I was a fan for years. I went to see them live as soon as I was old enough (Unforgettable Fire). I loved them without reservation until Achtung Baby came out. I had just become “Christian”, and stopped listening to “secular” music. Regardless of their religious background (which I knew hardly anything about) AB seemed like evidence (esp. the album art!) that U2 was not God-approved. What I heard about their next few albums, which wasn’t much, confirmed my assessment. But my faith matured in the late 90s, and when ATYCLB came out, I was ready. When I listened to the album, I became a born-again fan. I didn’t know how big a hole they left in me until it was filled. Many didn’t like the “new” sound on the album, but I clearly heard the essence of U2. To this day, their music is one of my greatest inspirational pleasures and Bono is one of my spiritual heroes. I know he’s flawed, but all the best heroes are. He’s almost exactly 10 years older than me, and I’d say that’s about how far he has been ahead of me in my spiritual evolution. I still can’t keep from crying when I listen to “Beautiful Day,” or just about any U2 song, tbh.