I hate almost everything else they have done but love these two albums.

The “deliberate phoniness” from Boner helped.

^agree, Bono's gonna Bono. Also agree that these two albums, especially Zooropa, have a special place in my own collection. Maybe it's more to do with nostalgia of that particular time and place, but Zooropa was a pretty constant traveling companion.

Gramsci wrote: Tue Nov 16, 2021 1:53 pm I hate almost everything else they have done but love these two albums.

The “deliberate phoniness” from Boner helped.

There was a time when I counted U2 as one of my favorite bands, and I think Achtung Baby was the end of that time.

I said it then, and I'll say it now: A flamboyant stage persona dripping with irony and "deliberate phoniness" really only works when you don't have a live setup that requires 40 semitrucks and a small army to move it from city to city, and the accompanying half-my-paycheck ticket price.

Both are good records.

I still need to check out everything that came after.

"The Fly" is a GREAT 12" single.

Not crap.

Edit: "Lemon" is a wonderful song, whose roots go back to "Wichita Lineman" whether U2 knows it or not.

Discovered Achtung baby in 1992, I was 12 and got fascinated by the "who's gonna ride..." song and video.

That album changed everything to me. Haven't listened in years cause I don'tneed it, it kinda became part of my adn I think.

Zooropa is good but some tracks are meh.

NC. Zooropa is a brilliant album.

I'd take Pop over Achtung Baby, although both are patchy.

Bland to annoying when released. By my experience even worse now.

CRAP.

U2 spent the mid-1980s earnestly insisting how much they love rock, blues and country (collaborating with BB King, referencing Johnny Cash, Dylan, Lennon, Bob Marley & the Stones), then dropped the pretense with Achtung Baby: "Yeah, rave music is trendy now so that's where we're at. We got four people to do dance remixes of our new single."

Any interesting sounds on Achtung Baby and Zooropa (the intro to Mysterious Ways for example) probably come from Brian Eno's hand. Let's not forget about the blatant hypocrisy of U2 suing Negativland for copyright infringement while at the same time using found footage in the Zoo TV tour.

Lemon scented crap in bug-eye shades.

NC. I admit to being a total U2 fanboi, the edge is one of my favorite guitarists and I love Adam's bass playing as well. Achtung is one of my favorite records, and has been since it came out. That's the record that really got me into production, I used to lay in bed with headphones and study it. Quite like Zooropa too. Love or hate U2, they were pretty much the biggest band in the world at that time, and for a band that huge/mainstream to make a record as odd as Zooropa is pretty cool IMO.

I like the early records, but the run from Unforgettable Fire through Pop is my favorite stuff. Pop is a funny record, it manages to sound overproduced and unfinished at the same time.

Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois, and Flood.
Not crap.

WF U2.