You could say I was taking up a position purely for the sake of being contrary and controversial, and you'd probably be right, but I've long held that if it weren't for Achtung Baby, you could ignore U2's career.
After my own personal backlash against the excesses of U2 circa 1983, I listened briefly to The Joshua Tree, but felt it was a contrived rock-milestone-by-numbers. Their other eighties albums were easy to pass over. But hearing The Fly on the radio woke me up, because it was such a left turn, apparently more muscular and more soulful.
With the benefit of twenty years (!) to digest it, the album doesn't have the same radical frisson any more. For a short while around 1991/92, with Achtung Baby and Automatic for the People, I found myself in the unusual position of thinking that the most interesting music was coming from two of the biggest rock bands of the day. I even found myself regretting that I'd ignored the Zoo TV tour. Though if I'd gone, I bet I'd have been cured of my enthusiasm much more quickly: me and big arena crowds don't mix; at times they've come close to putting me off even Neil Young.
As it was, I was so taken with this album that I carried on listening to U2 through Zooropa as far as Pop before I lost the plot again. And I went back to The Unforgettable Fire, and even found things to like in The Joshua Tree.
MusicBrainz entry for this album
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