Great year, 1997.
I met my wife, got my first "real" job.
Regarding U2, I have 2 contradictory observations :
-Pop got excellent reviews from the french press, especially the "intellectual" press that had joined the Zoo TV bandwagon late in the game, suprised U2 could pull this off (Passengers confirmed this). But it didn't last for long, as soon as the PopMart tour began, the U2 bashing came back.
-Kids are cruel. In 1992 U2 was at the top of their relevancy. In 1997(only 5 years later), they were pushed off the pedestal by new trends and acts (Chemical Brothers, Massive Attack, Radiohead, Bjork, RATM to name a few). U2 seemed very out of place at the Tibetan Freedom concert (and they didn't play very well).
There really was a shift in the perception of U2 from the general public. They went from Kings during Zoo TV (the show to which every other show was compared) to followers / posers.
Personally : love Pop. Hate PopMart.