy effects pedal that the song's writing turned around.[47] 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".[47] The album's closing track, "Love Is Blindness", was written during the Achtung Baby sessions and in Australia during the 1989 Lovetown Tour.[53] Bono had struck up an acquaintance with Frank Sinatra and "Love is Blindness" shows cabaret influences.[35] The song was played as the final or second last song during the Zoo TV tour. "So Cruel" also shows cabaret influences and Bono cites Scott Walker as an influence. Written acoustically and comparatively quickly by U2 standards, the song originally sounded more traditional than what the band had in mind for the album. Engineer Flood keyed Clayton's bass part off Mullen's playing of an Irish bodhran, which combined with overdubs gave it a more unusual sound.[54] Thematically, it deals with unrequited love, jealousy, obsession, and possessiveness. [55]
"One" was improvised during a tense stage in the album sessions, when the band was on the verge of breaking up. After The Edge combined two chord progressions on guitar and caught the ear of the other band members, they quickly assembled and wrote most of the song immediately. Bono's inspiration for the lyrics 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's chorus. "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" began as a rough demo that the band recorded in 1990 and attempted to improve during the formal Achtung Baby sessions. However, the band always found themselves revisiting the original demo.[47] The song's lyrics describe a couple who are experiencing a quarrel.
"Until the End of the World" is lyrically one of the most serious songs on the album, as it is written as a conversation between Jesus Christ and his betrayer, Judas Iscariot.[47] Bono wrote the lyrics at his father-in-law's house after waking up with the lyrical concept one morning.[47] The song's music originated from a guitar riff that Bono wrote for a demo called "Fat Boy" and The Edge revisited after the band met filmmaker Wim Wenders, who was looking for music to use in his film Until the End of the World.[47] "Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World" is lyrically one of the least serious songs on the album. Dedicated to the Los Angeles bar The Flaming Colossus, the song describes a drunken stagger home.[56]
Release
Island Records and the band refused to make advance copies of Achtung Baby available to the press until just a few days before the release date, preferring instead to have fans listen to the album before reading reviews. The decision came among rumours of tensions with the band, and it was compared to the Hollywood practice of withholding review copies of films from the media prior to release whenever a movie has received poor word-of-mouth press.[57] On 19 November 1991, U2 released Achtung Baby, its first album in three years, and the first of all new material in over four years.[26] Upon the album's release, the band maintained a low profile, avoiding interviews and letting critics and the public make their own assessments.[14]
The album's title, "Achtung, Baby!" in German means "Attention, baby!" or "Watch out, baby!" was used by the band's sound engineer Joe O'Herlihy during the making of the album.[14] He reportedly took the phrase from the Mel Brooks film The Producers.[36] Although the phrase actually said in the film is, "Auf Wiedersehen, Baby". According to Bono, it was ideal an title, as it was "attention-grabbing", referenced Germany, and hinted at either romance or birth, both of which were themes on the album.[36] Alternative titles considered included Man (as opposed to the group's debut album Boy), and Adam, for which (Adam) Clayton was photographed naked.[12][36]
The album sleeve is a 4x4 squared montage of 16 images by the band's long-time photographer, Anton Corbijn, devised since the band could not decide on a single image to use. It includes the photo of a naked Clayton and photos of band members in drag, all of which were part of a desire to confound expectations of U2.[36] On the U.S. CD and cassette sleeves, Clayton's private parts are censored with a black "X" or a four-leaf clover.[citation needed] In 2006, Bono commented that it was still his favourite U2 sleeve artwork.[58]
Singles
The first single, "The Fly", was released on 21 October 1991, a month prior to the album's release. Selected as the first single well in advance of the album's release, the song's danceable, industrial sounds signaled to fans that the band were moving away from their traditional sound. The song and its music video were a showcase for Bono's new persona, The Fly, known for his leather-clad fashion and dark, wraparound sunglasses. The song became U2's second #1 single in the U.K.
The "Mysterious Ways" was released as the album's second single on 24 November 1991, days after the album's release. The song reached #9 on the Hot 100, making it the band's fourth highest charting single.
The third single, "One", was released in March 1992. It reached #7 in the UK charts, #10 in the US charts, and #1 on the US Mainstream Rock Tracks and the US Modern Rock Tracks charts. The song has since become regarded as one of the greatest songs of all-time, ranking #36 on Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" and #1 Q's "1001 Greatest Songs of All-Time".[8] In a 2007 VH1 countdown, "One" was #2 on its list of "Songs of the 1990s".[60]
The fourth single, "Even Better Than the Real Thing" was released on 8 June 1992. The fifth and final single, "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" was released in August 1992.
Reception
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Few bands can marshal such sublime power, but it's just one of the many moments on Achtung Baby when we're reminded why, before these guys were the butt of cynical jokes, they were rock & roll heroes – as they still are.
— Rolling Stone's Elysa Gardner, describing the song "One" in her review of Achtung Baby[9] |
Upon its release, Achtung Baby received strong reviews from critics. Rolling Stone magazine, in its 4.5/5 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."[9] 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".[9] Entertainment Weekly gave the album an "A" and called the album a "pristinely produced and surprisingly unpretentious return by one of the most impressive bands in the world".[6] In its 5-star review of the album, Q called Achtung Baby the band'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".[8] The New York Times praised the album for featuring "noisy, vertiginous arrangements, mostly layers of guitar, that eddy around the melody or tear at its edges" that still "maintains its pop skills".[7] The review concludes, "Stripped-down and defying its old formulas, U2 has given itself a fighting chance for the 1990's."[7]
On the North American Billboard Music Charts, Achtung Baby topped the Billboard 200 chart, selling 295,000 copies in its first week. The album went to #1 on the UK album chart, while peaking at #2 on the US album chart.[61] It sold 7 million copies in its first 3 months,[62] and subsequently, 18 million copies worldwide.[63]
At the 1993 Grammy Awards, Achtung Baby won a Grammy Award for "Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal", while also earning Lanois and Eno the award for "Producer of the Year.[61] The album was also nominated for the "Album of the Year" award.[61] Achtung Baby has since become regarded as one of the greatest albums in rock history and is frequently cited on lists ranking the best rock albums.
Zoo TV Tour
Main article:
Zoo TV TourIn support of the album, U2 launched the Zoo TV Tour on 29 February 1992. Lasting almost two years and spanning five legs and 157 shows, the tour was an elaborately-staged multimedia event, designed to instill a feeling of "sensory overload" in its audience.[72] The stage design featured Vidiwalls, 36 video monitors, numerous television cameras, 176 speakers, and 11 elaborately painted Trabant cars, several of which were suspended over the stage with spotlights inserted into headlights. Songs were complemented by a myriad of bewildering visual effects. The tour marked a shift from the earnest performances that typified the band in the 1980s to ones that were intentionally ironic and self-mocking. During a break in the tour, the band recorded and released their next studio album, Zooropa, in 1993. In 2002, Q magazine called the Zoo TV Tour "still the most spectacular rock tour staged by any band."[73]
Track listing
All songs written and composed by U2, with lyrics by Bono and The Edge.
Chart positions and sales
Album
| Country |
Peak position |
Certification |
Sales |
| Australia |
1 |
5x Platinum[74] |
350,000+ |
| Austria |
2 |
Platinum[75][dead link] |
30,000+ |
| Brazil |
|
Gold |
50,000+[76] |
| Canada |
|
Diamond[77] |
1,000,000+ |
| Finland |
|
Gold[78][dead link] |
34,938+ |
| France |
37 |
Platinum[79][dead link] |
300,000+ |
| Germany |
|
Platinum[80] |
200,000+ |
| Netherlands |
|
Platinum[81] |
80,000+ |
| Switzerland |
3 |
Gold[82] |
25,000+ |
| United Kingdom |
2 |
4x Platinum[83][dead link] |
1,200,000+ |
| United States |
1 |
8x Platinum[84] |
8,000,000+ |
- United States: #1 for 1 week
- United Kingdom: #2 for 1 week, 87 weeks on chart
- Switzerland: #3 for 2 weeks
- Austria: #2 for 2 weeks
- Australia: #1 for 1 week
Singles
|
|
| Song |
Year |
Chart |
Peak |
| "Even Better Than the Real Thing" |
1992 |
Billboard Hot 100 |
32 |
| Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks |
1 |
| Billboard Modern Rock Tracks |
5 |
| Billboard Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales |
35 |
| Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play |
27 |
| "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" |
Billboard Hot 100 |
35 |
| Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks |
2 |
| Billboard Modern Rock Tracks |
7 |
| Billboard Top 40 Mainstream |
28 |
| "Until the End of the World" |
Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks |
5 |
| Billboard Modern Rock Tracks |
4 |
| "One" |
1997 |
Canadian Singles Chart |
19 |
|
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
Video
Achtung Baby: The Videos, The Cameos, and a Whole Lot of Interference from Zoo TV
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 videos each for "One" and "Even Better than the Real Thing." 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.
The compilation's track list is as follows:
- Interference
- "Even Better Than the Real Thing" – directed by Kevin Godley
- Interference
- "Mysterious Ways" – directed by Stéphane Sednaoui
- "One" (Version 1) – directed by Anton Corbijn
- "The Fly" – directed by Ritchie Smyth and Jon Klein
- Interference
- "Even Better Than the Real Thing" (Dance Mix) – directed by Ritchie Smyth
- "One" (Version 2) – directed by Mark Pellington
- "Even Better Than the Real Thing" – directed by Armando Gallo and Kampah
- "One" (Version 3) – directed by Phil Joanou
- "Until the End of the World" – directed by Ritchie Smyth
See also
Notes
- ^ "Achtung Baby - Overview". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:br61mpe39f2o. Retrieved 2009-10-13.
- ^ Gray, Christopher (2001-03-30). "Review - U2: Achtung Baby". Austin Chronicle. http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/review?oid=oid%3A81288. Retrieved 2009-10-13.
- ^ Easlea, Daryl (2007-04-18). "Review of U2 - Achtung Baby". BBC Online. http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/release/bqw6/. Retrieved 2009-10-13.
- ^ Morse, Steve (1991-11-15). "U2 bounces back". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/ae/music/packages/U2Fleetcenter/album_review_achtung_baby. Retrieved 2009-10-13.
- ^ "U2 - Consumer Guide Reviews". Robert Christgau. http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=u2. Retrieved 2009-10-13.
- ^ a b Wyman, Bill (1991-11-19). "Achtung Baby: music review". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,316330,00.html. Retrieved 2009-03-06.
- ^ a b c Pareles, Jon (1991-11-17). "U2 Takes a Turn From the Universal To the Domestic". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/17/arts/recordings-view-u2-takes-a-turn-from-the-universal-to-the-domestic.html?scp=2. Retrieved 2009-10-13.
- ^ a b c "U2 - Achtung Baby". Time Pieces. http://www.timepieces.nl/Albums-U/U2_Achtung_Baby.htm. Retrieved 2009-08-14.
- ^ a b c d Gardner, Elysa. "U2, Achtung, Baby". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/u2/albums/album/116432/review/5941852/achtung_baby. Retrieved 2009-03-06.
- ^ Hartwig, Andrew (2005-01-14). "U2 - Achtung Baby". Sputnikmusic. http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?albumid=285. Retrieved 2009-10-13.
- ^ Gardner (1994)
- ^ a b c d e f g h Fricke (1993).
- ^ McCormick (2006), p. 211.
- ^ a b c d e f Graham (2004), p. 43.
- ^ Gardner (1994), pp. xxiii-xxv.
- ^ Fricke (1993)
- ^ Gardner (1994), p. xxiv.
- ^ a b McCormick (2006), p. 213.
- ^ de la Parra (1994), pp. 138–149.
- ^ a b c d e Eno (1991)
- ^ McCormick (2006), p. 207
- ^ a b c d e McCormick (2006), p. 215.
- ^ a b Stokes (1996), p. 108.
- ^ a b c d e f McCormick (2006), pp. 216, 221.
- ^ a b c d e f g h McCormick (2006), p. 221.
- ^ a b c d Gardner (1994), p. xxv.
- ^ Flanagan (1995), p. 7.
- ^ a b c d McCormick (2006), p. 221, 224.
- ^ Stokes (1996), p. 104.
- ^ Stokes (1996), p. 100.
- ^ Flanagan (1995), pp. 6–11
- ^ a b c d e McCormick (2006), pp. 224–225.
- ^ Stokes (1996), p. 98.
- ^ The Origins and History of Salome
- ^ a b Graham (2004), p. 45.
- ^ a b c d e f g h McCormick (2006), p. 232.
- ^ Paulsen, John (20 September 2005). "Deep Cuts: U2: Part I". bullz-eye.com. http://www.bullz-eye.com/music/deep_cuts/2005/U2_part_1.htm. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
- ^ Everett, Walter (1999). "Music, Contexts, and Meaning in U2". Expression in Pop-Rock Music: A Collection of Critical and Analytical Essays (Studies in Contemporary Music and Culture). Routledge. pp. 45-48. ISBN 978-0815331605. http://books.google.com/books?id=tAA73ebsa0sC&pg=PA45&dq=Hansa+Tonstudio.
- ^ a b Graham (2004), p. 44.
- ^ Gardner (1991)
- ^ Graham (2004), p. 54.
- ^ de la Primm (1994), p. 139; Gardner (1992)
- ^ Graham (2004), p. 46, Stokes (1996), p. 100.
- ^ Light (1993)
- ^ Stokes (1996), p. 95.
- ^ Graham (2004), p. 46.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k McCormick, Neil (ed), (2006). U2 by U2. HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 0-00-719668-7. p. 224–225, 227, 232.
- ^ Graham (2004), p. 47; Stokes (1996), p. 95.
- ^ Flanagan (1995), p. 30; Graham (2004), p. 49; Stokes (1996), p. 102.
- ^ McCormick (2006), p. 228.
- ^ Graham (2004), p. 50.
- ^ Stokes (1996), p. 96.
- ^ Graham (2004), p. 44., Triple J November 1993.
- ^ Graham (2004), p. 45; McCormick (2006), p. 228; Achtung Baby: The Videos, The Cameos, and a Whole Lot of Interference from Zoo TV (Video May 1992).
- ^ Graham (2004), p. 49.
- ^ Graham (2004), p. 50; Stokes (1996), p. 106.
- ^ Browne, David (1991-11-15). "U2s "Achtung Baby" reaches record stores". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,316187,00.html. Retrieved 2009-08-14.
- ^ McCormick (2006), p. 234.
- ^ Flanagan (1995), page. 30; Graham (2004), page. 49; Stokes, Niall (1996). Into The Heart: The Story Behind Every U2 Song. Australia: HarperCollinsPublishers. pp. 102. ISBN 0-7322-6036-1.
- ^ "100 Greatest Songs of the 90s". VH1. http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/the_greatest/127762/episode_featured_copy.jhtml. Retrieved 2009-01-02.
- ^ a b c "U2.com - Achtung Baby". U2.com. http://www.u2.com/discography/index/album/albumId/4009/tagName/studio_albums. Retrieved 2009-08-31.
- ^ de la Primm (1994), p. 139.
- ^ "Achtung Baby - MP3 Download". LiveNation.com. http://www.store.livenation.com/Product.aspx?cp=13281_16771_16246&pc=MUDD327. Retrieved 2009-09-08.
- ^ "Gift Guide: 25 Classic CDs". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20210099_22,00.html. Retrieved 2009-01-02.
- ^ "Entertainment Weekly's 100 Greatest CDs of All Time". Acclaimed Music. http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/eweekly.html. Retrieved 2009-09-11.
- ^ "Hot Press - 100 Greatest Albums Ever". Acclaimed Music Forums. 2006-04-20. http://pub37.bravenet.com/forum/static/show.php?usernum=3172289350&frmid=0&msgid=610386. Retrieved 2009-09-11.
- ^ "A Selection Of Lists From Q Magazine". rocklistmusic.co.uk. http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/qlistspage2.html#QReaders. Retrieved 2009-01-02.
- ^ "Music That Changed The World Q lists - The Music That Changed the World". Rock List Music. 2009-09-11. http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/qlistspage3.htm#The Music That Changed The World.
- ^ "Spin 100 Greatest Albums, 1985–2005". spin100.blogspot.com. 2006-12-30. http://spin100.blogspot.com/. Retrieved 2009-01-02.
- ^ Tyrangiel, Josh (2006-11-13). "The All-Time 100 Albums: Achtung Baby". Time. http://www.time.com/time/2006/100albums/0,27693,Achtung_Baby,00.html. Retrieved 2009-09-11.
- ^ "VH1's '100 Greatest Albums of Rock & Roll' Ranks the Beatles' 'Revolver' at #1 In All-New Special, Premiering January 15-19 at 10:00 P.M. (ET/PT)". prnewswire.com. 2001-01-05. http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/01-05-2001/0001397649&EDATE=. Retrieved 2009-01-02.
- ^ Hot Press, "Closer to the Edge (pt. 1)", 4 December 4 2002. Edge says: "… we got the idea of taking images, taking TV as an idea, and putting screens on stage. That started us down that road …"
- ^ Q Magazine, "10 Years of Turmoil Inside U2", 10 October 2002.
- ^ ARIA
- ^ IFPI Austria
- ^ Mrazil Certification (Manual search)
- ^ CRIA
- ^ IFPI Finland
- ^ Disque En France
- ^ IFPI Germany
- ^ NVPI
- ^ IFPI Switzerland
- ^ BPI
- ^ RIAA
References
External links
