This article originally appeared in the September 1999 issue of SPIN. “You must be high.” We heard that a lot during the time we spent preparing this issue. Which is understandable. Pronouncing the 90 greatest albums of the ’90s is a somewhat presumptuous thing to do. When you’re measuring the music this decade is offering to […]
This article originally appeared in the July 1992 issue of SPIN. In honor of Achtung Baby turning 30, we’re republishing it here. “What you can never get in your book is the utter, total boredom of being in a band [on tour].” —John Lydon, quoted in Jon Savage’s England’s Dreaming April 9, 1992: Rolling through the sun-scrubbed Arizona […]
In honor of the 30th anniversary of Achtung Baby, U2 has announced a massive, forthcoming deluxe edition release of the record. The Achtung Baby (30th Anniversary Edition) is out on special standard and deluxe vinyl on November 19, ahead of the 50-track digital boxset available December 3, via Island Records, Interscope, and UMe. The boxset includes Uber Remixes, […]
U2 just released a track off the forthcoming Sing 2 movie soundtrack, “Your Song Saved My Life.” This is the band’s proper release since “Ahimsa” where they teamed with A.R. Rahman in 2019 (No, Martin Garrix’s song with Bono and The Edge for Euro 2020 doesn’t count). The original song is featured in the upcoming movie, in […]
Music videos are the perfect bastard child of art and commerce, even more than pop music itself. A promotional visual accompaniment to a popular song doesn’t need a coherent narrative (although on rare occasions, they do). It just needs to suit the song, sell the record, and possibly make the artist look cool. But since […]
In a collaboration virtually no one asked for that is sure to please only the handful of crossover fans, superstar Dutch DJ Martin Garrix teamed up with Bono and The Edge of U2 to create the official track for the 2020 edition of the UEFA European Football Championship. The track is titled “We Are the People,” […]
On the august occasion of our 36th Anniversary, we are issuing our first ever music pardons. No longer does Billy Ray Cyrus have to live in shame! The Baha Men can finally sleep easy at night, the awful yoke of their aural crime lifted! Eddie Murphy can live out the rest of his days appreciated […]
Bono and the Edge got in the holiday spirit this week and performed an in-studio cover of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” during Ireland’s Late Late Show holiday episode. The performance was a tribute to the annual Christmas Eve Grafton Street Busk, and the U2 stars were joined by a number of local musicians. The band also […]
COVID-19 brought the concert industry to a screeching halt in 2020. But all that disposable income music fans generally spend on concert tickets and tour merch has been redirected to the retail front: supporting artists and labels by shopping online during quarantine. And this holiday season brings an overwhelming amount of worthy box sets, books, […]
Let’s face it: With most “Best Albums” lists, you know the broad strokes of the ranking before you even click. Part of that predictability is understandable: Most iconic records earn their reputation. But these rankings shouldn’t be fossilized, and a shit-ton of amazing LPs have been shoved aside in the pursuit of maintaining the status […]