So, yesterday I finished a re-read of 'U2 At The End Of The World', and tonight, I listened to Achtung and Zooropa back-to-back.
What an era that was.
Zooropa is this futuristic sci-fi pop album that so captures the chaotic nature of what they must have been feeling making an album right in the middle of Zoo TV. Some of the most art-school-sounding stuff they've ever done(Zooropa, Numb, Lemon, Daddy, Some Days) standing side-by-side with more U2-classic-sounding stuff(Stay, First Time, Dirty Day) is the aural expression of that chaos, of a band that was trying on different masks, experimenting with different ideas, and seeing how far they could push their new sound, but that couldn't successfully hide their true face all the time. That is all sounds of one piece is a credit to the production team(i.e. Eno and Flood and Edge).
It's remarkable how fresh it still sounds. Even something like Numb really holds up.
As for Achtung, what can be said that hasn't been said? I don't listen to it front-to-back that often anymore, but every time I do, I'm struck not just by how good it is, but how exciting a recording it is. It is a thrilling ride for the ears(particularly if you're listening through good headphones).
Zoo Station has to be one of the great album openers, and from the big opening riff to the distorted vocals of the verses to the typical-soaring-u2-chorus-drenched-in-sleek-production to the bassline driving it to all the sound effects in between, it is an emphatic, blow-the-roof-off opening statement.
The band tends to get mocked these days whenever they refer to anything they've done recently as 'punk' anything, but EBTTRT is one of the most blistering singles they've ever released, and I think underneath all the gloss it's a punk song. It's got the fast pace, the attitude, the simplicity, the big chorus, it's got the blood-and-sweat factor, etc. And that intro riff is legendary. At least in my mind.
Until The End Of The World has no pop hook or chorus, and it might be the best thing they've ever done. A first-ballot contender for 'best song they've ever written'. The instantly-recognizable shouting intro, the lyrics, the speak-singing thing(it was one of the first times he did that), and my god, the guitars. That solo. That outro. Bono is always saying that Edge is on fire these days, but on this record, he truly was. That bass guitar too, don't want to leave Adam's contribution uncelebrated.
I have no idea why Horses wasn't a bigger hit or why it's not a warhorse. They take what could've been a darn good straight pop song and make it into something majestic. Beautiful melodies and harmonies, one of Bono's more poetic lyrics, and perhaps a top 5 middle 8.
I can go on. The Fly is almost equal to UTEOTW(almost).
One is one of the most lauded ballads of the past few decades.
I'm on record with my praise of Love Is Blindness, which I think is one of their more under-appreciated moments of true greatness. One of my favorite lyrics, one of my favorite Bono studio vocal performances.
The Joshua Tree will always be their biggest record, their record with the widest degree of recognition from the general public, but I feel like among more serious music fans, particularly serious rock music fans, this is often seen as their greatest work. It's always been #1 for me.
Heavy yet sleek, dark yet bright, exciting yet soulful, danceable yet painfully intimate, it's a work of contradictions, it's ultimately moving, and it's the album of their career.
What an era that was indeed.