FROM THE SKY DOWN

Some thoughts about Davis Guggenheim's fantastic documentary about U2 and the making of ACHTUNG BABY.



There's a common argument among U2 fans over the last 20 years: which is better, 1987's THE JOSHUA TREE or 1991's ACHTUNG BABY?  Depending on a number of factors (my mood; which album I'd most recently listened to; the phase of the moon; etc), my answer changes.  (Occasionally, it even shifts to ZOOROPA.)  What's interesting is that, although the albums were recorded only four years apart, they could not be more different.  Where THE JOSHUA TREE is anthemic, important, sincere, ACHTUNG BABY is groovy, sexy, ironic.  How did this band get from point A to point B?