Things that made you a U2 fan

I?ll start with this. I became a fan listening to TJT but at the time only bootlegs from the previous tours were available.

This is the first one I got and I must have listened to it hundreds of times. I still cannot understand how good of a singer Bono was at the time.

The Desire single.  At the time I thought it was a strange song for a lead single and too short.  I'd been aware of the band in the background for a while but they'd never really gotten my attention before.  But even then they had a kind of scruffy image, weren't glam, and seemed overly earnest and serious which wasn't my usual taste.  That changed with the release of AB and then Zoo TV tour which took my fandom to another level.  1991-1993 was the peak of my fandom and it never reached that level again thereafter.

I heard NYD on the radio in '83 when I was ten, then got War. Was a casual fan until The Joshua Tree, at which point I became obsessed. My first bootleg was a cassette of a TUF show in Milan called Thank U2 for the Fire or something.

Heard U2 from my older brothers, I remember them playing Under a Blood Red Sky often. Got into U2 myself during the Rattle & Hun era. That was my high school album. My first bootleg was a 3 different concerts compilation: 85, 87, and 89. The 89 Japan disc Red Sun at Midnight was maybe my most played CD for a few years.

I figured out that I?m a lyrics person. I heard the TJT singles on the radio and liked them fine. It was when I heard enough of the ISHFWILF lyrics that I said, wait, this song isn?t mooning about some romantic bullshit. I took my mom?s cassette and discovered the whole album was about something more than romantic bullshit.

Lyrics aren?t enough alone but liking the music and connecting with the lyrics let me dig a lot deeper into the music.

I liked the earnestness. I get why it annoys people but I liked it.

I was encouraged to seek out WAR by a teacher of mine in high school. It was probably a month or two after it had come out. Didn?t know the band at the time. The minute I dropped the needle on the LP and SBS started, that was it. A cathartic moment in my life.

WOWOY

WOWOY

I'm not familiar with that acronym.

With Or Without Out You

With Or Without Out You

Looks vaguely familiar.

I heard Zooropa on the radio for the first time

When I was in my teens I started listening to alternative rock radio around 1992. 

I heard 4 songs I really liked.  I thought they were different bands.  But low and behold it was U2 At various stages of their career.   Been my favorite band since. 

Okay, I?ll ask.

What four songs?

I heard Zooropa on the radio for the first time

Why were you drawn to the song title?

Quote from: Amor fati on February 17, 2025, 05:39:13 PM

I heard Zooropa on the radio for the first time

Why were you drawn to the song title?

He was drawn to the music?