When they were making Achtung Baby...

[wolfwill23]

With every new U2 album, there is speculation as to what kind of record it's going to be. The band makes some small comment about what's going on in the recording studio and then all the fans try to figure out what kind of record they will release.

So, when they were making AB, was there all this speculation as to what kind of record it was going to be? Also, what were some of the reactions from the hard core fans when AB was finally released? I was not a fan at that time and I'm curious because AB was just such a departure from what the band had done to date.

If you were a fan then, fill us in on what the U2 climate was like then.

Thanks

 

[Tip Top Prince]

There was a time when we weren't even sure there would be another U2 album.

After Bono's "we need to dream it all up again" comment, it was easy to speculate (wildly).

After the fact, it appears that breaking up was an actual possibility, until Edge created the guitar part for One.

I'm sure others can explain it better.

 

[ACROB@T]

I believe the inspiration they were hoping for at Hanza in Berlin didn't materialise as they had hoped. I know the recording sessions were at the time the most damaging to their relationship, and motivation into even continuing the sessions for AB. As Tip Top Prince mentioned, the early developments of One was the strongest foundation to build upon before they returned to Dublin to reflect on the more promising elements of the Hanza recordings and take them further. Any pre-conceptions they may have allowed to grow were put into the background at Dublin.

I didn't become a fan until 95 so I'm unsure how much was released to the music magazines, and fanzines so some people here may prove me wrong. We have the ability now to download demos/singles sometimes even before they are released to radio, and read interview transcripts the day they were taken. Probably the first time the majority of fans were truly plugged into what AB was when The Fly was thrown into the airwaves..even then for every The Fly there is a So Cruel so I imagine the album was a suprise for many.

 

[U2Kitten]

I was a fan and I never thought AB was that much of a 'departure' or 'shock' as it has been reported to be. It was not like their other work, but every album had been different from the one before. It was good stuff. A masterpiece. I never knew ANYBODY who was already a fan be put off by AB. Zooropa, some. Pop, yes. But not AB. I never really heard anything about them making it, just one day, there it was. I didn't even know the story behind it until I read the book and later saw VH-1 Legends. Of course we didn't have this site back then to hang around on and anticipate their ever move. I think that's the difference. Nobody really sat around speculating in those days.

 

[Michael Griffiths]

Here are a couple pre-Achtung Baby articles that shed a LOT of light on U2's next album. They're very well worth reading...

http://atu2.com/news/article.src?ID=2362&Key=&Year=1991&Cat=10

http://atu2.com/news/article.src?ID=897&Key=&Year=1991&Cat=10

 

[david]

When I was younger I used to think there was a huge difference between the way Achtung Baby sounded from their earlier work in the 80's. But now that I think about it, there's not that much of a huge difference. Honestly, it's a classic album, it has the Eno/Lanois feel to it, there is Edge's classic guitar work and soaring vocals by Bono.... It has all of essential U2, but then you add on hip-hop style beats, trashy guitar and you have something that they've never done before..

If you want a total earthshattering change in what you thought was U2, well then you have Zooroopa. Now that is a TOTAL departure from what you think U2 "are."

I think the whole thing about the AB era U2 is that if U2 hadn't changed their personal appearance as well as their whole manipulation of the media and the way they acted in the press and in interviews is what helped solidfy the idea that U2 had changed from how they were in the 80's.

It's kind of funny the way Bono acknowleged his personal growth and the need to change during the the Zoo TV tour when they'd show footage of them in the desert from 1986 on the big screens and Bono would wave at them and say "Hey you, I remember you!'

 

[Michael Griffiths]

David - I totally agree with you. I've always thought Achtung Baby was really just the logical progression of Rattle & Hum ('God Part II' for example), and even as far back as The Unforgettable Fire. Actually, if you want to take it back to WAR, the guitar in 'Even Better Than The Real Thing' sounds a LOT like the guitar in 'Surrender' (especially live).