Ranking U2's Albums from Worst to First: #2 Achtung Baby

1991 was one heck of a year for music.  Consider the following albums released that year: Pearl Jam Ten, the self-titled Metallica record, REM Out of Time, Red Hot Chili Peppers Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik, Guns n' Roses Use Your Illusion 1 and 2, and of course, Nirvana's Nevermind.  All of these are classic albums and to put the cherry on the top of an amazing year of music, U2 dropped Achtung Baby on November 18.  

As the 1980s came to a close, there was some fear that U2 might breakup, and as recording commenced in 1990 and 1991 for what eventually became Achtung Baby, the band had to work through personal and interpersonal turmoil as they "dreamed it all up again".  While recording in Berlin, the band came together as one while laying down the early sketches for what became their hit song, One.  Instead of being the moment that U2 splintered into oblivion, the Hansa Studio recording sessions became the springboard for what is in my mind their second-best album.  What makes this record so good is that it is not only filled with excellent songs, but they are at once both experimental and accessible.  There are addictive melodies, explosive guitar parts, rumbling bass lines, hypnotic drumbeats, boosted by sumptuous strings and electronic sound effects.  Some songs you want to dance to, while others make you want to jump in the mosh pit!  The first single released from this album, The Fly, was described by Bono as "the sound of four men chopping down The Joshua Tree."

Though sonically distinct from The Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby is similar to the former record in that it carries a certain timelessness.  When U2 are at their best, they create music that has an almost eternal character - evoking at once both nostalgia and a longing for the future, taking the listener to another time and place and then dropping them back home again, not the same, but changed.  The words of TS Eliot capture the effect that a record like Achtung Baby has on a listener:

With the drawing of this Love and the voice of this Calling 

We shall not cease from exploration 

And the end of all our exploring 

Will be to arrive where we started 

And know the place for the first time.

If you haven't experienced Achtung Baby, what are you waiting for?  But don't just listen once.  Like all classic musical pieces, this record demands repeated listening, leading each time to new discoveries.  

U2 Achtung Baby - Released November 18, 1991

Album Charts - #1 Ireland, #2 UK, #1 US.

Worldwide Sales to Date - 18 Million

Singles - The Fly, #1 Ireland, #1 UK, #61 US.  Mysterious Ways, #1 Ireland, #13 UK, #9 US.  One, #1 Ireland, #7 UK, #10 US.  Even Better Than the Real Thing, #3 Ireland, #12 UK, #32 US.  Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses, #4 Ireland, #14 UK, #35 US.

Standout Songs - All of them!

Weakest Track - None

Hidden Gem - Acrobat

Achtung Baby may be #2 on my list of U2's albums, but it is really more like 1B to The Joshua Tree. - Shay