Artistic longevity has its perks, but it also has its drawbacks. At some point, a band or an artist will inevitably falter. Why this happens depends on the circumstances, of course; how the artist reacts determines what happens next. For Irish rockers U2, that moment came in 1997; their album Pop found the group receiving some of their worst reviews and album sales to date. Of course, going Platinum might not seem like poor sales, but compared to sales over the past decade, this development couldn’t be ignored. Thus was borne 2000’s All That You Can’t Leave Behind, the band’s tenth album, and the subject of a fine deluxe edition.
Torrent U2 Achtung Baby Super Deluxe Edition Release
Pop had been the cumulation of a decade’s ascent to the top of the rock star throne. Considering the harder-edged Achtung Baby’s world-conquering success, and the surprise success of the edgier, experimental companion Zooropa, the band fell down the trap of self-indulgence. Overproduced, overwrought, and largely forgettable, Pop felt like the end of an era, a band that had traded its passion for production, an expensive-sounding record that ultimately felt hollow—and, for the first time in their career—utterly superficial.
Wiser heads recognized this. For their next album, they brought back the duo of Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, the two men who helped turn U2 into rock royalty with the one-two punch of 1984’s The Unforgettable Fire and 1987’s masterpiece The Joshua Tree. While Pop sounded bloated and not very U2-like from the opening “Discotheque,” All That You Can’t Leave Behind opened up with “Beautiful Day,” one of the band’s finest numbers. With a stripped-down production and catchy electric piano melody, frontman Bono sounds like his younger self, confident, proud, and energetic.
About Achtung Baby Super Deluxe Edition Achtung Baby is the seventh studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, and was released on 18 November 1991 on Island Records. Stung by criticism of their 1988 release, Rattle and Hum, U2 shifted their musical direction to incorporate influences from alternative. This is a review and unboxing for the U2 album Achtung Baby and the 20th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition Boxset. Originally released in 1991 this edition was released in 2011 and contains 10. U2 - Achtung Baby 20th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition (2011) FLAC CD1-3 of 6 EAC Rip Part 1 of 6CD+4DVD FLAC (Tracks) - Cue - Log Scans Complete Release: 2011 1.27 GB Gerne: Rock This Super Deluxe Edition contains six CDs, including the original Achtung Baby album, the follow-up album, Zooropa, B-sides and re-workings of previously unheard material recorded during the Achtung Baby. Check out these ' The Unforgettable Fire (Remastered - Super Deluxe Edition)' & ' Joshua Tree (Deluxe)'. Contained within this set is almost everything to do with their mammoth albums Achtung Baby & Zooropa, both aural and visual, as well as the Zoo Tv world tour, gathered together in the one slipcase.
“Beautiful Day” sounds like the U2 of yore, and it set the tone for the rest of the album. Lanois and Eno helped the band channel their mid-80s selves once again, in more ways than one. With restrained production, the songs are shorter and succinct; All That You Can’t Leave Behind is the band’s shortest album since The Unforgettable Fire. Furthermore, it’s a very fast-paced record; the first listen felt positively Ramones-like compared to their previous albums. (The American version of the album had 11 tracks, while the other major markets added an additional song, the Salman Rushdie composition “The Ground Beneath Her Feet,” which had already been released Stateside on The Million Dollar Hotel soundtrack.)
Yet they didn’t fully abandon the tools they picked up over the decade. It’s nice to hear them return to the roots-rock/gospel hybrid of Rattle & Hum again on “Grace” and “Peace On Earth,” but it’s to their credit that these numbers don’t sound like a band imitating itself. “Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of” is perhaps the best song on the album. It is a melancholy gospel number that documents an argument Bono wishes he had with his friend, INXS’s Michael Hutchence. “Elevation” proves that Pop wasn’t a totally bad idea; the dance groove is restrained and works well when the excesses are paired down. Then there’s “Kite,” a song ostensibly about the end of a relationship, but if you listen closer, one might walk away thinking Bono is singing about the Pop misstep, and his moving words an apology to his fans.
All That You Can’t Leave Behind stands as a solid, consistent album; the only real flaw comes from its sequencing. U2 released four very fine singles from it . Yet all four songs are sequenced at the beginning of the album, making the album feel quite top-heavy. And if that’s the only quibble, then that’s a pretty good thing, no? Thankfully, the album cuts stand up on their own quite nicely.
The second disc of the set offers up leftover studio tracks: three outtakes and six b-sides. For the most part, the mood and tempo is melancholic and gray. U2 has always had a knack for hiding some fine jewels on the flipsides of their singles. The campfire singalong of “Summer Rain” is a delight, as is the brooding “Stateless,” which sounds a bit like The Dandy Warhols’ “Godless” to these ears. The only true clunker to be found is a calypso version of Johnny Cash’s “Don’t Take Your Guns To Town,” an experiment that just doesn’t work. (The fifth disc in this collection offers up the remixes from their singles, as well as a few that stayed in the vault. Truth told, these are more for the hardcore fan; if that’s not you, you aren’t missing anything.)
This super-deluxe edition also contains a two-disc live show recorded in Boston in 2001 and previously released on DVD. Much like the album, U2’s live set finds them pulling back the overwhelming excesses of previous tours. The setlist reflects it, too; it features seven songs from the new album, plus a healthy selection of the band’s greatest hits. Only one song from Pop appears, the otherwise forgotten “Gone,” a song that became a dedication to the deceased INXS lead singer. Versions of “Bullet The Blue Sky,” “Desire,” and “I Will Follow” retain the white-hot intensity of the original versions while simultaneously flexing their muscles in a most appealing way. For those who saw it, The Elevation Tour felt like a band returning to form. This live show certainly makes the case, and is a superb concert experience.
All That You Can’t Leave Behind deftly pressed reset for a great band that had lost its way. For the next few years, they understood the lessons learned from Pop. Over the past decade, they’ve returned to a more experimental mindset. Unfortunately, unlike the risks taken with Achtung Baby, listeners have failed to connect with this new sound. Will they rally and pull off another All That You Can’t Leave Behind? That remains to be seen. Here’s hoping they can convene once more and reclaim their title as one of the greatest rock bands ever.
:format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-3462711-1465779348-3960.jpeg.jpg "Achtung")
U2 Achtung Baby Tour
Purchase U2 All That You Can’t Leave Behind: Super Deluxe Edition: Amazon
U2 Achtung Baby Song List
In 1992, Bono described Achtung Baby as 'the sound of four men chopping down The Joshua Tree' while Jon Pareles of the New York Times wrote that 'stripped-down and defying its old formulas, U2 has given itself a fighting chance for the 1990's'. The album won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance and became one of the most significant records of the nineties and of U2’s career. In 2011, twenty years on, a special anniversary edition of Achtung Baby was released, along with the documentary From The Sky Down directed by Davis Guggenheim. Recorded over six months at Hansa Studio in Berlin and Windmill Lane in Dublin, Achtung Baby was U2’s seventh studio album. Produced by long time U2 collaborators, Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno with Steve Lillywhite, Achtung Baby featured five big singles in The Fly, Mysterious Ways, One, Even Better Than The Real Thing and Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses. For the twentieth anniversary re-release the archives unearthed a raft of unreleased material; video, remixes, b-sides and documentary footage along with a full album of demo and early versions of the final 1991 tracklisting. Five physical editions including vinyl, CD, DVD and digital options were made available. Ahead of the release, the band returned to Hansa Studio in Berlin to discuss the making of Achtung Baby with Academy Award winning director Davis Guggenheim. His film, From The Sky Down, was selected to open the Toronto International Film Festival and was released on DVD to co-incide with the anniversary edition of the album. Q Magazine in the UK released 'AHK-toong BAY-bi Covered', an entire CD of acts reimagining Achtung Baby including Nine Inch Nails covering Zoo Station, Damien Rice performing One, Patti Smith taking on Until The End Of The World and The Killers making over Ultraviolet (Light My Way).