U2 - Achtung Baby (2LP, Reissue, Remastered)

Description

Achtung Baby is the seventh studio album by the Irish rock band U2. It was produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno and was released on 18 November 1991 on Island Records. Stung by criticism of their 1988 release, Rattle, and Hum, U2 shifted their musical direction to incorporate influences from alternative rock, industrial music, and electronic dance music into their sound. Thematically, Achtung Baby is darker, more introspective, and at times more flippant than their previous work. The album and the subsequent multimedia-intensive Zoo TV Tour were central to the group's 1990s reinvention, by which they abandoned their earnest public image for a more lighthearted and self-deprecating one.

Seeking inspiration from German reunification, U2 began recording Achtung Baby at Berlin's Hansa Studios in October 1990. The sessions were fraught with conflict, as the band argued over their musical direction and the quality of their material. After the tension and slow progress nearly prompted the group to disband, they made a breakthrough with the improvised writing of the song "One". Morale and productivity improved during subsequent recording sessions in Dublin, where the album was completed in 1991. To confound the public's expectations of the band and their music, U2 chose the record's facetious title and colorful multi-image sleeve.

Achtung Baby is one of U2's most successful records; it received favorable reviews and debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 Top Albums while topping the charts in many other countries. Five songs were released as commercial singles, all of which were chart successes, including "One", "Mysterious Ways", and "The Fly". The album has sold 18 million copies worldwide and won a Grammy Award in 1993 for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. Achtung Baby has since been acclaimed by writers and music critics as one of the greatest albums of all time. The record was reissued in October 2011 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of its original release.

Release Info

Label: Island Records 5797009
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Remastered
Country: Europe
Released: 2018
Genre: Rock

Tracklist

A1 Zoo Station
A2 Even Better Than The Real Thing
A3 One
B1 Until The End Of The World
B2 Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
B3 So Cruel
C1 The Fly
C2 Mysterious Ways
C3 Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World
D1 Ultra Violet (Light My Way)
D2 Acrobat
D3 Love Is Blindness