I enjoy listening to U2 again.
I was a huge fan since the early 80’s when I heard about this cool band from Ireland. I remember being glued to the radio late one Sunday night in 1983 listening to George Gimarc interview The Edge on KZEW and thinking about how I wanted to be at the concert, but I was only 14 and it was a school night. All I could hope for was hearing the interview and listening to them on the radio. I later bought all their albums and followed them closely. I remember going to see Rattle and Hum on opening day. I was blown away by Achtung Baby. I also own The Passengers CD along with a couple of other rarities. During my teenage and early adult years, there was always a U2 tape or CD nearby.
After moving to Chicago in 1999, I became burned out on U2. If I did listen to them, It was only Zooropa, on headphones, briefly, and not very often. Every time I heard U2 or saw then on TV or in a magazine, I would ignore them or leave the room. It was like a gruesome car wreck and scratching fingernails down a chalkboard all rolled into one.
A few weeks ago I started riding the train more, so dusted off my neglected iPod to make the rides more interesting. I realized a few days later that I had no U2 in my iTunes despite owning many of their CDs. So I imported all my U2 CDs into iTunes and put most of them on my iPod. I am a fan again. I am even going out to buy the latest CD tonight after I am done with this. I feel like I am reunited with old friends.