I became a fan of U2 in the summer of 1995, at 13 years old. HMTMKMKM was a moderate hit at the time, and I had recently taken an interest in my Dad's music collection, which had a copy of Rattle and Hum that I listened to a few times. On July 4th, VH1 showed a block of 12 U2 videos back to back, and for some reason I was compelled to record this. I watched those videos over and over, and over the next year I slowly built up my U2 collection (though I remember not even knowing October existed until at least after the Popmart era). 13-15 is about when young men start getting interested in music in general, and I just threw myself in. I really identified with U2 because they had a HUGE back catalog for me to discover, and were still a current band. I must've watched ZOOTV Sydney, R&H and Red Rocks at least once a week each.
I remember reading an article in some magazine that was previewing the upcoming releases for the fall of 1996. REM, Pearl Jam, Bush, Nirvana (some live album), and U2!!! I was so excited! I was going to bear witness the release of a new U2 album! I remember looking everywhere for information in the pre-internet days (my family didn't get the internet until 1998 or something). Everytime we went to the mall I'd ask the people at the music store when the album would come out, and finally one time some girl said "Oh yeah, that one got pushed back until next spring". I was pissed off! How could this happen? (Get used to it, kid!)
I remember first hearing Discotheque on the radio and thinking WTF? I remember seeing the video and thinking "Uh oh....", as if even at 15 I could sense the media backlash coming. I still loved the Pop album, and in May the unthinkable happened.... I saw U2 in Columbus, in person. That was such an exciting night for me. 1997 was a hard time to be a high school kid AND a U2 fan, as everybody in my school pretty much hated them. I would get made fun of for wearing my Popmart t shirt.
I was just starting college when ATYCLB came out. That was a much better time to be a U2 fan. ATYCLB really was the right album at the right time in everybody's life, it seemed.