Take it easy, Stan.
REM weren't as big at their peak as U2 at Pop? What the fuck kind of idiocy us that? Automatic sold 18 million copies! That's as many as Achtung. Pretty sure Out of Time sold a bit more than Zooropa too. REM were U2's equals in the early 90s
Record sales, cultural impact, musical impact & influence. Are you seriously going to dispute that Pearl Jam, Nirvana, GnR and Oasis weren't as big or bigger than U2 at their peaks? Be serious for a second. In the MCIS era, Smashing Pumpkins had more I escapable hits than U2 had off an album, and more than U2 have had in the last 20 years combined. REM and Depeche are more influential over all, DM played similar sized gigs at their peak and had several monstous hits. I live U2 but this place overestimates Thierry "size" so much it's a joke. Stans abound.
Oh I forgot about RHCP at the turn of the millennium.