VERSUS: U2

The Joshua Tree vs. Achtung Baby

What would you do on a 14-hour flight if the Wi-Fi was out, the movies weren’t appealing, and sleep made no sense because you no longer knew what date or time it was anyway? Well, if you are Dutch, you take those hours and attempt something so ridiculous – or genius – that it may never have been tried before.

Dutch returns with a dangerous proposition: putting The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby in a head-to-head, track by track heavyweight fight.

I don’t agree with every result – frankly, I’m still recovering from a couple of them – but that’s part of the fun. What follows is part criticism, part fandom, and part late-night U2 argument between friends.

Which U2 album reigns supreme? You’ll have to keep reading to find out.

Match-up 1: Reinvention

Where the Streets Have No Name vs. Zoo Station

It’s 1986. After leaving the world speechless with a perfect Live Aid performance, your band is destined to become the biggest in the world – but now you have to prove it. It’s immense pressure, but somehow it helps U2 reinvent themselves from the band they were before.

Incorporating the sights and sounds of a massive U.S. tour, write an absolute anthem of liberation. The song breathes freedom and is the perfect opening to The Joshua Tree. It’s a new direction for the band and it’s exciting.

To this day, the song sounds as new as it did in 1987, which is remarkable.

It’s 1990. You are in Berlin, just after the Wall came down. History is happening right outside your recording studio. Music, too, is changing, and this is your chance to reinvent your band – again.

Whereas The Joshua Tree is the result of U2 being influenced by established American styles, Achtung Baby requires the band to invent completely new sounds and textures. They struggled for a while until, all of a sudden, it just clicked – a creative victory.

“Zoo Station” is the perfect opening song. It breathes a different freedom: freedom from writer’s block and into a new and exciting direction for the band.

Verdict

“I want to feel the sunlight on my face.”

Joshua Tree 1 — Achtung Baby 0

Match-up 2: Revelation

I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For vs. Even Better Than the Real Thing

Make no mistake – “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” is a gospel song. It sounds sweet and yearning, yet somehow lamenting at the same time. The opening riff is immediately recognizable. It’s such a nice mix of traditional gospel and U2 spirituality.

In a way, this is similar to what Paul Simon achieved on Graceland. A very unique song, and I love how it sets up the live version on Rattle and Hum.

“Even Better Than the Real Thing” is even better than the first track. The siren-esque guitar slides that open the song signal that we’re off and running. It still has those powerful strumming chords, but it feels more pop than we were used to from the band.

I didn’t appreciate this song when I was younger, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized something: U2 knew better.

Verdict

“Then all the colours will bleed into one.”

JT 2 — AB 0

Match-Up 3: Battle of the Behemoths

With or Without You vs. One

A woman I used to know once told me she met Bono on a rooftop patio. She didn’t recognize him, and he proceeded to sing “With or Without You” to her by way of introduction. Can you imagine?

This is peak U2 and, of course, THE killer song on the album. The atmosphere and the video are signature U2.

A few years after Achtung Baby was released, I celebrated my high school graduation. At one party, I found myself sitting in a backyard post-party with another guy and a couple of girls. It was slowly getting light out and we needed one more song to wrap up the evening and start our future.

You know how a song can bring back memories and senses by association? That’s “One” for me.

It’s one of the most brutally honest love songs U2 ever recorded and continues to connect with people across generations. This is the battle of the two biggest songs on both albums.

Verdict

“Nothing to win and nothing left to lose.”

JT 3 — AB 0

Match-Up 4: Taking a Bullet

Bullet in the Blue Sky vs. Until the End of the World

There are two types of people in this world – people who like “Bullet the Blue Sky” and people who know good music. That’s a bit harsh, but man.

Sure, the song has its moments. It paints a picture, but honestly, it feels like a song without a clear direction. I find it skippable.

However, you can’t sleep on “Until the End of the World”. Larry Mullen lays down a strong driving backbeat to keep the song pushing forward. It’s perfectly placed after “One” and reminds the listener that the band is committed to this new sound.

Lyrically, it feels like Bono is becoming more comfortable writing about personal themes in an abstract way.

Verdict

“You miss too much these days if you stop to think.”

JT 3 — AB 1

Match-Up 5: Vulnerability

Running to Stand Still vs. Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses

To finish off the first side of The Joshua Tree, the band slows it down. In terms of album flow, it works because it redeems the “what?” feeling from “Bullet the Blue Sky”. We forgive you, U2.

I’ve always loved this song. Bono was very critical of his falsettos, but here they’re haunting. As I understand it, the lyrics are based on where Bono grew up, which increases the personal feel.

Now U2 starts to show their cards. “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses” feels like going to church – it’s a hymn. The angst and vulnerability in the relationship just soak through the lyrics. The build is fantastic, especially when the bass finally comes in.

It’s simply an excellent song.

Verdict

“You’re an accident waiting to happen.”

JT 3 — AB 2

Since The Joshua Tree has one fewer song, “So Cruel” becomes the unofficial intermission. No points awarded – just enough time to grab another drink before Achtung Baby starts getting really weird.

Match-Up: Side 2 Explodes Out of the Gate

Red Hill Mining Town vs. The Fly

Compared to Side 1, the second half of The Joshua Tree feels diminutive. But there’s treasure to be found in the smaller songs, showcasing the high floor of the band’s songwriting. Case in point: “Red Hill Mining Town”. A perfect song for Bono to lean into, it keeps flowing forward while subtly building.

Meanwhile, Achtung Baby counters with “The Fly”. The first single from the album, it’s also the first time Bono fully leans into his self-parodying Zoo TV-era persona, which became the standard for the decade. “The Fly” was not a huge hit in America, but it served its purpose as the harbinger of the band’s new direction.

Verdict

“And it comes like a hunter, child.”

JT 4 — AB 2

Match-Up 7: Contrast

In God’s Country vs. Mysterious Ways

We go a bit more up-tempo again with “In God’s Country”. The song drives with an air of positivity and possibility. Bono’s voice still carries melancholy, but it feels happy-sad. It’s the perfect marker for the zeitgeist of the mid-’80s: optimism and social change that would ultimately help bring down the Berlin Wall.

“Mysterious Ways” is the best example of the band’s new sound and the main reason they stayed relevant. The industrial sound is paired with an upbeat, almost hip-hop-sounding backbeat. The bass line is hypnotizing and the choppy guitars work perfectly.

“Mysterious Ways” is a song for the ages.

Verdict

“If you want to kiss the sky, better learn how to kneel.”

JT 4 — AB 3

Match-Up 8: Under the Radar

Trip Through Your Wires vs. Trying to Throw Your Arms Around the World

Eight songs into the album and the harmonica introduces a new sound. It feels bluesy and lived-in. It’s a quality song and probably helped the band feel comfortable enough to eventually duet with B.B. King, so there’s your raison d’être.

I love “Tryin’ to Throw Your Arms Around the World”. It’s one of those diminutive songs that, blink, and you might miss it. It has great flow and excellent lyrics. Invoking Dalí and rhyming it with “supermarket trolley” is top-notch stuff.

Verdict

“Sunrise like a nosebleed.”

JT 4 — AB 4

Match-Up 9: End of Album Juggernauts

One Tree Hill vs. Ultra Violet

“One Tree Hill” is my favourite song on the album outside the first three. Mullen is fantastic here and completely carries the song. It feels simple, but it flows beautifully – like a river runs to the sea. The climax is trademark Bono.

You know that feeling when you’re 90 minutes into a concert and emotionally exhausted, but you still want to stay until the end because it’s just that good? In my mind, that’s “Ultra Violet”.

Ten songs into the album and this track relentlessly drags the listener forward. Just a solid, underappreciated song.

Verdict

“And the moon has turned red over One Tree Hill.”

JT 5 — AB 4

Match-Up 10: The Quiet

Exit vs. Acrobat

I’ve always found “Exit” tough to listen to. Maybe I just wasn’t mature enough to understand it when the album first came out. That discomfort has never fully disappeared. It’s definitely the song with the strongest connection to the band’s early post-punk material, but it also feels slightly out of place on The Joshua Tree.

I’ve always felt that “Ultra Violet” was the unofficial end of the album and the final two songs were the afterparty. Neither one is interested in going gentle into that good night. They claw at relevance with desperation.

It took me years to understand “Acrobat,” but it’s an absolute hidden gem – and what a time to pull it out.

Verdict

“I must be an acrobat to talk like this and act like that.”

JT 5 — AB 5

Match-Up 11: The End

Mothers of the Disappeared vs. Love is Blindness

I loved “Mothers of the Disappeared” growing up. It’s a simple song, but it benefited enormously from live performance, which speaks to the power of the song itself. Now it feels like a humble fade-out that balances the extroversion of the rest of the album, and frankly, I don’t know any other way The Joshua Tree could end.

“Love Is Blindness” was always just okay to me, but when Jack White covered it, I was forced to revisit the original and appreciate it far more. It’s a tasteful ending to a monumental album.

Verdict

“I don’t want to see.”

JT 5 — AB 6

In Conclusion

Comparing the albums song by song was fun to do. But with the final score in, do I really think Achtung Baby is the better album?

No.

The Joshua Tree wins for me, hands down. The bigger songs are simply bigger – anthems that feel culturally and emotionally larger. If The Joshua Tree never existed, that would have had a far greater impact on the quality of life of any U2 fan than if Achtung Baby had never been made.

But there’s a strong case to be made that Achtung Baby is one of the most impressive albums of all time. The courage and confidence in the band’s artistic process – that takes cojones. Especially after the relative misfire of Rattle and Hum.

Achtung Baby is a cohesive album created during a time of political, social, and musical upheaval. U2 were one of the few bands from the ’80s that not only survived the shift – they owned it, making the jump from world-class band to legends.

Luckily, we don’t actually need to choose.

We get to enjoy both albums and debate their merits endlessly.

Do you have a favourite? Or is it War and this was all for naught?

Let us know in the comments.