Achtung Baby

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Achtung Baby
Studio album by U2
Released 19 November 1991
Recorded Hansa Tonstudio (Berlin, Germany) and Windmill Lane Studios (Dublin, Ireland), October 1990 - August 1991
Genre Rock, alternative rock
Length 55:27
Label Island
Producer Daniel Lanois (principal producer), Brian Eno (assisting producer), Steve Lillywhite
Professional reviews
U2 chronology
Rattle and Hum
(1988)		 Achtung Baby
(1991)		 Zooropa
(1993)
Singles from Achtung Baby
  1. "The Fly"
    Released: 21 October 1991
  2. "Mysterious Ways"
    Released: 24 November 1991
  3. "One"
    Released: March 1992
  4. "Even Better Than the Real Thing"
    Released: 8 June 1992
  5. "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses"
    Released: August 1992

Achtung Baby is the seventh studio album by Irish rock band U2, released on 19 November 1991. Stung by criticism of their previous album, Rattle and Hum, the album was a calculated change in musical and thematic direction with the incorporation of alternative rock, electronic dance music, and industrial influences. It was the band's most dramatic change since The Unforgettable Fire album.

Seeking renewal and inspiration on the eve of German reunification, the band began work on Achtung Baby in Berlin's Hansa Studios in October 1990 with producers Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno. Conflict arose within the band over the quality of the material and their musical direction. Weeks of slow progress, arguments, and tension subsided when the band quickly improvised the song "One", which was a breakthrough for the album sessions. The band was more productive in the studio after recording sessions moved to Dublin in 1991.

Sonically, the band referred to the album as the sound of "four men chopping down the Joshua Tree". Thematically, it was a more inward-looking and personal record; it was darker, yet more playful than the band's previous work. Commercially and critically, Achtung Baby has been one of the band's most successful albums. It produced several hit singles in "One", "Mysterious Ways", and "The Fly", has sold 18 million copies worldwide, and won a Grammy Award. The album and the subsequent multimedia-intensive Zoo TV Tour were a crucial part of the band's 1990s reinvention. In 2003, the album was ranked number 62 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".

Contents

[edit] Background

U2's 1987 album, The Joshua Tree brought the band critical acclaim, great commercial success and high exposure, but it was also the beginning of a backlash against the band. They were accused of grandiosity and self-righteousness, a criticism which intensified with the release of Rattle and Hum the following year.[1] Their over-earnestness and pomposity of the period became targets of caricature.[2] U2 were stung by the negative press and critical reaction to Rattle and Hum, reviews of which included accusations of being "misguided and bombastic".[3][4][5] The album’s intended homage to American music legends resulted in the band being accused of self-importance and placing themselves as equals with the likes of Bob Dylan and The Beatles.[citation needed] In his review of Rattle and Hum, John Pareles of the The New York Times said that the band were bombastic and pretentious, and that they were trying to steal from American music rather than develop from it.[3]

Despite the level of their success, the band themselves felt dissatisfied with their live performances. Drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. commented that "We were the biggest, but we weren’t the best".[6] There was a sense within the band that Rattle and Hum was the end of something for the band.[7] This was compounded by the sense that the collaboration with BB King and band on the 1989 Lovetown Tour was "like an excursion down a dead-end street", one that audiences did not quite get.[8] However, according to Bono, listening to black music had helped the band "get the groove ready for Achtung Baby" and listening to folk music had helped him develop as a lyricist.[8] Towards the end of 1989's Lovetown Tour, Bono said onstage in Dublin that "this is just the end of something for U2" and that "we have to go away and ... and dream it all up again."

[edit] Pre-recording

In the first half of 1990, U2 had its longest break since their first record deal in 1978, and the two year break from public performances between the end of the Lovetown Tour and the beginning of the Zoo TV Tour was at the time, the band's longest.[9]

The band's shift in direction on Achtung Baby was not only a reaction to criticism of Rattle and Hum, but a reaction against their own stereotypes and a search for new musical ground.[10] The reaction actually started during Rattle and Hum sessions with the track "God Part II," which came out of a late realisation that they had gone too far down the retro road. With a more contemporary feel, Bono later said that the song was more in line with Achtung Baby.[11] More hints of a direction change came with two 1990 recordings on which the band used electronic dance beats and hip-hop elements for the first time. The band recorded "Night and Day" for an album of Cole Porter covers, the first of the Red Hot + Blue releases in aid of AIDS charities. Bono and The Edge contributed to the original score for the Royal Shakespeare Company's theatrical version of A Clockwork Orange. This was combined into the piece "Alex Descends into Hell for a Bottle of Milk". Bono later said that this early experimentation was "preparing the ground for Achtung Baby".[12] Ideas, such as guitar riffs and keyboard parts, that weren't deemed appropriate for the play were put aside for the band.[12]

At the time, Edge was listening to a lot of dance music and industrial bands, such as Nine Inch Nails, the Young Gods, and KMFDM. Mullen, Jr. was listening to Blind Faith, Cream, and Jimi Hendrix records.[2][12] Not only had there been a divergence over the music its members listened to, but Edge and Bono's close working relationship also left Mullen, Jr. and bassist Adam Clayton feeling separated with a sense that the band's songwriting process was changing.[12] During subsequent album recording, Edge and Bono would be the band's advocates for experimenting with dance and alternative music trends.[12] At the same time, band members had also been interested in Roy Orbison, Scott Walker, and Jacques Brel and The Edge had wanted to go towards a more personal style of writing.[13]

Bono had written material during the Lovetown tour of Australia and spent mid-1990 sorting through it. The band recorded demos at STS studios in Dublin that would eventually evolve into "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses", "Until the End of the World", "Even Better Than the Real Thing", and "Mysterious Ways". These undeveloped tracks would be taken into the studios for the Achtung Baby sessions.[14] The band had a general idea that they wanted the new album to be "forward-looking" and a "complete about turn" but had no idea about how to achieve that.[15] The beginning of the Manchester Baggy movement in the UK left U2 confused on how they fit into the musical scene.[14]

[edit] Recording and production

Buzzwords on this record were trashy, throwaway, dark, sexy, and industrial (all good) and earnest, polite, sweet, righteous, rockist and linear (all bad). It was good if a song took you on a journey or made you think your hifi was broken, bad if it reminded you of recording studios or U2...Sly Stone, T. Rex, Scott Walker, My Bloody Valentine, KMFDM, the Young Gods, Alan Vega, Al Green, and Insekt were all in favour...And Berlin became a conceptual backdrop for the record. The Berlin of the Thirties—decadent, sexual and dark—resonating against the Berlin of the Nineties—reborn, chaotic and optimistic...

— Brian Eno on the recording of Achtung Baby[10]

The band returned to the production team of Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno who had supported their previously most audacious shift in style on 1984's The Unforgettable Fire.[4] Lanois, who had become recognised in his own right having worked with Bob Dylan and Peter Gabriel, was principal producer, alongside engineer Flood.[10] Eno took on an assisting producing role at various intervals.[16][10] Steve Lillywhite, whose credits included producer on U2's first three albums and several tracks on The Joshua Tree, mixed several Achtung Baby tracks.[16][10] The "oblique" strategies of the Lanois-Eno team contrasted with producer Jimmy Iovine's direct and retro style on the previous Rattle and Hum album.[4]

The band saw "domesticity as the enemy of rock 'n' roll" and that to commence work on the new album, they had to get away from their normal family-orientated routines. A new Europe was emerging and Berlin, at the heart of the reuniting continent, was proposed as a source of inspiration and renewal to move towards a more European aesthetic.[17][2][4] Hansa Studios, chosen by the band as their recording location, was located near the recently opened Berlin Wall. It was where Eno and David Bowie had recorded albums in the so-called "Berlin Trilogy" in the late 1970s, and where Bowie, and Bono's idol Iggy Pop, had recorded The Idiot.[14] The band arrived in Berlin on 3 October 1990 on what was the last flight into East Berlin the day before German reunification.[14] The band found the mood in Berlin "depressing", "dark and gloomy".[15] The collapse of the Berlin Wall resulted in a state of malaise in Germany, and the band's dilapidated hotel and the Hansa Studios' location in a former SS Ballroom added to the "bad vibe".[15]

Friction within the band over the quality of material and musical direction added to the tense atmosphere. Inspired by alternative rock and European electronic dance music of the time, Edge and Bono had a clear feel of the direction they thought the music should go. Clayton and Mullen, Jr., on the other hand, did not understand the new direction, and were more comfortable with a sound similar to U2's previous work.[2][15] The Edge was listening to club mixes and advocating drum boxes, while Mullen, Jr. was listening to Cream drummer Ginger Baker and John Bonham of Led Zeppelin, leading Mullen, Jr. to feel that "his input was being diminished".[15] Lanois was expecting the "textural, emotional, and cinematic" U2 of the The Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree, and found it difficult to understand the intent of the more "throwaway and trashy things" the band was working on.[2]

At the instant we were recording it, I got a very strong sense of its power. We were all playing together in the big recording room, a huge, eerie ballroom full of ghosts of the war, and everything fell into place. It was a reassuring moment, when everyone finally went, 'oh great, this album has started.' It's the reason you're in a band - when the spirit descends upon you and you create something truly affecting. 'One' is an incredibly moving piece. It hits straight into the heart.

— The Edge on the recording of "One"[18]

The band came to Berlin hoping their existing ideas would become completed songs, but they found they were "under-rehearsed and under-prepared" and that the ideas were not evolving into "fully-fledged songs".[15] Moreover, the band members' roles and responsibilities were being redefined. The close songwriting relationship between Bono and The Edge, which began during Rattle and Hum and tended to exclude Clayton and Mullen, Jr., became a source of confrontation in Berlin.[15] For the first time, the band could not find consensus during their disagreements and felt that they weren't making progress. Mullen thought it "might be the end".[15] A breakthrough was achieved with writing of the song, "One".[18] After Edge combined two chord progressions that he was playing, at Lanois' encouragement, the band, inspired by what they heard, quickly improvised most of the song. It provided a much needed re-assurance for the band and validated their "blank page" approach to writing and recording.[18][19]

Although the band had delivered two songs in three months in Berlin, The Edge said in retrospect that working in Berlin was more productive and more inspirational than the output had suggested. The band had been removed from a familiar environment, providing a certain "texture and cinematic location".[20][18] In April 1991, tapes from the album session's earlier improvisations were leaked and bootlegged. Most of the ideas were under-developed, about which Bono said, "There were no undiscovered works of genius, unfortunately, it was more just gobbledy-gook."[21]

The band left Berlin at the end of 1990 and completed the majority of the album's work the following year in Dublin.[22] The sessions were held in the seaside mansion "Elsinore" in Dalkey within walking distance of Bono and The Edge's homes.[22] Writing and recording here proved to be much more productive. One song, "Lady With the Spinning Head", later released as a B-side, proved troublesome, but it inspired three separate songs, "The Fly", "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)" and "Zoo Station".[22] Final remixing was done by Flood and Steve Lillywhite at Windmill Lane Studios.[23] The band found the mixing process difficult and rushed to complete songs. Additional recording and mixing was undertaken in the last few days, including last minute additions to "The Fly" and "One".[24] Once the lyrics and the mixes were finalised, the album had come closer to a more traditional U2 sound.[2] The band spent the final night devising a sequence order for the album.[24] The following day, Edge traveled to Los Angeles with the album's tapes for mastering over five days.[24]

[edit] Composition

Bono referred to the completed album as the sound of "four men chopping down the Joshua Tree".[25] Upon its completion, the band saw it as a "watershed" album that ensured their creative future as a group.[24]

While Bono's vocals were centre-stage in melody and mix during the band's 1980s work, his voice on Achtung Baby was more elusive and featured him singing in different characters.[26] Edge's guitar moved from the bright and echoing trademark sound to a muddier and, at times, industrial sound. The rhythm section is given a far more prominent role in the mix,[27] and hip-hop-derived beats were applied to about half the album's tracks. The guitar-heavy songs mix harder textures and new effects, along with dance music influences akin to young English bands of the time, including the Happy Mondays and Jesus Jones.[28] The work of singer-songwriter Gavin Friday, Bono's friend since childhood, is cited as an influence on the "new U2".[29]

Thematically, U2 deliberately "stepped off their soapbox" of political and social critique of their previous work, and the new album was a more introspective record, with a number of songs exuding confusion and loneliness.[30] Compared to the youthful exuberance on much of their 1980's work, Achtung Baby was a more direct and complex examination of pain in personal relationships, and covered love, sexuality, spirituality, and faith, in addition to betrayal.[31] While darker, at times it was more flippant and overtly sexual than the band's previous work.[32] Achtung Baby sought to recover some of the Dadaist characters and stage antics that the teenage U2 had dabbled with in the late 1970s but had been pushed aside for more literal themes over the course of the 1980s.[33] While the band had been outwardly opposed to the materialism of the 1980s, Achtung Baby and the Zoo TV Tour examined and flirted with those values.[34]

In 1990, Edge separated from his wife since 1984 and mother of his three children. The pain of the separation strongly influenced the album, particularly evident in Bono's lyrical contributions.[2][16][14] Bono cites the enjoyment of his first child born in 1989 as a major influence on the album, as was his wife's second pregnancy during the album's 1991 recording. Where previously no U2 song had used the word "baby", it appears 27 times on Achtung Baby and is one of the reasons for the album title. Bono says babies are also behind the line of the opening track "Zoo Station": I'm ready, to say I'm glad to be alive/I'm ready, I'm ready for the push…"[14]

[edit] Tracks

  • "Zoo Station" is one of the tracks that most dramatically represents the band's reinvention. With distorted vocal tracks, and industrial percussion, the lyrics of the album's opening track are a statement of intent and suggest new appetites and anticipations.[35] The song's introduction of distorted guitars and crashing percussion was intended to sound like the record or hi-fi was broken, or that mistakenly it wasn't the new U2 album.[22]
  • "So Cruel" was largely written by Bono—who cited Scott Walker as an influence—and the song shows cabaret influences. Written acoustically and comparatively quickly by U2 standards, it originally sounded more traditional than what the band had in mind for the album. Engineer Flood keyed Clayton's bass part off Mullen's playing of an Irish bodhran, which combined with overdubs gave it a more unusual sound.[37] Thematically, it deals with unrequited love, jealousy, obsession, and possessiveness. [38]
  • "The Fly" was chosen as the album's first single because it sounded nothing like U2.[citation needed] It features hip-hop beats, distorted vocals, an elaborate guitar solo, and hard industrial edge.[39] Bono described the guitar part as if "a fly had broken into your brain and was buzzing around."[22]
  • "Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World" is lyrically one of the least serious songs on the album. Dedicated to the Los Angeles bar The Flaming Colossus, the song describes a drunken stagger home.[40]
  • "Ultra Violet (Light My Way)" features U2's 1980's "repeato-riff" guitar. Thematically, it is another song about a relationship under-strain, un-ease over obligations.[41]
  • "Acrobat" features 12⁄8 time signature and The Edge playing a distorted tremolo. Lyrically, is one of the most personal on Achtung Baby with Bono acknowledging personal weakness, contradictions, and inadequacy.[42] Bono cites the track as one of his favourite U2 songs although he was not satisfied with the recording.[43]
  • "Love is Blindness", the album's closing track, was written during the Rattle and Hum sessions and in Australia during the 1989 Lovetown Tour.[44] Bono had struck up an acquaintance with Frank Sinatra and "Love is Blindness" shows cabaret influences.[45] The song was played as the last or second-last song during concerts on the Zoo TV tour.

[edit] Release

On 19 November 1991, U2 released Achtung Baby, its first album in three years, and the first of all new material in over four years.[46] Upon the album's release, the band maintained a low profile, avoiding interviews and letting critics and the public make their own assessments.[4]

The album's title, "Achtung, Baby!" in German means "Attention, baby!" or "Watch out, baby!" was used by the band's sound engineer Joe O'Herlihy during the making of the album.[4] He reportedly took the phrase from the Mel Brooks film The Producers.[24] According to Bono, it was ideal title as it was "attention-grabbing", it referenced Germany, and it hinted at either romance or childbirth both of which were significant themes on the album.[24] Alternative titles considered included Man (as opposed to the group's debut album Boy), and Adam, for which (Adam) Clayton was photographed naked.[2][24]

The album sleeve is a 4x4 squared montage of 16 images by the band's long-time photographer, Anton Corbijn, devised since the band couldn't decide on a single image to use. It includes the photo of a naked Clayton and photos of band members in drag, all of which were part of a desire to confound expectations of U2.[24] On the U.S. CD and cassette sleeves, Clayton's private parts are censored with a black "X" or a four-leaf clover.[citation needed] In 2006, Bono commented that it was still his favourite U2 sleeve artwork.[47]

[edit] Singles

The first single, "The Fly", was released on 21 October 1991. Selected as the first single well in advance of the album's release, the band made last minute changes to the song by mixing on top of the previous mix.[24] The song's danceable, industrial sounds signaled to fans that the band were moving away from their traditional sound. The song and its music video were a showcase for Bono's new persona, The Fly, known for his leather-clad fashion and dark, wraparound sunglasses. The song became U2's second #1 single in the U.K.

The danceable "Mysterious Ways" was released as the album's second single on 24 November 1991, days after the album's release. The song reached #9 on the Hot 100, making it the band's fourth highest charting single.

The third single, "One", was released in March 1992. It reached #7 in the UK charts, #10 in the US charts, and #1 on the US Mainstream Rock Tracks and the US Modern Rock Tracks charts. The song has since become regarded as one of the greatest songs of all-time, ranking #36 on Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" and #1 Q's "1001 Greatest Songs of All-Time".[48] In a 2007 VH1 countdown, "One" was #2 on its list of "Songs of the 1990s".[49]

The fourth single, "Even Better Than the Real Thing" was released on 8 June 1992. The fifth and final single, "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" was released in August 1992.

[edit] Reception

Upon its release, Achtung Baby received strong reviews from critics. Rolling Stone magazine, in its 4.5/5 star review, said that U2 had "proven that the same penchant for epic musical and verbal gestures that leads many artists to self-parody can, in more inspired hands, fuel the unforgettable fire that defines great rock & roll."[50] Entertainment Weekly gave the album an A and called the album a "pristinely produced and surprisingly unpretentious return by one of the most impressive bands in the world."[51] On the Billboard Music Charts (North America), Achtung Baby topped the Billboard 200 chart selling 295,000 copies in its first week. It sold 7 million copies in its first 3 months[52] and subsequently 18 million copies worldwide.[citation needed] It won a Grammy Award for "Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal".

The album is frequently cited as one of the greatest in rock history. In 1998, Q magazine readers voted Achtung Baby the 15th greatest album of all time;[53] in 2001 the TV network VH1 placed it at number 65.[54] In 2003, the album was ranked number 62 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. It was voted #11 on Spin's "100 Greatest Albums, 1985-2005" list.[55] In 2008, Entertainment Weekly named Achtung Baby the #3 album of the last 25 years.[56]

[edit] Zoo TV Tour

Main article: Zoo TV Tour

In support of the album, U2 launched the Zoo TV Tour on 29 February 1992. Lasting almost two years and spanning five legs and 157 shows, the tour was an elaborately-staged multimedia event, designed to instill a feeling of "sensory overload" in its audience.[57] The stage design featured vidi walls, 36 video monitors, numerous television cameras, 176 speakers, and 11 elaborately painted Trabant cars, several of which were suspended over the stage with spotlights inserted into headlights. Songs were complemented by a myriad of bewildering visual effects. The tour marked a shift from the earnest performances that typified the band in the 1980s to ones that were intentionally ironic and self-mocking. During a break in the tour, the band recorded and released their next studio album, Zooropa, in 1993. In 2002, Q magazine called the Zoo TV Tour "still the most spectacular rock tour staged by any band."[58]

[edit] Track listing

All songs written and composed by U2, with lyrics by Bono and The Edge. 

# Title Length
1. "Zoo Station"   4:36
2. "Even Better Than the Real Thing"   3:41
3. "One"   4:36
4. "Until the End of the World"   4:39
5. "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses"   5:16
6. "So Cruel"   5:49
7. "The Fly"   4:29
8. "Mysterious Ways"   4:04
9. "Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World"   3:53
10. "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)"   5:31
11. "Acrobat"   4:30
12. "Love Is Blindness"   4:23
55:27

[edit] Chart positions and sales

[edit] Album

Country Peak position Certification Sales
Australia 1 5x Platinum[59] 350,000+
Austria 2 Platinum[60] 30,000+
Brazil Gold 50,000+[61]
Canada Diamond[62] 1,000,000+
Finland Gold[63] 34,938+
France 37 Platinum[64] 300,000+
Germany Platinum[65] 200,000+
Netherlands Platinum[66] 80,000+
Switzerland 3 Gold[67] 25,000+
United Kingdom 2 4x Platinum[68] 1,200,000+
United States 1 8x Platinum[69] 8,000,000+
  • United States: #1 for 1 week
  • United Kingdom: #2 for 1 week, 87 weeks on chart
  • Switzerland: #3 for 2 weeks
  • Austria: #2 for 2 weeks
  • Australia: #1 for 1 week

[edit] Singles

Year Song Chart Position
1991 "The Fly" UK Official Singles Top 75 1
1991 "The Fly" The Billboard Hot 100 61
1991 "The Fly" Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 2
1991 "The Fly" Billboard Modern Rock Tracks 1
1991 "The Fly" Billboard Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales 44
1991 "Mysterious Ways" UK Official Singles Top 75 13
1991 "Mysterious Ways" The Billboard Hot 100 9
1991 "Mysterious Ways" Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 1
1992 "Mysterious Ways" Billboard Modern Rock Tracks 1
1992 "Mysterious Ways" Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play 42
1992 "One" UK Official Singles Top 75 8
1992 "One" Billboard Adult Contemporary 24
1992 "One" Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 1
1992 "One" Billboard Modern Rock Tracks 1
1992 "One" The Billboard Hot 100 10
1992 "One" Billboard Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales 44
1992 "Even Better Than the Real Thing" The Billboard Hot 100 32
1992 "Even Better Than the Real Thing" Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 1
1992 "Even Better Than the Real Thing" Billboard Modern Rock Tracks 5
1992 "Even Better Than the Real Thing" Billboard Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales 35
1992 "Even Better Than the Real Thing" Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play 27
1992 "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" The Billboard Hot 100 35
1992 "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 2
1992 "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" Billboard Modern Rock Tracks 7
1992 "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" Billboard Top 40 Mainstream 28
1992 "Until the End of the World" Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 5
1992 "Until the End of the World" Billboard Modern Rock Tracks 4
1997 "One" Canadian Singles Chart 19

[edit] Personnel

U2
Additional personnel

[edit] Video

Achtung Baby: The Videos, The Cameos, and a Whole Lot of Interference from Zoo TV
Video by U2
Released 17 May 1992
Recorded 1991–1992
Genre Rock
Length 65 mins
Label Island / PolyGram
Producer Ned O'Hanlon
U2 video chronology
Rattle and Hum
(1988)		 Achtung Baby
(1992)		 Zoo TV: Live from Sydney
(1994)

In May 1992, U2 released Achtung Baby: The Videos, The Cameos, and a Whole Lot of Interference from Zoo TV, a VHS compilation of nine music videos from the album. These included three videos each for "One" and "Even Better than the Real Thing." In between the videos were clips of so-called "interference" comprising documentary footage, media clips, and other images, similar to what was shown at shows during the Zoo TV Tour. The videos for "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" and "Love Is Blindness" were not included as they were not released until after the compilation's release.

  1. INTERFERENCE
  2. "Even Better Than the Real Thing" – directed by Kevin Godley
  3. INTERFERENCE
  4. "Mysterious Ways" – directed by Stéphane Sednaoui
  5. "One" (Version 1) – directed by Anton Corbijn
  6. "The Fly" – directed by Ritchie Smyth and Jon Klein
  7. INTERFERENCE
  8. "Even Better Than the Real Thing" (Dance Mix) – directed by Ritchie Smyth
  9. "One" (Version 2) – directed by Mark Pellington
  10. "Even Better Than the Real Thing" – directed by Armando Gallo and Kampah
  11. "One" (Version 3) – directed by Phil Joanou
  12. "Until the End of the World" – directed by Ritchie Smyth

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Gardner (1994)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Fricke (1993).
  3. ^ a b McCormick (2006), p. 211.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g <Graham (2004), p. 43.
  5. ^ Gardner (1994), pp. xxiii-xxv.
  6. ^ Fricke (1993)
  7. ^ Gardner (1994), p. xxiv.
  8. ^ a b McCormick (2006), p. 213.
  9. ^ de la Parra (1994), pp. 138-149.
  10. ^ a b c d e Eno (1991)
  11. ^ McCormick (2006), p. 207
  12. ^ a b c d e McCormick (2006), p. 215.
  13. ^ Stokes (1996), p. 108.
  14. ^ a b c d e f McCormick (2006), pp. 216, 221.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h McCormick (2006), p. 221.
  16. ^ a b c Gardner (1994), p. xxv.
  17. ^ Flanagan (1995), p. 7.
  18. ^ a b c d McCormick (2006), p. 221, 224.
  19. ^ Flanagan (1995), pp. 6–11
  20. ^ Stokes (1996), p. 98.
  21. ^ [http://lyrics.interference.com/u2/lyrics/rarities/salome/info.html The Origins and History of Salome
  22. ^ a b c d e McCormick (2006), pp. 224-225.
  23. ^ Graham (2004), p. 45.
  24. ^ a b c d e f g h i McCormick (2006), p. 232.
  25. ^ Paulsen, John (20 September 2005). "Deep Cuts: U2: Part I". bullz-eye.com. http://www.bullz-eye.com/music/deep_cuts/2005/U2_part_1.htm. Retrieved on 2008-02-09. 
  26. ^ Graham (2004), p. 44.
  27. ^ Graham (2004), p. 44.
  28. ^ Gardner (1991)
  29. ^ Graham (2004), p. 54.
  30. ^ de la Primm (1994), p. 139; Gardner (1992)
  31. ^ Graham (2004), p. 46, Stokes (1996), p. 100.
  32. ^ Light (1993)
  33. ^ Stokes (1996), p. 95.
  34. ^ Graham (2004), p. 46.
  35. ^ Graham (2004), p. 47; Stokes (1996), p. 95.
  36. ^ Stokes (1996), p. 96.
  37. ^ Graham (2004), p. 45; McCormick (2006), p. 228; Achtung Baby: The Videos, The Cameos, and a Whole Lot of Interference from Zoo TV (Video May 1992).
  38. ^ Graham (2004), p. 49.
  39. ^ Flanagan (1995), p. 30; Graham (2004), p. 49; Stokes (1996), p. 102.
  40. ^ Graham (2004), p. 50; Stokes (1996), p. 106.
  41. ^ Graham (2004), p. 50.
  42. ^ Stokes (1996), p. 108.
  43. ^ McCormick (2006), p. 228.
  44. ^ Graham (2004), p. 44., Triple J November 1993.
  45. ^ Graham (2004), p. 45.
  46. ^ Gardner (1994), p. xxv.
  47. ^ McCormick (2006), p. 234.
  48. ^ "U2's One named 'greatest record'". BBC Online. 2003-11-18. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3281327.stm. Retrieved on 2009-01-02. 
  49. ^ "100 Greatest Songs of the 90s". VH1. http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/the_greatest/127762/episode_featured_copy.jhtml. Retrieved on 2009-01-02. 
  50. ^ Gardner, Elysa. "U2, Achtung, Baby". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/u2/albums/album/116432/review/5941852/achtung_baby. Retrieved on 2009-03-06. 
  51. ^ Wyman, Bill (1991-11-19). "Achtung Baby: music review". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,316330,00.html. Retrieved on 2009-03-06. 
  52. ^ de la Primm (1994), p. 139.
  53. ^ "A Selection Of Lists From Q Magazine". rocklistmusic.co.uk. http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/qlistspage2.html#QReaders. Retrieved on 2009-01-02. 
  54. ^ "VH1's '100 Greatest Albums of Rock & Roll' Ranks the Beatles' 'Revolver' at #1 In All-New Special, Premiering January 15-19 at 10:00 P.M. (ET/PT)". prnewswire.com. 2001-01-05. http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/01-05-2001/0001397649&EDATE=. Retrieved on 2009-01-02. 
  55. ^ "Spin 100 Greatest Albums, 1985-2005". spin100.blogspot.com. 2006-12-30. http://spin100.blogspot.com/. Retrieved on 2009-01-02. 
  56. ^ "Gift Guide: 25 Classic CDs". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20210099_22,00.html. Retrieved on 2009-01-02. 
  57. ^ Hot Press, "Closer to the Edge (pt. 1)", 4 December 4 2002. Edge says: "... we got the idea of taking images, taking TV as an idea, and putting screens on stage. That started us down that road ..."
  58. ^ Q Magazine, "10 Years of Turmoil Inside U2", 10 October 2002.
  59. ^ ARIA
  60. ^ IFPI Austria
  61. ^ Mrazil Certification (Manual search)
  62. ^ CRIA
  63. ^ IFPI Finland
  64. ^ Disque En France
  65. ^ IFPI Germany
  66. ^ NVPI
  67. ^ IFPI Switzerland
  68. ^ BPI
  69. ^ RIAA

[edit] References


Preceded by
Use Your Illusion II by Guns N' Roses		 Billboard 200 number-one album
December 7, 1991 – December 13, 1991		 Succeeded by
Dangerous by Michael Jackson
Preceded by
Soul Deep by Jimmy Barnes		 Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album
December 1, 1991 – December 7, 1991		 Succeeded by
Dangerous by Michael Jackson


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Achtung Baby Track Listing
"Zoo Station"  • "Even Better Than the Real Thing"  • "One"  • "Until the End of the World"  • "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses"  • "So Cruel"  • "The Fly"  • "Mysterious Ways"  • "Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World"  • "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)"  • "Acrobat"  • "Love is Blindness"
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achtung_Baby"
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