Achtung Baby vs. Joshua TreeMusic

[Klostrophobic]

Which is better?

 

[StevieMo]

You tell me.

 

[1X83Z]

"The Joshua Tree" is infinitely better.

The brilliance doesn't end:
1 - Where the Streets Have No Name: Absolutely brilliant song. Anyone who doubts that is dumb.
2 - I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For: Even better than one. Brilliant blend of music and brilliance.
3 - With or Without You: This song sucks and deserves no credit. I wish it wasn't on the album. Unlike the rest of the album, this song is fully scripted and doesn't let Bono excersize his voice completely or let the band show their full potential concerning the playing of their instrumnets.
4 - Bullet the Blue Sky: Great song but slightly out of place, yet great drums and guitar. Vocals and lyrics are only average.
5 - Running to Stand Still: Good song, takes a few listens before you really like it, only marginally above average on an album like this.
6 - Red Hill Mining Town: Brilliant song, great vocals and lyrics, and great music. Yet they never do actually say "Red Hill Mining Town" throughout the whole song.
7 - In God's Country: Short but it gets the point across. Prompted a midnight drive to visit Joshua Tree N.P. when I was in college (across the country)
8 - Trip Through Your Wires: Great song, one of the best on the Joshua Tree, and definitely the best of the first eight.
9 - One Tree Hill: Either the best or the second-best (behind Pride) U2 song ever recorded. Didn't belong on the album because of how personal the song was to the group. They never play it in concert and should've never released it. But they did, and I'm thankful.
10 - Exit: Whoa! This song killed Rebecca Schaeffer supposedly, and I can no longer find out peoples' addresses by paying the DMV a $5 fee and asking them to look up a license-plate number. Extremely powerful song.
11 - Mothers of the Disappeared: Another fit of brilliance. Bono wrote this song about the Nicaraguan madres, and I find it hard to believe with a song this personal he didn't actually have a child close to him disappear. Touching stuff.

Achtung Baby has just two good songs on it.

Don't listen to Klostrophobic.

 

[vat_man]

Of U2's grunge period, I prefer Zooropa.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Originally posted by vat_man
Of U2's grunge period, I prefer Zooropa.

I was disappointed in Zooropa.

Of the two available for discussion, I think I would go for The Joshua Tree, but only just. Both albums have that same element of U2 brilliance to them, but they express it in very different ways. Whilst The Joshua Tree is more instrumental and more open sounding, Achtung Baby has some very strong songs in it, it's just that the music itself is more industrial, and slightly closed off from the listener.

They're both great albums, but The Joshua Tree takes it, just.

 

[sn00pie]

Who?!

Anyway, I'll go for Achtung Baby seeing Doug likes Joshua Tree.

 

[1X83Z]

Originally posted by GilesGuthrie


I was disappointed in Zooropa.

So was I. And nice pick of Joshua Tree, there.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Originally posted by M5Power


So was I. And nice pick of Joshua Tree, there.

Thanks!

Did you like the fact that I neglected to blow your one-sided argument open? I mean, you critique all the songs in The Joshua Tree, but decline to comment on any of those in Achtung Baby! Shame on you, you should be more rounded in your arguments! (I personally always like to blow the opposition's argument apart after I've already proved my own point!)

 

[1X83Z]

Well, Klos and I had already discussed the merits of each song on both albums on AIM, and since he was the supporter of Achtung Baby, I was going to let him do that, but he signed offline because evidently he's too much of a sissy to type long posts at 2:05 AM his time.

 

[Concept]

The Joshua Tree > Achtung Baby

 

[1X83Z]

I agree whole-heartedly.

 

[sn00pie]

Achtung > Baby.

Joshua < Tree.

 

[Concept]

Concept > ViperConcept

Yeah.

 

[Duke]

Actually, though I own both albums, I have to say they both suck.

U2 has been irrelevant for the last 10+ years, despite (or maybe because of) having a number of their most huge successes in that time. Truthfully the last album worth recording was The Unforgettable Fire or maybe (just barely) Rattle And Hum.

They are very much like REM in that there are definitely two phases to their career - a growth phase, and a "we're huge and can do anything we feel like; now we have to figure out what the hell that is" phase. There is a whole generation of fans who don't really know anything before Joshua Tree, just like there is a whole generation of REM fans who started with Automatic For The People (which also sucked).

 

[Pupik]

Tough choice. I think Joshua Tree has more meaning to me because it was the first U2 album that I ever heard.

I bought Achtung Baby later on, and eventually, Zooropa (used, though). But when I heard Pop in a friend's car and hated it with a passion, I've bought no U2 albums since.

I've thought about buying their earlier stuff, but I just never got around to it. New Years Day is a cool song, though.

 

[Pupik]

Originally posted by neon_duke
Actually, though I own both albums, I have to say they both suck.

Umm, why do you still have them, then? There's gotta be one CD store needing copies of each.

An easy $10, duke.

 

[Pako]

They're two totally different genres of music with the artists (U2) being the only common denominator. It's like comparing apples to oranges. Achtung had better pumpin' bass which is good if your driving down the road saying, "Look honey, the bass just blew out that match all by itself", whereas Joshua Tree is more listening material while kicking back or what have you.

 

[1X83Z]

I'm surprised Pako and neon_duke both don't find more in the music than either the type of music or the band itself.

 

[Pako]

Originally posted by M5Power
I'm surprised Pako and neon_duke both don't find more in the music than either the type of music or the band itself.

Sorry man, it's been years since I've heard either one. Personally, back in the day, I was into U2 long before I had the technical appreciation of music that I have now. Being a long time "listener" of U2, I was dissapointed when Achtung came out. Totally out of character from the band that I'd learned to appreciate and enjoy. Achtung was a little too hip-hop and electronica driven for me, but seemed to suit the main stream circuit quite well. Once I got into RUSH and PINK FLOYD all other bands kinda just faded away into a distant memory. If/when I hear them again (I do own them, so it's not impossible to hear them), I'll pay a little closer attention to the technical side of things.

 

[slip2rock]

Never really understood the U2 phenomenon.... But given the choice between the two i guess it would be "The Joshua Tree" but i'd probably turn the CD off after the first 3 tracks (by M5's list) unless i was really in the mood.

 

[milefile]

I haven't been a big U2 listenier for years but I still like them. I agree with Neon_Duke's comment, although I wouldn't call them irrelevant. They just seem to have passed their creative prime.

I listened to Achtung Baby more so that's my vote. If I heard them both today I may change my mind.

U2's greatest contributions are their earlier albums. When I'm in a U2 mood I have three faves:

Boy
October (so amazing, a masterpiece)
War

 

[1X83Z]

You... you.... you chose Achtung Baby?!