10 Greatest Comeback Albums In Rock

Not many superstars of the '80s could really say that they survived the alternative movement intact. Most of the Sunset Strip scene was destroyed in the aftermath of grunge, and even people like Madonna had to reinvent themselves to blend in with the new sounds going on at the time. There was no real lane for a larger than life band like U2 anymore, but Bono found a way through by playing up their star power that much more.

Going full on rock star diva, the aesthetic that came off of Achtung Baby fit in with the ironic tinge that was happening around the same time, while also bringing different electronic elements into the mix like sequencers and The Edge putting his guitar effects through the ringer on songs like Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses. Something like the Fly might seem like one of the more overblown songs to come out of a mainstream rock band, but when you peel back all the layers of distortion, the lyrics of these songs tend to tell a bit of a different story.

Aside from those amazing rock moves onstage, songs like Ultraviolet and One talk about how much is lost when you finally become famous, unable to find a real connection with anybody and never quite knowing who to trust anymore. No one really wanted to be a rock star anymore in 1991, and U2 showed the celebrity lifestyle for what it was. It's glamorous and beautiful when it wants to be, but it's also incredibly lonely once you get there.