Achtung Baby

Designed and produced explicitly as “the sound of a band cutting down the Joshua Tree”, “Achtung Baby” was U2’s opening statement at the start of the 90s.

Rejecting the earnest rock and roll of their mega-hit “The Joshua Tree” and their 80s work in general, “Achtung Baby” created a new sound that would follow the band for the next three albums (Achtung Baby, Zooropa, and Pop). The band, and Bono in particular, rejected the folksy earnest image the band was known for at the time and embraced satire, sarcasm, irony and deconstructing the iconic rock star image. Embracing electronic dance music, the album presented itself as a rebuke of the past and the start of a new chapter of the band.

The album spawned several iconic hits (One, Mysterious Ways, Even Better Than the Real Thing) and the album’s track listings have become permanent live staples for the band (with Ultra Violet (Light My Way) and Love Is Blindness in particular becoming the default final song played live at concerts). “Until The End Of the World” was featured in the cult film “Until The End of the World”, by Wim Wenders. The tour supporting the album, the legendary Zoo TV world tour, saw Bono introduce his MacPhisto alter-ego: the devil as a lounge singer, Mirror Ball Man; a silver leisure suit TV evangelist who made prank calls to world leaders inbetween songs, and “The Fly”; a leather clad heroic rock star with wraparound sun glasses.