“It’s not gonna work”: The U2 solo too emotional to be released
Any great song is driven by some sort of emotional outlet. If anyone tried to pass off their best work by singing in the most monotone voice possible, no one would relate to them when they actually played their material live. The only way to make the audience feel something is if the person singing is feeling something as well, but a band like U2 had to acknowledge when they were pushing themselves a bit too far for the sake of their art.
When the Irish legends entered their rock icon phase, though, some of their emotional outbursts tended to be the problem half the time. The Joshua Tree may have been one of the greatest records that the decade ever produced, but looking back on what they would eventually do on Rattle and Hum, some of the best moments in the film are kneecapped by having moments where Bono either refuses to shut his mouth or says something a bit condescending during his onstage tirades.
Then again, it’s always a bit of a double-edged sword. Bono screaming out in pain about having enough of Irish Americans talking to him about what’s going on in their home country is genuinely powerful, but his choice to change Bob Dylan’s words to suit the moment on their version of ‘All Along the Watchtower’ feels like he’s trying to insert himself into rock and roll history without asking.
So when a band has something that pretentious in their arsenal, it’s no wonder that Achtung Baby came out directly afterwards. They had been through their time as rock gods, and since the grunge scene had justifiably killed any other lavish rock and roll stars, U2’s choice to get ironic with their stage setup was the only way they could have survived and held out their credibility. But that doesn’t mean there wasn’t some genuine pain on the record.
“The solo I ended up playing expressed way better what I was wanting to say. But it had to be done in a cold, dispassionate frame of mind.”
The Edge
As much as Bono liked to posture in all of the videos for this album, tunes like ‘Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses’ and ‘So Cruel’ were the first time that people found out that even the biggest names in the music industry have their own set of problems. Right as The Edge was going through a major divorce, ‘Love is Blindness’ became the one song that was too emotional to release in its original state.
The song itself is very sparse on the final recording, but the only reason why there aren’t bells and whistles is because the guitarist was too overcome with emotion on previous takes, saying, “I played what I thought was this crazy, emotionally driven solo. Afterwards, Danny [Lanois, co-producer] said, ‘Yeah, Edge, that was good, but I think you could do it better. Could you try again?’ The solo I ended up playing expressed way better what I was wanting to say. But it had to be done in a cold, dispassionate frame of mind. If you let your emotions absolutely take over, it’s not gonna work.”
And despite being a bit cold and clinical compared to everything else he had played, keeping things incredibly simple was the right approach for this kind of tune. All of the lyrics are about someone learning that they are even more lost than they thought when it came to love, and having things be incredibly dry actually does a better job at telling that person’s story rather than lashing out in anger.
Especially for an album bathed in postmodern irony, ‘Love is Blindness’ is one of the few ways that the band could have ended Achtung Baby and still sound earnest. They had wanted to switch things up at the turn of the decade, but they were never going to lose the passion that they started with. The guitars may have been roaring in a different way, but when it came to every tune, they ran towards their goal with their heart first.
