Achtung Baby
Front Sleeve | Purchase Album
Release Date: November 18, 1991
Highest Chart Position: UK: 2 USA: 1
Liner Notes:
Bono: Vocals & Guitar. The Edge: Guitar, Keyboards & Vocals. Adam Clayton: Bass Guitar. Larry Mullen: Drums & Percussion. Produced by Daniel Lanois with Brian Eno and Steve Lillywhite. Engineered and Mixed by Flood. * Mixed by Steve Lillywhite. Paul McGuinness: Manager. Studio Crew: Joe O'Herlihy: Monitoring. Des Broadbery: Keyboard & Guitar Technician. Fraser McAlister: Bass & Guitar Technician. Sam O'Sullivan: Drum Technician. Anne-Louise Kelly: Album Production Manager. Recorded in: Hansa Ton Studios Berlin, Dog Town Dublin, S.T.S. Dublin, Windmill Lane Studios Dublin. Recording Facilities and Co-Ordination Berlin: Joe O'Herlihy and Dennis Sheehan. Recording Facilities and Co-Ordination Dublin: Terry Cromer, Audio Engineering Dublin. Principle Management Dublin - Anne-Louise Kelly, Barbara Galavan, Jackie Bennet, Eileen Long, David Herbert, Maria Duffy, Brigid Mooney, Anne O'Leary, Cillian Guidera, Liz Devlin, Cecilia Coffey. Principle Management NY - Ellen Darst, Keryn Kaplan, Sheila Roche, Bess Burke, Lisa Fiscoff. Mastering by Arnie Acosta / A & M Mastering Studios, LA. Digital Editing by Stewart Whitmore / A & M Mastering Studios, LA. Quality Control Cheryl Engels / A & M Studios, LA. Thanks to: Yamaha Drums, Paiste, Pro-Mark and James Howe Industries for Strings. Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno appear courtesy of Opal / Warner Brothers. Photography by Anton Corbijn. Design by Steve Averill and Shaughn McGrath - Works Associates (Dublin). Label Illustration by Charlie Whisker. Photographed by Richie Smith. European Language Translations Ltd. Dublin/Eileen Pearson.
Track List:
- Zoo Station (4:36)
- Even Better Than The Real Thing * (3:41)
- One (4:36)
- Until The End Of The World (4:39)
- Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses * (5:16)
- So Cruel (5:49)
- The Fly (4:29)
- Mysterious Ways (4:04)
- Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World (3:53)
- Ultraviolet (Light My Way) (5:31)
- Acrobat (4:30)
- Love Is Blindness (4:23)
Catalog:
- Australia: Island 510 347-2 (Limited Edition CD / 1500 Copies)
- Canada: Island 510347-4, Island 510 347-2
- Germany: Island 212 110, Island 262 110, Island 412 110
- Japan: Island PSCD-1170, Island / Polygram UICY2434
- Spain: 212110 (5F), 262110 (9A), 412110 (7H)
- UK: Island U2 8, Island CIDU28 / 510347-2, Island UC2 8, Island U28 (Achtung Baby "Users Kit" / Printed Green Nylon Kit Bag with Map of Berlin, Achtung Baby CD, Achtung Baby Cassette, Trabant Keychain, Spanner, Torch and Screwdriver / 200 Copies)
- USA: Island 319-510 490-2 (Digipack CD with "X" over Adam), Island 319-510 490-2 (Digipack CD with "Shamrock" over Adam), Island 314-910 347-2 (Jewel Box CD), Island 314-510 347-1, Island 510 347-5 (Digital Compact Cassette)
Media Review:
Review: Achtung Baby
5 stars (out of 5)
By Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Reinventions rarely come as thorough and effective as Achtung Baby, an album that completely changed U2's sound and style. The crashing, unrecognizable distorted guitars that open "Zoo Station" are a clear signal that U2 have traded their Americana pretensions for postmodern, contemporary European music. Drawing equally from Bowie's electronic, avant-garde explorations of the late '70s and the neo-psychedelic sounds of the thriving rave and Madchester club scenes of early-'90s England, Achtung Baby sounds vibrant and endlessly inventive. Unlike their inspirations, U2 rarely experiment with song structures over the course of the album. Instead, they use the thick dance beats, swirling guitars, layers of effects, and found sounds to break traditional songs out of their constraints, revealing the tortured emotional core of their songs with the hyper-loaded arrangements. In such a dense musical setting, it isn't surprising that U2 have abandoned the political for the personal on Achtung Baby, since the music, even with its inviting rhythms, is more introspective than anthemic. Bono has never been as emotionally naked as he is on Achtung Baby, creating a feverish nightmare of broken hearts and desperate loneliness; unlike other U2 albums, it's filled with sexual imagery, much of it quite disturbing, and it ends on a disquieting note. Few bands as far into their career as U2 have recorded an album as adventurous or fulfilled their ambitions quite as successfully as they do on Achtung Baby, and the result is arguably their best album.