![]() The major difference is that those leaps came through a gradual transition, while U2 became a new band seemingly overnight. Bands like Arcade Fire and The Strokes made their own major leaps into electronica-influenced rock music without anyone making much of a fuss. This kind of radical transformation couldn’t happen in the internet age. At a time where selling out was a major concern, U2 were buying in and challenging the rest of the world to blink first. In that sense, U2 were uniquely primed to enter the ’90s. The album proved that anthemic stadium rock, underground techno, and punk-influenced alt-rock weren’t as disparate as they might seem, and as long as you brought attention to how silly the commodification of these underground influences was, you could use them in any way you wanted. Despite the new sounds and attitudes, Achtung Baby is still U2, for better or for worse. What songs like ‘Until the End of the World’, ‘The Fly’, and ‘Mysterious Ways’ do so well is to show that the U2 formula is surprisingly malleable. To double down on the concept, the singer adopted a number of guises while recording, some of which would make their way into the band’s multimedia tour extravaganza Zoo TV. Bono found irony to be his primary tool for liberation, littering his lyrics with glib observations, nursery rhymes, and even complete nonsense to contrast the soapboxing of his past. But there are still recognisable elements: Bono’s belting vocals, The Edge’s signature delay, and the compact drive of Clayton and Mullen are still the core of the songs, but now they’re joined by electronic drums, fuzz, vocal effects, and a palpable slice of irony. ‘Zoo Station’ comes right out of the gate with cacophonous industrial noise, signalling that Achtung Baby was going to be a completely new direction for the band. Baggy, underground hip hop, house music, and shoegaze were all on the rise, but could U2 really fit into sounds? Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, who had been working with the band since 1984’s The Unforgettable Fire, returned to the fold to help the band adapt to changing times. Luckily, the band had producers who could help them achieve their vision. On concept alone, the band were setting themselves up for career suicide: the saviours of classic rock were going to use hip hop beats, funk guitars, and turn themselves into a distortion-heavy alternative rock band? But for ten other tracks, U2 accomplish perhaps the most thorough dismantling job ever conceived by a major rock band. The former is an anthemic stadium-ready sing-along in the same vein as ‘Pride (In the Name of Love)’, while the latter is an eerie and haunting closing number not unlike ‘Mothers of the Disappeared’ from The Joshua Tree. There are only two “classic U2” tracks on Achtung Baby: ‘One’ and ‘Love is Blindness’. ![]()
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