The Zimmermann Note

U2 – Achtung Baby

Following their critically acclaimed ‘Joshua Tree’ and subsequent movie and soundtrack “Rattle and Hum”, the expectations for U2 were high and they met them. Achtung Baby was greater than just an album but an idea, a prequel to the 21st century, to mass consumption and superstardom. What U2 did during Achtung Baby is try to be the biggest band on the planet and actually succeed with some level of credibility. Their left-leaning, progressive positions such as trying to call up George H.W. Bush while on the Zoo TV tour, their support of various causes and putting out one of the most massive tours of it’s day changed big budget tours forever. But any tour would be nothing if the songs were not worth their weight.

My favorite of the album “Until the End of the World” (same title of a Wim Wender’s movie), encapsulates the sound of the album although I have never agreed with it’s Jesus/Judas relationship but rather the movie for which it was taken from. The movie, (easily one of my top 5 movies) discussed the future in such a manner that in some cases invaded the human psyche. The electronic sounds, the increased use of computers, the fall of communism, the world was changing and U2 released this momentous album that ushered in Generation X to a different world.

U2 put everything on the line, even their very Americanism that they captured during the mid-80s that their shift in sound is worth mentioning. Borrowing from dance music, electronica, the band recorded part of their album in East Berlin soon after the fall of the Berlin Wall in trying circumstances. There were differences among the members as to the direction of the album. There were questions whether the band would make it out alive but they battled through those trying times.

There is still something romantic about a band like U2 at the time releasing this album. Thinking back at the moment, it was the closest thing to the Beatles and it is also the album that defines their legacy. The bold move of releasing the unconventional “The Fly” as their lead single. The fact that it still stands with me all these years, even considering the host of other great material released this year (1991).

It’s their epic moment, their “Rubber Soul”, their shift from a fairly popular band to an artistic one and for me their best album that they ever released.