Isn’t this kind of the same as with REM or RHCP? They sound a certain way so you can always tell that it is U2 (or REM) even if it is a new song you haven’t heard before? These bands have a very distinct soundscape which makes them instantly recognisable and I guess that - along with if you fell Bono’s a douche - makes U2 rub certain people the wrong way perhaps?

I absolutely love their early work. “Under a Blood Red Sky” was even the first CD I acquired back in the early nineties… I don’t hate U2. But their material is not as strong anymore (in my opinion)…