The Alternative Number Ones: U2’s “Mysterious Ways”

In The Alternative Number Ones, I'm reviewing every #1 single in the history of the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks/Alternative Songs, starting with the moment that the chart launched in 1988. This column is a companion piece to The Number Ones, and it's for members only. Thank you to everyone who's helping to keep Stereogum afloat.

"The Fly" was the provocation, the break from that which came before. U2 were in the process of reinventing themselves, and they wanted the world to know that they were reinventing themselves. As they prepared to unleash their 1991 masterpiece Achtung Baby on the world, they kicked things off with the song that sounded the least like U2, and that was "The Fly." It's a great song that also worked as a signal that the U2 of The Joshua Tree and Rattle And Hum were gone. This new U2 were into new things: Rumbling grooves, rave-rock dynamics, weird guitar noises, muttery monotones, disco-diva falsettos, irony.

"The Fly" wasn't exactly engineered to become a hit, but it became one anyway -- at least in much of the world. "The Fly" was a #1 hit in the UK, Australia, Ireland, and a bunch of other places. In the US, "The Fly" topped Modern Rock chart, but it only barely dented the Hot 100. Island Records, U2's label, consciously decided not to push the song at top-40 radio, and top-40 radio seemed entirely OK with this. Here, "The Fly" existed mostly to convey the idea that U2 were on some different shit. With their next single, U2 showed exactly what they could do with that different shit. "Mysterious Ways" was a full-on smash, a song that could work in almost any context. From where I'm sitting, it's also the best song that U2 ever made.