Achtung Baby

Achtung Baby stands out as a masterpiece in U2's illustrious history. In this album, painfully ground out over a year of re-recording and re-inventing in 1990's Berlin, the power of U2's music is as direct and compelling as ever. The real beauty here, though, is the wit and intelligence of the music. This contrasts with their earlier music on the one hand, which tended to be naively honest, and their later work on the other which became almost a little too contrived. Achtung Baby is thus the album that best captures all that is good about U2 over their lifetime: a balance between the self-conscious cool and kitsch sounds of their later years, and the intensity and passion upon which they built their reputation.

Firstly, let me be totally honest and state here and now that I am not a great fan of U2 at all, although I do own The Unforgettable Fire, Rattle And Hum, Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby, Pop and How To Dismantle The Atomic Bomb. At least I have given them a chance though, no one can deny me that!

Achtung Baby was originally released in 1991 and I recall the critics saying that it was U2's "Blood On The Tracks" (the 1975 Dylan so-called 'Comeback LP') seeing as though the band had effectively swapped its songs of social conscience and worldly views for more personal introspection. I can't comment on this although being a Dylan fan I can see the relationship between the two albums on a purely anecdotal basis.

This weekend I pulled out my 1991 CD issue to see if I thought it was lacking and needed 're-mastering'. Now here's the thing: every so often I do this when I read a lot of claptrap in fora where fans and collectors bemoan why an artist/group doesn't release this that or the other or people are questioning the logic of re-issues and repackaging. I read a lot from U2 fans who claim that the new disc is NOT RE-MASTERED after all. Clearly there has been a lot of disappointment about this. Needless to add that if you're disappointed with the release no one is forcing you to buy it (again)!

However let me say that I consider myself to be something of an audiophile and the original release does not need re-mastering, remixing or anything else. It sounded absolutely superb on my system and simply blew me away. Remember also that modern CD's sound very compressed and lack dynamic range due to the ridiculous obsession with Loudness Wars (Google it!) U2 have already suffered this with the later CD releases with dynamic compression sucking the life out of HTDTAB for starters. Achtung Baby thankfully predates the Loudness Wars by at least 5 years and was very well recorded and mastered originally. Nothing unusual you might say given that they were at the time one of the richest bands on the planet and could afford to make the best sounding records of the day. And so they did......

But what about the music? Well as a non-U2 fan I must say that unlike most of their other albums Achtung Baby has no filler on it anywhere. I bought my copy from a car-boot sale in 1992 for just £3 and back then it was the best money I had ever spent. Every track is a winner and the album IS also greater than the some of its parts. Forget all the hype about the rock band embracing modern dance rhythms, that's all pat. This is not only U2's best album by far, it's also one of the single greatest albums of the 1990's!

But please remember it's so great you won't need the superfluous padding to make it sound better. It definitely does not need re-mastering either. If you already own it, you're done, it can't get much better. Forget all the other junk, the original album is the key. As I'm highly sceptical about most modern CD re-masters and suspect that the new CD (if it HAS been re-mastered) will be dynamically compressed I'd advise getting hold of a copy of the original 1991 CD which sounds superb anyway.

Did I say that I liked it?

Be in no doubt; this is the ultimate U2 album. December 31st 1989, Dublin; U2 announce on stage that it's 'the end of something for U2. We just have to go and dream it all up again'. They succeeded. Reappearing on the world stage in 1991, they released Achtung Baby... From the opening of Zoo Station with it's dramatic use of stereo sound, through the dancy Even Better Than The Real Thing (watch the video if you get the chance), it's gritty guitars and punchy vocals, with Larry and Adam providing a powerful rhythm. 'One' is one of their best songs ever, and a popular listen for those in need of solice everywhere.

The album continues, with not a single moment letting it down. The Fly and Mysterious Ways are two further highlights, but really this whole album is a joy and a pleasure. They invented irony in music, and this album shows it off. There's a full spectrum of slow and fast songs, quiet and loud; a wonderfully diverse album.

This album has not dated in 9 years, and possibly never will. It's U2's best album, and one of the best albums ever written. Make sure you listen to it sometime.

And if you want more, try the Zoo TV video - an audio-visual spectacular...