1991 - U2 - Achtung Baby

1991 - U2 - Achtung Baby

Author: Bridge Media December 31, 2022 Duration: 23:46

They rose up from a nation divided by religious sectarianism and the ashes of punk rock to become one of the biggest bands of the 80’s, but by the time 1991 rolled around the Irish supergroup U2 were on a quest to re-invent themselves.

With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dawn of a new decade, U2 set up camp in Berlin with producers Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, who had been at the helm of The Joshua Tree.

It was here that the seeds were planted for what would become Achtung Baby, with the band taking on influences from industrial and alternative music as well as the European house and dance music scene.

 Achtung Baby would go on to top the Billboard Album Charts, earn the group a Grammy Award and rack up a whopping 18 million copies in sales.

It would also give birth to the Zoo TV tour–a rock spectacle on a scale that no one had seen before.

30 Rock is a Bridge Media production. It's hosted by Liam Renton and resident rock historian Justin Rouillon.

Get in touch with us anytime by emailing 30rockmusic@gmail.com


There’s a certain magic that happens when a great album hits its thirtieth anniversary-it’s no longer just a recent release, but it hasn’t yet been fully cemented as a relic. 30 Rock, from Bridge Media, lives in that fascinating space. Each episode is a deep, conversational dive into a landmark record that’s turning thirty, treating it with the context it deserves. We’re not just hitting play; we’re unpacking the cultural moment that birthed it, the production quirks that define its sound, and its lasting ripple effect on everything that followed. This podcast operates at the intersection of music, commentary, and history, treating each album as a time capsule. The journey begins with 1991, a year that genuinely reshaped the musical landscape, where the sudden, seismic shift toward alternative rock and the arrival of Nirvana signaled a true changing of the guard. You’ll hear us pull these stories from the crates and the CD collections, debating what made these works so enduring and why they still matter now. It’s for anyone who loves to hear the backstory behind the tracks, to remember where they were when they first heard it, or to discover a classic thirty years on with fresh ears. Tune in for thoughtful, off-the-cuff discussions that celebrate the albums that defined a generation, three decades later.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 4

30 Rock
Podcast Episodes
The 30 Rock Podcast Trailer [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:19
1991 was the year when music changed forever.Grunge and the Seattle scene were on the cusp of exploding, hip-hop had grown up and mega-bands like U2 were reinventing themselves, spurred on by the winds of change that the…
1991 - R.E.M. - Out of Time [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 20:56
When we think back 30 years ago to 1991, we think about the alternative revolution driven by bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden.But there was one band who paved the way for the subsequent music industry shake…
1991 - Pearl Jam - Ten [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:49
In the late 80's Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament were riding high in the Seattle music scene with the success of their band Mother Love Bone.But with the shock overdose and death of frontman Andrew Wood, the guitarist and b…