Twenty years ago, U2 headed to Berlin to record their first truly challenging album. Graham Reid considers the inevitable anniversary reissue After the excitement of Beatlemania began to pall in early 1965, the Beatles realised if they were to survive they had to do something more than write chirpy pop. Fortunately they had that combination of talent, opportunity and wealth to push their musical boundaries for that remarkable album trilogy of Rubber Soul, Revolver and Sgt Pepper's, all released (along with the groundbreaking single, Strawberry Fields Forever) in 18 months from late 1965.
Few artists enjoy that rare combination - or have the desire for a significant change of musical direction. Bowie did - notably with Low, Heroes and The Lodger - as did Radiohead and Wilco with OK Computer (97) and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002) respectively.
Perhaps the most courageous band, with the biggest audience to lose from a sudden change, has been U2 who - after the critical drubbing for the album/film Rattle and Hum in 1988 - went to Berlin, teamed up again with producer Brian Eno and turned away from the stadium anthems that had formed the backbone of their albums The Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree.
Just as the Beatles tapped the mood of their era - esoteric exotica and psychedelia, in their case - U2 also locked on to what was happening around them in the discomforting era of Ronald Reagan, the first George Bush, Margaret Thatcher and the Gulf War.
There were internal ructions in the band about their direction, Public Enemy were making headlines, and DJs, remixers and heavy rock-electronica acts like the Nine Inch Nails were entering the mainstream.