U2 - Salome (1991)

After U2's 1987 album 'The Joshua Tree' and the supporting Joshua Tree Tour brought them critical acclaim and commercial success, their 1988 double album and documentary film 'Rattle And Hum' precipitated a critical backlash. Although the record sold 14 million copies and performed well on music charts, critics were dismissive of it and the film, labelling the band's exploration of early American music as "pretentious" and "misguided and bombastic". Despite their commercial popularity, the group were dissatisfied creatively, and reacting to their own sense of musical stagnation, U2 searched for new musical ground. During this period, Bono and the Edge began increasingly writing songs together without Larry Mullen or bassist Adam Clayton, and the group recorded demos at STS Studios in Dublin, which later evolved into the songs 'Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses', 'Until The End Of The World', 'Even Better Than The Real Thing', and 'Mysterious Ways'. U2 hired Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno to produce the album, based on the duo's prior work with the band on 'The Unforgettable Fire' and 'The Joshua Tree'. They chose to record at Hansa Studios in West Berlin, near the recently opened Berlin Wall, where several acclaimed records had been made, including two from David Bowie's "Berlin Trilogy" with Eno, and Iggy Pop's 'Lust For Life'. The initial recording sessions took place at Hansa Studios in late 1990 in the Meistersaal, a former SS ballroom, but morale worsened once the sessions commenced, as the band worked long days, but could not agree on a musical direction. 

The Edge had been listening to electronic dance music and to industrial bands like Einstürzende Neubauten, Nine Inch Nails, the Young Gods, and KMFDM, and he and Bono advocated new musical directions along these lines. In contrast, Mullen was listening to classic rock acts such as Blind Faith, Cream, and Jimi Hendrix, and he was learning how to "play around the beat". U2 returned to Dublin for Christmas, where they discussed their future together and all recommitted to the group. Listening to the tapes, they agreed their material sounded better than they originally thought, and they briefly returned to Berlin in January 1991 to finish their work at Hansa. In February 1991, U2 moved the album's recording sessions to the seaside manor Elsinore in the Dublin suburb of Dalkey, renting the house for £10,000 per month. Although the sessions there were more relaxed and productive, the band did struggle with one particular song, which was later released as the b-side 'Lady With The Spinning Head', although three separate tracks, 'The Fly', 'Ultraviolet (Light My Way)' and 'Zoo Station', were derived from it. In April, tapes from the earlier Berlin sessions were stolen after the band reportedly left them in a hotel room, and they were subsequently leaked before the album was finished. The recordings were bootlegged into a three-disc collection dubbed 'Salome: The [Axtung Beibi] Outtakes', named after the song 'Salome' that was prominently featured in the collection but which didn't make the album's final cut. The bootleg was mastered directly from the DAT's that U2 produced as working tapes during the recording sessions, and consequently the recording quality is outstanding. 

Many of these songs are early versions of 'Achtung Baby' tracks, while others are unique and unreleased songs, or musical ideas, as the band at that time were writing primarily through jam sessions. The final album represents a deviation from the sound of their past work, with the songs being less anthemic in nature, and their musical style demonstrates a more European aesthetic, introducing influences from alternative rock, industrial music, and electronic dance music. The album's first single, 'The Fly', was released in October 1991, a month before the album, and although sounding nothing like U2's typical style, it was a critical and chart success, reaching number 1 in the UK. When 'Achtung Baby' appeared in November 1991, it received acclaim from critics and fans alike, re-establishing U2 as one of the most popular and critically acclaimed musical acts in the world. For this look behind the scenes of the making of the album, I've picked the best versions of the multiple takes of some of the songs, and although many of them later appeared officially on the actual record or on b-sides, these are all radically different versions, with alternate titles and lyrics. 'I Feel Free' later morphed in 'Until The End Of The World', 'Don't Turn Around' became 'Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses', 'Back Mask U2' was used for 'So Cruel', and 'Take You Down' was an early version of 'Lady With The Spinning Head'. I've made some subtle edits, removing Bono's stammer on the beginning to 'Sweet Baby Jane', fixing the drop-out in 'Doctor Doctor, and toning down the distracting vocalisations on the bridge of 'I Feel Free', but the rest of the music is as it was recording at the time. 

Track listing

01 Where Did It All Go Wrong
02 Doctor Doctor
03 I Feel Free
04 If You Want To Take Tomorrow
05 She's Gonna Blow Your House Down
06 Sweet Baby Jane
07 Take You Down
08 Heaven And Hell
09 Don't Turn Around
10 Back Mask U2
11 Salome