U2 ‘Achtung Baby’ 20th Anniversary Edition Photos And Release Date Revealed

U2 has released drool-inducing photographs and early format information about the 20th anniversary re-release of their landmark 'Achtung Baby' album, which will be available on November 1.

Robert Hilburn of the LA Times called the 1991 album “U2’s daring descent into darkness. there’s no question that the album ushered in a whole new era for the band, both from a sonic and visual perspective.

Described by U2 frontman Bono as “the sound of four men chopping down 'The Joshua Tree,' 'Achtung Baby' was produced by the dream team of Daniel Lanois, Brian Eno and Steve Lillywhite, with engineering by Flood. The album snared a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance, amongst many other accolades.

20 years on, it’s become an important album for several generations of music fans and the new anniversary edition offers a lot for both novice and hardcore fans of the album to dig into.

Five different editions of 'Achtung Baby' will be made available, including CD, Vinyl, DVD and digital options. An extensive trip through the band’s archives yielded a wealth of material for the release. The larger editions of the set will include a full album of early demo versions mirroring the original album's track listing, as well as a large amount of additional unreleased material, video, remixes, B-sides and documentary footage from the era.

The crown jewel of the available options is the limited/numbered 'Uber Deluxe Edition,' which features six (!) CDs of material, including both 'Achtung Baby' and the band's not-to-be-ignored follow-up release 'Zooropa,' plus four additional CDs of material. Four DVDs are also included in the package.

The previously announced ‘From The Sky Down’ documentary, which features U2 discussing ‘Achtung Baby,’ is one of the four DVDs included in the anniversary edition. Recorded earlier this year in Berlin, the film was directed by Davis Guggenheim (‘Waiting For Superman,’ ‘An Inconvenient Truth’). The new documentary will premiere initially this fall at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

Videos for 'Achtung Baby,' additional bonus material and the previously released 'Zoo TV: Live From Sydney' concert film are among the added video content for the set.

This incredible package is rounded out with a ton of additional extras, including five clear 7" vinyl singles in their original sleeves and an 84 page commemorative book. The U.K. edition of this is available for pre-order for 385.99 pounds, which translates to a hefty $630.47 in U.S. dollars. A U.K. pre-order for the slightly scaled down 'Super Deluxe' version lists at $173.12.

More details, photographs and pre-order links are available at achtungbaby.u2.com.

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