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While U2 is celebrating their 1991 album Achtung Baby during their Sphere shows, they took time to honor the album that preceded it: Rattle and Hum.
Filled with live renditions of some of their biggest hits and some originals that would become classics, the hybrid studio/live album was a companion piece to their documentary film of the same name. The album came out 35 years ago yesterday to a mixed response.
Some loathed it, including The New York Times‘s Joe Pareles. He claimed that U2's “self-importance got in the way” of their ambition. It was this type of criticism that led to Achtung Baby, an album with a lyric saying, “It's no secret ambition bites the nails of success.”
But Rattle and Hum wasn't all bad. I think its reputation gets lost in translation. Not every track is stellar, but it's also responsible for some of the band's biggest hits ever.
Opening by bending the knee
Perhaps it's Rattle and Hum's opening that set it off on the wrong foot. U2 opens the album with a cover of “Helter Skelter” by The Beatles — a tall task for any band. Just four tracks later, U2 is covering one of Bob Dylan's most well-known songs, “All Along the Watchtower.”
Personal feelings about the covers aside, this may not have been the smartest move.
Rattle and Hum was attempting to be a tribute to the music that formed America. After all, they did just make The Joshua Tree, which was all about lands of opportunities, deserts, and the utilization of the harmonica.
Bob Dylan and U2
“Rattle and Hum was a double album made by recent fanboys to American roots music,” Bono said during the September 30 show at the Sphere. “Our idols were Johnny Cash, B.B. King, Aretha Franklin… We were relatively innocent, and to meet some of these people, you felt like taking your shoes off.”
“Bob Dylan was at the top of the list because he was an ancient and a modernist,” he continued. “[laughs] Anyway, we did make a bit of a mess of his ‘All Along the Watchtower' when we were in the streets of San Fransisco. But he forgave us! Not only did he forgive us, he wrote this next song [“Love Rescue Me”] with us, and it's a song we hold onto. He's a pilgrim, a very elegant man, and a lesson on how to be extremely famous and not become a celebrity, I would say.”
Now the band was attempting to become that, not pay homage to it. Songs like “Hawkmoon 269,” “Love Rescue Me,” and “Heartland” are all tributes to America.
There's perhaps no artist more American than Dylan or perhaps Bruce Springsteen. I think in the case of Rattle and Hum, U2 got lost in trying to pay homage to America instead of being American. Their music was halfway there, the on-the-nose covers were perhaps overboard for its time.
All I Want is originals
Covers and collaborations aside, Rattle and Hum is a strong album. “All I Want Is You” is one of Bono's best love songs. Not until recently was it revealed that the song is written from the perspective of the bride; not the groom. As usual, Bono is subverting expectations. The song serves as the album's final track and the farewell to this era of U2. Its simple, yet iconic guitar riff from The Edge is the cherry on top of a lovely song. Somehow, it took the band years to play it in proper form. Typically, the song could be performed by Bono and The Edge solo, or with the band joining a verse in. During their 2017 Abbey Road show, they played it with an orchestra that played the album version's extended outro.
Then you have “Angel of Harlem,” one of U2's love letters to New York City, has plenty of soul (love). The utilization of a brass section gives it exactly that. Live performances with B.B. King on the “Lovetown” tour were great — as was the Tonight Show performance with the Roots.
One collaboration that works is “When Love Comes to Town,” which was performed with B.B. King. U2 has never gotten as blues-rock as this song, and their live performances together are something special. Similarly to how “Love Rescue Me” sounds very Dylan-ish, “When Love Comes to Town” plays to the strengths of King.
The most underrated song on Rattle and Hum — and perhaps U2's catalog at large” is “God Part II.” In a strong response to John Lennon's “God,” Bono spoke right back at one of his biggest inspirations. It's a far cry from the folk-blues rock sound of Rattle and Hum and was a tease for what was to come on Achtung Baby (think “The Fly”-lite).
Live is where U2 lives
Okay, aside from the covers, the live performances on Rattle and Hum rock. “Van Diemen's Land” is a rare solo performance by The Edge. The rendition of “I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For,” which teams U2 with the New Voices of Freedom choir, brings home the gospel themes of the song. Bono's voice has never sounded as good singing this song as it does on this version.
“Silver and Gold” was written by Bono for the Artists United Against Apartheid's album Sun City. The original version includes The Rolling Stones' Keith Richards, Ron Wood, and Steve Jordan. U2's live version from Rattle and Hum features the band's signature angst seen on their War album. The live version does feature a signature Bono political ramble, but it ends with his iconic line, “Okay, Edge — play the blues!” before The Edge's guitar solo.
I'll admit — Rattle and Hum's rendition of “Pride (In the Name of Love),” one of U2's biggest songs, isn't anything to write home about. If you've heard any U2 bootlegs from this era, you've heard a rendition similar to this one. But if you love the song, I suppose an official recording is nothing to complain about.
The final live track is a blistering rendition of “Bullet the Blue Sky.” A recording of Jimi Hendrix's version of “The Star Spangled Banner” segues right into the U2 track, which pronounces Larry Mullen Jr.'s drums even more than The Joshua Tree album version. There's something about this song played live in the 80s and 90s. U2 has often tried to regain the same haunting sounds of their earlier live performances. Nothing quite tops this.
Bono ends the song with a rant — calling out infamous evangelist Jerry Falwell Sr. “And in the next room I hear some woman scream out that her lover's turning off, turning on the television/And I can't tell the difference between ABC News, Hill Street Blues and a preacher on the Old Time Gospel Hour/Stealing money from the sick and the old/Well, the God I believe in isn't short of cash, mister.”
A lasting legacy, 35 years later
Even during U2's “Joshua Tree” 30th-anniversary tour in 2017, Bono would occasionally put a spotlight on The Edge during the “Bullet the Blue Sky” solo — recreating Rattle and Hum's album cover.
Despite a mixed response, the band clearly remembers Rattle and Hum. The film version also includes some top-notch performances of other live staples such as “Bad” (with a bevy of snippets) and “With or Without You” (with the iconic “Shine Like Stars” snippet). Like the album or not, U2 wouldn't be the same without it. So many live staples wouldn't exist, nor would the band feel the need to “dream it all up again” as they did in the 90s.
