The October issue of Q Magazine features a poll of the 50 best pop albums in a poll to mark the 15th birthday of Q. U2 placed twice:
9. U2 Achtung Baby ISLAND 1991
In an era of “baggy” and “shoegazing” U2 should have been as irrelevant as Simple Minds. Instead, they called producer Brian Eno, relocated to Berlin, listened to some modern records and, said Bono, set a single principle for the sessions: “Anything that doesn’t sound like U2.” This meant not just My Bloody Valentine-style guitars but a long overdue eradication of earnestness. So we got Bono in rock-star shades, the band in frocks, and Adam Clayton’s penis on the sleeve. And a batch of songs that seemed to mock the old U2-isms (God) by confusing them for new ones (sex). Ironically, more than any white flag waving this process brought a new humanity to Bono’s songwriting: “One” now stands revealed as the best “goodbye” song of the decade. Who’d have guessed they’d be saying “hello” to their old selves again 10 years later?
What We Said Then: “U2’s heaviest album to date. And best.” Rating: Q63***** What Happened Next: Modernism carried them through Zooropa before tripping them up on Pop. After Edge forced Bono to listen to their Greatest Hits, the old U2 made a return this year.
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12. U2 The Joshua Tree Island 1987
For all it’s doomy veneer — the restless lyrics, the sleeve dedication to a member of the band’s crew killed in a road accident — this collection of downbeat rock made U2 superstars. Producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois supplied the requisite arty sheen, while the group ditched their post-punk jaggedness and fashioned heart-swelling choruses instead. Smooth enough to accompany crosstown jaunts in the Ford Sierra, but raucous enough to get a terrace bellowing at Wembley Stadium. “With or Without You” and “Where the Streets Have No Name” re-cast stadium rock as high art.
What We Said Then: “There may be no more powerful album made in mainstream rock this year.” Rating: Q7***** What Happened Next: U2 belatedly discovered the blues with the live Rattle and Hum.
© Q Magazine, 2001. All rights released.