The nineties were the period on which everything since pivoted. U2 started out that period critiquing or satirising or riffing off of the whole media/technology/culture thing, and entered the new century as uncritical cheerleaders for it. Cause progress, right?
Yeah indeed. Part of me still thinks Will Sergeant of Echo and the Bunnymen was taking the piss with this tweet, but probably he was being polite. Or, worse still, he's become a true believer.
https://twitter.com/Will_Fuzz/status/1731114777119015077Edit: re-reading that tweet, it's pretty clear he was being sincere. But really, I have no inclination to see U2's, or Phish's, or anyone's multimedia Vegas extravaganza, no matter how many of my musical heroes praise it.
The other point that occurs to me around the background to Achtung/Zootv etc is that Bono and other U2 members said in many contemporaneous interviews, it wasn't just a satire on mass media and consumerism etc, it was also influenced by the band taking time out and relaxing after the late 80s multiple tours and finding themselves watching the first Gulf War on TV and how offputting they found the whole experience. Hey, now you can watch people being killed without seeing any actual blood and without taking any personal risks. And if you don't like it, you can change the channel.
I think I've mentioned before, it occured to me at the time the Pet Shop Boys were exploring very similar territory with "DJ Culture", also released in 1991 or so:
"Let's pretend we won a war
Like a football match, ten-nil the score
Anything's possible, we're on the same side
Or otherwise on trial for our lives
I've been around the world for a number of reasons
I've seen it all, the change of seasons
And I, my Lord, may I say nothing?
Dance with me
(DJ Culture) Let's pretend
Living in a satellite fantasy
Waiting for the night to end
(DJ Culture DJ D)"
Those lyrics could fit quite comfortably on Achtung.
edit: turns out I'm right, it's official:
According to the singer Neil Tennant, the song concerned the insincerity of how President George H. W. Bush's speeches at the time of the First Gulf War utilised Winston Churchill's wartime rhetoric, in a manner similar to how artists sample music from other artists.[3] The music video alternately features Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe as a pair of doctors, a pair of soldiers in desert combat dress, a judge presiding over Oscar Wilde (the line "And I my lord, may I say nothing?" is a close paraphrase of Wilde's comment after being sentenced to hard labour for homosexual practices) and a football referee and fan.