Zooropa

by

U2

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Give U2 credit for not settling into a comfortable groove after the massive success of "Ach-Tung Baby," and just releasing more albums in that same mold. On "Zooropa," Bono and the boys decided to experiment with their sound and take it in unusual new directions. And while it doesn't always work, enough of it does to excuse them for not producing another single as catchy as "Mysterious Ways."

The album is best characterized by "Numb," in which seldom-heard-from guitarist The Edge mumbles the barely sensical spoken word lyrics over a gorgeous synthesizer background. Other oddities include the slowly building opening title track, the strange vocals on "Daddy's Going to Pay for Your Crashed Car," and the Johnny Cash collaboration "The Wanderer," with some bizarre apocalyptic imagery that closes things on an appropriate note. Even the more conventional songs, like "Babyface," "Stay," have an otherwordly quality about them.

Overall, "Zooropa" is not the place for casual fans to start their U2 collection. Nevertheless, it is a worthwhile challenge for the already commited.

For me, Zooropa was the one U2 disc that I had written off by word of mouth: All of my friends and favorite critics considered it "U2's dissapointment." I picked it up after seeing it in a discount bin just to round off my collection. I plopped it into the CD player, and prepared to go off to do other things, but I was held- and immediately fascinated. I listened to it 2 times in a row, hardly doing anything but rereading the sleeve. I was more than pleasantly surprised: I love this album!

Don't get me wrong: there are some significant flaws. But I'd rather get them out of the way quickly; the strengths are much more fun here. Sequencing is a huge problem: the album never sounds conceived together. It almost sounds like a B-sides collection: in fact, some of the weaker tracks ARE obviously B-side material (Babyface, Dirty Day, The First Time) and then there's The Wanderer, such a strangely out-of-place song that its puzzling how it merited inclusion. But, then again, Zooropa itself is an out-of-place album...

Flaws aside, this is U2's most inventive album ever. Much more groundbreaking than even Actung Baby (a fairly groundbreaking album), they successfully merged eurodance and pop with these tracks. With elements that are entirely new. Zooropa is a collage introduction that is perfectly described by the sleeve art. Numb is terrifically catchy and irreverent. Some Days are Better than Others is such a laid-back ode to the philosophy of "take life as it comes" that it should be standard on todays cd player to defeat road rage. And then theres Lemon, U2 most "epic" song of the 90's, and my personal favorite U2 song since "One Tree Hill."

Not every disc can be perfect, but Zooropa just goes to show that with great bands like U2 even their flawed discs can be as interesting as their classics. Definately recommended.