Zooropa [Island; 1993]
Things started going awry when Zooropa hit store shelves in 1993. As the most direct presentation of the sound U2 was inspired by when they reinvented themselves, Zooropa is only surprising in how different it sounds compared to any U2 album that came before, including Achtung Baby. It’s got more dance, techno and electronica than Achtung Baby, which was also influenced by the dance/techno scene, but alas it was more a product of alternative rock. Zooropa is also their most incoherent statement since 1981’s October, the circumstances under which it was created allowing U2 a free pass not renewable here. Truth is, Zooropa should have remained an EP – it would have been a great EP if it was made up entirely by the first half of the album’s current playlist. But the band was riding high in 1993 and Zooropa ended up a full length album that coincidentally did very well considering its lackluster self, but that’s mostly due to how popular U2 were at the time.
As the album it is, Zooropa does have some good moments, namely when “Zooropa,” “Numb,” “Lemon,” and “Stay (Faraway So Close!)” are cued. Some close listeners might appreciate the more relaxed second half, namely “Some Days are Better Than Others” and “Dirty Day,” but that’s too forgiving a thing to say.
Some might call U2 circa Zooropa spontenous, you know, because they decided to convert an EP into an LP, but spontenous U2 is Bono jumping off stage and dancing with a fan; spontenous U2 is the band reinventing themselves with Achtung Baby and creating something that was actually very good. Zooropa is U2 testing their luck and popularity, something they will do again, next time very, very unsuccessfully with Pop.
In all honesty, don’t skip Zooropa entirely, just be ware that the second half has less hits than the first. That first half is probably U2’s last great playlist.
7.3/10