ACHTUNG BABY- U2 (island) By Kirby Ferguson

Okay, this is it, the year’s BIG release. I must admit I quivered with antici... pation as I slid this one into my CD player. And what did I hear? Well, first a brief history of U2. With a guitarist who sounded alternately like a machine gun or twirling helicopter blades, a militant beat and a powerful lead singer U2 became the ‘‘biggest’’ and best thing to come out of the eighties. Without producing even one stinker i0n their career (I liked RATTLE AND HUM, especially the live stuff) U2 hit their prime on THE JOSHUA TREE, an album remarkable for it’s beautiful balance between the technological and the human. With RAT- TLE AND HUM they retreated into classic Americana leaving the field wide, wide open for their next move.

My expectations for their latest were sky-high for several reasons: it’s U2, it’s new U2 and it’s pro- luced by Daniel ‘‘Everything I Touch Turns To jold’’ Lanois. ACHTUNG BABY immediately got on ny bad side- I have an intense dislike of albums with :ows on the cover-nonetheless, on their latest I ex- ected to hear U2’s new roots collide head-on with heir more avant garde leanings witha little hard rock yombast thrown in for good measure. What I got was vhat I considered to be one of the most nihilistic vorks ever created in rock. Gone is the graceful, owerful melodicism of THE JOSHUA TREE,

3ono’s impassioned howls are replaced by subtlety, he Edge’s guitar is at it’s most metallic and Larry Aullen sounds very much like C3PO. Also absent is heir newly discovered rock ‘n’ roll heritage; Dylan, lendrix, Lennon, B.B. King and the rest don’t exist n this picture. What I heard was something that I elieved to sound somewhat like Jesus Jones. I found 1yself suffocating, dying for aray of light to cut hrough all this cold murk. It’s pretty far removed fom the dynamic display of rock mastery that I xpected to hear from this band so high on principle.

ut since this is U2, I listened and listened and

ee I listened to it loud, I listened to it quiet, I Stened to it standing on my head, waiting for this ucker to come together. And indeed it did come gether. the songs on ACHTUNG BABY take a few stenings for their form to become clear, Standouts re the graceful ballad ‘‘One’ ", the gospel tinged Mysterious Ways’’, another lovely ballad ‘Tryin’ Throw Your Arms Around the World’’, and of

durse, the grinding first single, ‘‘The Fly’’. The

JPET X-P RESS

November 28, 199]

qm ric sheet is their strongest ever, filled with sharp

truths and oblique imagery, shades of Elvis Costello methinks.

However, the album is definitely flawed. It’s notas soul satisfying as their earlier work, and it’s a bit on the cold side (Icould really do without the computer- perfect drums). ACHTUNG BABY isa work of quiet intensity, and one that I’m sure will confuse a lot of people. Don’t expect THE JOSHUA TREE, this may as well be a different band, but after a while you’ ll see what these guys were thinking. Personally I’d have preferred to hear the boys kick out the jams on this one. Nonetheless, the albums startling song quality, and sense of adventure marks it as a triumph.

By the way, my list of the top ten albums of the year is in the rag your holding someplace. Youcan throw this album in there some place.

Review of “SHATTERED”

‘*Shattered’’ is a mind blowing movie, in my opinion. Shattered is every bit as enjoyable as those block- buster summer movies, maybe more so. Greta Sacchi, the Italian actress is new to North American audi- ences. Imean how many people saw ‘“The Coca Cola Kid’’? Probably not very many. Sacchi isa fine actress with nice looks. She reminds me a little of Michelle Pfeiffer only I like Sacchia lot better. Shattered does what most movies seldom do. It leads you one way. Most movies turn around, flip over, and leave you scratching your head. Eventually the in- triguing story is pieced together, hence the title ‘*Shattered’’. At one point in the movie it seemed like the entire audience was discussing with their friends just what they though was really going to occur next. Shattered had everyone thinking with its impressive effects, eerie scenes and the interesting characters. Thankfully, the effects weren’t over- played and over blown, Looks like Shattered is gone from town, so if you want to see it you'll have to rent it later. Hope this doesn’t leave your life Shattered.

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