My final word on this: (maybe
)
Thank you Salome! Wanderer, you bring up the subject of polling. An extensive anonymous poll of about 3500 U2 fans was done online earlier this year. AB won, JT was second, and POP and October failed to scratch the 1% mark in the 'best album' category. Now even if it were someone's second or third, it should have done better than that.
I add to this the fact that POP was U2's worst selling album since they achieved superstardom, and less sales would probably mean fewer fans liked it. Now don't start throwing crap at me about how 'N'SYNC sell a lot and Jeff Buckley sold few so that doesn't mean anything,' it DOES with U2 because we are comparing U2 albums against each other as to how well they went over with other U2 fans, so leave the apples and oranges out of this.
I also add that after attending several Elevation concerts, I noticed that if and when a Pop song was played, it always got the least response from the crowd, and much of the audience seemed perplexed for the first minute or so. Compare this to the rousing cheers NYD or SBS bring, or the overwhelming cheer that goes up when Streets kicks in. Some songs are diamonds, some songs are stones.
I also base my 'generalizations' on the fact that I have never personally met a Pop fan, old or young. All U2 fans I know felt that Pop was beneath U2, and yes, it is a joke to people I know. I can count several people who 'came back' to U2 when ATYCLB was released. While in the Baltimore GA line, someone had a Popmart poster hung up and I heard on at least two occasions someone walk by and say 'that sucked!' I was not sitting near it, only walking by, so it may have happened more.
I will acknowledge one thing: that Pop is very popular with a few dozen or so people here who feel the need to champion its cause, defend it and tout it to an extreme. I don't knock you all for your personal taste and opinions, I DO have a problem with it being listed so high lyrically. As Scatteroflight stated, there are a disproportionate number of Pop fans here compared to U2 fans as a whole. Remember too that THOUSANDS of U2 fans are NOT on this or any other list or forum so you don't hear them.
Exhibit 101:
"You can reach but you can't grab it...
you know you're chewing bubble gum....
you just can't get enough of that lovey dovey stuff....boom cha -let's go Discotheque!"
I am sorry but that is TRL-esque shallow silliness, not great lyrics. I mean the members of N'Sync could have actually written that themselves! Compare that to the great lyrical work of Red Hill Mining Town, Bad, WOWY, UTEOTW, One, SBS, I could go on, and I could bring up Miami too, it's worse than Discotheque. There are about 3 or 4 songs with good lyrics on Pop, but the lame crap drags it down, and when you compare it to albums that are masterpieces with all the songs being amazing, well written lyrical works, it is ridiculous to have Pop in the top 3. It's like comparing a 7-9 season to a Super Bowl Championship!
As I mentioned before, 27 people would say they liked it just to 'piss me off.' SO far only 3 have spoken up to say we don't like it, though several did not show it on their list. I think most people who want to choose something other than POP are avoiding this thread in fear of a flame war.
I challenge 80sU2isbest and all the others that don't care so much for Pop to have the balls to post here and bring this crazy disproportionate average down. If you dare!