U2 - So Cruel | The Achtung Baby 30 Cover Project | 06 | June 2021

Better late than never! Unfortunately, we had to stop this project in June of this year because the members of the project were unfortunately unable to continue working together due to lack of capacity.
This has deteriorated so much that the project’s The Edge so far, the Italian Andrea has left the project.
It took months for virtually nothing worthwhile to be born in this project, but in the end we decided to find Andrea’s successor, whom we found, in the person of Francis.
Francis is a U2 fan guy from the Philippines who used to be as The Edge for the local U2 tribute band called Achtung. Fortunately, Francis has the guitar sounds of the Achtung baby songs and can play the songs very nicely, so we were very happy when fate brought us together.
So this is the sequel, after a break of almost half a year. Listen to our version of So Cruel.

Let's celebrate the 30th Anniversary of U2's 7th epos called Achtung Baby.
We created this project to play the whole album through 2021. There are 12 songs on the album and there are 12 months in the year. What else could we say? Stay tuned and search for the other songs here on YouTube.

U2 - So Cruel | The Achtung Baby 30 Cover Project | 06 | June 2021

"So Cruel" is a song by rock band U2. It is the sixth track on their 1991 album Achtung Baby, concluding side one of the album. The song was written at Elsinore in Dalkey. While audio engineer Flood changed reels to listen to a demo of another song, lead singer Bono began to improvise a song on guitar. The rest of the band quickly joined in, creating the first take of the song. It was developed as an acoustic track, with Flood adding overdubs and additional elements later. Bassist Adam Clayton and Flood noted that the technology in the studio was crucial in transforming the acoustic song into the final mix.

During the recording sessions for Achtung Baby, guitarist the Edge separated from his wife, Aislinn O'Sullivan. The separation had a major effect on the development of the song, as Bono channelled their pain into the lyrics. Bono said "there were lots of other things going on internally within the band and outside it, and I was working through all of that", noting that the Edge's separation from Aislinn was just one component of that. Thematically the song is about unrequited love, jealousy, obsession, and possessiveness.

U2 have performed "So Cruel" live just four times, all of which were on the Zoo TV Tour in 1992. The track was favourably received by critics.

"So Cruel" was developed by lead singer Bono. Following the recording sessions at Hansa Studios in West Berlin in 1990, U2 resumed the album's sessions in February 1991 at the seaside manor Elsinore in Dalkey, renting the house for L10,000 per month. Producer Daniel Lanois' strategy was to record in houses, mansions, or castles, as he believed it brought atmosphere to the recordings. During the recording at Elsinore, while working on another song, audio engineer Flood changed the reel to listen to an earlier take. Bono picked up a guitar and began to sing. The rest of the band quickly joined in. Flood said, "All of a sudden, almost in the time it had taken for me to wind off the reel and wind the next reel on, it was quite obvious that there was a song about to pop out, and if I wasn't suddenly taking the reel off and getting a new piece of tape on, and changing from monitoring a backing track downstairs to everybody's in the control room wanting to record now, it would never have happened."

"So Cruel" was developed acoustically, with guitarist the Edge playing an acoustic guitar, bassist Adam Clayton playing an acoustic bass, and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. using a bodhrán. Author John D. Luerssen interpreted the song as beginning "with the same kind of basic approach to songcraft that gave wings to 'She's a Mystery to Me'". Bono said that "People thought it was too traditional, one more attempt at writing a song for Roy Orbison". Lyrically, it was also inspired by Scott Walker. Bono said, "His is a very delicate mode of expression on the outside, though too often it is laced underneath with a lot of pain and rage."

More details you can find here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/So_Cruel

U2 - So Cruel (album version) | Cover by The Achtung Baby 30 Cover Project

Original song is written by U2 from the album "Achtung Baby" (Islands Records, 1991)

The Achtung Baby 30 Cover Project are:

Bono | Ireland - Lead Vocals
   / u2official  

Francis | Philippines - Guitars, Effects
   / @wave108  

Zoltan | Hungary - Bass Guitar and Bass Synthesizer
   / czibzol  

Laurent | France - Drums, Percussion and Synthesizer
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZQX...

The Achtung Baby 30 Cover Project | 2021