U2 – Zooropa

“And I feel like I’m drifting, drifting, drifting from the shore
And I feel like I’m swimming out to her

Midnight is where the day begins
Midnight is where the day begins
Midnight is where the day begins

Lemon, see-through in the sunlight

A man builds a city
With banks and cathedrals
A man melts the sand
So he can see the world outside
(You’re gonna meet her there)
A man makes a car
(She’s your destination)
And builds a road to run them on
(You gotta get to her)
A man dreams of leaving
(She’s imagination)
But he always stays behind”

The Dublin quartet’s eighth effort is the darkest and most creative venture of their long careers. Zooropa acts as a fitting coda to U2’s wild experimental era that began with Achtung Baby. Originally planned as an EP the album was written and recorded while on the ZooTv tour and is just hopelessly disconnected and claustrophobic. In the best way.

With the overarching themes of media and marketing over-saturation the album playfully combines droning electronic beats to monotone vocals about all the rules “rockstars” have to face. While mixing in dance beats over faux opera being sang eerily from afar. Producer Brian Eno’s superb production lays out a dystopian soundscape of a grand piano introduction over the beeping and calculating noises of super computers and satellites. This album is nearly thirty years old and still feels like the future.

A critical darling – Zooropa won a Grammy in 1994 for Best Alternative Album and although by far from a commercial failure it is one of post Josh Tree u2’s least commercially successful albums.

Year Released: 1993

Record Label: Island

Genre: Alternative Rock / Pop Rock

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