Music Review: "Akh-toong Bay-bi Covered"

(Originally published on Yahoo! Voices on November 23, 2011)

As part of the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of U2's "Achtung Baby" going on in November 2011, "Q" magazine released a limited production free CD with orders of the December issue (also the 25th anniversary issue of "Q"). This CD entitled "Ahk-toong Bay-bi Covered" is billed as the best free CD in history.

At first, "Q" announced its intentions to ship the CD only with U.K. orders of the issue, but after pressure from U2's international fanbase, www.newsstand.co offered it with international orders with reasonable restrictions. Within days, U2 made arrangements for the CD to be shipped overseas if ordered through their online shop at www.u2.com. Soon, "Q" finally agreed to offer it internationally if orders were placed through their official site at www.qthemusic.com, however woefully belated. Now it is available for download on iTunes with all proceeds going to help famine victims in Africa.

But all this hysteria and hype for an album of covers? Yes. These covers were commissioned from the various artists by U2 themselves and "Q" quotes Bono in the December 2011 issue that featured the CD as declaring: "Some of these versions are better than our own!"

The tracklisting is as follows:

1. "Zoo Station"- Nine Inch Nails
2. "Even Better Than The Real Thing (Jacques Lu Cont Mix)"- U2
3. "One"- Damien Rice
4. "Until The End of the World"- Patti Smith
5. "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses"- Garbage
6. "So Cruel"- Depeche Mode
7. "The Fly"- Gavin Friday
8. "Mysterious Ways"- Snow Patrol
9. "Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around the World"- The Fray
10. "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)"- The Killers
11. "Acrobat"- Glasvegas
12. "Love Is Blindness"- Jack White

So is the CD worth the hype? While I don't agree with Bono's assessment (he says: "And it's strange, because when I hear the album, when U2 do it, all I hear is what's wrong with it. But when I heard all these artists doing it, I thought, It's really good." A typical artist's modest reaction to his own work versus others.), I have to say that it deserves every bit of the hype and mania. Following is a song-by-song review of this remarkable (and collectible) tribute CD to one of the greatest bands of rock history and their most important masterpiece:

There has been a lot of talk about U2 and Nine Inch Nails. Nine Inch Nails were one of the industrial genre bands that the Edge was listening to going into the "Achtung Baby" recording sessions, so in a sense, their spirit is all over the original album. One of the great criticisms against "No Line on the Horizon", released in 2009 and also one of the most experimental and creatively stretched albums of U2's career, was that some felt it sounded too much like Nine Inch Nails. Well, this is Nails answer to that- and it sounds like nothing on "No Line". Their cover of "Zoo Station" scales back some of the brash rawness of the original into something more ethereal. Bono's chanting among and around the chorus wails is eliminated altogether. The technology applied to Bono's voice in the original is not present here. Trent Reznor sings clear, his own untampered voice tripping over the lines. The driving drum lines that mimic a locomotive pounding along a track are preserved, but there is a background droning to the soundscape, particularly in the closing, that is reminiscent of the rise and fall of prop plane engines. This takes the song away from the nonfiction location of its title- Zoo Train Station in Berlin- updates it, and drops us on an airport tarmac. Nine Inch Nails chose to repeat the lyrics "It's alright" as a much more constant, ambulatory force, pushing the song forward in a way their musical composition doesn't. The real hook of this cover, however, is the way the soundscape seems to float a person in air while the rest of the world spins by in a blur. This creates a feeling that correctly interprets the lyrics and emotion that inspired the original. One imagines that this is what it must feel like to held aloft in the vortex of a tornado while debris cycles in the walls of wind around you: detached, surreal, fearful, free-falling, out of control, and apathetic toward your fate as you take it all in. A perfect summary of the situation facing the world in the early 1990s.

I'm not thrilled that U2 has included one of their club mixes here. "Even Better Than the Real Thing (Jacques Lu Cont Mix)" feels unnecessary. There are more dance versions of this song than any other in U2's catalogue and all of them various mixes of their own. Why do we need another? Wouldn't it have been better to include this on one of the bonus CDs in the anniversary box set packages rather than foist it on us here? That being said, it's as good as any of the other club mixes, ready and rearing for a party. The arrangement throws this song back into the 1980s. Still, the lyrics could never have come from anything but the 1990s, which creates a sense of displacement in time and dislocation. And I can never get enough of the line: "We're free to fly the crimson sky/ the sun won't melt our wings tonight." (Interestingly, the Daedalus and Icarus reference pops up again in the Spiderman musical, most notably in "Boy Falls from the Sky". In hindsight, these can be taken as Bono's typical commentary on the political situations of the times. In the early 1990s, especially in the immediate aftermath of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of communism, there seemed for an instant to be boundless possibilities and enthusiasm, which was qualified by the difficulties inherit in those possibilities as "Achtung Baby" clearly chronicles. The vacuum and uncertainty that followed the collapse of that order opened the door and gave impetus to the reign of terrorism now affecting the world. The post 9/11 atmosphere is even more paranoid and claustrophobic than during the Cold War. How the "boy falls from the sky" indeed! But I merely explain what I believe to be Bono's progression of thought here and I digress.)

"One" is the most meditative, nuanced, and interpretive song of U2's career. Written about their own difficulties as a band while making "Achtung Baby" and built around the slogan being freely shouted by people on Berlin's streets at the time: "We are ONE people!", the song also encompasses the frustration of what became painfully evident very quickly: the near-impossibility of making that slogan ring true. It has also been said to be a son with AIDS speaking to his estranged father. Indeed, a person could spend an entire lifetime analyzing and cataloguing possible meanings for this song and one's work would only be half finished at one's death- it's that kind of song. Because of this, it is the most covered song in U2's repertoire, and the most abused. Most seem to take the stance that to cover a U2 song properly is to make it even bigger than U2 did. Frankly, that's generally impossible to achieve and intolerably cheeky. All vocalists thus far have gone diva with this song. The end result is at best tolerable, at worst nearly as devastating as violation. The song is stripped of its soul and left a shallow outer shell with no depth and no emotional substance. It is numbed and uglied. Enter Damien Rice. Rice turns the song inside out in every possible way. The musical composition consists of acoustic guitar, piano, and a well placed, restrained string section- no frills. A female backup vocal completes this rainy, moody, mourning soundscape. Damien Rice's own vocal is almost spoken rather than sung, more a whisper than a song. The atmosphere is very private, isolated, and lonely- and at the same time strangely inviting and intimate. Lyrically, Rice took up the established paint and spattered it about liberally. He shakes pronouns around, turning the enraged bitter questions on himself. This creates another lifetime of meanings to extract. And makes the burning anger and desperate near-hopeless yearning even more palpable and self-destructive. As Bono describes the song (and the relationship of the band) in the documentary "From the Sky Down": "It's a very unromantic love, it's a very hard-bitten, tough, f**k off love." (And perhaps better and stronger for it.) What Rice does is to subtract the hope inflected into the original by the Edge's soaring guitar solo at the end and leave it as purely that, self-inflicted. Rice's cover is the very opposite of the original, and the best cover ever attempted. It has quickly become one of my favorite songs in its own right.

U2 have from the very beginning touted Patti Smith as an influence on them, so it's no surprise they asked her to cover "Until the End of the World". While the original is a sonic, schizoid bombardment, Smith pared it down to an acoustic guitar, piano, and old-fashioned bass. She plays with the cadence of the song, speaking her way through the lyrics and tsking at appropriate places. This is a jazzy, bluesy rendition of the type one might expect to hear in a smoky piano bar in a 1940s film. Perhaps this is how Billie Holiday might have performed it.

"Achtung Baby" was a major influence on Garbage who were just getting their feet wet when it appeared. Drummer Butch Vig says in "Q" regarding "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses": "We picked this song because we love the lyrics. We stripped the verses down and changed the major chord to a minor chord, which makes the lyrics more bitter-sweet." I'm not so sure that they are more bitter-sweet, but female vocals provide a wonderful new perspective and they are sung with passion. The backing vocals create a circling effect that adds to the tension and spinning-out-of-control sensation of unrequited love. And there is nothing here to break that long, soul-battering fall into utter emptiness and aloneness. Musically, Garbage has given it a simmeringly angry, despondent, forget you intro and jangling, discordant guitars juxtapose against balloon-squeaky, almost whistling strings. For the choruses, they bring in the original bass lines and hammering drums to successfully create intermittent moments of epicness. Gone are the glowering sexiness and inescapable despair of the original, but it stands as one of the best covers of a U2 song made to date.

Depeche Mode are contemporaries with U2. Both are survivors of the 1980s music scene, though Depeche Mode has been forced to exist in U2's shadow since "The Joshua Tree". While music journalists at the time presented them as competitors, Martin Gore says in "Q": "There was never a rivalry." Regarding their choice to cover "So Cruel" he says: "We just thought, Why not? So Cruel is Bono at his best, words-wise. And we couldn't tackle One- that would be almost sacrilegious." Their version is a pounding engine of a song. The tempo is ever so slightly increased (that happens a lot in these covers) and it is given a deliberately retrospective 1980s vibe balanced with cathedral-like lifts. The bass lines are not quite as penetrating as the original, but that's probably because the atmosphere here is thicker, busier. This is a psychedelic version of "So Cruel" and comes just short of something made for the dance floor. It could use a little more feeling in the vocals, but that is a negligible complaint.

Gavin Friday is a legend. One of the founding members of the Lypton Village gang and one-time member of the Virgin Prunes, he goes back before U2 began. In fact, he appears in the story during the mad emotional aftermath of the Tragedy: when Bono's mother collapsed with an aneurism at the casket-side of her father's funeral and died several days later without regaining consciousness. Vulnerable, violent, alone, frightened, and suicidal, Bono entered Mount Temple Comprehensive School and terrorized its staff as he tried desperately to make sense of his shattered life, the vacuum her death had left at home, and the divisive affect this had on his family. It wasn't long before he was following Friday around like a stray puppy, listening to his records, mimicking his song-writing, and generally making a pest of himself. Friday included the boy in Lypton Village and gave him his nickname, Bono Vox, which means Good Voice. The rest of U2 followed him. Soon the Virgin Prunes and U2 were sister-bands. The Prunes would open with their purposefully experimental, confrontational, cross-dressing, foul-mouthed set (which was a true sensation in sleepy conservative gossipy Dublin) and U2 would follow, thus playing to hostile, fighting, even rioting audiences that had had enough of the show. But it was a valuable education that they still draw on today. Friday's influence can be seen on every song of U2's early canon on through the release of their debut album "Boy". They would swap lyrics, titles, even entire songs. When the Virgins Prunes called it quits in the early 1980s, some of its members (and most of Lypton Village) were absorbed into U2's road crew. Friday, as is his wont, went his own way. Lypton Village is now the stuff of legend, though the community of it is alive and well. It is the back on which the current artistic and celebrity world of Dublin firmly stands till this day whether they want to admit it or not. Friday continues to be a maverick, experimental character albeit less confrontational- a true artist in every sense. His most renowned work of late has been on soundtracks, such as for the film "In America". He describes his contribution to the original "Achtung Baby" this way: "I remember seeing them working on Achtung Baby in its early stages. I just put a rocket up their a**es and said, Go for it." So it's no surprise that the Edge turned to Friday for "The Fly". "The Edge rang me up and said, Nobody wants to do The Fly- they're all afraid of it," Friday says in "Q". Fear is not something Gavin Friday comprehends. His version of "The Fly" smooths it out like liquid chocolate. This is an entirely different musical planet from the original. He also has a good voice: though still a tenor, his range is typically lower, his voice rougher, less polished, and seemingly less capable of variation than Bono's, but darker and more menacing. This makes it perfect for "The Fly". Where Bono had to apply technology to his voice and whisper his way through many of the lyrics, Friday can produce the same effect, more convincingly and malevolently, naturally. Bono has described this song as a quack philosopher phoning from hell and what Friday does vocally and musically truly feels like it has welled up from the dark depths of the earth. Following the second verse, the songs explodes into something more akin to the original and the end result leaves one feeling like one is trying to compare apples and oranges. I haven't had the good fortune to hear many examples of Friday's singing voice and this cover makes me thirsty for more.

Snow Patrol describes U2 as their mentors and owes their current success to the launching pad of opening for U2 on the Vertigo Tour. Covering "Mysterious Ways" must have felt like an exhilarating privilege and oppressive responsibility. It is one of U2's most recognized songs and a staple of their live sets. But Snow Patrol proved their quality, so to speak, as worthy descendants of U2 and did not disappoint. They gave this CD one of its standout tracks. Their version of "Mysterious Ways" also quickly became one of my favorite songs in much the same way as Damien Rice's "One". "Mysterious Ways" has been associated with belly dance since the release of its official music video. This association is so deeply embedded in the psych of U2's fanbase that the opening chord causes an entire stadium of people to swing their hips to emulate a dancer in the same moment. It is a beautiful and awe-inspiring thing to witness and be a part of. This unspoken cue is almost subconsciously acted on. Snow Patrol, whether knowingly or not, have expanded that tradition. In their attempt to project what they have "always seen (as) the quiet storm of gospel in Mysterious Ways", they have created a Tribal Fusion belly dancer's dream version of this until now more cabaret-arranged song. Musically, the best word to describe it with is sparse. Each note, each sonic effect is carefully placed and executed. This is a proper work of art in its own right. The song builds sonically throughout, but doesn't really achieve the point of full fledged gospel choir flight until the last chorus. What I wouldn't give to see a video on YouTube of Rachel Brice or one of the other Tribal Fusion legends performing to this!

"Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around the World" by the Fray takes a most unconventional, bass-carried, sexy song of longing and turns it into conventional rock and roll as commonly featured on the radio today. This is a very risky thing to do with any U2 song, but especially one from "Achtung Baby", especially one so completely unconventional- even after 20 years-, and especially this late in the tracklisting. Talk about putting it on all the line! I am a fan of the Fray- and of Snow Patrol, for that matter. I enjoy almost everything I have heard by them. With their version of this song, they play it like it is one of their own, in the same style as if they had written and composed it. The bass line that is its lifeblood in the original is nonexistent here except in the chorus. The tempo is sped up significantly. And there are lyrical changes and shifts. The line "I dreamed that I saw Dali", a reference to an Irish governmental official, becomes "The other night I dreamed of Salvador Dali". At first I was inclined to dismiss this as a legitimately misheard lyric based on ignorance of Irish government, but found that this is a common misconception not openly discouraged by U2. No doubt, they feel that linking this line with the surrealist painter, even if erroneous, contributes to the over-all meaning of the song: this is an Irish drinking song, about coming home with a hangover and its consequences. Though like many U2 songs, it is open for further interpretation. And the sudden (at least for me) insertion of Salvador Dali is in that spirit. It certainly has given me a different perspective from which to view the song and essentially that has a lot to do with the success of this cover for me. Otherwise, it is just too safe, even for a cover.

Which is the same difficulty I have with The Killers' "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)". Admittedly, this is a tricky song to cover. It is one of "Achtung Baby's" standout tracks, which is formidable on an album where every song is legendarily outstanding. But this effort is just disappointing. It's not exactly bad, but it could be better. The Killers, also a band that benefitted from the springboard of the Vertigo Tour (some say U2 used that tour to save rock and roll from extinction, if so they succeeded at least for now), are generally a powerhouse along the lines of "Where The Streets Have No Name" type arena rock. The imitation becomes tiring over long stretches, but I do like a thing or two. I expected more from them on this cover. Yet, not only did they not manage a decent imitation track here, but the level of respect they claim for U2 should have elicited something more than that. The tempo is again just ever so slightly revved up, just enough to be noticeable. The song opens with a very Elton John intro and then falters. The arrangement amounts to a conventional song that is both too similar and dissimilar to the original to work. Honestly, it might have worked, in the same bare-thread way that The Fray's offering works, if it had been better sung. The vocals are more showy than heartfelt. Still, one waits patiently for the spine-tingling bridge in the hope of finding redemption there, only to be betrayed. The bridge is paced all wrong, and sung as if he were at the last quarter pole with the wire in view and flaying his horse's hide desperately with the stick without mercy. (These days jockeys generally slap it against their boot or on the leather of the saddle behind them to produce a noise that the horse recognizes and responds to rather than actually strike the mount. But again, I digress.) The whole result is an emotionless, empty, shallow shell of a song that, frankly, is boring.

Thankfully, that is followed by Glasvegas and their cover of "Acrobat". Musically, it is much the same as the original: explosive, angry, grating, rude, desperate, dislocating, and unforgiving, if less dimensional. This song Bono sang without the aid of technology, but James Allan pours it on thick. That, with the up-tick of tempo, are what make this cover acceptable. Allan's voice squeaks, growls, and howls through the track, sometimes startlingly obtrusive where Bono's was quietly and menacingly determined, sometimes an echo on the song's underbelly. The decision to repeat the line "What are we going to do now?" throughout the guitar solo was a touch of genius. If anything, the vocals contribute to the claustrophobic oppression and righteous rebellion of the song rather than take from it and that is what redeems what might otherwise be a too similar rendition.

Jack White is a guitar legend in his own right and has a distinctive style. He approaches a guitar as one would a mortal enemy and it is not uncommon for blood to spray and dribble off the strings when he plays. He is a violent musician with his feet firmly planted in the blues (if you've seen the documentary "It Might Get Loud" you know what I mean). He plays with all the unique rage that growing up in Detroit's slums can produce. Therefore, it is not too hard to discern why he was called upon to cover the most enigmatic song about terrorism in U2's oeuvre. In every interview where the Edge has been asked which of the songs on "Ahk-toong Bay-bi Covered" are his favorite he has invariably named White's version of "Love Is Blindness". The original is a deeply mournful dirge of a ballad, and undeniably among the sexiest songs U2 have produced. The bass resonates through the objects of a room as it were a living being. The guitar weeps and moans and rages as nowhere else. White's rendition is an entirely different song. The tempo is put on overdrive and it is anything but a ballad. Cold, insinuating sorrow that borders on horrifying indifference in the original becomes loud, brash, unrestrained violent rage and even hate in the cover. The guitar is raw, ripping, and gushing. One can feel the sonic boom that must precede destruction and death when a bomb is detonated in a crowded area. White screams, screeches, yells, and howls the lyrics like a man demented by loss and injustice. At one point, he adds: "I'm so sick of it!" Aren't we all? Jack White thus succeeds in giving this CD the third song which I love for its own sake, outside of consideration for the original. Put on repeat, it is a superb release for any number of frustrations.

Having looked carefully at every track on this special tribute CD, is it better than the real thing, as Bono seems to think? No. But it's worth the trouble to obtain and one I will return to again and again as the years roll on. It is a most suitable tribute to one of the best albums of rock history and a perfect compliment.