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Peter: I have a fun fact about our first song, “The Fly.”

Wikipedia says it went to #1 in Australia, “preventing ‘I’m Too Sexy’ by Right Said Fred from reaching number one for a week.”

So it’s got that going for it.

Tyler: “The Fly” fends off RSF? Will wonders never cease.

Peter: I have a feeling Right Said Fred is going to have a strong second act.

Unless he’s dead. Is he dead?

I didn’t check.

Tyler: Per Wikipedia:

In May 2022, Phoenix Music International released [Right Said Fred]’s single “Godsend”, dubbing the duo the “UK’s most controversial band” after a number of anti-COVID-19 vaccine-themed Twitter posts and appearances in the press during the UK pandemic lockdowns. In 2022, they were involved in leafleting for British anti-climate change activist group, Not Our Future, in Oxford.

Peter: Oh! Wow!

That’s a lot.

Okay.

Tyler: They are apparently not too sexy for pseudoscience.

Peter: Is it a band?

I thought it was just a guy? Fred?

I’m realizing now that doesn’t make sense.

Tyler: Currently a duo.  Fred and Richard Fairbrass.

Peter: So there is a guy named Fred in the band. That makes me feel better.

Tyler: I’m glad.  Bono is not.  He’s wondering why we haven’t discussed a damn thing about “The Fly.”

Peter: Yes! This was the lead single. It’s got a sort of dancey industrial vibe. The guitar is pretty intense.

Tyler: The lead single? Really!

Peter: I think they were trying to shock the world. It is pretty jarring.

To announce it was a new chapter. That sort of thing.

Tyler: It’s got the same “What the—“ buzzsaw kind of introduction as “Zoo Station.”  A track toward the extreme edges—no pun intended—of their new sound.

Peter: Exactly.

Is this the first appearance of Bono’s falsetto?

I asked my brother and he wasn’t sure. I think it might be.

Tyler: You mean on the album or in the whole catalog?

Peter: I was thinking the whole catalog. Did he already do it on here?

Tyler: Not to my ear.  I’m unfamiliar with the catalog writ large.  I plead a woeful ignorance.

Peter: Let’s just say it is. Prove us wrong, people. Prove us wrong.

Next track!

“Mysterious Ways” was the second single. It was a pretty big hit.

Tyler: Hot shit.  Still feels familiar due to its pure saturation of the airwaves back upon release.  It was a monster.  Least, as I recall.

Peter: It was huge.

The whole song was created around Adam Clayton’s bassline.

Tyler: Oh yeah?  I would’ve figured the riff for the starting point.

Peter: It had kind of a torturous birth. They really struggled with it.

But, fun fact, they improvised “One” while they were working on this.

Tyler: Good gravy.  That’s a twofer right there.  They were in a special place.

As evidenced by, yep, “Mysterious Ways.”  I did a U-turn on it some many years ago.  I’d discarded it for ages, burned out by that early radio ubiquity.  Then I discovered the whole album, heard the song in proper context, and was an immediate convert.  Love it.

Peter: Sometimes the big hits can be a bit of a speed bump when you’re listening to the whole album.

Next up is “Tryin’ To Throw Your Arms Around The World.”

I like it. It’s light. It’s fun. But it’s a minor work on a major album.

Tyler: My lone semi-soft spot.  Yeah, there you go.  It’s got its pleasures.  But it’s not a song I’m dying to see live, say.

It’s between “Mysterious Ways” and “Ultra Violet (Light My Way).” It never stood a chance.

Peter: I love the last three tracks on this album.

The guitar and drums are more like the traditional U2 sound on “Ultra Violet.” It’s anthemic.

Tyler: It is!  This, on the other hand, I would very much like to see in concert.

Peter: It’s very comforting. It’s like an encore. Here’s one for the fans!

I learned from Wikipedia that “it was used in a scene at the end of the 2006 Adam Sandler film Click, in which Sandler’s character drives home from Bed, Bath and Beyond to happily see his family, and make up for the mistakes he made with his universal remote control.”

Please visit our sponsor, Wikipedia.

Tyler: …that is gutting.  I’m glad the boys got paid, but, man, what a spectacular dose of hubris.  Click?  Sigh.

Peter: Have you seen it?

Tyler: Nope.  Absolutely judging that book by its cover.  Color nobody surprised.

Peter: Actually…

Just kidding.

I haven’t seen it either.

Next up is “Acrobat.” I love it.

Tyler: It returns the album to a more explicitly tortured sound.  Musically, lyrically.  “Don’t let the bastards grind you down” is almost too familiar a phrase—but only almost. Bono’s desperation saves and elevates it.

II feel like the more traditional move would be to close with the anthem that’s “Ultra Violet.”  But they wrap things up on two much darker notes.

Peter: Yeah, I think it works.

It’s got a darkness about it.

Tyler: Especially “Love Is Blindness,” our closer.

Peter: Jack White’s cover of this is terrific.

But, so is the original!

Tyler: It’s a haunting piece of work.  Quite a finale.

Peter: The guitar solo at the end is terrific. There’s a bit of mythology around that.

Tyler: Oh?

Peter: The Edge was in the middle of a divorce and this solo was sort of a cathartic moment for him. Apparently he broke several strings which is uncharacteristic of him.

Tyler: That makes me love The Edge more.  Poor dude.

Peter: He seems like a good sort.

Tyler: Don’t they all?  I mean, Bono can be a whole lot, but none of them are reputed Bad Guys, far as I can recall.

Peter: It’s true.

Tyler: Are you aware of their latest venture?  The rerecording of a whole bunch of songs from throughout their discography?

Peter: I heard about it, but I haven’t heard any of the songs.

Tyler: Songs Of Surrender.  Had to double-check the name.  That’s another story, my lack of attention to the band post-How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.  I did not much like that one.  Drifted away from them after that.

Plus there was that busted nonsense where you got their new album Songs Of Etc on your Apple device whether you wanted it or not.

Peter: Yeah, people did not like that. At all.

Tyler: My poor life!  I got free music from a hall-of-fame band on my not-cheap mp3 player!

Peter: It was weird though.

Tyler: It’s pretty presumptuous.  “Everyone will like this eventually!”

Peter: Exactly! I was looking for the word “presumptuous,” but I couldn’t find it.

Tyler: Hubris!  The hubris!

Good words both.

Peter: Like Icarus, they were!

Speaking of Icarus…

Some might have likened Bono et. al to that tragic figure upon first hearing the subject of our talk tonight, Achtung Baby.

Tyler: Indeed, forsooth.  But, the Irishmen did win over the gods.

Peter: They flew to the sun! And blew it up!

You heard it here first, folks, Achtung Baby is a great, great album.

Tyler: You’re darn tootin’.  This one’s an all-timer.

Peter: Agreed.

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