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Rating: As everyone well knows, 2011 marked the 20th anniversary of "Nevermind" by Nirvana, perhaps one of the most important albums ever for the cultural impact it had and that, it seems, continues to have. But it was also the 20th anniversary of an album I'm not saying it's underrated, but maybe put in the background compared to the first.
This album is "Achtung Baby" by U2, for many their masterpiece, for others the beginning of their end. Recorded during the fall of 1990 and winter-spring '91, this work wanted to mark the musical, ideological, personal, and artistic change of a band that in the 80s played the role of "savior of rock" from the attacks of sick pop and pseudo-hard rock made by bouffant poodles with albums like "War", "The Unforgettable Fire" and the bestseller "The Joshua Tree" and with live performances imprinted in everyone's minds, from Bono with the white flag to "Fuck the revolution!" during a particularly heartfelt "Sunday Bloody Sunday," from those 12 minutes of "Bad" at Live AID to that concert held on December 30 at the Point Depot in Dublin, where the frontman himself announced the imminent change in style with the words "it's time to go and dream it all over again."
They noticed that in the neighborhoods of Manchester new, fresh music was starting to be made, that alternative and electronic were starting to take hold, so they decided to go somewhere, in search of inspiration. They were looking for change, what better place than a newly reunified Berlin? So, with the Bowie legends on the spot, they assembled themselves in the Duke's same studios and let their minds run free. But nothing came. Only arguments and arguments. The best band of the '80s according to Rolling Stone was on the brink of breaking up. Then, suddenly, came a song that spoke of separation, misunderstanding, and failed loves, a certain "One." A song not exactly "fresh" musically, as they were seeking, but one that brought them all together. Riding a wave of enthusiasm (and with the contribution of the master Eno) they managed—relocated to Dublin—to build, piece by piece, what they really wanted. As the American journalist Bill Flanagan wrote, "Achtung Baby" is a bit like a journey into the night of a man who wants to "taste and touch and feel as much as possible before he might regret it", a metaphor for Bono himself and U2, in search of new music, a new look, redemption after ten years spent being the "good guys."
For that, the singer seems to have already set himself up, complete with fly sunglasses and a black leather suit, a true rockstar greedy and hungry for success, he heads to the terminus of the Berlin U 2 subway: the Zoologischer Garten Station. ZOO STATION. With an electronic intro that immediately disorients those who remained at the symphonic overture of "All I Want Is You," the song develops as a series of intentions of the singer for the near future, so much so that he says he's "ready for whatever will come" and to his '80s fans still clinging to leather vests "that everything's all right, time's a train, it makes past the future." After the metro journey, he deals with a series of things that are "Even Better Than The Real Thing," slides over the surface of things, Edge's guitar was never so dirty, celestial, angry, after two songs you already understand where it will lead you and what "Achtung Baby" truly is. An escape, an escape toward the new, but despite this quest, there's always room for a classic U2 piece, the aforementioned "One," then off again with the end of the world, "Until The End Of The World," a hypothetical discussion between Judas and Christ, then we stop again, with two tracks put there to let the listener catch their breath, to make them understand that—anyway—they are really listening to U2 and not a combination of Happy Mondays and NIN. Thus, we find the ballads "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" and "So Cruel," strictly-text linked, since the first talks about a "surplus" girl, the second about Edge's marriage breakdown. Thus, after revealing and analyzing the guitarist's personal drama, he comes out with his masterpiece, a response to the last two tracks, "The Fly." The sound is raw, never heard from him before. The solo in the middle is among his best. The man who started from the Berlin metro is in a state of confusion, talking to the devil and probably the victim of a colossal drunkenness. He entertains a dance with the shining Moon ("Mysterious Ways"), tries to return home but can't find the way ("Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World"), and then has a relationship with a woman, but without sexual intercourse. They decide to stay in bed and watch the night ("Ultraviolet (Light My Way)"), then he starts telling her that he's a hypocrite, that he must be an acrobat to talk this way and act that way. "Acrobat" is probably Bono the author's most intimate text. The track is one of the most beautiful in their career (unfortunately never played live). As is "Love Is Blindness," the true gem of the song. Love is blindness and doesn't want to see, like a terrorist who believes so much in his ideal that he doesn't want to see the other side of the coin. In fact, the song is about the 1987 Enniskillen bombing (to which the "Sunday Bloody Sunday" in the film Rattle and Hum will be dedicated), the danger of ideologies and how they are synonymous with a kind of ignorance that leads people not to want to know and understand.
The journey is over, the man has achieved his purpose. U2, on the other hand, will start with this album, the journey will last until 1997, with Pop, the last of an "electronic" trilogy (in between is 1993's Zooropa) that consecrated U2 as the best band in the world, both in the studio and live, thanks to works like the Zoo TV Tour (1992-1993) and PopMart (1997-1998), considered by many to be the best ever.
Returning to the initial discussion about "Nevermind," "Achtung Baby" is not in the least inferior for a number of reasons, besides those listed above:
1- It saved one of the best bands that ever existed;
2- Compared to the Nirvana album, which was a step back musically speaking, this one instead is a step forward, music for our times;
3- It broke down any barrier between dance, electronic, and alternative, bringing the latter to a higher level, favoring the birth of bands like Coldplay and Radiohead, and a genre, Britpop.
But it's not like "Nevermind," you know very well the reason why (hint: it has nothing to do with the quality of the songs). Probably if Bono had been the one to die, today "Achtung Baby" would be the masterpiece of the '90s.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Zoo Station (04:36)
I'm ready
I'm ready for laughing gas
I'm ready
Ready for what's next
Ready to duck
Ready to dive
Ready to say
I'm glad to be alive
I'm ready
I'm ready for the push
In the cool of the night
In the warmth of the breeze
I'll be crawling around
On my hands and knees
She's just down the line ... Zoo Station
Got to make it on time ... Zoo Station.
I'm ready
Ready for the gridlock
I'm ready
To take it to the street
Ready for the shuffle
Ready for the deal
Ready to let go
Of the steering wheel
I'm ready
Ready for the crush
Alright, alright, alright, alright, alright
It's alright ... it's alright ... it's alright ... it's alright
Hey baby ... hey baby ... hey baby ... hey baby ...
It's alright
It's alright
Time is a train
Makes the future the past
Leaves you standing in the station
Your face pressed up against the glass
I'm just down the line from your love ... Zoo Station
I'm under the sign of your love ... Zoo Station
I'm gonna be there ... Zoo Station
Tracing the line ... Zoo Station
I'm gonna make it on time ... make it on time ... Zoo Station
Just two stops down the line ... Zoo Station
Just a stop down the line ... Zoo Station
02 Even Better Than the Real Thing (03:41)
Give me one more chance, and you'll be satisfied.
Give me two more chances, you won't be denied.
Well my heart is where it's always been
My head is somewhere in between
Give me one more chance, let me be your lover tonight.
(Check it out)
You're the real thing
Yeah the real thing
You're the real thing
Even better than the real thing.
Give me one last chance, and I'm gonna make you sing
Give me half a chance to ride on the waves that you bring
You're honey child to a swarm of bees
Gonna blow right through ya like a breeze
Give me one last dance, we'll slide down the surface of things
You're the real thing
Yeah the real thing
You're the real thing
Even better than the real thing.
We're free to fly the crimson sky
The sun won't melt our wings tonight.
Oh now, oh yeah, here she comes
Take me higher, take me higher
You take me higher, you take me higher.
You're the real thing
Yeah, you're the real thing.
You're the real thing
Even better than the real thing.
Even better than the real thing.
Even better than the real thing.
03 One (04:36)
Is it getting better?
Or do you feel the same?
Will it make it easier on you, now
You got someone to blame
You say one love, one life
When it's one need, in the night
One love, we get to share it
It leaves you, baby, if you don't care for it
Did I disappoint you?
Or leave a bad taste in your mouth?
You act like you never had love
And you want me to go without
Well, it's too late, tonight
To drag the past out into the light
We're one, but we're not the same
We get to carry each other, carry each other
One...
Have you come here for forgiveness
Have you come to raise the dead
Have you come here to play Jesus
To the lepers in your head
Did I ask too much, more than a lot
You gave me nothing, now it's all I got
We're one, but we're not the same
Well, we hurt each other
Then we do it again.
You say love is a temple, love a higher law
Love is a temple, love the higher law
You ask me to enter, but then you make me crawl
And I can't be holding on, to what you got
When all you got is hurt
One love, one blood
One life, you got to do what you should
One life with each other: sisters, brothers
One life, but we're not the same
We get to carry each other, carry each other.
One (lone)
One...
Make in it, make in it, higher...
04 Until the End of the World (04:38)
Haven't seen you in quite a while
I was down the hold just passing time
Last time we met was a low-lit room
We were as close together as a bride and groom
We ate the food, we drank the wine
Everybody having a good time
Except you
You were talking about the end of the world
I took the money
I spiked your drink
You miss too much these days if you stop to think
You lead me on with those innocent eyes
You know I love the element of surprise
In the garden I was playing the tart
I kissed your lips and broke your heart
You...you were acting like it was
The end of the world
(Love...love...)
In my dream I was drowning my sorrows
But my sorrows, they learned to swim
Surrounding me, going down on me
Spilling over the brim
Waves of regret and waves of joy
I reached out for the one I tried to destroy
You...you said you'd wait
'til the end of the world
05 Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses (05:16)
You're dangerous, 'cos you're honest.
You're dangerous, you don't know what you want.
Well you left my heart empty as a vacant lot
For any spirit to haunt.
You're an accident waiting to happen
You're a piece of glass left there on a beach.
Well you tell me things
I know you're not supposed to
Then you leave me just out of reach.
Who's gonna ride your wild horses?
Who's gonna drown in your blue sea?
Who's gonna ride your wild horses?
Who's gonna fall at the foot of thee?
Well you stole it 'cos I needed the cash
And you killed it 'cos I needed revenge.
Well you lied to me 'cos I asked you to.
Baby, can we still be friends?
Who's gonna ride your wild horses?
Who's gonna drown in your blue sea?
Who's gonna ride your wild horses?
Who's gonna fall at the foot of thee?
Ah, the deeper I spin
Ah, the hunter will sin for your ivory skin.
Took a drive in the dirty rain
To a place where the wind calls your name
Under the trees, the river laughing at you and me.
Hallelujah! Heaven's white rose
The doors you open I just can't close.
Don't turn around, don't turn around again.
Don't turn around your gypsy heart.
Don't turn around, don't turn around again.
Don't turn around, and don't look back.
Come on now love, don't you look back.
Who's gonna ride your wild horses?
Who's gonna drown in your blue sea?
Who's gonna taste your saltwater kisses?
Who's gonna take the place of me?
Who's gonna ride your wild horses?
Who's gonna tame the heart of thee?
06 So Cruel (05:49)
We crossed the line
Who pushed who over?
It doesn't matter to you
It matters to me
We're cut adrift
But still floating
I'm only hanging on
To watch you go down ... my love
I disappeared in you
You disappeared from me
I gave you everything you ever wanted
It wasn't what you wanted
The men who love you, you hate the most
They pass right through you like a ghost
They look for you, but your spirit is in the air
Baby, you're nowhere
Oh love
You say in love there are no rules
Oh love
Sweet-heart
You're so cruel
Desperation is a tender trap
It gets you every time
You put your lips to her lips
To stop the lie
Her skin is pale like God's only dove
Screams like an angel for your love
Then she makes you watch her from above
And you need her like a drug
Oh love
You say in love there are no rules
Oh love
Sweet-heart
You're so cruel
She wears my love like a see-through dress
Her lips say one thing
Her movements something else
Oh love, like a screaming flower
Love
Dying every hour
And you don't know if it's fear or desire
Danger the drug that takes you higher?
Head of heaven
Fingers in the mire
Her heart is racing, you can't keep up
The night is bleeding like a cut
Between the horses of love and lust we are trampled
Underfoot
Oh love
You say in love there are no rules
Oh love
Sweet-heart
You're so cruel
Oh love
To stay with you I'd be a fool
Oh... sweetheart
You're so cruel
07 The Fly (04:29)
It's no secret that the stars are falling from the sky
It's no secret that our world is in darkness tonight
They say the sun is sometimes
Eclipsed by a moon
You know I don't see you
When she walks in the room
It's no secret that a friend is someone who lets you help
It's no secret that a liar won't believe anyone else
They say a secret is something
You tell one other person
So I'm telling you
Child
That, love, we shine like a burning star
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love
We're falling from the sky tonight
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love
A man will beg
A man will crawl
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love
On the sheer face of love
Like a fly from a wall
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love
It's no secret at all
No secret that a conscience can sometimes be a pest
No secret ambition bites the nails of success
Every artist is a cannibal
Every poet is a thief
All kill their inspiration
And sing about their grief
Oh love
Love, we shine like a burning star
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love
We're falling from the sky tonight
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love
A man will beg
A man will crawl
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love
On the sheer face of love
Like a fly from a wall
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love
It's no secret at all
Love, we shine like a burning star
We’re falling from the sky tonight
A man will beg
A man will crawl
On the sheer face of love
Like a fly from a wall
It's no secret at all
It's no secret that the stars are falling from the sky
The universe exploded 'cause of one man's lie
Check, I gotta go
Yeah, I'm running outta change
There's a lot of things
If I could, I'd rearrange
08 Mysterious Ways (04:03)
Johnny, take a walk with your sister the moon
Let her pale light in, to fill up your room.
You've been living underground, eating from a can
You've been running away from what you don't understand.
She's slippy, you're sliding down.
She'll be there when you hit the ground.
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright.
She moves in mysterious ways.
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright.
She moves in mysterious ways, oh.
Johnny, take a dive with your sister in the rain
Let her talk about the things you can't explain.
To touch is to heal, to hurt is to steal.
If you want to kiss the sky, better learn how to kneel
On your knees, boy!
She's the wave, she turns the tide
She sees the man inside the child.
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright.
She moves in mysterious ways.
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright.
She moves in mysterious ways, yeah, oh, ah.
Lift my days, light up my nights, oh.
One day you'll look back, and you'll see
Where you were held now by this love.
While you could stand there,
You could move on this moment
Follow this feeling.
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright.
She moves in mysterious ways.
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright.
She moves in mysterious ways.
Move you, spirits move you
Move, spirits 'its move you, oh yeah.
Does it move you?
She moves with it.
Lift my days, and light up my nights, oh.
11 Acrobat (04:30)
Don't believe what you hear
Don't believe what you see
If you just close your eyes
You can feel the enemy
When I first met you girl
You had fire in your soul
What happened your face
Of melting in snow?
Now it looks like this!
And you can swallow
Or you can spit
You can throw it up
Or choke on it
And you can dream
So dream out loud
You know that your time is coming 'round ...
So don't let the bastards grind you down
No, nothing makes sense
Nothing seems to fit
I know you'd hit out
If you only knew who to hit
And I'd join the movement
If there was one I could believe in
Yeah I'd break bread and wine
If there was a church I could receive in
'Cos I need it now
To take a cup
To fill it up
To drink it slow
I can't let you go
I must be an acrobat
To talk like this
And act like that
And you can dream
So dream out loud
And don't let the bastards grind you down
Oh, it hurts baby
(What are we going to do now it's all been said)
(No new ideas in the house and every book has been read)
And I must be
An acrobat
To talk like this
And act like that
And you can dream
So dream out loud
And you can find
Your own way out
You can build
And I can will
And you can call
I can't wait until
You can stash
And you can seize
In dreams begin
Responsibilities
And I can love
And I can love
And I know that the tide is turning 'round ...
So don't let the bastards grind you down
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Other reviews
By giov
Perhaps it remains the last U2 album to have a soul: not too caught up in market rules, the grandeur of tours, and the lack of ideas that is noticeable lately in some of their latest works.
Recorded between Berlin and Dublin, precisely to capture the emotions that a people were experiencing after the fall of a cursed wall.
By pinkoSpallino
A much more important album, with electronic sounds that join the classic rock sounds in songs like 'Mysterious Ways'.
U2 remains the most important rock band in the world, and they prove it in 'One', the most beautiful ballad of all time.
By Alevox
Like an electric shock. The U2 of "The Joshua Tree" are abruptly awakened by the infernal sound of a fly in the head.
U2 change their skin. They shake off the heavy role of rock prophets to project themselves into a colder and more disillusioned dimension.
By iuppiter2
Like a powerful wave, maturity overwhelms the Dublin band, creating an incredible work with an impeccable sequence of twelve tracks.
The twelve tracks are images, meanings, twelve stars all shining with their own light.
By deckard2019
Bono Vox, the leader of the Dublin band, states at a concert held in their homeland, 'We won’t see each other for a while, we need to go and dream it all up again.'
The album requires several listens before it is fully assimilated and subsequently declared as an absolute masterpiece.
