This CD single is the first from U2's 1991 album, Achtung Baby, and was released one month prior to that follow-up to 1989's Rattle and Hum. Previously, Red, Hot, and Blue introduced the world to a new U2 sound with their dark cover of Cole Porter's "Night and Day." Still, hearing "The Fly" for the first time was stunning. This single was the first peek into the reinvention of the most important band of the 1980s, and thus occupies a nostalgic place in U2's discography. Of the two B-sides, one is especially noteworthy. "Alex Descends Into Hell for a Bottle of Milk/Korova 1" is an instrumental collage done by Bono and the Edge for a British production of A Clockwork Orange. To date, this is the only released track from that score. The "Lounge Fly Mix" is an inconsequential, but fun, remix of one of the lesser Achtung Baby tracks. Of all the singles from that album, this is perhaps the most significant but least interesting to non-collectors. It is interesting to note that while "The Fly" was a number one hit in the U.K., it peaked at number 61 on the U.S. charts. The band's overwhelming success in Europe since 1991 suggests that, with Achtung Baby (and this single), U2's reinvention was particularly European and that their alienated fans are largely American. -- JT Griffith (allmusic.com)