mail: daniel_fjall@hotmail.com
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the joshua tree achtung baby
The Joshua Tree Hailed as not only the best album to be released in the 1980’s, but as one of the best albums to ever been placed on the shelves in the music stores. It is easy to see why. The angry and bitter, but yet hopeful and positive attitude in the lyrics probably reflects what most people think, but only the Irish experienced. The gospel, blues and folk influenced music is produced and arranged with such exactitude and carefulness, it almost destroyed the people working with the group. Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno nearly lost their minds on more than one occasion. Despite The Joshua Tree being so extremely well produced, it never sounds plastic or sterile. Never dated or particularly genre-based. Listening to the opening three songs is quite a rush, and the Edge’s distinct guitar work shines as it accompanies Bono’s effective vocals. In fact it is so good it is easy to forget about the weaker moments that actually do exist. “Bullet The Blue Sky” might hold an important message, but the Hendrix-influenced music is not that exciting. The memorable chorus in “God’s Country” is not enough to compensate for the rest of the song, as it sounds rushed. Especially compared to “Where The Streets Have No Name” or “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”, two songs that make this album deserve pretty much every good comment it ever received. The bluesy rhythms in “Trip Through Your Wires” stand out, mainly because of its excellent harmonica work that instantly cries for attention if the listener for one reason or another has drifted away in other thoughts. The sparsely arranged “Running To Stand Still” and the lonesome “With Or Without You” are two ballads that will make you listen carefully, if only for their clever placement on the album. The latter following the two impressive openers, and the former lifts the album again, right after “Bullet The Blue Sky” is ringing out. The running up closing song, “Exit” is a strange, chaotic song with wide dynamics that is far from as melodically strong as the other songs on the album. When The Joshua Tree comes to an end with the low-key and nice “Mothers of The Disappeared” you know that you’ve been a part of something extraordinary. Even if flawed, the strong moments certainly make up for the weaker spots. Not enough to save the 10/10 rating, but certainly enough for it to be essential and a plain life necessity.
Achtung Baby U2 is a quite interesting group. They are loathed by half the world with access to a radio and adored by the other half. They can be overbearing on occasion and it might be annoying having Bono pointing fingers and telling people how to live, but that has very little to do with the actual music. They have developed a sound suitable for huge stadium gigs and probably was the definition of stadium rock. Yet, despite the big sound and grand poses, there is still room for intimacy and nearness. That is something that makes them special. Well, besides Bono’s vocals and the guitar sound of The Edge. On Achtung Baby U2 entered the 90’s and did so by changing their sound by moving into a dance-oriented field. Well, at least that’s how critics and fans saw it at the time. Today, nearly 15 years later and being brainwashed by MTV it doesn’t come off as a dance (influenced) album. The bass and drums are given more space, but that is all. When it comes down to it, this is a U2 album and it sounds like U2. Perhaps a little colder and darker than The Joshua Tree, but the years have been very kind to Achtung Baby. It manages to be the worthy follow-up to The Joshua Tree that Rattle And Ham failed to be. Although the band rips off successful rockers such as “Even Better Than The Real Thing” (a nod to Sly & The Family Stone) and “The Fly”, it is during the mellower moments the true highlights appears. The classic “One”, for instance, which probably is Bono’s definitive social commentary. His “Imagine”, his “Redemption Song”. Whilst it is without a doubt a career highlight, it still isn’t the best song here and that says it all about the qualities this album possesses. “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses” is a great pop song filled with that wonderful guitar tone, and in addition has a vocal melody delivered with a great deal of passion. The same could probably be said by “Mysterious Ways”. It is a little harder, though, thanks to a distinctive guitar riff. Other highlights are “Tryin’ To Throw Your Arms Around The World” and the dark, beautiful and tender closing track “Love Is Blindness”. All these mentioned songs are next to impeccable and helped this album to cement U2 as not only one of the best bands of their time, but also one of the most important.
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