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THE REVIEW
The Kid Turns Twenty
On November 18, '91, U2 released "Achtung Baby". Today, twenty years later, they celebrate it by re-releasing the album in no less than five formats, marking a new turning point for Bono and company. Now more than ever, "Achtung Baby" is understood as a crucial milestone in U2's career. Light-years ahead of the musical productions of the time (together with the following "Zooropa"), "Achtung Baby" will become the cornerstone and reference point of a new musical era.
Industrial noises, experimental effects, and filtered voices characterize the new sound of the Dublin band. Initially, even the most devoted fans frowned, but today we can assert that those U2 were and will always remain unrepeatable and unattainable.
From "Zoo Station" to "Love Is Blindness", passing only through a version of "One" closer to previous productions, their new LP is a succession of emotions and amazement at the same time, something that only a few albums have managed to convey (a listening example is "Ok Computer" by Radiohead for their ability to innovate).
As a long-time fan, I can only praise "Achtung Baby" and at the same time remain perplexed by how this commercial operation has been handled. While understanding the evidently promotional reasons behind it, it is really difficult to grasp how they can release a box set containing six CDs, four DVDs, a vinyl record, and even Bono's sunglasses without being a little bit megalomaniac.
In any case, it is undeniable that after "Achtung Baby" U2 have never been the same.
While continuing to produce good-quality material, they appear to be keeping up with the times yet no longer able to anticipate them, as they once knew how to do. Twenty years after the first release, it might be said that the talent of the world's four most famous trailblazers is perhaps now centered. When they were just four guys from Dublin who took the stage simply for their music and didn't overextend with various marketing efforts. After all, perhaps, without wanting to sound rhetorical, true success is found only in good music.
Post scriptum: happy birthday Baby!
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Summary by Bot
The review celebrates U2's Achtung Baby as a pivotal album that marked a new era for the band, introducing experimental sounds ahead of its time. Initially divisive, the album is now revered for its bold innovation. Despite some skepticism about the extensive re-release packaging, the album's lasting influence and emotional depth remain undeniable.Tracklist Lyrics Videos
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band formed in Dublin in 1976 by Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. Rising from post‑punk roots to global fame, they fused atmospheric guitar textures with anthemic songwriting and ambitious tours such as Zoo TV and U2 360°.129 Reviews
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.
