U2
The Working Tapes of Achtung Baby

In this review, we're not examining an official U2 album, but rather the tracks that were stolen during the recording of “Achtung Baby”. Some songs are simple sketches, very rough; others are interesting to listen to because they are early versions of tracks that became published songs, and therefore it's fascinating to hear the path that led the group to the final version; others are melodically enchanting and it's hard to understand why U2 didn't turn these extraordinary melodic ideas into musical ones.

The “Working Tapes” have been released on a disc. We will also analyze some songs that do not appear on the published CD.

“Where Did It All Wrong” (released as a B-Side of “The Fly” in June 1992) is a decent rock track, with a good melody and an excellent bridge. The guitar is particularly prominent.

“Jittersburg Baby” seems to have the riff of “Until the End of the World,” but in a really primitive form. Around 27 seconds, Bono invents the melody of “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses,” which he then abandons. More than a song, it's Bono's show with his falsetto.

“I Feel Free” starts with Edge playing a blues. Then the beautiful riff that made “Until the End of the World” memorable comes into play. The riff is exactly the same as on the album version, but the rest of the song is very imperfect. The melody is good but not exceptional. The bridge isn't bad, even though it's not included in the album version.

U2 continued to work on the song for a long time, and the second version is called “Chances Away” with Edge's phrasings filling the song, even though the riff appears only after 1:35. Bono seems to say “Take You Down”. Probably from “Chances Away” came the idea of “Take You Down,” the very first version of “Lady with the Spinning Head” (one of the group's best B-sides).

“Take You Down” starts with a riff that is a variant of the riff of “Until the End of the World”. The mix is still rough, but the song clearly has a direction. They play with too much confidence to be in a jam session.
“In My Dream” is a demo version of “Acrobat” not too far from the album version. The drum pattern is already there, with Bono's voice being unlistenable. Moreover, the melody (which is not bad) is different from the album one.

“Sweet Baby Jane” is, mostly, a good arpeggio by Edge, with a pleasant melody.

“Going Down South” is an instrumental that starts to focus around 3:00.

“Blow Your House Down” is a pleasant rock track that certainly deserved to be developed. At times it recalls, in the chords, Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel”. But it might just be a personal impression. It's not an impression that the song exists, and if they had believed in it, surely it would have become a great piece.

“Sunset in Colours” is a great arpeggio by Edge well supported by the drums. Bono enters after about 4 minutes even though he hasn't got a melody ready yet. The song continues until 6 minutes when Bono re-enters. The melody is excellent and not trivial. It could easily have become a beautiful song, maybe not a hit, but definitely a song with substance.

“Laughing in the Face of Love” is (surprisingly) the first version of “So Cruel,” very much different from the album version, especially in the melody (beautiful). Furthermore, the song is built on the organ and not the piano like “So Cruel”. Take I is a good attempt; by Take II it's already focused. Obviously, we're just talking about a great melodic song. Turning it into music would have been another matter.

“Heaven and Hell” is one of those songs that should be in a U2 album. The melody is simply fantastic (unforgettable from the first listen), but “Heaven and Hell” is much more than a beautiful melody. The delicate organ joins an equally delicate guitar that very much recalls “If You Wear That Velvet Dress”. 7 minutes that urge you to listen again. It would have become a classic of the band, even leaving it in this form. Absolutely incomprehensible is the exclusion from any album of the group. It was only included in the deluxe version of “Achtung Baby”, to commemorate the twenty years of the album.

(You can find all the songs on YouTube and download them with YouTube Converter).