Axver said:
It should have been a b-side.
I think that I could perhaps agree with you, on this one; maybe "Ultraviolet" is more of a b-side than a standard album track. At the same time, though, I'm VERY glad that it's on the album.
First of all (and this is a point on which EVERYONE will feel a bit differently...no right or wrong), I really like most of the lyrics to the song. It's nothing outstanding in my mind, but I enjoy most Bono's lyrics, his vocals are strong, and the narrative viewpoint if fascinating to disentangle and map out.
I do think that the song has the sound of a b-side, but I really appreciate that sort of rawness on the album. Rather than dragging U2's best album down, I think that "Ultraviolet" keeps things VERY interesting towards the end; I think that
Achtung Baby ends more strongly than any U2 album ever has or ever will, and I feel that this song is a part of that. There is a vitality to the song which is indispensible; ironically enough, I'm a proponent of adding "Are You Gonna' Wait Forever?" to the new album...as track 11 on what I'd like to have been a 12 track album, by the way. Neither of these songs are tops, but they're both exciting and energetic precisely BECAUSE they're not the greatest songs out there. I'm pretty sure that, for a while, Larry even loses a drumstick during the version we have on CD...it doesn't detract from the song at all, but it sure makes it seem alive and potent...!