U2
Achtung Baby

THE REVIEW

The nineties begin with three masterpieces: R.E.M.'s Out of Time, Nirvana's Nevermind, and Achtung Baby, U2's turning point.

Not only does 1991, but the last decade of the century as a whole, is well represented in Achtung Baby, which marks an epochal change in music for U2. Like a powerful wave, maturity overwhelms the Dublin band, creating an incredible work with an impeccable sequence of twelve tracks that, listened to dozens of times, never tire, but rather, endlessly fascinate with their sequence of sounds that ooze sensations and emotions.

The album is a kaleidoscope projecting astonishing images, the same ones that would be broadcasted by music videos around the world and that, along with thousands of lights, explode and reach directly into the hearts and minds of the hundreds of thousands of people who witnessed one of the most significant and grandiose live rock shows in history. The ZooTv Tour and the subsequent Zooropa Tour convey to those watching and listening new, and perhaps unrepeatable, emotions. The explosive power of the music's meanings and the messages tied to it, not only from the song lyrics but from the images broadcasted on video as well as from the puzzle of a cover that is already an entire program. The twelve tracks are images, meanings, twelve stars all shining with their own light. Zoo Station opens the show with an electronic riff that gives you goosebumps and makes you feel ready for sensations "even better than the real thing." One fears no rivals and is one of the most captivating love songs ever. It's one of the tracks where the powerful succession characterizing the sequence of songs stops and embraces you, then leaves you spinning again with an overwhelming push of sounds racing at top speed (The Fly), and then stopping again with the heartbreaking and reflective Acrobat and Ultraviolet. The album closes with an acritical announcement, Love is Blindness, with a melancholic chant, almost like saying farewell to the freshly concluded masterpiece, which leaves the group's fans moved and astounded. An unexpected gust of "cold" air that leaves an indelible mark on U2 fans, but also on those who had never listened to the band before.

None of them will find in U2 such a strong inspiration to create symbolisms and mythicism again. This album arrives with the usual support of the genius of Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, who produce Bono and his companions at the height of their artistic career. Influences and contributions that wisely exploit the talents of the Irish group and that allow this album to be placed at the top ranks of those produced in the last decade of the twentieth century. A symbol. The album finds no repetition, and subsequent covers would be nothing more than a vain and miserable commercial attempt to ride the unrepeatable success due to a higher inspiration.