One: 24 Years Ago.

[Aaron]

So today marks 24 years since U2 released One.

I know this is the discography section, but bear with me as I swerve a bit off topic.  In 1991 I had pretty much lost interest in U2.  And although I bought Achtung Baby - in a cold snap and got frost bite doing it - I just was not a fan.  Sorry to those who love the Baby.  I just wasn't a fan.  That year I was away at university for the first time.  My new best friend Jason Crouse was exposing me to new and exciting music heading on a collision path with PJ Harvey, grunge and electronica.  I had fallen all over Depeche Mode and was probably seen walking around in my DM t-shirt more than anything else.

That year at Christmas I got my first CD player.  A discman.  And I got a couple of CDs to go along with it.  No U2 CDs at all.  That's how out of it I was.  I had Achtung Baby on cassette and had no plans to replace it.

Then one day while in Moncton for a shopping trip during our professors strike, I was rooting through a record shop and found "One" on CD.  First time I remember figuring out that singles were now being released on CD and not just cassette.  It had more tracks than a normal cassette single so I took a chance on it.  And honestly I loved "Lady with the Spinning Head".  The remix of "Night and Day" caught my ear as well.  But it was the cover of "Satellite of Love" that blew me away.  To this day it is still one of my favorite songs they have ever done.  Satellite's gone...

I probably drove my roommate nuts with it those last few weeks of the term.  I know that summer I used to just put that single on repeat. 

"One" is the song that brought U2 back together in the studio after a near encounter with splitting up.  But it was the CD single that brought me back to the band.  It primed me for Zooropa which I fell in love with, and remains one of my favorite albums ever. 

24 years ago today.  One simple CD single.  I really do miss singles.  I miss testing out something more than the song that is popular on the charts.  I miss digging for treasures on b-sides. 

[God, Part II]

Wait, so you're saying it took a while for ACHTUNG BABY to grow on you (which is totally fair, since it was a monumental sonic departure from what had come before) or that, all these years later, you're still not a fan of it (in which case, come a little closer so I can slap you around a bit)?

[Aaron]

Wait, so you're saying it took a while for ACHTUNG BABY to grow on you (which is totally fair, since it was a monumental sonic departure from what had come before) or that, all these years later, you're still not a fan of it (in which case, come a little closer so I can slap you around a bit)?

You'll have to decide whether you are slapping me or not...

I never pull it out to listen to it.  I much preferred "Zooropa" and what came after.  My problem wasn't that "Achtung Baby" was a departure, but maybe I felt they didn't depart enough - I was really getting into heavier sounding industrial stuff and wished they had pushed it further at the time...I love the trilogy of "Zooropa", "Original Soundtracks" and "Pop". 

Still not my favorite album, but it has grown on me significantly since that time.  There was a "Mysterious Ways" remix that I liked a lot.  "The Fly" finally left a mark on me during Elevation - maybe it had something to do with Bono jumping off stage and high-fiving me in Fort Lauderdale?  Nah.  Think I just learned to like it.  "Even Better than the Real Thing (Perfecto Mix)" was again something I loved, and would listen to a lot.  Didn't like "Wild Horses" and still don't.  And after all of these years being slightly bored with "Until the End of the World" i finally got hooked during 360.  The problem is I came to love all those things at such different times that they don't feel like they even belong to the same album for me. 

[God, Part II]

So the administrator of the most important U2 site on the internet doesn't particularly care for what's often considered to be U2's greatest album (though it takes my personal #2 slot; I don't think U2, or any other group in future history, will ever be able to top THE JOSHUA TREE). As we say in the South, don't that just beat all?

[Aaron]

So the administrator of the most important U2 site on the internet doesn't particularly care for what's often considered to be U2's greatest album (though it takes my personal #2 slot; I don't think U2, or any other group in future history, will ever be able to top THE JOSHUA TREE). As we say in the South, don't that just beat all?

LOL.  Every time i do a refresh to these pages, it's the Achtung Baby stuff I find it hardest to get through.  Maybe it's because I did ignore it and it's not as familiar to me.  I honestly tuned out U2 completely.  Walked to the mall.  Got the album, listened to it once or twice, and then just didn`t bother with it again.

And I'll share Brad's words here from 2011 (as one of my partners in crime in running this place for many years):
http://www.u2songs.com/news/u2w_special_article_how_i_learned_to_stop_worrying_and_love_the_baby
Maybe Slaneman is a bigger fan...

Most important U2 site on the internet.  That made me smile. Thanks lol. 

[dagobah]

So today marks 24 years since U2 released One.

I know this is . . . .

Wow . . . . . . interesting!  I really enjoyed reading that.  And I'm shocked you had that reaction to Achtung Baby.  In 1991, I was also in college.  U2 was my favorite band (my first live concert was U2 at the Miami Arena in March 1992) and my love for Depeche Mode was growing.  I remember listening to Achtung Baby and knowing immediately which tracks I loved.  There were only two tracks, The Fly and So Cruel, that I did not like too much.  But within two or three years, I grew to love every track on Achtung Baby.  I can listen to these U2 albums without skipping a track:  October, The Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby

Yeah, I miss singles . . . . . but not too much.  Tracking them down was a little bit of a pain-in-the-ass.  And I spent money that should have been saved in my bank account.

But I do remember buying those CD Singles from the Achtung Baby era.  The artwork was so cool.  I remember being mesmerized by the b-side Alex Descends Into Hell For A Bottle Of Milk/Korova 1.  I still am.

[Aaron]

But I do remember buying those CD Singles from the Achtung Baby era.  The artwork was so cool.  I remember being mesmerized by the b-side Alex Descends Into Hell For A Bottle Of Milk/Korova 1.  I still am.

Me too.  I've always been mesmerized by that piece of music.  I would love to hear the rest of the music composed for that stage production.  Those that attended said it was about 30 minutes worth of music in total, including a cover song redone by Bono and the Edge.  I was told that Alex was the more interesting piece...

[morgan1098]

This is great Aaron. Your experience is similar to mine. But from a different angle. I had become enamored with the super serious, righteous U2 of The Joshua Tree, and it took me a long time to warm up to Achtung Baby because I just couldn't get my head around the idea of the band being flippant and dressing in drag and all the rest of it. My mind was very closed.  I was also starting college at the time and was seriously distracted by bands like Nine Inch Nails, Nitzer Ebb, Depeche Mode, and all kinds of electronic music. I didn't have time to follow the news about U2 and Zoo TV, and this continued into the Zooropa era. When I saw the video for "Lemon" on MTV for the first time, I didn't know about MacPhisto and I basically said, "Ok, then, Bono has gone full tilt into drug addiction."  HA! How naive I was. Lemon is probably my all time favorite U2 video now.

Anyway, I finally did make peace with Achtung Baby and I can legitimately now place it at the top of my U2 album list, in a tie with The Joshua Tree. I think the run of albums from Achtung Baby->Zooropa->Passengers->Pop is U2's strongest period by a long shot. Reading Bill Flanagan's book helped me sort all of that out.

As for CD singles, as a music fan in general I have always adored them. I love b-sides and bonus tracks. I love remixes, especially from the 80s and early 90s. I bought very few U2 CD singles on release day, but you can be sure I have been working to fill the holes in my collection ever since.