The Achtung Baby House of Worship!

[#1bonofan]

Achtung is one of the greatest albums ever!! It is such a sexually charged c.d. That album can bring the animal out of anybody!! Even better, UTEOTW, and Ultra Violet freaking rock my world. This is one of the few albums I can listen to over and over without skipping songs or getting sick of it.

 

[Zoots]

I think my favorite songs from Achtung are One, Until The End, The Fly, Acrobat, Ultraviolet, Love Is Blindness, Even better, Mysterious Ways, Zoo Station, So Cruel, Who's Gonna Ride and Tryin' To Throw. The others I don't care much for.

No one got it. Guess I should've added a with that post.

 

[sue4u2]

Achtung Baby, seriously!! rocks my world..


Got it Zootlesque
( I suppose)

 

[jacobus]

AB is my alltime fave record. every song is on its right place.
its the best flow in rockmusic history. i love all tracks.
primus inter pares is ACROBAT...best moment is the machinegunlike drum and the last minute with edges uplifting guitar together with the bassplay and the uplifting lyrics & singing.
...and i know that the tide is turning round,don't let the bastards grind you down
acrobat brings it all together. THE defining song of U2!

 

[Aardvark747]

Genius

 

[chickadee]

No one got it. Guess I should've added a with that post.

I got it as well! Sorry lol I meant to say last night but I was tired from all my worshipping

Anyway - no worship of any other album is allowed in here! They are all false prophets! Nothing is greater than AB! That is your daily oath

Today I was just thinking how nasty So Cruel is. I'm not a nasty person but that song brings out some weird side of me.

 

[MacPhistoPT]

The Fly, Until the end of the world, Ultraviolet

the rest of the album also deserves a

 

[vivaSA]

You just made me listen to it again, which was easy.
My favorite track from AB is Who's gonna ride your wild horses. The only track I don't like (that much) is So Cruel.

 

[KUEFC09U2]

weaird that theres actually a few in here that slag of the new album and tour, coincidence?

 

[God Part III]

There is not one bad song on it.

I never skip a song.

 

[chrissybaby]

On all great records there is an atmosphere that is indescribable and almost always unrepeatable. Achtung Baby has something psychiatrists term 'gestalt', that is it's whole is greater than the sum of it's parts. The record is truly special to me, and i'm sure to all of you in so many ways. I remember buying it when it came out and getting a free poster with the vinyl version, I spent hours sat down just studying the images and words. The cosy dark atmosphere of Hansa, the distorted vocals and the dark lyrics changed me somehow, Achtung Baby became a voice in my head that has judged all music since. I feel safe that it is at my disposal.

With no doubt whatsoever I think that Acrobat into Love Is Blindness is one of the most sublime moments ever commited to tape. The guitar after "...no new ideas in the house and every book has been read" is majestic. The intro to Love Is Blindness is so good it's hard to believe that the band actually understood what was happening and where this music was taking them. On Zoo TV with the constellations mapped out behind them this became my favourite ever U2 moment...

Music will come and go, hell U2 will come and go, but Achtung Baby will forever remain the greatest album I will ever listen to.

In a cynical world, where being non-commital and glib seems to be the order of the day, I am proud to have a favourite ever album. Number 1 every time without question.

 

[BluRmGrl]

It's funny to me - for the longest time, JT was my fave. Not because it was such a commercial success (read: popular in the mainstream), but because it was released when I was 16/17 and every song on it spoke to me. I know we all have those favorite albums from when we were in our late teens, just on the verge of adulthood, when we seemed to feel everything more intensely.

Strange thing is though, AB has been gaining serious ground on me & has just about overtaken JT as my favorite U2 album ever. Don't get me wrong - I never, never, never disliked AB for one minute! The tour that came with that album was the first chance I ever had to see them & for that alone, I'll always favor AB.

I just think that as I've gotten older and experienced more of life and relationships, I've learned to better appreciate the overall tone of AB. It's very sexual, very bitter (in some parts), and very dark (again, in parts). To use a worn out but accurate comparison, the thing's like a onion..... layer upon layer upon layer. And they're all superb.

 

[chickadee]

I'm going to post my own mini essay later, but I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for contributing to this topic! Last two posts were really interesting. *nods*

 

[Utoo]

BluRmGrl---great post! JT & AB keep vying for #1 in my head, but recently it's definitely been AT!

Chickadee, of course I'd give love! How could I not??

 

[chickadee]

Hehe! Well I was sure you would but I have to always make sure, it's very important

 

[chickadee]

Right, some attempt from me at a decent post beyond 'And we get Adam naked'...

I'm quoting Sir Bono here in the middle of describing AB:

"'Love Is Blindness' is really something else. And I remember Edge played the solo at the end of this. I was pushing him and pushing him, and he played until the strings fell off. Actually, you'll hear strings snapping during the solo towards the end. He was, I think, in tears on the inside, and the outside was just raging."

When I read that, not only did I feel incredibly sorry for Edge and developed an even deeper meaning of LIB, I thought that it actually summed up AB pretty well too as an album. Inside, in tears, outside, all the anger and bitterness spilling to the surface to create these incredible songs and journey. It's the sort of album that can never become old or boring because every time you listen, you learn something knew or notice something different, or something's happened to you that makes a lyric or a melody hit home harder. That's what makes it my favourite album. It speaks to you like nothing else, whether whispering dangerously in your ear or shouting loudly so everyone can listen. It's sheer brilliant and beautiful and I adore it so much.

 

[Carmelu2fan]

 

[xtihn]

On all great records there is an atmosphere that is indescribable and almost always unrepeatable. Achtung Baby has something psychiatrists term 'gestalt', that is it's whole is greater than the sum of it's parts. The record is truly special to me, and i'm sure to all of you in so many ways. I remember buying it when it came out and getting a free poster with the vinyl version, I spent hours sat down just studying the images and words. The cosy dark atmosphere of Hansa, the distorted vocals and the dark lyrics changed me somehow, Achtung Baby became a voice in my head that has judged all music since. I feel safe that it is at my disposal.

With no doubt whatsoever I think that Acrobat into Love Is Blindness is one of the most sublime moments ever commited to tape. The guitar after "...no new ideas in the house and every book has been read" is majestic. The intro to Love Is Blindness is so good it's hard to believe that the band actually understood what was happening and where this music was taking them. On Zoo TV with the constellations mapped out behind them this became my favourite ever U2 moment...

Music will come and go, hell U2 will come and go, but Achtung Baby will forever remain the greatest album I will ever listen to.

In a cynical world, where being non-commital and glib seems to be the order of the day, I am proud to have a favourite ever album. Number 1 every time without question.

I just think that as I've gotten older and experienced more of life and relationships, I've learned to better appreciate the overall tone of AB. It's very sexual, very bitter (in some parts), and very dark (again, in parts). To use a worn out but accurate comparison, the thing's like a onion..... layer upon layer upon layer. And they're all superb.

well spoken!

 

[JOFO]

I'd like to describe the birth of achtung baby for me personally as I remember it:

I hadn't heard anything from u2 since 1988 with rattle and hum. most of that album was rooted in americana. then, in 1990, I heard their cover of night and day and said "whoa; if they make an album like this, it's gonna be amazing".

then I heard nothing for another year. nothing. no internet back then. no magazine articles. no dj's talking about them.

then it happened.

one sunday night in october 1991, I was watching mtv's alternative nation around midnight. the guy says "we've got the world premiere of the new u2 video tonight"

I said "huh?"

and then: my boys come out blasting with the fly. bono, nearly unrecognizable in the fly shades and leather outfit. edge with the goatee, skull cap, and sparkle pants. the video was grainy, mysterious, european, and a little spooky. I loved it immediately.

now, I describe that moment because a moment like that will never exist again for music, because of the internet and the instant information age. there are no surprises anymore, and no spine tingling moments like that.

man, I loved that moment.

 

[Bono'sTyee]

How can you not love Achtung Baby? It's so different than any other CD out there! Plus it still is a favorite after 13 years! (By the way it came out a month after I was born. I grew up with it!) And the whole Acrobat and Love Is Blindess put together is the best! I'm glad I copied it onto my computer because I'm sure I would have ruined the CD by now. In fact, I'm listening to Zoo Station right now!

 

[JOFO]

(By the way it came out a month after I was born.

 

[BluRmGrl]

Thanks for the kind words, folks... I'm just happy I made sense!




And that church sign pic that Stars posted just makes me . I mean it's funny as Hell, but it reminds me I never got a picture of a local church sign back in 2001 when Elevation came out. Their roadside sign read "Bono says: It's a Beautiful Day - don't let it get away!"

I still kick myself for forgetting my camera everytime I drove by it!

 

[starsgoblue]

And that church sign pic that Stars posted just makes me . I mean it's funny as Hell, but it reminds me I never got a picture of a local church sign back in 2001 when Elevation came out. Their roadside sign read "Bono says: It's a Beautiful Day - don't let it get away!"

I still kick myself for forgetting my camera everytime I drove by it!

 

[BluRmGrl]

^ Ooh... what's that? Oh yeah... SALT in my wound!!!





And mine was real, too. I didn't have to make it up!

 

[starsgoblue]

I was trying to cheer ya up.....

 

[Zoots]

stars, you church sign generating fiend.. you!

 

[BluRmGrl]

 

[BluRmGrl]

I was trying to cheer ya up.....

It worked. Plus you showed me a new way to wreak havoc amongst the "holier-than-thou's"!!

 

[AtomicBono]

I'd like to describe the birth of achtung baby for me personally as I remember it:

I hadn't heard anything from u2 since 1988 with rattle and hum. most of that album was rooted in americana. then, in 1990, I heard their cover of night and day and said "whoa; if they make an album like this, it's gonna be amazing".

then I heard nothing for another year. nothing. no internet back then. no magazine articles. no dj's talking about them.

then it happened.

one sunday night in october 1991, I was watching mtv's alternative nation around midnight. the guy says "we've got the world premiere of the new u2 video tonight"

I said "huh?"

and then: my boys come out blasting with the fly. bono, nearly unrecognizable in the fly shades and leather outfit. edge with the goatee, skull cap, and sparkle pants. the video was grainy, mysterious, european, and a little spooky. I loved it immediately.

now, I describe that moment because a moment like that will never exist again for music, because of the internet and the instant information age. there are no surprises anymore, and no spine tingling moments like that.

man, I loved that moment.

I can only imagine what that was like...unfortunatley I was only three at the time. But yeah, that's amazing. I love the internet but it does sort of take away some of the surprise...

Wow so I go into this thread, I have my entire catalouge of U2 on random, and a live performance of Love is Blindness comes up (from Birmingham, amazing seven minute version ).

Achtung Baby... what a fucking amazing album.

I'll write more insights later.

 

[chickadee]

C'mon worshippers! Today's a new day of worship! I actually wrote something sensible yesterday! Don't expect it to last!