From The Sky Down (or, a brief history of U2)

"We have to go away and dream it all up again..." said U2's Bono at the band's famous 1989 New Year's Eve shows in Dublin. The band had spent the previous 2 years in the hurricane that was the Joshua Tree album and tour, during which time they became the world's most famous rock and roll band. From The Sky Down documents both this time period and the recording of Achtung Baby. The band members talk about how difficult aspects of this time were and that they became the band "too stupid to enjoy their own success." They also were dealing with changes in their personal lives, most notably The Edge's disintegrating marriage and subsequent divorce, which affected the band members deeply since they had all grown up together.

After taking some time off the band reconvened in 1991 to start recording the follow-up to The Joshua Tree, which became Achtung Baby, considered by many to be U2's best album, although I consider it a toss-up between it and The Joshua Tree. (I'll digress here and explain why...if I'm in an "American" mood, it's The Joshua Tree, and if I'm feeling more "European" it's Achtung Baby.) From The Sky Down documents the recording process, both with archival footage and with recent interviews with both Bono and The Edge. As a long-time fan, most of what's discussed in this DVD isn't news to me, but seeing the archival footage is pretty cool. If you're a casual fan or don't know much about the band at all it may come as news that there was serious internal strife within the band during the recording of Achtung Baby, enough that the band nearly broke up.

The last portion of the DVD discusses the birth of one of U2's most famous songs, One. All of the band members have mentioned over the years that this one song (oooh, a pun!) essentially saved the band from breaking up. The process of how this song came to be is fascinating and it's interesting to hear the song in its infancy. I've heard them play this song live many times over the years and it never fails to move me, especially The Edge's guitar solo at the end. The most striking version I've heard is the version they did with Mary J Blige for the televised Hurricane Katrina benefit. I'd certainly heard the song many times before but something about this version with Blige made me realize that the song could truly be used to address just about any situation....! A number of bands and performers have done cover versions of One over the years, including Johnny Cash. Mary J Blige ended up recording her own version and I think it's even better than some of U2's performances....seriously! Axl Rose of Guns n Roses declared One the best song ever written.

Another song that gets some attention is Love is Blindness. The original version on Achtung Baby is almost orchestral and closes the album with a very heavy heart. The song is also responsible for one of The Edge's most blistering guitar solos. The backstory to that guitar solo is one I've known about for years, but hearing The Edge talk about it in his own words just makes it that much more heartbreaking to listen to. Many of the lyrics in Achtung Baby deal with the dark side of relationships and this song in particular is a prime example. On this DVD, the Edge performs the song solo with an acoustic guitar. (By the way, the Edge has a beautiful singing voice. If you've never heard him sing solo, this is a great song to hear him sing.) Hearing this song twenty years later performed with nothing but a guitar is amazing. I've always said U2 is one of the few bands whose songs sound better live than on albums. They also have a long tradition of re-working songs so they never sound quite the same as they did before.

If you're a long time fan, you'll enjoy seeing some of the old songs played in new ways, and if you're a new fan it's interesting to see some of U2's history and how Achtung Baby and one of U2's most famous songs came about.

PS: Can I just say the photo of Larry on the front is sooo cool?!


GingerMusicKid