Achtung Baby - U2 (1991)

I cut class the day this came out so i could buy it and listen before I got home that afternoon. And then it… didn’t immediately grab me. But as with a lot of my favorite records, I had to put in the work to find a way into it and I’ve never looked back.

The Edge isn’t a great guitarist from a technical perspective, but no one else knows how to use their gear to get the sound they want like him. Bono was an inspired singer and lyricist for long enough that he’ll always have that rep, despite what I might think of his recent output.

But the reason U2 works is that they have two main characters, and a rhythm section that’s just as good musically but also content to be supporting characters. Both in their personality and their musicianship, Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton set a solid foundation to let their bandmates shine.

Both have a fantastic sense for what the songs need, often playing tightly choreographed polyrhythms that set the right atmosphere for an extremely atmosphere-conscious band.

Bono described this record while it was being recorded as four guys chopping down a Joshua Tree, and he’s not wrong. While it was a massive departure for your youth pastor’s favorite 80s band, it also set the band on an even higher trajectory of global stardom.

Tracks I Liked

Zoo Station - an overture, a title theme, a statement of purpose, and a banger

Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses - a big hit from a big album, and yet still somehow underrated.

The Fly - a tense, dense, paranoid rant that shows the new U2 mean business.