Last Friday was the starting signal for countless triumphant return U2. That day, the first of twenty-five scheduled concerts took place at the new The Sphere auditorium in Las Vegas, an 18,600-seat venue with an impressive 15,000 square feet of LED screens and 16K resolution. The band took the opportunity to present an unreleased song called “Atomic City”. He did this without his usual drummer. Larry Mullen Jr.The artist, who had surgery due to various problems in his neck, elbow and back, was replaced by Dutch Bram van den Berg, a member of the Krezip band.
The first videos shared on social networks this weekend confirmed what was expected: residence “U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere” looks historic. And not just because of the Irish’s impressive use of technology, but also because they claim to have a successful album in their career. Published on November 18 1991, just two months after Nirvana turned the world upside down. musical panorama With “it doesn’t matter”, “Achtung Baby” was one of the greatest reinventions ever seen in rock history. If he hadn’t recorded this, his future would have been very different.
Thanks to the success of 1987’s “The Joshua Tree,” U2 became the biggest and most beloved band on the planet. At the time, their epic stadium rock was second to none. However, just a year later, the situation was reversed with the album “Rattle & Hum”, which paid homage to the roots of American popular music and artists. Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley or BB King. Even though they sold 14 million copiesThe specialist press had no mercy: they disparaged the work as ostentatious and accused the group of having completely lost its identity.
Provocative criticism behind the scenes wasn’t much better. So much so that when the “Lovetown Tour” stopped at the old Point Depot in Dublin on December 30, 1989, Bono said before the performance: “Love Save Me”: “We had a lot of fun in the past months discovering a genre of music that we were not very familiar with and still don’t know much about. I tried to explain this to people the other day, perhaps in the wrong way. But this is the end of something for U2. “It’s not a big deal, we just need to go and reimagine everything.”
On October 3, 1990, the Irish landed in Berlin, which had not yet healed the wounds of the Wall. Like David Bowie did in his “Berlin Trilogy” in the mid-seventies. organized by the British Brian Eno, they locked themselves into the legendary Hansa Studios in the Kreuzberg district and hired Eno and Canadian Daniel Lanois, with whom they had previously worked on “The Unforgettable Fire” and “The Joshua Tree,” as producers. But a serious problem soon emerged: None of the four had a strategic plan in mind before or after they arrived in the German capital. U2 wanted to look different but didn’t know how.
The disagreements did not last long. During The Edge deals with the burgeoning Madchester scene, Electronic music and industrial bands like The Young Gods or Nine Inch Nails convinced Bono that they needed to escape their past and follow a more experimental path. Adam Clayton and Mullen advocated a more classical and conservative sound for fear of losing fans. In the end, the first side won.
The tensions in Berlin had actually come to an end with the dissolution of Berlin. But while they were working on “Sick Puppy,” an early version of “Mysterious Ways,” the waters calmed and they improvised a new song that would eventually lead to “One.” The folk song, one of the most popular in their repertoire, brought them together again. Even though they stayed there for two months Hansa Studios Once they had finished two songs, the experience gave them the courage to continue the sessions in Dublin. U2 eventually agreed on the musical direction to follow.
The album’s first preview, “The Fly”, surprised everyone. Mullen’s industrial-influenced drums sounded more metallic than ever. Although the main thing that attracts attention is The Edge’s guitars: their commitment to the darkest and worst atmospheres It led him to move away from his Gibson Explorer and favor Fenders again with a delay over Gibson Les Pauls and an eight-chain Vox AC30 amplifier. He modernizes his sound by taming his more commercial side. U2 conquered a new legion of followers.
‘Achtung Baby’ sold 18 million copies (it was their second most successful album after “The Joshua Tree”, which sold seven million more) and was praised by critics. However, metamorphosis was not only reflected in the work. During the Pharaonic era “Zoo TV” tour In 1992 it passed through San Sebastián and Barcelona.and a year later, through Oviedo and Madrid, the quartet stopped taking itself so seriously. Surrounded by television screens and flanked by Trabant cars serving as spotlights, Bono followed in Bowie’s footsteps and He adopted several different alter egos each night: The Fly, an arrogant character who mocked the egomania of rock stars.and MacPhisto, an evil megalomaniac bent on controlling the world. Will he save them in Las Vegas?
Source: Informacion
Brandon Hall is an author at “Social Bites”. He is a cultural aficionado who writes about the latest news and developments in the world of art, literature, music, and more. With a passion for the arts and a deep understanding of cultural trends, Brandon provides engaging and thought-provoking articles that keep his readers informed and up-to-date on the latest happenings in the cultural world.