Frogtoon Music

Achtung Baby (Album) by U2

Artist Biography For U2

U2 Is An Irish Alternative Rock Band From Dublin Formed In 1976. The Group Consists Of Bono Lead Vocals And Rhythm Guitar The Edge Lead Guitar Keyboards And Backing Vocals Adam Clayton Bass Guitar And Larry Mullen Jr. Drums And Percussion . Initially Rooted In Post-Punk U2's Musical Style Evolved Throughout Their Career Yet Has Maintained An Anthemic Sound Built On Bono's Expressive Vocals And The Edge's Effects-Based Guitar Textures. Their Lyrics Often Embellished With Spiritual Imagery Focus On Personal And Sociopolitical Themes. Popular For Their Live Performances The Group Has Staged Several Ambitious And Elaborate Tours Over Their Career. The Band Formed At Mount Temple Comprehensive School In 1976 When The Members Were Teenagers With Limited Musical Proficiency. Within Four Years They Signed With Island Records And Released Their Debut Album Boy 1980 . Subsequent Work Such As Their First UK Number-One Album War 1983 And The Singles "Sunday Bloody Sunday" And "Pride In The Name Of Love " Helped Establish U2's Reputation As A Politically And Socially Conscious Group. By The Mid-1980s They Had Become Renowned Globally For Their Live Act Highlighted By Their Performance At Live Aid In 1985. The Group's Fifth Album The Joshua Tree 1987 Made Them International Superstars And Was Their Greatest Critical And Commercial Success. Topping Music Charts Around The World It Produced Their Only Number-One Singles In The US "With Or Without You" And "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For". Facing Creative Stagnation And A Backlash Following Their Documentary/double Album Rattle And Hum 1988 U2 Reinvented Themselves In The 1990s Through A New Musical Direction And Public Image. Beginning With Their Acclaimed Seventh Album Achtung Baby 1991 And The Multimedia-Intensive Zoo TV Tour The Band Integrated Influences From Alternative Rock Electronic Dance Music And Industrial Music Into Their Sound And Embraced A More Ironic Flippant Image. This Experimentation Continued Through Their Ninth Album Pop 1997 And The PopMart Tour Which Were Mixed Successes. U2 Regained Critical And Commercial Favour With The Records All That You Can't Leave Behind 2000 And How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb 2004 Which Established A More Conventional Mainstream Sound For The Group. Their U2 360 Tour Of 2009–2011 Is The Highest-Attended And Highest-Grossing Concert Tour In History. The Group's Thirteenth Album Songs Of Innocence 2014 Was Released At No Cost Through The ITunes Store But Received Criticism For Its Automatic Placement In Users' Music Libraries. U2 Has Released 14 Studio Albums And Is One Of The World's Best-Selling Music Artists In History Having Sold More Than 170 Million Records Worldwide. They Have Won 22 Grammy Awards More Than Any Other Band And In 2005 They Were Inducted Into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame In Their First Year Of Eligibility. Rolling Stone Ranked U2 At Number 22 On Its List Of The "100 Greatest Artists Of All Time". Throughout Their Career As A Band And As Individuals They Have Campaigned For Human Rights And Philanthropic Causes Including Amnesty International Jubilee 2000 The ONE/DATA Campaigns Product Red War Child And Music Rising. Foundation The Band Originally Formed In 1976 When Larry Mullen Posted A Bulletin In His School Asking For Musicians To Form A Rock Band. The Band Then Consisted Of The Four Current Members Plus Three Additional Guitarists Including The Edge’s Brother Dick Evans Later A Member Of Virgin Prunes Ivan McCormick And Peter Martin. According To Legend Bono Originally Auditioned As A Guitarist But Couldn’t Play. He Auditioned As Lead Vocals But Really Couldn’t Sing. He Was However Incredibly Enthusiastic About The Band Extremely Charismatic A Great Writer And Was Strangely Able To Reach The Audience When The Band Played Something He Is Known For Still Today. Bono Will Reach Out Into The Crowd And Dance Or Mess With Someone In The Crowd At Every Concert. He Was Kept As A Member. The Extra Guitarists Would Soon Leave The Band And The Group Would Go Through The Names “Feedback ” And “The Hype” Before Finally Settling On U2. The 70s & 80s 1978 Was A Jumping Point Year For The Band Finally Finding Their Sound / Voice. U2 Won A Talent Contest In 1978 £500 And Funds To Make A Record. Paul McGuinness Became The Band’s Manager And U2 Released An EP Called Three And The Single Another Day The Following Year. U2 Went On To Release Their First Album Boy And Then More Critically Acclaimed Albums Incl. October War Under A Blood Red Sky And The Unforgettable Fire Featuring The Song PlayMLK Dedicated To Martin Luther King Jr . Seen By Many As A Political Band With More Charisma Than Others They Were Called “a Different Kind” Of Band. After A Short Break U2 Returned With The Joshua Tree & The USA Music Inspired Rattle And Hum Also A Movie Of The Same Name Based On The Tour . The 90s Promising ”to Dream It All Up Again” They Added Industrial And Dance Styles To Their Music. Trying To Drop A Goody Two Shoes Image They Went To Berlin Germany Supposedly To Develop New Self-Expressions. From There They Started To Make Fun Of Themselves And Had A Good Time Of It In Albums Like Achtung Baby Meaning ”watch Out Baby” Artwork Feat. Make-Up Artist Nassim Khalifa & Zooropa. Bono Took On Many Stage Personae Such As “The Fly” “Mirrorball Man” And “Mr. MacPhisto” For The Gigantic ZOO TV Tour. Later They Continued To Make Fun Of Pop Culture And All Its Extremes With The Album Pop And Consequent PopMart Tour Which Was Announced To Be Launched At A Kmart Store And Included A Giant Golden Arch Across The Stage. The 00s At The End Of The 90’s Into 00’s U2 Became Less Image And More Reality. With The Death Of Bono’s Good Friend Michael Hutchence The Lead Singer Of INXS Bono Wrote More Songs From The Heart Surrounding Ideas Like Life And Death Children Hope And The Real World Past All The Pop Culture And TV. Some Say They’ve Returned To A More Band-Centric Sound With Albums Like All That You Can’t Leave Behind Which Features A Song Kite Dedicated To Bono’s Father Who Passed Away Shortly After The Album’s Conception And 2004’s How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. The 10s U2 Went On The U2 360 Tour In 2009 And 2010. This Tour Set Records For The Highest-Grossing Concert Tour. The Band Worked With Producer Danger Mouse For Their Thirteenth Album Songs Of Innocence Which Was Released On 9 September 2014 For Free To All Apple ICloud Users. The Name There Are Many Theories As To The Origin Of The Name U2. For Example U2 Was An Intelligence Airplane That Was In Use By The United States During The Cold War. Other Obvious Candidates Include “You Too” And “You Two” Etc. Nonetheless The Official Line On The Name’s Origins Remains Unknown. The Band Has Been Quoted As Saying That They Did Think Of The U2 Spy Plane But Remain Hushed About Other Reasons… U2

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Frogtoon Music Album Info: Achtung Baby

Achtung Baby Is The Seventh Studio Album By Irish Rock Band U2 Released On 19 November 1991. The Album Arrived Nearly Two Years After Lead Vocalist Bono Announced The Band Would Have To "go Away And Dream It All Up Again" Following The Mixed Response To 1988's Rattle And Hum. While Recording Achtung Baby There Was A Rift Between Band Members Over The Direction Of The Band's Sound. Tensions Almost Prompted U2 To Break-Up Until The Band Rallied Around The Writing Of The Album's Hit One. The Album Marks A Dramatic Change In The Band's Image And Sound With The Band Being Heavily Influenced By Alternative Rock And Electronic Music. Their Music Also Features More Detailed Production More Guitar Effects And Darker More Personal Lyrical Content. The Results Were Considerably More Adventurous Than Their Previous Efforts Yet Achtung Baby Was Very Commercially And Critically Successful Winning A Grammy Award And Having Sold Approximately 18 Million Copies Worldwide. In 2003 The Album Was Ranked Number 62 On Rolling Stone Magazine's List Of The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time. The Band Embarked On The Elaborately-Staged Multimedia-Intensive Zoo TV Tour To Support The Album. History
Achtung Baby Was A Departure For The Band. Bono Has Often Described The Album As "the Sound Of Four Men Trying To Chop Down The Joshua Tree". U2 Sampled Techniques And Sounds From Other Musical Genres Previously Unused By The Band Including Dance House And Electronica Whilst Maintaining Their Original Feel Of Rock And Roll. The Album's New Sound Was A Source Of Conflict In The Band Because The Edge And Bono Favored The New Sounds They Were Coming Up With While Recording Their Sessions In Berlin While Drummer Larry Mullen Jr. And Bassist Adam Clayton Were Partial To The Band's Traditional Sound. The Conflict Amongst The Members Of U2 Very Nearly Led To The Band Breaking Up But The Fighting Subdued After The Edge Struggling With Two Bridge Sections For The Song Ultraviolet Light My Way Was Encouraged To Combine Them By The Band And Producers Brian Eno And Daniel Lanois. The Band Rallied Around The Riff And Was Inspired To Write The Song One. It Changed The Band's Outlook On The Album Helping Bring Them Back From The Brink During Recording Sessions. One Was Responsible For A Renewed Sense Of Optimism Towards The Material They Had Already Recorded. Leaving Berlin On A High Note The Band Was Able To Complete The Rest Of The Album In Dublin. Achtung Baby Was Also Darker Sounding Than Previous Efforts Thanks In Large Part To Songs Such As The Fly Acrobat And Love Is Blindness Which Deal With Themes Of Helplessness Broken Relationships And In The Case Of Love Is Blindness Violence In The Name Of Love. The Spiritual Yearning Of U2's 1980s Work Began To Take On A More Existential Despairing Element In Achtung Baby. The Band's Political Activism Moved To The AIDS Crisis And Environmental Issues. At The Same Time The Band Also Took On A Lighter Tone Electing To Use Irony Rather Than Earnestness In Its Music And Public Appearances And Poking Fun At Its Own Self-Importance During The 1980s. This Evolving Outlook Culminated In The Pleaful Soul-Searching And Jaded Skewering Of Contemporary Life On 1997's Pop And Would Not Subside Until The More Hopeful Tracks On 2000's All That You Can't Leave Behind. Other Tracks Included The Distorted Opener Zoo Station The Danceable Single Even Better Than The Real Thing And The Thumping Rocker And Future Live Favourite Until The End Of The World Written For The Soundtrack Of Wim Wenders' Eponymous 1991 Science Fiction Film. The Song May Be An Allegorical Afterlife Confession Of Judas Iscariot. Achtung Baby Expanded The Group's Fanbase. New Fans Were Perhaps Drawn In By The Hit Song Mysterious Ways And The Ballad One. The Album Was Followed By The Zoo TV Tour A Ground-Breaking And In Zoo TV Live From Sydney Grammy-Award Winning Multimedia Concert Production. The U.S. LP Is The Only American Release To Contain The Uncensored Picture Of Bassist Adam Clayton Naked. On The U.S. CD And Cassette His Private Parts Are Censored With A Black "X" Or A Four-Leaf Clover. As For The Album's Title "Achtung Baby!" In German Means "Attention Baby!" Or "Careful Baby!" Frequently Used By The Band's Engineers During The Making Of The Album The Phrase Came From The Mel Brooks Film The Producers. Achtung Baby Was The First Of 9 Albums To Feature 3 Songs To Reach The Top Of The Modern Rock Tracks. Reception
On The Billboard Music Charts North America Achtung Baby Topped The Billboard 200 Chart Selling 295 000 Copies In Its First Week. It Won A Grammy Award For Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal. Rolling Stone Magazine Declared That U2 Had "proven That The Same Penchant For Epic Musical And Verbal Gestures That Leads Many Artists To Self-Parody Can In More Inspired Hands Fuel The Unforgettable Fire That Defines Great Rock & Roll." The Album Is Frequently Cited As One Of The Greatest In Rock History. In 1998 Q Magazine Readers Voted Achtung Baby The 15th Greatest Album Of All Time In 2001 The TV Network VH1 Placed It At Number 65. Also In 2003 Q Declared Its Third Track One "the Greatest Recorded Song Of All Time". In 2003 The Album Was Ranked Number 62 On Rolling Stone Magazine's List Of The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time. It Was Voted #11 On Spin's "Best Albums Of The Last 25 Years" List. In A 2007 VH1 Countdown One Was Named The #2 On Its List Of "Songs Of The 1990s". Entertainment Weekly Named Achtung Baby The #3 Album Of The Last 25 Years. Studio Bootlegs U2 Entered The Studio In Late 1990 And Began Recording The Album Before They Had Written Any Material Mainly Improvising And Developing Ideas Into Songs. The More Interesting Ideas Were Preserved On Working Tapes. In April 1991 These Tapes Fell Into The Hands Of Bootleggers Well Before The Album's November Release Date. The Most Widely Circulated Compilation Of These Tapes Is The Three-Disc Salomé The Axtung Beibi Outtakes Released In February 1992. Another Bootleg Surfaced Entitled The Achtung Sessions In 1993. Later That Same Year Another Single Disc Bootleg Of The Tapes Was Distributed Underground. Called This Single Disc Contained Material Of Songs That Were Near Completion. Most Notably Heaven And Hell The Darkest Night And Blow Your House Down. Interestingly None Of The "Salome" Mixes Were Included On This Disc. Since These Songs Were Leaked Very Early In The Production Process They Provide A Rare Insight Into The Band's Songwriting Process. On The Same Note Many Of The Ideas—including Eight Different Takes Of The Song "Salomé"—were Frustratingly Undeveloped So The Bootleg Remains A Curiosity Strictly For Hardcore Fans. Bono Says "There Were No Undiscovered Works Of Genius Unfortunately It Was More Just Gobbledy-Gook." Some Of The Ideas Were Revisited—there Are For Instance Early Instrumental Versions Of Even Better Than The Real Thing And North And South Of The River The Latter Of Which Wouldn't Be Recorded By The Band Until 1997 —and One Song—the B-Side Where Did It All Go Wrong?—was Even Officially Released As A Rough Composite Of The Two Takes Available On The Bootleg. There Are Also A Handful Of Developed Ideas That Were Wholly Abandoned Such As She's Gonna Blow Your House Down A Song The Group Had Been Working On Since The Rattle And Hum Days. Video
Following The Successful Release Of The Album U2 Released Achtung Baby The Videos The Cameos And A Whole Lot Of Interference From Zoo TV A VHS Compilation Of Music Videos From The Album. The Compilation Featured Nine Videos Including Three Videos For Both One And Even Better Than The Real Thing. In Between The Videos Were Clips Of "interference" — Documentary Footage Media Clips And Other Images Similar To What Was Shown At Shows During The Zoo TV Tour. The Videos For Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses And Love Is Blindness Were The Only Videos From The Album Not Included On This Release As They Were Not Released Until After The Compilation's Release. Professional Reviews
AllMusic -
Rolling Stone -
The Boston Globe
Entertainment Weekly
Trouser Press

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