U2, The #17 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Three

 

(Continued from Part Two)

Performances recorded during the tour were mixed with nine studio tracks recorded at the famous Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee and released as the double album Rattle and Hum.  The album topped charts throughout the world except Sweden, where it reached #2, and France, where it peaked at #8.  "Desire" burned to the top in the U.K., Australia, Ireland and New Zealand.  A Gold single, the song hit the Top 10 in every major country except France.

 "Desire" earned U2 Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and the group earned Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, both for the Rattle and Hum album as well as the song "When Love Comes To Town", their collaboration with B.B. King.  Their video for "When Love Comes To Town" won an MTV VMA. 

 "Angel Of Harlem" hit #1 in New Zealand and #3 in Ireland and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television.

 "Angel Of Harlem" and "Desire" are the songs the casual fan associates with the live album, but there are many other great tracks.  "A Room At The Heartbreak Hotel" is the flip side of the former.

 

"All I Want Is You" was released as a single in some countries, and hit #2 in Australia and #4 in the U.K.  String arrangements were provided by Van Dyke Parks.

 

The original version of this song was sung by Bono backed by Keith Richards and Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones for the anti-Apartheid album Sun City.  It was written about being poor and being controlled by selfish people in Africa who only want to fatten their own bank accounts, though it of course took on a new meaning when Donald Trump did the same in the United States.  The Edge provides a great guitar solo at the end of "Silver And Gold".

 

Bono wrote this after taking a trip to New Orleans, Louisiana to visit Lanois.  He mentions Route 66 and several other points of reference in "Heartland".  "The song is full of little bits of travelogue from my journal," Bono said.

 

This song is about John Boyle O'Reilly, leader of an 1848 uprising in Ireland after the Great Famine.  He was banished to Australia after the incident.  "Van Dieman's Land" was the name given the Australian state of Tasmania.  British convicts were shipped there.  

 

Bob Dylan played the Hammond organ on "Hawkmoon 269".  The "269" in the title is the number of mixes it took the band to get it right.

Rattle and Hum has sold over 14 million copies throughout the world, but the members of U2 were dissatisfied with their live performances.  Mullen said later that "We were the biggest, but we weren't the best."

When the group began recording of their next album in Berlin, they faced a conflict, with Bono and the Edge wanting to alter the group's sound to more reflect the electronic dance music popular at the time, while Clayton and Mullen preferred the sound that the group was famous for.  The differences nearly caused the group to break up until "One" was rewritten to the satisfaction of everyone.  U2 returned to Dublin in 1991 to finish work on the album.

 

The group released the album Achtung Baby later in the year.  "The Fly" did well in Europe and reached #6 in Canada.  It also spurred Bono to adopt The Fly as his onstage character and wear large sunglasses and black leather during the Zoo TV tour.  

 

The album was darker than previous efforts and included influences from alternative rock, dance and industrial music.  Achtung Baby has gone over eight million in sales in the United States and 18 million total.  It was a Top 5 album in every major country in the world, thanks to great songs like this one, which had a bit of a tough time being created until magic happened.  

The group was jamming to a tune by only Clayton's bass part was making headway.  When The Edge began using the Korg A3 effects unit, "Mysterious Ways" was born, and it rose to #1 in Canada and Ireland and was a Top 10 smash in nearly every country in the world.

Much more to come from this important and amazing group!