Those are fightin' words boy! I've definitely been a fan more than 10 years and I was turned onto U2 by the 80's albums---bought Unforgettable Fire & Rattle & Hum because I thought they were cool titles and I had 2 cd's left to fill on my BMG membership so I ordered them without hearing a single one of the songs. Needless to say, I was blown away! And I did think the live version of Pride from Rattle and Hum was better---still do even though I prefer the album version to most live versions, this song seems to sound stale live. I next bought Under a Blood Red Sky and Joshua Tree. I later got into the 90's albums. Achtung blew my mind. I remember picking up Pop the day it was released and listening to it 6 or 7 times before I finally "got it." Well, Pop (with the live versions of most of the songs spliced in) is my favorite U2 album. ATYCLB is an amazing collection of songs, and No Line on the Horizon (despite lacking a WOWY or One 10/10 type of song) is a fantastic album that really takes you on a journey. I can't imagine U2 without the innovation and beauty of their post-80's output, and my fandom stemmed from the 80's. It's all good, all of it!
When was the last time U2 wrote a song like bad? I can think of a few. Please comes to mind as the most similar, somewhat sub-par on the album, but absolutely intense and transcendent live.