Foxxem, I want to tell you that as a diehard, hardcore U2 lover since 1981, I hated Pop and the entire Pop image and era. I must tell you that everyone I know feels the same way. I'm telling you my husband, his coworkers, my friends and old high school classmates, my brothers and their wives and friends, my neices (two who have been on this board) nephews and their cool but sometimes drunken friends ( ages 20-25) even kids who hang around with my teenage son to this day think Pop is a joke, laughable, that the band sounded and looked terrible, ridiculous, forgive me, but some say gay, and that the music was terrible and a disgrace to U2's otherwise glorious legacy. People in record stores. In fact, except online I have NEVER met a Pop fan in real life. That is why I find it so surprising that it is so popular here. After having read this list and several others for the last two years, I come to the conclusion that, as J on wire used to say, that Pop fans are the very vocal minority. What happens is, there are a few dozen, maybe even a couple hundred very active and very loud Pop advocates on the internet, but no, they do NOT represent the fanbase as a whole. I have seen people say this many times. I have seen good people shut up or vanish until only the pro-Pop opinion stands alone because everyone else is so afraid to say anything against it, so it looks like Pop is popular with few or no detractors, but that's because they've all given up. I KNOW THIS TO BE TRUE because, though I would never reveal their names or sn's, I have talked to MANY people in private emails from here and the mailing lists, and that's what they say. Pop may look popular among the people here, but that is the reason, people are afraid to say they don't like it so they just let it go. Either they've been flamed, or seen someone else flamed and they just think it's not worth the trouble, but that doesn't mean they love it! I do think, and others here have said, that there are a disproportionate number of Pop fans on here and the lists compared to the fan base as a whole. Please consider that not every U2 fan has the time to come here, or will post if they do. Some of the very best fans I know are not members here. There are millions of U2 fans out there who love the band and do not like Pop that you never hear from. The very fact that Pop was so much less successful than the other albums since they hit the big time shows that in the real world, and in the grand scheme of U2 fans, Pop is not as popular as many of you would like to believe.
I admire Werstie very much, because though she is a big Pop fan, she realizes and believes many good fans don't like it and never tries to deny that or force it on anyone. She says she remembers it being rejected by teenagers when it was new. None of this should matter of course if you love the album. What bothers me is that some people here are so busy trying to say that people 'didn't get it' or 'didn't give it a chance' or something they refuse to see what Werstie knows to be the truth- very many good U2 fans don't like it!
I am not condemning anyone for liking it, only refusing to accept the fact that no matter how much you like it, millions of U2 fans did not like it and still don't. There's nothing wrong with us, some of us are much better and devoted fans than some of you. There also seems to be a great deal of resentment towards ATYCLB here because more fans accepted it. As I said in my post on diamond's thread a few days ago, it seems like some of the same people who rag on people for not liking Pop are always putting down 80's stuff and ATYCLB, so I wonder, are they really U2 fans, or just Pop fans? Of course this does not apply to all who like Pop, only the ones who defend it to the point of insulting the intellect and fandom of those who don't. Can't you just like it and enjoy it without blaming its relative failure on fans who hated it? If I really liked something I wouldn't give a damn what anyone thought.
Not every U2 fan who buys records, goes to shows and collects stuff is here to speak their story, and the ones who speak up here are by no means a scientific sampling of fans. Sales and concert attendance and TV rating is though, meaning ATYCLB was loved far more than Pop by far more people.