Achtung Baby - Choose Three

22 Dec 2021201

Achtung Baby: Choose Three

Hard as it is to believe, in November we marked the thirtieth birthday of Achtung Baby.

(Although not as hard to believe as it had been the month before, when we marked the fortieth birthday of October. )

Arriving a couple of years after the band had vowed to go away and 'dream it all up again',  Achtung Baby was a promise kept and the record was widely seen as a sonic and visual reinvention.

As Miriam Jonker posted on our earlier story, 'I loved this album from day one and it is still the album I listen to the most. Excellent capture of the zeitgeist at the time and a great reinvention of U2….'

Or as pawel_peczak added, 'No one has ever recorded anything like Achtung Baby before, after and ever after. It's a masterpiece. Reflects the whole generation. It's Yellow Submarine of the 1990's. Its new Europe, unified. It's personal story of love and divorce, love hurts, love loves ....so emotional. It changed my entire life forever...'

But let's imagine you're making your own playlist of the band's finest songs and you can only choose THREE songs from any one album… what are the three songs from Achtung Baby that you could not live without? 

Vote for those three in our poll…  then tell us why in the comments below.

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

Comments
201
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jvl2645
Top 3
Until the end of the world - So Cruel - Love is Blindness
PWhit01
Top 3 songs from Achtung Baby
Zoo Station The Fly Mysterious Ways
Anon_E_Mouse
Top 3
Zoo Station, The Fly and Acrobat.
1No
Every track on the album!
Acrobat The Fly Zoo station
styznip
Top. 3. AB.
The Fly Acrobat One
scotto17
my 3 songs
until the end of the world who's going to ride your wild horses so cruel Now start planning your Achtung tour please
cvonder
Choose only three? Yikes....
I love this entire album. Choosing only three tracks is *very hard. I'll go with 1) Even Better Than The Real Thing, because it opened the first U2 concert I ever attended, and for the next entire year I played that track to start my drive to work every single day; 2) Until the End of the World, because I love the lyrics and because it was also performed early in the set of that first U2 concert I attended; and finally, 3) One, because it's a great song with a great message, and because I know the backstory of its creation and how it helped keep U2 from breaking up. I thank them and thank God they're still together and making great music.
jdool1145
jdool
Zoo Station - the greatest opening concert song they've ever had...can close my eyes and see Bono shaking as the music begins Until End of the World - so powerful and magical live, love hearing it every time The Fly - the way Edge breathed new life into it on Elevation tour has transformed this one for me. I turn the sound way up!
Tonmoy
Top 3
Until the End of the World Wild Horses Acrobat I can't live without them.
Tonmoy
4,5,11
I can't live without them
Fabiolarry
Too late for the poll but still...
It's so hard to choose, it's one of their finest album. I would say Until the end of the world, One Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World.
aroo
Ultraviolet, Zoo Station, one
Difficult to pick 3. Love all of the album
garaf1974
my favorite song
one, acrobat and misterious ways
GIUSEPPESANTORSOLA
One
the best one
Gela
3 AB songs
The Fly, Mysterious Ways and Even Better Than The Real Thing
nataliebaker
Madness
What kind of madness is this?! Three?! 1. Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses 2. all of the other songs 3. Including the b sides
mikearthofer
Best
The fly Love us blindness End of the world
Theresa A.
Top 3…
Ultraviolet is hands down my number 1. Until the End of the World is one of the greatest songs live. Mysterious Ways because The Edge is AMAZING (as always!)
U2forlife
One, Until the end of the world, so crue
3 excellent songs, great melodies, great lyrics, great instrument performance. The whole album, still great, 30 years later & counting.
Vannat77
Only 3
1.Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses ❤️ 2.So Cruel Edge’s Guitar Work BRILLIANT 3. Ultra Violet (light my Way) ‘Your love is like a light bulb Hanging Over My Head ‘ What more can I say
economicformula
I refuse !!
Picking 3 from the best album in their library. Come one. As me a serious question !
ktrap
So cruel/zoo station
So cruel just because it’s a beautiful song how it just rolls along so easily. Zoo station because it was the first song at my first concert at age 15. I was just in awe of the sound…fell in love with U2 and live music.
eneme
Ach ...
Achtung Baby in three songs? The Fly, Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses and Love is Blindness. At the time, Achtung Baby was an exciting and forceful shove to my psyche but in advance of first hearing The Fly, a couple of school friends warned me, "Have you heard U2's new song? It's weird - you probably won't like it". And then I did hear it, and it was such a sonic injection of Vitamin Rock. Also still Edge's best guitar solo ever. After the album came out and I had time to play it, and play it, and play it some more Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses eventually settled into my heart as my favourite on the album. The Temple Bar edit on the single release was great too, but I eventually settled back into preferring the album version (although the live version on Live at the Apollo is for the standout on that album). As the 1990s edged into the 2000s and Love is Blindness took on more and more personal meeting, it arguably became the most important song on the album, although not always an easy listen.
sir_ireland
Hard to choose from my favorite album
The fly, ultra violet and who’s gonna ride your wild horses.
chansd
Mysterious Ways, Acrobat, Love Is Blindn
All visceral songs. Special mentions to Zoo Station, One and Ultra Violet (Light My Way)
Maxchirico
Your arms around the world
Wonderful sono
fab59lille
Until the end of the world - The fly - U
The fly ... First single, the start of the story Until the end of the world ...with "Achtung Baby" Ultra Violet ... Sometimes I feel like I don't know how to choose just three songs
afarrujia
Three is not enough
Zoo station + Ultraviolet + Until the end of the world... I would select the whole album, a masterpiece...
joseluisespinolinares
incluso mejor que lo más real
Elijo 3 veces incluso mejor que lo más real.
steph16mtl
Top 3
Until the End of the World The Fly Acrobat Zoo Station at a close fourth
   Newer comments    61 - 90 of 201    Older comments

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