LogFAQs > #953471483

Achtung Baby is my #567 album of all time and #11 for 1991. This is one of those all-time classics that never fully clicked with me, though I'm happy to give it another listen after Zoo Station and The Fly grew on me over the last couple years. While I vastly prefer The Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby is where U2 became the coolest band on the planet. At the same time, this change set them up to become the most easily hateable. Are U2 trying too hard to appeal to everyone? Their sound is almost unclassifiable; this is 'rock' at its purest level, not quite classic nor alternative. There are few if any other artists I classify as 'rock' and nothing more specific. In that sense, U2 is fascinating. On another, they teeter on the edge of the generic. In fact, this album might represent the finest tip before falling over; U2 really hits it out of the ballpark with these tracks, a quality they never again achieved. At the same time, there's a noticeable gulf in quality between the big hits and the other tracks here; they could have dropped a couple and had a much tighter record. "One" is easily the highlight, an all-time great questioning the concept of unity in a fractured world. Bono's vocals there blow me away every time.

1. One (#434 all-time)
2. Even Better Than the Real Thing (#2004)
3. Mysterious Ways (#2197)
4. The Fly (#2691)
5. Zoo Station
6. Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
7. Until the End of the World
8. Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
9. Acrobat
10. Love is Blindness
11. So Cruel
12. Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World

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My top 100 games (with write-ups): https://foolfantastic.com/top-100-video-games-project/