Achtung Baby
by U2
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U2 bestography
Achtung Baby is ranked 2nd best out of 39 albums by U2 on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by U2 is The Joshua Tree which is ranked number 52 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 17,912.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to Achtung Baby on YouTube
Achtung Baby track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 83 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
Achtung Baby rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 3 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 |  PanheadWarrior | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s | 43/100 | 12 |
| 2026 |  AAL2014 | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s | 80/100 | 4 |
| 2026 | Jakor | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s | 23/100 | 16 |
| 2026 |  Tamthebam | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s | 21/100 | 16 |
| 2026 | Johnnyo | Most listened to albums in March 2021 (To delete) | 88/95 | - |
| 2026 |  Robert Anton Wilson | Top 13 Music Albums of 1991 | 2/13 | 5 |
| 2026 | Tamthebam | Top 98 Music Albums of 1991 | 1/98 | 5 |
| 2026 |  Squonk007 | Top 25 Music Albums of 1991 | 13/25 | 3 |
| 2026 | Juneof44 | Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | 90/100 | 11 |
| 2026 | CjHubb117 | Top 22 Music Albums of the 1990s | 9/22 | 13 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 1,336 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 11,277 | |||
Achtung Baby collection
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Achtung Baby ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 3 ratings for this album. | Show all 1,844 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 5 days ago | Siromynian | 1,773 | 74/100 |
| ! | 09/02/2026 07:45 | AndyLish79 | 505 | 81/100 |
| ! | 08/22/2026 10:37 | Tuur | 955 | 67/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 80.4/100, a mean average of 78.8/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 80.5/100. The standard deviation for this album is 18.7.
Achtung Baby favourites
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Achtung Baby forum mentions
BestEverAlbums 10/02/2026 08:18 in Monthly overall chart movements - September 2026 BestEverAlbums 10/02/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5453): By Bach BestEverAlbums 09/18/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5439): By joedecAchtung Baby comments
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joedec 06/27/2013 21:44 | #79976 | TOP COMMENT
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Ever so often, a group puts out an album that marks a big change musically and takes them in a different direction. U2 achieved this in 1991 when they released Achtung Baby. When U2 said that Achtung Baby was the sound of 4 men chopping down the Joshua Tree, they weren't kidding. (Edited)
~SMiLE~ 02/26/2013 17:55 | #66227 | TOP COMMENT
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When U2 released "Achtung Baby" in 1991 it caught me off guard. What a departure from previous albums. It seemed so ahead of it's time. A extreme personality metamorphosis happened here. U2 radically shifted gears, picking up on different sounds and added it to their own. Not many bands survive this kind of re-invention. This album has denser layered production with more guitars effects. There is darker and personal lyrics on this sonic assault. Bono has described this album as “the sound of four men trying to chop down The Joshua Tree”.
Now that I have eventually got around to buying this album, I must admit that track for track I put this above The Joshua Tree which was my favourite U2 album. This album has more edge (I don't mean guitarist), it has a rawness which rocks!
close to the definition of mediocrity and so continues my misunderstanding of the most undeserving over-hyped band in history. Its not like i try ive listened to their songs for years since i was young and now try to listen to their albums but the lyrics are awful, the music is so so so boring. I I forgive a lot of musicians their purported personality (i.e Kanye, MJ, Roger Waters etc etc) but U2 are egotistical pricks with no good reason to be. The End.
For the 1992 tour for this album, Bono adopted as his persona "The Fly", a leather-clad egomaniac meant to parody rock stardom. Following the completion of the tour he reverted to his normal persona of egotistical rock star who likes leather.
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