Where were you when HTDAAB blew?

[davexl]

What will your memories of HTDAAB be?

Mine will be easy: Saturday my fiancee and I bought wedding rings. What a weekend!

Sunday morning I woke up to find that the U2 bomb had dropped overnight, and I spent the morning alone with the lights low, listening alone. And a bit of blue crack. Sharing it with equally appreciative folks here. (apart from Jick )

A lot of tears were shed, mostly due to Miracle Drug, a song a WOWY fan like me can't believe we get from this band 25 years in.

And Yahweh and thinking about an African orphan did me in.

But mostly thinking of my life back when ATYCLB came out - I needed that one to get through a a long breakup. Now I can't believe how things have come together and I am about to marry my cutie. What a contrast. (I played her Man and a Woman and she was blown away)

What will you remember most in a few years when you hear these songs?

 

[Axver]

I will remember the extraordinary set of co-incidences that resulted in me sitting at Interference as the album progressively leaked rather than following my usual Saturday night schedule of going to bed before 10pm (I sleep weird hours, I know).

 

[MatejU2]

What will your memories of HTDAAB be?



for you

 

[david]

uhmmm saturday afternoon.. watched 3 kings on TNT and heard in gods country during the credits and then came online to check out interference and found out about the leak.

 

[Shaizari]

Coming back from Church.

 

[SkeeK]

made a good day better.

should have done more homework though.

 

[alexvilagosh]

Yeah. I wasted precious study time today watching the download bar get closer and closer to 100%, then listening to it. Dammit.

 

[brownda7]

Same as Axver, just before bed decided to get some blue crack and WHAM!

 

[MatejU2]

Coming back from Church.

THX that you pray for us

 

[RademR]

What a great day. Honestly, I did a little too much partying last night and I was a little on the hungover side this morning. So I told myself I was going to hang around the appt and be lazy all day and watch college ball, but the first thing I did was check interference. My hangover was instantly gone as I started frantically downloading the album. I threw my cell phone in the other room so no one could bother me, and sat in my room for about 6 hours just listening to the album over and over again, dissecting its beauty. Tonight I was at a bar and watched a u2 cover band (wow, girls that have u2 knowledge are such a turn on). By the way, they played "Vertigo" and did a very good job at it. It was a great day, its now 4:15 am and I'm still listening to it. If you havent gotten into OSC yet, turn off all the lights and zone out to it. Incredible track.

 

[gorman]

I too was just about to go to sleep, and decided to reload Interference once more. I happened to see a thread entitled "Here it is!!" and clicked on it, expecting it to be another joke release thread. As I read the contents of the posts, I assumed it was a fake leak at best. So I turned off the lights, came back to the computer once more to reload the thread, and saw Miracle Drug had been posted. I was absolutely floored, and knew it was far from sleeping.

Over the next few hours, I was fortunate enough to have access to a newsgroup server that HTDAAB was being posted to, and I reloaded that constantly as song after song was uploaded. As I was downloading each file, I would listen to it immediately, as well as post it for others to hear. It took quite a while, but I finally had the whole thing. It hadn't sunk in at all that I actually had the album, which probably had something to do with the fact I had been up for over 24 hours at this point.

Once I was done with the downloading and uploading, I burned it onto a CD, and finally attempted to sleep. I was so hyped up that my attempt failed, and I ended up listening to the whole album once more on my stereo at a very high volume. I stood (and often jumped around) in front of the speakers with my jaw on the floor while I tried to comprehend just how astounding it was on only my first real listen.

When I was finally able to lay down, it finally hit me as to what had happened over the past few hours. I realized that after several years of waiting, listening to terrible quality leaked clips, reading every bit of information and rumors about the album, and thinking constantly about what it will be like to hear it for the first time, that I finally had heard the album and it was worth every second of thinking and talking about it. With a grin on my face and the album still ringing my ears, I finally drifted off to sleep.

 

[Lucy3011]

Yesterday afternoon. It took me fucking ages to download the thing because I'm on dial-up, and the first lot of downloads didn't work properly so I had to start all over again by mid/late afternoon. Had them all downloading at once and disappeared downstairs to watch TV, coming back every 15 minutes to see how it was going, and listening to the songs that had downloaded so far.
When they all downloaded I stuck them onto a CD, took it downstairs, where myself and my stepdad (also a huge U2 fan) sat in the lounge, with a bottle of Baileys, and listened.

Best evening for a long time.

 

[Larry's drumstick]

Yeah. I wasted precious study time today watching the download bar get closer and closer to 100%, then listening to it. Dammit.

Yeah, me too! But I couldn't wait!

Was it worth it? You betcha it was!

 

[bono_man2002]

I was about to click on the X to close down internet explorer and log off for the night.
when i see 'Its Here' thread.
my first reaction was , then people started to doubt it was real, still i stayed on.
I'd read it could leak this weekend, so yeah i stayed here.

Miracle Drug was posted, i alerted Axver (that might have been before it was posted, it all happend so fast.)

I found out miracle drug was the real deal...my reaction
i finaly got the rest of the album, at about 3:30am , much worth it.
What an album, it needs a few more days to sink in, i think its better than Achtung. i still cant believe its out (well kidna ) and its bloody brilliant.

Thanks Bono, for not lying, and the entire band, for making great music.
U2 shall dominate the world....yet again!!

 

[Axver]

Miracle Drug was posted, i alerted Axver (that might have been before it was posted, it all happend so fast.)

Yeah, you alerted me just before it was posted, I think you asked me 'has it leaked?' I'd been lying in bed for five minutes and heard the ding of AIM. I even deliberated not getting up and waiting until the morning.

The co-incidences that culminated in sitting here and being one of the first to hear all of these songs were just amazing. I still can't believe it happened.

I think all of us should also go bow to Gorman. If anyone deserves to hear Fast Cars first, it is him.

 

[bono_man2002]

Yes,Gorman


thanks a million!.....i dont have that kinda money...so just thanks a freaking bloody lot!

 

[GibsonGirl]

I woke up on Saturday morning feeling kind of down. I've been having issues with confidence and anxiety lately, so it's been on my mind quite a lot.

Anyway, I was simply browsing my LiveJournal friends list when I saw a message in the U2 community, stating that HTDAAB had leaked. I didn't believe it, but decided to check Interference anyway. Then I found out that it was in fact true! So I struggled with my conscience for a little while before I said to myself "screw it, I'm downloading the album." I tell you, my mood elevated right out of the ceiling. It was as if someone connected me up to an endless supply of dopamine.

So I spent the entire day listening to HTDAAB, without another care in the world. U2 are the only band that can make me forget my troubles with their music.

Thanks boys, you've done it again.

 

[Phalanx]

I was surfing the boards when it was first reported that the album had leaked. I didn't think much of it, so I left the board and went to work outdoors for a bit. Then I came back and saw the plethora of threads, and realized it did leak.

 

[AquariumDrinker]

Saturday morning. Woke up, didn't want to do homework so I stopped by here. I saw the huge thread and I couldn't believe it. Spent all morning and a good chunk of the afternoon downloading it (I'm on dial-up ). Burned it on a disc and listened to it. I played it the whole way through, including Vertigo. I couldn't wait till Vertigo was over, so I could see what else they came up with. As usual, I was surprised (even with the stuff I heard before).

What a band.

 

[sue4u2]

I was sitting in the living room reading the paper and listening to Zooropa, when I had the feeling "somethings up". I logged on to interference and nearly fainted. With dial up it took forever to get the first 7 songs. The last thing I remember was my roommate waking me up while I was still at the computer.
Trying to get the rest of the tracks this morning.
This box just popped up saying OOTS couldn't be downloaded because the connection to the server was lost or some s***. Yahweh is almost finished.

 

[thomasoi]

Got dumped, and an hour later got a tip that the album was here. Still shaking, got the album from a school computer - and with a miracle got my computer with a broken harddisc to function just enough to get it on my iPod. Have listened to it since, saved my month.. It's a great album for broken relationships. It will probably be ruined forever for me though, getting sad every time I play it.

 

[Mark Freedman]

I woke up early to spend the day with my daughter, who had just come in from Boston University to visit us this weekend. Didn't even have a chance to check the forum for any news, and pittTodd IMed me saying that it leaked. And then he IMed me MD. I had to torture my wife and daughter with the CD I burned when we went out for the day. They didn't complain.

What a great freaking album!

 

[silenus]

This is getting strange..
This morning, without reason, feeling "a bit sad" (not my normal behaviour)...
went to work...and saw it's dropped !
The thing is, it's out but still keep this muddy gloomy feeling after listening to it a few times.
Is this a "muddy feeling album" or what..??
(Almost every person who posted here didn't feel that happy for some reason)
It's indeed a great autumn album and...

Joy to all

 

[Dragonfave]

At home, eating Cheetos, and watching "The Graduate".

 

[u2grace]

Usually, I check here early in the day. But this weekend, I had brought work home - I had a long report that I REALLY needed to work on. So, being ever so disciplined,I ignored my personal stuff and went straight to work Saturday morning through early afternoon.

Only mid-afternoon did I check here and find out what I was missing! Thanks goodness, though - otherwise, how would I have gotten my report done!

 

[Bono's shades]

I'll remember sleeping late, getting up and going for a walk because it was such a beautiful day, and then coming back around 3 p.m., turning on my computer and going to Interference for my daily dose of blue crack and finding out the album had leaked!

 

[dandy]

i woke up early saturday morning, and popped on just to see what was going on, and there it was... gorman and the kids were in the process of posting the links. i didn't shower, i didn't eat breakfast... i got annoyed when people interrupted my freaking out in trying to find all the links... burned 'em onto a cd and waited until midnight when i could be alone and listen without interruption/distractions. an unexpectedly perfect saturday.

 

[U2SJ]

I woke up on Saturday morning to find the news that the album had leaked. I decided right there and then I would not download, didnt want to ruin my 1st time listening with shitty speakers sitting at my computer.....so I spent the day looking forward to a fun night in San Jose watching our local U2 tribute band whom I am also friends with..... so Saturday night my boyfriend and I and some of my friends went to the show (their 1st time to come to the South Bay! so even that was special enough!) At their 1st break, I started to hear something over the speakers in the bar....it was U2 .... but I didnt know this song.... and it clicked that they were playing the new album in the background!! So I literally ran outside.... telling everyone I didnt want to hear yet....
After the show, most of the band decided to come over to my house for some drinks..... and when they arrived....they brought in a cd of the album.....and asked if we all wanted to hear it together.... for most of us there, it was the 1st time, even for some of the band members and their girlfriends..so I agreed that it would be awesome to hear it with fellow U2 fanatics and my boyfriend, so we all sat there from 3 to 4 in the morning enjoying this new U2 masterpiece. There are no words to fully describe my joy but it was an incredible experience and a wonderful wonderful night!!! I was lucky enough that they left me the copy of the album, so I got to listen over and over all day yesterday. I was a little hungover, lol, and so it was the perfect remedy
U2 is back, and I couldn't be any happier

 

[dandy]

nice, U2SJ.

 

[alh77]

I was at my brother's and he has cable unlike me who only has dial-up...it was a great idea for me to go to his house on my b-day...the album leaked on my b-day! That was pretty cool....