Thank God for 90's u2. I can't imagine falling for them the way i did if the 90's never happened.
A-fucking-men. '90s U2 is especially poignant for those of us who were growing up at the time and figuring out the world and our own place in it. For me, "Budapest in the '90s" is my version of the proverbial "Paris in the '20s" or "New York in the '50s." It was a time of self-discovery filled with cobblestone and wrought iron and gargoyles, and U2 provided the soundtrack for it all.
Discovering an album like Pop years after the fact just isn't the same. You kind of had to be there.
Your experience (cobblestone and wrought iron and gargoyles) sounds fantastic. You can take a million pictures but the memories are better than any frame. Can only imagine how Zooropa would have sounded in Budapest.
POP is otherwordly, exotic, i cannot say this enough. It has a certain quality that in my mind only exists on about 3 records. I was in Korea when it came out, i purchased my original copy (still have to this day) in Seoul. First listened to it in a bar over a couple of early afternoon beverages, the bartender played DYFL and Mofo. After he pulled the CD out of the sound system and gave it back to me, i was still in shock and awe at what i had just heard.
We evacuated our quiet two story bar for the chaos that was down below, Iteawon, the busy shopping district in full swing. I could still hear the sonic boom from Mofo ringing in my ears, it made perfect sense in the hustle and bustle of the packed streets with cars in every direction, people honking their horns, motorbikes darting in and out of spaces they shouldn't have, other people combing the sidewalks and haggling with store vendors over their prices on leather, etc.
It was pure chaos - and my ears were no longer that of a virgin - i began to realize the clouds were a lot closer than they seemed and the spirits didn't always reside among them.
I will never be that age again, and the world has changed in so many ways im not sure i'd even want to. But oh - those memories - who needs to climb Mt Everest when you've sang karaoke in a crowded bar at 4 am and nobody knows you but everyone is cheering you along. And the lady that has been eyeballing you for the last 30 minutes, you walk up to her to join her for a drink, and realize she has an exotic cat of some kind on a leash sitting in the seat next to her.
So many memories, so many stories, so little time...