Review #124: Achtung Baby, U2
#124: Achtung Baby, U2
I had a friend in college who LOVED U2. When U2 partnered with Apple so that iTunes customers automatically downloaded their 2014 album Songs of Innocence for free, and everyone got mad at them, he defended them vehemently. At the time, I mostly thought that U2 were a little bit lame, and I never gave them a real listen.
I’d like to formally apologize to that friend. U2 is cool. Bono & The Edge are cool.
For those who don’t know, this is their seventh (!) record, and translates to “Danger, Baby” in German. Came after 1988 album Rattle and Hum, which the NYTimes called “embarrassing.”
Poor U2 gets a lot of hate for what I think is just an occasional image problem. Bono does do a lot of work for good causes, and you can make fun of him all you want, but I’d prefer for Bono to continue to give millions of dollars to HIV/AIDS research.
FAVORITE SONGS:
“Zoo Station” — WOW, is this really Bono’s voice?!
“Even Better Than The Real Thing” — U2 really does sound like they’re coming from outer space.
“One” — Intellectually, I know that this is not a cover of the Bob Marley song “One Love,” but whenever I hear the chorus, I second-guess myself.
“Until The End Of The World” — Ooh, this sounds a little like The Cure if Robert Smith had a beautiful Irish baritone.
“Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses” — Look, I don’t know who’s gonna ride Bono’s wild horses, but he’ll never be able to drag Mick Jagger away!
“The Fly” — You can’t touch the Edge, he’s too sharp!
“Mysterious Ways” — BOWchchchchch bowBOWchchchchch.
“Love Is Blindness” — Am I crazy or does this sound like NIN?
LEAST FAVORITE SONGS:
“So Cruel” — Lame.
“Trying To Throw Your Arms Around The World” — Boring.
“Ultra Violet (Light My Way)” — Does not move me in mysterious ways.
IS RS FULL OF IT?
No, I could air guitar to this album all night.
