Zooropa

U2 | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 6, 1993)
• Original Release Date: July 6, 1993
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Island
• ASIN: B000001E18
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (234 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #2,135 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

  #13 in	Music > Alternative Rock > New Wave & Post-Punk > Post-Punk
  #55 in	Music > Alternative Rock > Hardcore & Punk

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Following the band's Zoo TV tour, which took aim at consumerism and media overload, U2 brought those themes and the complex, futuristic sound of its preceding album, Achtung Baby, to their somewhat illogical conclusion on Zooropa, the group's most chaotic, cutting-edge work. The monotone techno-rap "Numb" leads the way, while "Lemon" offers reminders of David Bowie's Berlin trilogy of more than a decade before. Best of all is "The Wanderer," featuring a guest vocal by country-music icon Johnny Cash. His bottomless baritone sounds bizarre over burbling synthesizers, but Bono's trenchant lyric about a postapocalyptic seeker of sensation and experience before he repents nails Cash's legend at least as well as he ever has himself. --Daniel Durchholz

Product Description

Same as USA Version. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars U2 Goes Experimental, August 4, 2002

By	Brian D. Rubendall (Oakton, VA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Zooropa (Audio CD)

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.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bluer Shade Of White, December 11, 2000

By	Thomas Magnum (NJ, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)

This review is from: Zooropa (Audio CD)

Zooropa was originally supposed an EP to coincide with the last leg of their Zoo TV Tour. The band found that they had a slew of material and decided to release a full album. Zooropa continues where Acthung Baby left off and takes them further into the postmodern sounds of that release. The songs are all extended numbers including "Stay (Faraway, So Close)" which became the title of a movie, the pseudo-disco of "Lemon" which finds Bono singing in a falsetto, "Numb" which is a hypnotic chant with The Edge handling vocal duties and the title track which is an airy number that throws out slogan after slogan and is the spirit behind the whole Zoo TV ideal. "Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car" is a collage of music and noises while "Somedays Are Better Than Others" is the most "traditional" sounding song on the album. The album closes with one of the most bizarre musical pairings in history. Johnny Cash sings lead vocals on the post-apocalyptic "The Wanderer". Not that it is crazy that Johnny Cash would perform with U2, but you would expect it on a song in the style of The Joshua Tree or Rattle & Hum. On "The Wanderer", the band utilizing a heavy synth sound and Mr. Cash's deep voice swims along the cracks and pops of the track. It is a truly inspired song and makes Zooropa a truly special effort and asks the question, how many artists could come up with an album this impressive when it was looking to just fill some time in the studio in between tour dates.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fits with Achtung and Pop; beautiful just like them, March 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Zooropa (Audio CD)

Zooropa is the logical follow-up to Achtung, and the social-statement precursor to Pop. It is dark, foreboding, witty, and persistent. The songs stick with you, not only because they are beautiful, but because the message they send is powerful and prescient.

Zooropa is a profound political statement about the current state of the world (e.g., ``Be a winner / Eat to get slimmer" from the title track) with a kind of bitterness that shades every subsequent newspaper reading.

And it's just a beautiful album. I think a lot of people oppose it because its style differs so much from that of the more-classic-rock U2 albums (``The Joshua Tree" and before). On ``Zooropa", U2 felt they had hit a wall; they had exhausted the possibilities of the rock medium. So they forged their own path. And because everyone loved ``Achtung Baby", it's hard to see how they got to ``Zooropa". Give the album a good listen, though, and I think you will see where they came from.

This is one of my favourite albums, and confirms U2's place as my favourite rock group.