U2's Achtung Baby: Meditations on Love in the Shadow of the Fall (33 1/3)
"Stephen Catanzarite takes his readers ona metaphysical trip withAchtung Baby...The book reads like a well-written thesis, and Catanzarite isknowledgeable both musically and theologically. The songs are the bones onwhich the author fleshes out his theories, with the help of quotes by philosophers,poets, musicians (Axl Rose, of all people), and whole passages taken from booksby religious scholars of different faiths. There are references to Neil Young,Led Zeppelin (theTowerofBabelis the originalstairway to heaven), Bob Dylan and Morrissey for the rock cognoscenti, as wellas a few Chinese proverbs thrown in for good measure." -@U2"Stephen Catanzarite has reflected on abeloved Rock album and turned his reflections into a book. Not only that, buthis book is theological, Christian, Catholic and concerned with humanity'splace in the world. Ambitious, no? A lesser album would collapse under suchponderings, but U2'sAchtung Babyis a "heavy mother," to quote the band's ever-quotable lead vocalist.And The Edge lists "betrayal" among the album's chief preoccupations,so bringing it all back home to Adam and Eve's betrayal of God does work. Thebook is a good primer on moral theology — an oddity in the 33 1/3 book series.Our guide cites Augustine, Newman and more luminaries without any quote seemingirrelevant. And still the book stays connected to the music, delving into bothwords and instrumental landscape. Two quarrels: First, three taboos fascinateU2: sex, God and politics. Catanzarite describes an Adam and Eve losing andfinding each other and their Maker in a neon city. That covers sex and God. Butpolitics? In an epilogue Catanzarite mentions upheavals occurring inAchtung Baby's era but not a whisperelsewhere. He quotes the exquisite apocalypse of Yeats' poem "The SecondComing," but relates it not to chaos in wartime but to breakdowns inpersonal relationships. Second, Catanzarite praises "Mysterious Ways" as an ode tofeminine inspiration. He challenges disrespect of women and yet never quotes asingle woman author. It's a glaring omission in a Catholic-worldview book — U2themselves have spoken often of their indebtedness to, for instance, FlanneryO'Connor. It would take 10 more books to maybe start to describeAchtung Baby. Catanzarite is brave totry." —CityBeat"If you don't already know about the Christianity present inU2, or have never heardAchtung Baby, find a copy and listen to it. And if youare interested in a thoughtful engagement by a Catholic with the best of modernrock, you might likeAchtung Baby: Meditations on Love in the Shadow of theFall." —Nathaniel Peters, First Things(Nathaniel Peters)"[Catanzarite has written] a surprisingly profound meditation on 'Achtung Baby' as a metaphor for the Fall of Man. I told Bono, rather sceptically, that I had met a man who theorised that Achtung Baby was a metaphor for the fall of man ... and had just given a lecture on 'the conservative voice in U2'. I thought Bono might get a kick out it, but I was surprised by his response. "Both theories sound bang on," he said."-Neil McCormick,The Daily Telegraph