U2's Achtung Baby wins RTÉ Choice Music Prize for Classic Irish Album

The RTÉ Choice Music Prize for 'Classic Irish Album, has just been announced on RTÉ Gold by Will Leahy. The winner is U2's widely-acclaimed 1991 chart-topper Achtung Baby. 

The judges for the prize are Sinead Crowley (Coimisiún na Meán), Michael Kealy (RTÉ TV), Maeve Quigley (Irish Daily Mail) and Will Leahy (RTÉ Gold), with Paul Russell (2FM) as the chairperson.

"The panel is unanimous that you cannot deny the album’s authenticity and significant cultural impact as one classic song after another unfolds over 55 minutes," the judges commented on their position. "To this day, it still resonates as a collection of songs that capture the spirit of change at both a personal as well as a societal level, when the Berlin wall came tumbling down, and Ireland sensed a change in the air. "

They continued: "The ground-breaking Zoo TV Tour in support of the album helped to re-invent the stadium show and now over 30 years later, Achtung Baby is at the heart of the globally acclaimed 'U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere,' a string of ground-breaking performances which launched Sphere, the cutting-edge new venue in Las Vegas."

Thirty years ago, Bono discussed the album, describing it as "the sound of four men chopping down The Joshua Tree," while Jon Pareles of the New York Times wrote that "stripped-down and defying its old formulas, U2 has given itself a fighting chance for the 1990's."

The record went on to win a GRAMMY for Best Rock Performance and became one of the most influential records of the nineties. Recorded over six months between Dublin's Windmill Lane and Berlin's Hansa Studios, Achtung Baby is U2's seventh studio album and marked another collaborations with producers Daniel Lanois, Brian Eno and Steve Lilywhite.

The 19th annual RTÉ Choice Music Prize live event will take place on Thursday, 7 March in Vicar St, tickets are now sold-out. The winning Irish Album of the Year 2023 will be announced at the ceremony, and will be broadcast on RTÉ 2FM in a special four-hour extended show with Beta Da Silva at 19.00pm. A special TV show will be broadcast on Thursday 14th March at 22.30 on RTÉ2.

The Classic Irish Album prize will be presented along with Irish Artist of the Year and Irish Breakthrough Artist that night. The Irish Song of the Year 2023 will be announced by Tracy Clifford on her 2FM show on the day of the live event and presented to the winner in Vicar St that night. Clifford will also host the live event at Vicar St.