I'd like to introduce myself by describing how I became a U2 fan, in case anyone finds that interesting. It's a pretty long story.
When I was in 5th or 6th grade I had a substitute teacher who was a huge U2-fan. In English class he let us all listen to Where the Streets Have No Name and try to translate it. I found the song quite good, but a bit difficult (not only to translate). I knew there was a band out there called U2, but not much about their music. Well, this was not when I became a fan.
When Achtung Baby came out I remember being very annoyed by the weird videos and noisy music. I thought the hits from The Joshua Tree were pretty good, but THIS was just annoying (apart from One). So, clearly I did not become a fan...
I think I was in 9th grade, first semester, when me and my twin sister were watching MTV. Suddenly U2 came on and we were literally saying. "NO, not U2! Change the channel, NOW!" But the remote control was misplaced somewhere. When we finally found it, we had seen enough to realize that this was something else than the recent rubbish. This was Sunday Bloody Sunday. Hm, pretty cool, we had to admit and watched it till the end. But this was not when I became a fan.
Half a year later or so, me and my sister were watching MTV when Sunday came on again. This time we were positive right from the start, remembering that it was quite OK, or even good. Soon we were glued to the TV! And when the video ended we were extremely excited, and I mean extremely. I think we were even kind of screaming, actually, as 16 years old girls can. "We have to get all their albums right away!" I don't think we did, but soon enough we had most of them copied to old fashioned tapes. Wow, how I loved what I heard! Especially Achtung Baby... Now THAT is a u-turn! This WAS when I became a fan.
One week after becoming a fan I bought tickets to the upcoming Zooropa show, and the rest is history.
I have to add, however, that in recent years I haven't always been much of a fan. PopMart was a major disappointment, so I sort of put them aside. But then along came All That You Can't Leave Behind and the Elevation tour. I was absolutely blown away, which is why I can't explain why I sort of forgot about them again after a while. I guess it didn't help that I wasn't very excited about How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb when it was released. (How I could not love it is beyond me, because now I think it's brilliant!)
When U23D came to town last October I thought that I should see it. A concert film in 3D! Featuring U2! I loved it and decided that I should see it again. The second time I adored it! I ended up watching it 8 times, and the rest is NOT history. It's present time. I'm listening to U2 again, needless to say. Especially their last two albums, which are their finest work, in my opinion. Unless No Line On The Horizon is...
I'm glad you were lazy enough not to get up and change the channel manually
Welcome, I'm Ali, very nice story, it's interesting how you had on and off times with them...let's see what the new one will do! And as Jeremy said, you might find some disagreement about the Popmart tour here, but hey, it's your opinion
enjoy your time around