Achtung Baby at 30
Thirty years ago, Bono described Achtung Baby as "the sound of four men chopping down The Joshua Tree" while Jon Pareles of the New York Times wrote that "stripped-down and defying its old formulas, U2 has given itself a fighting chance for the 1990's".
The album won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance and became one of the most significant records of the nineties and of U2's career.
Today Island Records, Interscope and UMe announce the 30th Anniversary Edition release of Achtung Baby, which will see a special Standard black vinyl release, along with a Deluxe colour vinyl release on 19th November, with Achtung Baby (2018 Remaster) and Achtung Baby (Unter Remixes) also available digitally that day.
And on December 3rd the 50-track digital box set arrives including Uber Remixes, Unter Remixes and, B-Sides with 22 tracks never before available digitally. (Complete track list below)
Pre order Achtung Baby (30th Anniversary Edition) here
To mark this special anniversary, the band have collaborated with Berlin-based French artist Thierry Noir (the first artist to paint on the Berlin Wall) for a special one-off installation at the legendary Hansa Studios in Kreuzberg.
Thirty years ago, the band commissioned Noir to paint a series of now iconic Trabant cars, which featured on the album artwork, as well 1991's Zoo TV Tour. U2 x THIERRY NOIR sees Noir return with a newly painted Trabant for 2021, as well as an exclusive mural painted on a section of the Berlin wall.
In Berlin and want to visit? Read more here.
Recorded over six months at Hansa Studio in Berlin and Windmill Lane in Dublin, Achtung Baby is U2's seventh studio album. Produced by long time U2 collaborators, Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno with Steve Lillywhite, Achtung Baby was engineered by Flood and released on 18th November 1991. Led by The Fly, four other singles followed: Mysterious Ways, One, Even Better Than The Real Thing and Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses.
Watch here.
ACHTUNG BABY 2021 – DIGITAL BOXSET TRACKLIST
Achtung Baby
1. Zoo Station
2. Even Better Than The Real Thing
3. One
4. Until The End Of The World
5. Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
6. So Cruel
7. The Fly
8. Mysterious Ways
9. Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World
10. Ultra Violet (Light My Way)
11. Acrobat
12. Love Is Blindness
Uber Remixes
1. Night and Day (Steel String Remix)
2. Real Thing (Perfecto Mix)
3. Mysterious Ways (Solar Plexus Extended Club Mix)
4. Lemon (Perfecto Mix)
5. Can't Help Falling in Love (Triple Peaks Remix)
6. Lady with the Spinning Head (Extended Dance remix)
7. Real Thing (V16 Exit Wound Remix)
8. Mysterious Ways (Ultimatum Mix)
9. The Lounge Fly Mix
10. Mysterious Ways (The Perfecto Remix)
11. One (Apollo 440 Remix)
Unter Remixes
1. Mysterious Ways (Tabla Motown Remix)
2. Mysterious Ways (Apollo 440 Magic Hour Remix)
3. Can't Help Falling in Love (Mystery Train Dub)
4. One (Apollo 440 Ambient Mix)
5. Lemon (Momo's Reprise)
6. Salomé (Zooromancer Remix)
7. Even Better Than The Real Thing (Trance Mix)
8. Numb (Gimme Some More Dignity Mix)
9. Mysterious Ways (Solar Plexus Magic Hour Remix)
10. Numb (The Soul Assassins Mix)
11. Even Better Than The Real Thing (Apollo 440 Stealth Sonic Remix)
B-Sides And Other Stuff
1. Lady With The Spinning Head (UV1)
2. Blow Your House Down
3. Salomé
4. Even Better Than The Real Thing (Single Version)
5. Satellite Of Love
6. Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses (Temple Bar Remix)
7. Heaven And Hell
8. Oh Berlin
9. Near The Island (Instrumental)
10. Down All The Days
11. Paint It Black
12. Fortunate Son
13. Alex Descends Into Hell For A Bottle Of Milk / Korova 1
14. Where Did It All Go Wrong?
15. Everybody Loves A Winner
16. Even Better Than The Real Thing (Fish Out Of Water Remix)