Achtung Baby
| U2
Achtung Baby
Achtung Baby (/ kt /) 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 rock, industrial music, and electronic dance music into their sound. Thematically, Achtung Baby is darker, more introspective, and at times more flippant than their previous work. The album and the subsequent multimedia-intensive Zoo TV Tour were central to the group's 1990s reinvention, by which they abandoned their earnest public image for a more lighthearted and self-deprecating one. --Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
Show All-
Rolling Stone
U2 is once again trying to broaden its musical palette, but this time its ambitions are realized.
-
Pitchfork
...rightly known as one of rock's greatest reinventions because it was so complete
-
AV Music
...seemed like a pivotal record in U2's history when it was released in 1991, and it's no less important 20 years later
-
Drowned In Sound
...represents U2's first real delve into the experimental world of industrial dance music.
-
BBC
An album of incredible depth and texture.
-
Consequence of Sound
Achtung Baby is the story of a band at a crossroads in their career. U2 dismantled their entire sound to create a brilliant, timeless record.
-
Pop Matters
It’s the group’s one truly faultless record, a flat-out masterpiece with not a single weak track, and one of the utmost essential albums from a year that produced epochal LPs by the truckload.
-
Hot Press
Ostensibly decadent, sensual and dark, it is a record of, and for, these times.
-
The New York Times
Stripped-down and defying its old formulas, U2 has given itself a fighting chance for the 1990’s.
-
New Noise
...a remarkably satisfying record, having spawned a slew of songs that would go on to become U2 staples
-
Entertainment Weekly
The album is refreshingly personal — deeper and denser than any of the band’s previous releases — and a musical consolidation as well.
-
All About Jazz
Achtung Baby is inaccessible yet inviting and seductive, when its musical riches are unveiled. It is an album of power and dignity, and the one that truly showcases U2's brilliance, both musically and lyrically.
-
Treble
...didn’t revolutionize the music world, but it reminded everyone that U2 was not only relevant, but worthy of being called one of the best bands in the world.
-
Music Radar
...an intriguing illustration of a band heading back to the drawing board after the success of that earlier record had, to all intents and purposes, painted them into a creative corner.
-
Seattle PI
...one of U2's greatest works
-
Elsewhere
...an exceptional album
-
Stereogum
...it's remained U2's most engaging album for over 20 years now
-
Spectrum Culture
...the last truly great U2 album
-
No Rip Cord
...this is U2 at their finest moment, brilliantly caught between self-righteousness and postmodernism.
-
Renowned for Sound
...provided us with some of the bands most awe-inspiring tracks
-
Record Collector
To call Achtung Baby a pivotal U2 release is an understatement...
-
U Discover Music
...overflowing with grand-scale songs that were set to ring around the arenas and stadia of the world.
-
Entertainment IE
They were already one of the biggest bands on the planet in advance of its release and took a chance by wildly altering their range and output, but the gamble clearly paid off.
-
The Solute
Twenty four years later and despite the obvious influences of its own time, this album still feels fresh with a much imitated sound.
-
NZ Herald
It was, and still is, a stunning album, chocka with quality tracks...
-
Albumism
For the life of me, I still can’t decide whether The Joshua Tree or Achtung Baby is my favorite U2 album of all time. Let’s call it a tie, for now.
-
Amino
...stands out as one of the best transformations a band has ever undergone due to just how fully-formed and perfectly executed it is.
-
Contact Music
While for me, Achtung Baby will always bring back memories of angry 11-year-old Nirvana fans; it's a tour-de force that deserves to be revisited.
-
The Austin Chronicle
I didn't fully appreciate its musical depth and emotional potency until years afterward.
-
Diffuser
It was an instant classic, and it’s since become U2’s most revolutionary record, a filler-free album that freed them from their past and opened up their future.
-
The Los Angeles Times
There is a transitional feel to parts of the album ... Yet some tracks clearly rank with the finest moments in U2's body of work. The vision remains.
-
Time Magazine
Dashing and Demanding: With a superb new album, U2 reinvents itself
-
The Boston Globe
U2 bounces back - Their new album focuses on personal relationships, not on saving the world
-
Chicago Tribune
...fascinating because itsuggests that maybe these guys aren`t such sticks in the mud, after all.Rather than play the pop messiah, the supergroup scuffs up its sound while its leader plays a fool for love.
-
Orlando Sentinal
U2, one of the most promising bands of the early '80s, has finally reversed its slow but steady decline into pompous mediocrity.
-
All Music
Few bands as far into their career as U2 have recorded an album as adventurous or fulfilled their ambitions quite as successfully as they do on Achtung Baby, and the result is arguably their best album.
Rate This Album and Leave Your Comments