Oct
03
2011

'Blood and Guts'

30


In the run-up to the twentieth anniversary re-releases of Achtung Baby we're inviting guest writers to reflect on what the album originally meant to them, why it's so significant in the U2 canon and how it fits with their own story.

Here Matt McGee, founder & Editor of @U2, recalls how the album demanded he make a choice - and the song that helped him decide.

'It had to be one of two things: Either my speakers were dying or my stereo was broken.
How else to explain the disturbing, foreign sounds when I gently placed Achtung Baby in the CD player on the night of November 19, 1991? Edge had never made a guitar sound like he did just three seconds into track one and, by the time I heard the singer’s voice almost a minute later … there’s no way that was Bono singing to me.
I’m pretty sure I double-checked the speaker connections and re-started the CD from the beginning. My head started spinning again. The second song sounded a bit more like my U2 and then, when the third song started, I was finally convinced that the stereo was working just fine, thank you.
I couldn’t tell you where I was when I first heard War or Pop, The Unforgettable Fire or All That You Can’t Leave Behind. But I’ll never forget the first night I spent with Achtung Baby.
The album wasn’t comfortable. It was demanding. It was raw. I sensed jeopardy in Bono’s lyrics and vocals, in the urgency of Edge’s playing. It was – and still is – the most challenging set of songs U2 has put out.
About the only thing that Achtung Baby had in common with U2’s earlier albums is that it took me on a journey. But this was different. If The Joshua Tree let me look out the window at a world of sepia landscapes, Achtung Baby forced me to close the curtain and look inside at life’s blood and guts.
I struggled with Achtung Baby for a long time. I didn’t like it at first. I couldn’t wrap my head around it. This album demanded a choice: Go along for the ride, even though there was no map for where U2 was heading? Or jump then and there, sticking with safer songs from some other band that knew exactly where it was going and how to get there?
Ultimately, I remember playing 'One' over and over again - the volume maxed so the sound could fill the room, then later in the quiet of a darkened room with headphones on, just me and the one song that made sense.
I made my choice. And I knew that, whatever being a U2 fan was like before, it was going to be something completely different from that point forward.
It’s cliché to talk about Achtung Baby being U2’s reinvention – how it marked a completely new direction, a new sound, a new version of the band itself. But there’s a flip side - Achtung Baby reinvented me, too.'

Matt McGee is Founder and Editor of www.atu2.com and author of U2-A Diary (Omnibus Press, 2008)

In the first of this series,  Dutch writer Caroline van Oosten, thinks that 'Twenty years after the release of Achtung Baby, I’m finally ready for it.'

This article is tagged to:
Achtung Baby 20, Nineties Albums
30  Comments
keyser - 10 October, 2011
Love and Lust
Achtung Baby represents the best of U2 to me. It's always been my favourite album and it's sounds and lyrics take me always to a new place. It's heart-wrenching and it makes me cry. It's uplifting and it makes me dance. And for some reason, every single song I can relate to in my own life, the loves that have come and gone. and the ones I will always remember. It never grows old and that's the magic of it all.
virgopolaris - 09 October, 2011
My Fav. Album!
I made the right choice too, never looked back. i wore out that cassette tape in my crap car. I really wanted to get a new one but i bought the older albums like unforgetable fire and boy and war. yes they were cassette too. Every time i herd an achtung song i was reminded of the tape i did not replace. Got the 20th comming, got the updated car stereo and plenty of room on the flash drive. Finally!
phllee - 09 October, 2011
Grown Up U2
To me, this was U2 saying it was time for all of us to grow up....that life wasn't simple and all the great ideals and dreams we had weren't enough. It was like getting on a train and not being told where you were going and it was up to you to look out the windows and figure out where the destination lied. To me in so many ways, it was there best album, yet at the same time it was raw, different and most decidely European. Being an American I took it for granted that U2 was an American band after Joshua Tree....they reminded me they were everyone's band.....
mmussik - 09 October, 2011
We are ready!
My brain was so ready to accept this new U2,you guys jumped into the 90's and that train is still going on.I can remember from a MONTREAL show were the pixies opened at the old forum to AND in just six months this uge OUTSIDE BROADCAST, JUST MASSIVE. Achtung feels like everything came together at last.Larry and Adam are defehitely grooving .Thanks U2
musicfanatic - 08 October, 2011
Acthung "AWESOME" Baby!!!!!!
I've always been in love with U2 since the beginning; however, Acthung Baby drew me closer.....and closer....and closer to them!! Can't wait to receive the box set!! AWESOME BABY!!
smiller1794 - 08 October, 2011
Never saw it coming Baby!
The song and the video for "The Fly" just blew me away. I was already a big U2 fan and while other fans I knew thought the band was over I knew it was a great and a new stage of their career. I also saw my first U2 concert with this album (Zoo TV) Change is A GOOD Thing! The Album is still great after 20 years.
jpx - 08 October, 2011
THE ALBUM !
I think that Achtung Baby is a milestone in the history of music. It 'a beautiful album. Simply fantastic. This Album left indelible marks in my life. Each song has a special meaning for me. Thanks to U2 forever !
musicabona - 07 October, 2011
Brilliant writing
Thanks for inviting Matt McGee to write about Achtung Baby. Apart from visiting U2.com I also enjoy his @U2 site and his book "U2-A Diary" made me learn so much more about the life and career of my favourite band. The excellent review he wrote here truly reflects the experiences of many fans listening to Achtung Baby for the first time. I remember hearing The Fly in the radio for the first time sometime in October 1991. I knew that the first single of the new album would be released soon, so I was hoping to get an impression of it in the radio before the single would be published. One evening a piece of music just began to fill my room without any announcement concerning band and title. What I experienced was a dark and wild guitar sound repeating one note. Instead of introducing a song with some harmonic chords this guitar just produced some kind of enormous noise. Everything sounded very raw and heavy and unusual. Then I heard someone breathe in and finally the guitar was accompanied by a voice that seemed to come from an unknown place beyond my imagination. The voice was very different, very distorted, but after the first notes I knew that it was Bono. Then I pressed "record". Listening to that track was confusing, demanding and challenging, but at the same time I could feel the magic to discover all the layers of something new and exciting. I couldn´t stop listening to that cassette anymore and later I bought the single. I started to love The Fly.
longshotz40 - 06 October, 2011
Love Is Blindness
I bought this album the first day it came out like I do will all U2 albums..I was really kinda scared to play it cause I thought to myself here we go...how in the world is my fav band ever gonna top The Joshua Tree album...So when I heard it,I had to hear it again..it sounded weird at first but it grew on me..it's a rocking album and I love it..I seen them in concert (Chicago) on this album and blew me away..really looking forward to this box set thanks...
elsareb - 06 October, 2011
EVEN BETTER THAN THE REAL THING!!!
ACHTUNG BABY was the first U2 album I had, and as everybody says, it was the beggining of my life as a U2 fan, it's so sad and romantic, also a little dark but when you hear even better than the real thing you can feel it's so sexy too, so Bono...give me one more chance...Love Elsa.
PauloSilva - 06 October, 2011
return to the past
when im listenning this u2 cd achtung baby,,,in 1991 im said too me,,this is perfect,,,the sond so good,,,im u2 fan about this time..i have 12 years old in this time,,,no im 32 and i said too all u2 fas,,,this u2,,that zoo tv,,change my life ever,,,my life whithout that band its not the same..like bono says..in this time im a boy no im a man,,i love that u2,,,miss you guys,,,achtung baby always the best for my of corse,,,u2 portugal
kahluababy - 06 October, 2011
One
I hated Achtung Baby when I first heard it, was ready to throw the cassette in the trash & forget U2. This was NOT the band that had just created the sonic spaces of The Joshua Tree. The distortion of Zoo Station threw me for a loop. But One...the more I listened, the more I heard the love, conflict & messiness of relationship w/the one I love. "We're one, but we're not the same, we hurt each other & we do it again." Music that grows, evolves & blossoms in your life is truly a gift. Achtung Baby is that & so much more!
Eluard_Moraes - 06 October, 2011
My life is before and after Achtung Baby
It was my first U2's album (in K7 format). Amazing! 20 years has passed and for me it still "fresh baked"! Nowadays I have everything about U2. I can't mention a prefered album or song but, with Boy and Zooropa, I'm sure to say that Achtung Baby is one of the most heard albuns I have. (impossible to figure out how many times I've heard Mysterious Ways, Even Better Than the Real Thing and One. Not mentioning its B-Sides (that could fill up a second or a third album). The Baby born as a classic! Now grows up! And still the same. (Even Better....)
allana - 05 October, 2011
One
"One" is the song to me which manages to encompass all of the thoughts and feelings that I have when I think of or hear or see U2. The song is about every part of life -from your relationships with family, with partners, with your closest friend , to your relationship with the world. It is meaningful, it is brutally honest, and it is global. It moves audiences of thousands of people to tears, and it inspires me to be a better person.
Shirlz - 04 October, 2011
Achtung forever!
I had been influenced by U2 at the tender age of 14 when I bought 'The Joshua Tree'. So I loved and obviously do still love their sound. But Achtung Baby blew my mind. The sound was so revolutionary for its time and to this day, I can still listen to it from start to finish inspired by creative piece of genius. It is ageless and something every generation will fall in love with. Do not ask me to pick a favourite...how can you possilby? From the explosion of sound with 'Zoo Station', the hauting sound of 'One' and 'So Cruel' and of course, that rcok anthem 'Until the end of the world' that MUST be played at full volume. Loved it twenty years ago...love it still.
AchtungRachelBaby - 04 October, 2011
Love at first note
Between Caroline van Oosten and Matt McGee it seems as if no one loved Achtung Baby the first time they heard it. But I did and I am wondering if anyone else out there also did???
kubel - 04 October, 2011
It's dark,It's Sexy. It's Achtung Baby
I think it's the best album ever. The music, The guitar, The voice, The drum, The bass, The art, The colours, The Trabantcars, The Thierry Noir art.
stevesolo - 04 October, 2011
I was standing on the crossroads....
I kept on playing Zoo Station, 'it's all right, it's all right, hey baby', made me feel like a baby in the arms of a giant. From Joshua to this, there was no doubt my actung was harnessed! In the first hour of getting the album I did not get past the first track. This lunch break nearly cost my job, I was taking the piss but in all honesty, I didn't care. Besides One smacking me directly in the spine chilling areas the cruise of So Cruel was so insanely persuasive, and just so damn addictive. Trying to throw your arms around the world had the same sense, the smooth tick over, the addictive bass, the interpreted meanings, the yearning vocals, the whole experience I have yet to experience again. Actung Baby is a one off, its special, up there with Dark Side of the Moon. They say music preserves memories and in this case what they say is 100% correct, and I still am ready for the crush...
joshthetree - 04 October, 2011
good piece
nice to see u2.com and the 'fanzine' sites doing some combined pieces....now that's what i call a fan club....nice one =0)
hibricc - 04 October, 2011
Check those speakers!
I did the exact same thing that Matt did upon hearing the opening of Zoo Station for the very first time - I checked the speaker connections on my stereo. (It couldn't be MEANT to sound that way, could it?) Thanks for the flashback, Matt. It's still (and probably always) my favorite U2 album.
JamMasterFlash - 04 October, 2011
Great review, think we've all felt that.
Sadly I havent been around long enough to have been there when Achtung Baby came out (I was born a few months earlier), but when I first heard some of the songs from Achtung Baby I was really confused. I heard them on a radio station (the local classic rock station was having a U2 night for St. Patrick's Day) and they were doing a chronological biography. Up to that point I only knew 80's U2, I was in love with The Joshua Tree and everything before it. And all of the sudden Even Better Than The Real Thing comes on, and then Mysterious Ways, and then The Fly. I remember literally doing a double take for each song thinking (what? did the U2 show end?) I went out and searched for the album with those songs on it, found a colourful album called Achtung Baby with pictures of a band I didn't recognize on the cover, took it home and put it on. Zoo Station excited me as soon as I started the album. It took me to a different place, Edge's buzzing guitar tone and Bono's distorted vocals really did a number on me. I loved The Fly right off the bat, but everything else took a long time for me to get used to. It was not only different from what I knew of U2, but different than anything I had ever heard. At first I also didn't like it, it was alien and strange to me, but over time, the relationship between myself and these songs grew, as I've come to understand each song in their own way, and it's since become my favourite album of all time. Great review, best album.
gevans - 04 October, 2011
More Baby please!
Just listened to the album again and it is so timeless.......every track is fresh, compelling, and if released now as the new U2 album would be a record breaker (again). Dare I say it?.......time to go and dream it all up again? Go on I dare you!!
derekreilly - 04 October, 2011
Derek
I remember seeing The Fly video on Top of the Pops and thinking "who the Hell are these guys?" It was such a change. Best album ever.
philwilson - 03 October, 2011
The Fly
First song I heard was The Fly. New releases Thursday on WXRT out of Chicago. Still have the audio cassette that I taped off of the radio. They had been advertising new U2 to come all day. I remember Lynn Bramer stating. This song starts with "Monster Edge Guitar". Boy was he right. When you heard that opening riff you did think your speekers were broken. Listened to it over and over till the album release about 3 weeks later. One of those albums that just takes you to a certain place in time.
ains - 03 October, 2011
New World Order
I loved nearly every bit of it from start to finish, every B side, the madness of Zoo TV, it's less polished sister Zooropa (with the country god "Cash" showing us how it should be done) and the Outside Broadcasts that followed. The remixes were great and fitted into the "House" era really well. The only thing that never worked was wild horses I try and avoid playing it, without this it would perfect album for me. Would love to get the super duper deluxe set but two trips to Anaheim in 2010 & 2011 wiped me out, however I did get to relive the era live! ......I'm ready for what's next!
CNF - 03 October, 2011
1991
As a long term fan from 1980I witnessed U2 grow every year. Until 1987, The Joshua Tree, it was all reasonable clear but amazing Rock 'n Roll. The 'Americana' from Rattle and Hum and Lovetown didn't do it for me. The magic U2 factor was gone a bit. But I still don't know what ever happened with them in those days that did transform them in those superiour beings that were able to come up with AB. I loved the album from the first listening. The first time The Fly.. guitargasm..The first time ONE.. I needed to go outside so nobody would see me cry. Ultraviolet, Horses..Acrobat... no words... sigh...Together with the Zooropa/ZooTv concerts It was extraterestrial. Matt McGee is right. It reinvented me too.
Anam - 03 October, 2011
One
I remember Dave Fanning playing One for the first time on his old 8-10pm slot on 2FM and saying: 'Imagine an eight-minute version of that!' That moment was the clincher for me- I'm still a bit more 'cowboy hat' than 'fly' though! Great site btw Matt ;o)
soey - 03 October, 2011
Reinventing me
Thank you for this great review. Though Achtung Baby was my first album of U2 it opened a new world to me. It's completely different of what I heard before but I couldn't stop listen to it. It's kind of raw but hits straight into the heart demanding to deal with it. Great album, great band, then and still!
maela62 - 03 October, 2011
Blood and guts
i like this review a lot, it is near the impression i had in listening to it for the first time. Changes are moving on as regards technology ( and quickly) and for me some songs reflect people's reaction.
chrisd - 03 October, 2011
Achtung World!
I had a similar experience. Ordering the vinyl in advance I queued up to be the first to get a copy and rushed home to play it in full and did so all day- it wasn't anything like Joshua Tree and I didn't get the idea at all, but I loved The Fly. And having already played The Fly to death I loved the idea of Zoo Station. I spent the afternoon creating a Berlin Wall of images on the wall of my student flat - on paper of course, I wasn't so much of a rebel. But maybe Achtung baby brought out a bit of the rebel in me. Good choice. Still here. Still sounds fantastic, raw and relevant.
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