10 Amazing Albums Turning 30 In 2021
2. Achtung Baby - U2
As the '90s started to wear on, a band like U2 wasn't really supposed to have hits anymore. After all, since Bono had started to embarrass himself across the Rattle and Hum tour and album cycle, the idea of that pompous rock star attitude wasn't going to fly once the alternative nation kicked in. Even with everything stacked against them, Achtung Baby is the sound of U2 taking a gamble with their sound and winning.
Moving to Berlin for a brief period, the band decided to strip their sound down to something a lot more manufactured. Immersing themselves in the ironic fashion of the times, songs like Zoo Station and Even Better Than the Real Thing are some of the most blatant satires of the rock star lifestyle, as Bono adopts the mantle of the Fly to play up his more pompous tendencies.
Something like this shouldn't work....unless the songs are this powerful. Along with the raw wounds found on songs like One or So Cruel, these tracks really take a look at the artificiality of the rock star lifestyle, with love that's just as likely to be fleeting as it is long lasting. In an era when it wasn't supposed to be cool to care, U2 was the one band who managed to make us feel something more than just apathy.