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CosmoKramer

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If you could put your finger in a single U2 album that made you a fan/ super fan, what was that album?

For me: Joshua Tree.

The first three songs were so amazing, it made me reflect on the body of work and realize that these guys also recorded Pride, NYD and SBS!




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Hmmm... good question. Achtung Baby was the first album of theirs that I bought, but it took awhile for it to sink for me (months, to be honest). I bought ATYCLB somewhere in the middle of that once that was taking off and that honestly was probably what pushed me over the edge there. Once AB finally took hold, then it was just a matter of buying all the other albums.

So I'd probably say ATYCLB in terms of 'making' me a permanent fan, although I prefer albums like AB over it now.
 
Joshua Tree most particularly - Where The Streets Have No Name, bought this record just before Achtung Baby came out and decided this band deserved my attention. Havent looked back since.
 
War. I was in high school when it was released. U2 had a real powerful quality about them that caught my attention and is still holding it to this day.
 
I'll tally the results after a week to see where they stand. It will be cool to see what the most "impactful" album will be.





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War. I was in high school when it was released. U2 had a real powerful quality about them that caught my attention and is still holding it to this day.


You make me raise another important question, War got you into the band but is it safe to say SOI brought you back? I think I remember you posting something like that.

I guess there are albums that out fans off and then those that brought them back....that's another thread conversation.


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I'll go with Rattle and Hum, the movie to be precise.

I liked U2 since the War/TUF era, but the leap from "one of my favourites bands" to "MY favourite band - BFF" came with a mixture of the RAH movie and old UABRS videos when I was 15 or so.

After that I started buying their albums, starting with War (which was my second album ever, just after Police's Synchronicity).
 
Interesting thread :up: for me I'd say it was Achtung Baby. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (gee that title is still just as horrible to type out today as it was 10 years ago) was my first album, followed by All That You Can't Leave Behind and the 80s best of. All three of those won me over quite heavily, but I would say it was Achtung Baby that is the reason I am the person I am today.

I still remember the day I bought it - it was late arvo on a school day, and I popped it in the car CD player, and immediately recognised Zoo Station from the Aussie Rules football videos I had, and then stopped it until I got home and was able to listen to it in my room on my own. I was intrigued by it but I didn't like it much, save for Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses and Ultraviolet (Light My Way).

I listened to nothing but Achtung Baby for about two weeks, and it eventually clicked... and when it did there was no going back. Even though I don't listen to them anywhere near as much, and I think the current incarnation of the band kinda sucks, they will always remain my #1.
 
The Best of 1980-1990 for me, I got it as a Christmas present from my stepmom in 1998. That was all I had but listened to it so much that I destroyed both discs. I was 12 at the time though so didn't buy any other albums. The first proper studio album that really did it for me though was ATYCLB, which came out when I was 16. I saved up my allowance and bought it about 2 weeks after it came out. It was all over for me after that, I rapidly bought Pop, AB, Zooropa, JT, and the Boston DVD within a span of a couple months, and got R&H (album and VHS) for Christmas that year.

The following year I discovered a U2 FTP site (probably doesn't exist anymore) that had dozens of rarities and unreleased tracks and about a hundred live show bootlegs to download for free. I totally destroyed my parents' bandwidth/sanity that year. :D


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In 1992 in the span of about 6 months I acquired The Joshua Tree, Rattle and Hum CD and VHS tape, Achtung Baby and finally Unforgettable Fire. I would say it was a combination of JT and R&H that made me a super obsessed with type of U2 fan. Really, what happened was becoming a fan during the Zoo TV era that made me fascinated with them going from earnest heart on the sleeve band to trashy ironic embracing megalomania band. Pretty much 92 to 93 I absorbed every bit of '80s U2 that I could. I found books and more video cassettes, and picked up more of their back catalog I could at the time. It was fun. Things slowed down after Zooropa and the Zoo TV tour ended. 1994 I still watched Rattle and Hum and the live in Sydney video a lot. With no internet and only hearing new stuff like HMTMKMKM, Passengers, and Larry and Adam working on the Mission Impossible theme the period from 1994 to 1997 were the dark ages of my fandom. I remember KROQ in 1996 hinting at something new to be played on the radio and that it was U2 related and they will world premier it.. So I listened and waited all day and when they finally played it.......it was the Mission Impossible theme. I was really let down.
 
POP. I was on a family vacation in Key West and was about to buy the Discoteque single when I noticed the album was out, so I borrowed a few dollars more from my brother. A few months later I was at POPMart and that's that.


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Before 1987, I never owned any U2 albums, but enjoyed their music via the radio or MTV. The Joshua Tree came out. MTV and radio played the shit out of WOWY, Still Haven't Found and Streets. Fast forward to Christmas 1987 and I finally get the JT cassette as a gift. Sadly, a week later, a dear aunt of mine passed away. When we went to attend her wakes and the funeral, the commute was an hour away. As soon as we got in the car during these commutes, I would listen to JT non-stop on my Walkman. That album helped me get through a very tough time and also solidified my U2 fandom.
 
Bomb, even though I'm not a huge fan of it now. It was the first U2 album that I listened to. More importantly, however, it had COBL, which was the song that enraptured me and captured me.
 
I tried not to like U2. My dad died when I was 13 in 1979. was sent to Ireland from Canada right after to spend time with relatives. I Don't Like Mondays was all the rage and I became a huge Rats fan. When I came back to Canada no one ever heard of them until 6 months later when Mondays came along. It was not until I bought TUF on the day it was released and was blown away by the title track, ASOH , Wire and Bad that my Irish band allegiance changed. If was really cool for me that Geldof's Live Aid gave the forum for U2 to take that huge career leap and to see all the positive steps that he and U2 have taken since to try to use the power of celebrity to make a difference. When JT came out, I listened to it non-stop for months - especially RTSS, OTH and Exit.


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First on my radar: Rattle & Hum.

Sold: Achtung Baby. Actually really was The Fly. The single was actually released on my 13th birthday, and I guess that's the age where you are just ready for a song or album to really grab you and... oh, MUSIC. The Fly leading to Achtung was that for me. For a lot of people my age I guess it was just a little bit later with Smells Like Teen Spirit, but a lot of really 'new' stuff was going on then. The early-mid 90s really were genuinely amazing across the board, but especially so when you're that age and just discovering music in general.

Anyway, bought Achtung the week it came out. Can very clearly remember everything about and around hearing Zoo Station crashing through the speakers for the first time.
 
Rattle & Hum, in high school.

I was a mild fan prior to that, but when that came out ... BAM! Forget it.
 
Best of 80s sealed it for me. Was washing dishes for my first job and had a radio tuned to Y100 or WMMR outside Philly. Finally pieced together that so many of my favorite songs I heard were from the same band. Soonafter got my first car started with Best of 80s. Then Achtung Baby, and just built my collection. I still remember my virgin ears hearing Gloria for the first time in a Wal-Mart parking lot. The same for In God's Country.
 
So I worked the summer mowing yards to buy my first CD player, this was middle school, and I saved enough to buy the CD player and 3 CDs. I was obsessed with ISHFWILF, so I just picked the first CD I could find with that title, except when I got home it was the gospel version. So it turned out to be Rattle and Hum that sealed it for me, I later joined one of those CD clubs and bought the whole back catalog, and then AB was my first midnight purchase.
 
The Best of 1980-1990 got me started into U2. I was big into Streets, Pride, NYD, and I Will Follow. But I still wasn't a huge fan at this point; I was actually huge into The Killers back then and it was hard for me to get into anyone else.
Then NLOTH came out and I thought it was horrible. I only liked I'll Go Crazy, NLOTH and Magnificent; I thought everything else sucked. It kinda got me off their music a while until I was flipping through some channels during the spring of 2013 and Glastonbury U2 show was on and The Fly was just starting. Totally blew me away and they've been my favorite band since that performance.
So Achtung Baby, I guess.
PS: I still think NLOTH sucks.
Oh yeah, I forgot I saw them live in 2009. Don't know why didn't become a huge fan, then. Best concert I've ever been to.

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The Unforgettable fire turned me to be a big fan.

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I think it's important for me to say that while Bono often gets some bad comments (including in here) for his live rants and being so vocal and opinionated about so many things... that's probably the main reason why I have U2 separated from any other band that I like.

His activism/spirituality is for me at least as important as their music itself. Having a notebook in highschool covered with "U2" was more a political or spiritual statement than an artistic one.

Obviously I love their music, but while there are more bands whose music I love as much as U2's, none of those have that extra that U2 and Bono deliver.

That's what really made me that huge of a fan.
 
Album that got me started on U2 - Rattle and Hum, my dad had a cassette copy that he played in the car a lot - and I came to like it a lot.

Album that turned them into my favorite band - Pop - I remember buying it at Borders the day it came out or thereabouts, and then listened to it all the time the summer after release and started digging into the back catalog after that.
 
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