Wow. Can you believe that it’s been nearly 20 years since U2 released their pivotal seventh studio album, Achtung Baby? The album spawned a whole slough of hit singles including “The Fly,” “Mysterious Ways,” “One,” “Even Better Than The Real Thing,” and “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses,” with every single one of them going top ten on the Billboard Hot 100. The album became the band’s third #1 on the Billboard 200, also going number one nearly every where else around the world. Those were the days! It seems like now a band is lucky if their first single goes top ten much less every single released off of an album. My how things have changed in the music industry.
To celebrate the 20 year anniversary of Achtung Baby‘s release (November 19th) U2 is releasing a special anniversary edition of the album, due out October 31st internationally and November 1st in the States. The album, a pinnacle of their career, was recorded over the course of six months at Hansa Studio in Berlin and Windmill Lane in Dublin. The album was produced by longtime U2 collaborators Daniel Lanois, and Brian Eno along with Steve Lillywhite. In addition to digital download, the special edition will be available in 5 physical editions including a vinyl box set, a 2-CD set, a 6 CD/4DVD set and a limited, numbered “Uber Deluxe Edition,” featuring 6 CDs, 4 DVDs, music videos a baby double vinyl, an 84-page hardback book, a pair of Bono’s trademark ‘The Fly‘ sunglasses and much more. INSANE! Check out details of each of the special editions and pre-order information HERE.
Earlier this year, U2 returned Hansa Studio in Berlin to discuss the making of that landmark album for a documentary film, From The Sky Down, directed by Academy Award-winning director Davis Guggenheim (Waiting For Superman, An Inconvenient Truth). The film opened the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival on September 8th and is included in the special edition release of the album. Check out the trailer for From The Sky Down below.