Having recently finished their esteemed 2001 Elevation Tour, U2 burrowed its way into our blessed nationalist hearts with an inspiring (read: tacky) performance at the Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday.
They’ve been nominated for eight Grammy Awards, including album, live tour, record and song of the year.
They are everywhere. On every channel, in every magazine, on every radio station, on everybody’s playlist, and would probably have been deified by now if we were ancient Greeks. U2 is the emblem of rock stardom, and what’s more is that it is for the third time around.
So why not go back through your dusty CD cases, the ones where you put the albums you love but never listen to any more, and pick up Achtung Baby? It is bold, it is unique, it is — OK, sorry, but I cannot continue participating in the publicly orchestrated fellating of U2 anymore. They are good, and this album shows why.
In 1991, U2 revitalized their careers with the release of Achtung Baby. Determined to change their image, which had grown stale and “too ’80s” for the baggy, purple Hammer-pants wearing crowd of the early ’90s, U2 went into the recording studio in 1990 with the goal of going somewhere they had never gone before. With it, U2 reconciled the edgy sound of their ’80s post-punk rock with the growing fad of electronically driven dance music. The result was a mellifluous and wildly successful synthesis with an unforgettable atmospheric and uplifting quality. Notable tracks, “One,” “Mysterious Ways” and “Wild Horses” will remind you of the formative years of your musical evolution, and are also really good to hook up to.
Also recommended: The Joshua Tree, goes especially well with a jean jacket with an American flag embroidered lapel.
U2, Achtung Baby, Uni/Interscope Records