 |
| ACHTUNG
BABY |
| DATE
1991 |
| LENGTH
55:27 MINUTES |
| LABEL
POLYGRAM |
| PRODUCER
BRYAN ENO, DANIEL LANOIS &
STEVE LILYWHITE |
| |
Having spent a good
part of the Eighties as one of
the most iconic bands in the
world, U2 hardly
needs to resort to a cheekily
absurd title to draw
attention to its first album in
three years. Then again, subtlety
has never been one of the group's
virtues. In its early days and in
its basic musical approach--a
guitar, a few chords and the
truth, to
paraphrase one of Bono's more
garish assertions--U2 fell in
with
other young bands that cropped up
in the wake of punk. But U2
immediately distinguished itself
with its huge sound and unabashed
idealism rooted in spiritual
aspiration. At their best, these
Irishmen have proven--just as
Springsteen and the Who did--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.
At their worst...well, the
half-live double album Rattle and
Hum
(1988)--the product of U2's
self-conscious infatuation with
American roots music--wasn't a
full-out disaster, but it was
misguided and bombastic enough to
warrant concern. With
Achtung Baby, U2 is once again
trying to broaden its musical
pallette, but this time its
ambitions are realized. Working
with producers who have lent
discipline and nuance to the
group's previous albums--Daniel
Lanois oversees the entire album,
with Brian Eno and Steve
Lillywhite assisting on a number
of songs--U2 sets out to
experiment rather than pay
homage. In doing so, the
band is able to draw confidently
and consistently on its own
native
strengths.
Most conspicuous among the new
elements that U2 incorporates
on Achtung Baby are
hip-hop-derived electronic beats.
The band uses these dance-music
staples on about half of the
album's twelve tracks, often
layering them into guitar-heavy
mixes the
way that many young English bands
like Happy Mondays and Jesus
Jones have done in recent years.
"Mysterious Ways" is a
standout among these songs,
sporting an ebullient hook and a
fierce guitar solo in which the
Edge segues from one of his
signature bursts of
light into an insidious funk
riff.
Elsewhere, as in the fit of
distortion and feedback that
opens
"Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild
Horses," Edge evokes the
cacophony and electronic daring
of noise bands like sonic Youth.
Indeed Edge's boldness on Achtung
is key to the album's adventurous
spirit. His plangent, minimalist
guitar style--among the most
distinctive and imitated in
modern rock--has always made
inspired use of devices like echo
and reverb; his shimmering washes
of color on "Until the End
of the World" and
"Ultraviolet (Light My
Way)" are instantly
recognizable. But other tracks
find the guitarist crafting
harder textures and flashing a
new arsenal of effects. On
the first cut, "Zoo
Station," he uses his guitar
as a rhythm
instrument, repeating a dark and
buzzing phrase that drives the
beat while his more lyrical
playing on the chorus enhances
the melody. Similarly, "The
Fly" features grinding riffs
that bounce off Adam Clayton's
thick bass line and echo and
embellish Larry Mullen Jr.'s
drumming.
Bono's task, then, is to lend his
sensuous tenor and melodramatic
romanticism to expressions that
match this sonic fervor. He
announces on "Zoo
Station" that "he's
ready to let go/Of the
steering wheel"; what
follows are the most fearlessly
introspective lyrics he's
written. In the past, U2's
frontman has turned out fiercely
pointed social and political
diatribes , but his more
confessional and romantic songs,
however felt, have been evasive.
On Achtung, though, Bono deals
more directly with his private
feelings--not to mention his
hormones. "The hunter will
sin...for you ivory skin,"
he sings on "Wild
Horses," and boasts on
"Even Better Than the Real
Thing" that "I'm gonna
make you sing/Give me half a
chance/To ride on the waves that
you bring."
Almost as surprising, and even
more affecting, are Bono's
reflections on being an artist.
On "Acrobat," over an
arrangement
that recalls the apocalyptic
frenzy of "Bullet the Blue
Sky," he
pleads for inspiration:
"What are we gonna do now
it's all been
said?" On "The
Fly" self-doubt gives way to
self-indictment: "Every
artist is a cannibal," he
sings in a whispered groan,
"every poet a thief."
Squarely acknowledging his own
potential for hypocrisy and
inadequacy, and addressing basic
human weaknesses rather than
the failings of society at large,
Bono sounds humbler and more
vulnerable than in the past.
"Desperation is a tender
trap," he
sings on "So Cruel."
"It gets you every
time."
That's not to say that U2 has
forsaken its faith or that Bono
has
abandoned his quest to find what
he's looking for. On the radiant
ballad "One," the band
invests an unexceptional
message--"We're
one/but we're not the same/We get
to carry each other"--with
such urgency that it sounds like
a revelation. Few bands can
marshal such sublime power, but
it's just one of the many moments
on Achtung Baby when we're
reminded why, before these guys
were the butt of cynical jokes,
they were rock & roll heroes
- as
they still are. (RS 621) Copyright ©
1968-1999 Rolling Stone Network.
All Rights Reserved.
u
U2's Bono brought
the triumphant Joshua Tree tour
to a close in 1988 by informing
the crowd at a packed Point arena
in Dublin that the group had to
go away
for a while and " ... dream
it all up again." While many
feared the message signaled the
end for U2, it in fact marked a
new beginning as the world's
biggest rock act set about
reinventing itself.
Moved by the turbulent political
events in Europe at the end of
the
'80s, the members of U2 left for
Berlin to begin taping the band's
first studio album in three
years. The result was the Daniel
Lanois-produced Achtung Baby
(1991), a startling departure
from the arena-rock sound of
previous years, and U2's best
record to date.
The shift in style was
dramatically declared by the
static-laden crunch of the Edge's
guitar on Achtung's opener
"Zoo Station." Bono's
distortion-drenched vocals, Adam
Clayton's thumping bass line and
Larry Mullen's jackhammer
drumming delivered an almost
industrial introduction to the
record.
Such songs as "The
Fly," "Even Better Than
the Real Thing," and
"Mysterious Ways" were
peppered with electronic beats,
funky riffs, and buzzing
feedback. The epic "Until
the End of the World" swept
to a powerful conclusion on waves
of guitar effects, while the
moodier
soundscapes of "Tryin' to
Throw Your Arms Around the
World," "Ultra
Violet" and
"Acrobat" found U2 at
their experimental best. Even the
exquisite ballad "One"
shimmered amidst the feedback and
fuzz.
Lyrically, the record also
offered up some of Bono's most
introspective songs to date. The
socially conscious and spiritual
themes from previous U2 albums
were exchanged for a more
confessional tone better suited
to Achtung's darker sounds.
With Achtung Baby, U2 not only
cemented its place as a relevant
rock act in the final decade of
the century, it delivered a
sublime record that rightfully
takes its place as one of the
best of the '90s.-John Harmon
Copyright ©
1994-1999 CDNOW, Inc. All rights
reserved.
|
| |
|
| the fly |
| mysterious
way |
| one |
| even better
than the real thing |
| whos's
gonna ride your wild horses |
|
| achtung
baby |
|
| ZOO STATION
I'm ready... Ready
for the laughing gas.
I'm ready... Ready for what's
next.
Ready to duck. Ready to dive.
Ready to say I'm glad to be
alive.
I'm ready... Ready for the push.
In the cool of the night. In the
warmth of the breeze.
I'll be crawling around on my
hands and knees.
She's just down the line... Zoo
Station
Got to make it on time... Zoo
Station
I'm ready... Ready for the
gridlock.
I'm ready... To take it to the
street.
Ready for the shuffle. Ready for
the deal.
Ready to let go of the steering
wheel.
I'm ready... Ready for the crush.
Alright, alright, alright,
alright, alright.
It's alright...it's
alright...it's alright..it's
alright.
Hey baby...hey baby...hey
baby...hey baby...
It's alright. It's alright.
Time is a train. Makes the future
the past.
Leaves you standing in the
station
Your face pressed up against the
glass.
I'm just down the line from your
love... Zoo Station
Under the sign of your love...
Zoo Station
I'm gonna be there... Zoo Station
Tracing the line... Zoo Station
I'm gonna make it on time... make
it on time... Zoo Station
Just two stops down the line...
Zoo Station
|
| EVEN BETTER
THAN THE REAL THING Give me one more
chance and you'll be satisfied
Give me two more chances, you
won't be denied.
Well my heart is where it's
always been.
My head is somewhere in between.
Give me one more chance, let me
be your lover tonight.
(Check it out)
You're the real thing. Yeah the
real thing.
You're the real thing. Even
better than the real thing.
Give me one last chance and I'm
gonna make you sing.
Give me half a chance to ride on
the waves that you bring.
You're honey child to a swarm of
bees.
Gonna blow right through you like
a breeze.
Give me one last chance. We'll
slide down the surface of things.
You're the real thing. Yeah the
real thing.
You're the real thing. Even
better than the real thing.
We're free to fly the crimson
sky.
The sun won't melt our wings
tonight.
Oh now... Here she comes.
Take me higher. Take me higher.
Can you take me higher?
Will you take me higher?
You're the real thing. Yeah the
real thing.
You're the real thing. Even
better than the real thing.
Even better than the real thing.
Even better than the real thing.
|
| ONE Is it
getting better... Or do you feel
the same.
Will it make it easier on you...
Now you got someone to blame.
You say...
One love.
One life.
When it's one need...In the
night.
It's one love.
We get to share it.
It leaves you baby.
If you don't care for it.
Did I disappoint you? Or leave a
bad taste in your mouth?
You act like you never had
love... And you want me to go
without.
Well it's too late...Tonight...
To drag the past out...Into the
light.
We're one... But we're
not the same.
We get to carry each
other...Carry each other.
One
Have you come here for
forgiveness?
Have you come to raise the dead?
Have you come here to play
Jesus...To the lepers in your
head?
Did I ask too much?
More than a lot?
You gave me nothing.
Now it's all I got.
We're one...But we're not
the same.
We hurt each
other...Then we do it again.
You say...
Love is a temple. Love a higher
law.
Love is a temple. Love the higher
law
You ask me to enter...But then
you make me crawl
And I can't be holding on...To
what you got...
When all you got is hurt
One love.
One blood.
One life.
You got to do what you should.
One life...
With each other.
Sisters.
Brothers.
One life...
But we're not the same.
We get to carry each other.
Carry each other.
One.
One.
|
| UNTIL THE
END OF THE WORLD Haven't seen you in
quite a while.
I was down the hold, just passing
time.
Last time we met was a low-lit
room.
We were as close together as
bride and groom
We ate the food, we drank the
wine.
Everybody having a good
time...Except you.
You were talking about the end of
the world.
I took the money, I spiked your
drink.
You miss too much these days if
you stop to think.
You led me on with those innocent
eyes.
And you know I love the element
of surprise.
In the garden I was playing the
tart.
I kissed your lips and broke your
heart.
You, you were acting like it was
the end of the world.
In my dream I was drowning my
sorrows.
But my sorrows they learned to
swim.
Surrounding me, going down on me.
Spilling over the brim.
In waves of regret, waves of joy.
I reached out for the one I tried
to destroy.
You, you said you'd wait until
the end of the world.
(For Wim Wenders)
|
| WHO'S GONNA
RIDE YOUR WILD HORSES You're
dangerous, 'cos you're honest.
You're dangerous, 'cos you don't
know what you want.
Well you left my heart
Empty as a vacant lot
For any spirit to haunt.
Hey hey sha la la
Hey hey
You're an accident...Waiting to
happen.
You're a piece of glass...Left
there on the beach.
Well you tell me things...
I know you're not supposed to.
Then you leave me...Just out of
reach.
Hey hey sha la la
Hey hey sha la la la
Who's gonna ride your wild
horses?
Who's gonna drown in your blue
sea?
Who's gonna ride your wild
horses?
Who's gonna fall at the foot of
thee?
Well you stole it, 'Cos I needed
the cash.
And you killed it, 'Cos I needed
revenge.
Well you lied to me, 'Cos I asked
you to.
Baby...can we still be friends?
Hey hey sha la la
Hey hey sha la la la
Who's gonna ride your wild
horses?
Who's gonna drown in your blue
sea?
Who's gonna ride your wild
horses?
Who's gonna fall at the foot of
thee?
The deeper I spin.
The hunter will sin ... for your
ivory skin.
Took a drive in the dirty rain...
To a place where the wind calls
your name.
Under the trees the river
laughing...
At you and me...
Halluijah, heavens white rose.
The doors you open...
I just can't close.
Don't turn around. Don't turn
around.
Don't turn around. Your gypsy
heart.
Don't turn around. Don't turn
around again.
Don't turn around. And don't look
back.
Come on now love...Don't you look
back.
Who's gonna ride your wild
horses?
Who's gonna drown in your blue
sea?
Who's gonna taste your salt water
kisses?
Who's gonna take the place of me?
Who's gonna ride your wild
horses?
Who could tame the heart of thee?
|
| SO CRUEL We crossed the
line.
Who pushed who over?
It doesn't matter to you.
It matters to me.
We're cut adrift...
But still floating.
I'm only hanging on...
To watch you go down...my love.
I disappeared in you.
You disappeared from me.
I gave you everything you ever
wanted.
It wasn't what you wanted.
The men who love you, you hate
the most.
They pass through you like a
ghost.
They look for you but your spirit
is in the air.
Baby...you're nowhere.
You say in love there are no
rules.
Sweetheart...You're so cruel.
Desparation is a tender trap.
It gets you every time.
You put your lips to her lips...
To stop the lie.
Her skin is pale like God's only
dove.
Screams like an angel for your
love.
Then she makes you watch her from
above.
And you need her like a drug.
You say in love there are no
rules.
Sweetheart...You're so cruel.
She wears my love...
Like a see-through dress.
Her lips say one thing.
Her movements something else.
Oh love...Like a screaming
flower.
Love...Dying every hour.
And you don't know if it's fear
or desire.
Danger of a drug that takes you
higher?
Head of heaven...Fingers in the
mire.
Her heart is racing... you can't
keep up.
The night is bleeding like a cut.
Between the horses of love and
lust...
We are trampled underfoot.
You say in love there are no
rules.
Sweetheart...You're so cruel.
To stay with you I'd be a fool.
Sweetheart...You're so cruel.
|
| THE FLY It's no
secret that the stars are falling
from the sky.
It's no secret that our world is
in darkness tonight.
They say the sun is sometimes
eclipsed by a moon.
Y'know I don't see you when she
walks in the room.
It's no secret that a friend is
someone who lets you help.
It's no secret that a liar won't
believe anyone else.
They say a secret is something
you tell one other person...
So I'm telling you... child.
Low Voice Gospel Voice
A man will beg. Love we shine
like a
A man will crawl. Burning star.
On the sheer face of love We're
fallin' from
Like a fly on a wall. The sky....
tonight.
It's no secret at all.
It's no secret that a conscience
can sometimes be a pest.
It's no secret ambition bites the
nails of success.
Every artist is a cannibal. Every
poet is a thief.
All kill their inspiration and
sing about the grief.
Low Voice Gospel Voice
A man will rise. Love we shine
like a
A man will fall. Burning star.
From the sheer face of love We're
fallin' from
Like a fly from a wall. The
sky.... tonight.
It's no secret at all.
Oh yeah...
It's no secret that the stars are
falling from the sky.
The universe exploding 'cosa one
man's lie.
Look I gotta go.
Yeah I'm running outta change.
There's a lot of things...
If I could I'd rearrange.
|
| MYSTERIOUS
WAY Johnny take a walk
With your sister the moon.
Let her pale light in To fill up
your room.
You've been living
underground...Eating from a can.
You've been running away From
what you don't understand.
She's slippy.
Your're sliding down.
She'll be there...
When you hit the ground.
It's alright...it's
alright...it's alright.
She moves in mysterious ways.
It's alright...it's
alright...it's alright.
She moves in mysterious ways.
Johnny take a dive With your
sister in the rain.
Let her talk about the things You
can't explain.
To touch is to heal. To hurt is
to steal.
If you want to kiss the sky...
Better learn how to kneel (...on
your knees boy!)
She's the wave.
She turns the tide.
She sees the man inside the
child.
It's alright...it's
alright...it's alright.
She moves in mysterious ways.
It's alright...it's
alright...it's alright.
She moves in mysterious ways.
It's alright...it's
alright...it's alright.
She moves in mysterious ways.
It's alright...it's
alright...it's alright.
Lift my days...light up my
nights.
One day you'll look back and
you'll see
Where you were held how by this
love.
While you could stand there
And not move on this moment.
Follow this feeling.
It's alright...it's
alright...it's alright.
She moves in mysterious ways.
It's alright...it's
alright...it's alright.
We move through miracle days.
Spirit moves in mysterious ways.
She moves with it. She woves with
it.
Lift my days and light up my
nights.
|
| TRYIN' TO
THROW YOUR ARMS AROUND THE WORLD 6.00 in
the morning
You're the last to hear the
warning
You've been trying to throw your
arms around the world
You've been falling off the
sidewalk
Your lips move but you can't talk
Tryin' to throw your arms around
the world
I'm gonna run to you...run to
you...be still
I'm gonna run to you...run to
you...woman I will
Sunrise like a nosebleed
Your head hurts and you can't
breathe
You been tryin' to throw you arms
around the world
How far you gonna go
Before you lose your way back
home?
You've been trying to
throw your arms around the world
I'm gonna run to you...run to
you...woman be still
I'm gonna run to you...run to
you...woman I will
I dreamed that I saw Dali with a
supermarket trolley
He was trying to throw his arms
around a girl
He took an open top beetle
through the eye of a needle
He was tryin' to throw his arms
around the world
I'm gonna run to you...run to
you...woman be still
I'm gonna run to you...run to
you...woman I will
Nothin' much to say I guess
Just the same as all the rest
Been trying to throw your arms
around the world
A woman needs a man like a fish
needs a bicycle
When you're tryin' to throw your
arms around the world
I'm gonna run to you...run to you
I'm gonna run to you...run to you
I'm gonna run to you...run to you
Woman be still...woman be still
Be still...woman be still
Woman I will
|
| ULTRAVIOLET
(LIGHT MY WAY) Sometimes I feel
like I don't know
Sometimes I feel like checkin'
out
I want to get it wrong
Can't always be strong
And love it won't be long...
Oh sugar, don't you cry
Oh child, wipe the tears from
your eyes
You know I need you to be strong
And the day is as dark as the
night is long
Feel like trash
You make me feel clean
I'm in the black
Can't see or be seen
Baby Baby Baby light my way
You bury your treasure where it
can't be found
But your love is like a secret
that's been passed around
There is a silence that comes to
a house where no one can sleep
I guess it's the price of love
I know it's not cheap
Baby Baby Baby light my way
I remember when we could sleep on
stones
Now we lie together in whispers
and moans
When I was all messed up
And I heard opera in my head
Your love was a light bulb
Hanging over my bed
Baby Baby Baby
Baby Baby Baby
Baby Baby Baby light my way
Baby Baby Baby
Baby Baby Baby
Baby Baby Baby light my way
|
| ACROBAT Don't
believe what you hear
Don't believe what you see
If you just close your eyes
You can feel the enemy
When I first met you girl
You had fire in your soul
What happened your face
Of melting in snow?
Now it looks like this!
And you can swallow
Or you can spit
You can throw it up
Or choke on it
And you can dream
So dream out loud
You know that your time is coming
'round
...don't let the bastards grind
you down
No nothing makes sense
Nothing seems to fit
I know you'd hit out
If you only knew who to hit
And I'd join the movement
If there was one I could believe
in
Yeah I'd break bread and wine
If there was a church I could
receive in
'Cos I need it now
To take a cup
To fill it up
To drink it slow
I Can't let you go
And I must be
An acrobat
To talk like this
And act like that
And you can dream
So dream out loud
...don't let the bastards grind
you down
What are we doing to do now it's
all been said?
No new ideas in the house, and
every book has been read
And I must be
An acrobat
To talk like this
And act like that
And you can dream
So dream out loud
And you can find
Your own way out
You can build
And I can will
And you can call
I can't wait until
You can stash
And you can seize
In dreams begin
Responsibilities
And I can love
And I can love
I know that the tide is turning
'round
...don't let the bastards grind
you down
|
| LOVE IS
BLINDNESS Love is blindness
I don't want to see
Won't you wrap the night around
me
Take my heart
Love is blindness
In a parked car
In a crowded street
You see your love made complete
Thread is ripping
The knot is slipping
Love is blindness
Love is clockworks
And cold steel
Fingers to numb to feel
Squeeze the handle
Blow out the candle
Love is blindness
Love is blindness
I don't want to see
Won't you wrap the night around
me
Oh my love... Blindness
A little death without mourning
No call and no warning
Baby...a dangerous idea
That almost makes sense
Love is
drowning in a deep well
All the secrets and no one to
tell
Take the
money...Honey...Blindness
Love is blindness
I don't want to see
Won't you wrap the night around
me
Oh my love... Blindness.
|
|
