I'd second this. Most people I know that LOVE U2 only think they're music geeks. But I guess I can see RB's point...no way U2 should have as many fans as they have. Metallica, too, especially with their post Black Album output. Still, I'd turn the volume all the way up on Master of Puppets any day of the week...
While U2 and Metallica are beloved by millions, they're not held in particularly high regard by music geeks. Hence, they really can't be overrated.
I guess I don't get this line of thinking. To me, U2 isn't some hyped buzzband that no one has ever heard, they've had legitimately mega-popular albums that spawned tons of hit singles over several decades and they continue to sell out 50k-100k stadiums. To me that says they're as popular as they should be.
And while I've been one and may still be to an extent, who gives a shit about music geeks? Music geeks inherently shun most music that is mainstream so it's hard to put a lot of credibility into their opinion about which music is valid and which isn't. So when I read something along the lines of "People that like U2 don't really like music" I think it's pretty douchey. I'll scoff and smirk when I look at my wife's collection of Dave Matthews, Counting Crows and (sigh...) Ani Distanko CDs but does that make her any less of a fan than me, with my Tyler, Psychedelic Horseshit and Blanck Mass mp3s?
I'm guilty of it to an extent. I remember seeing the Killers as the 3rd band on a Black Cat bill and thinking, wow that was great! But a year later when Mr Brightside was blaring from every bro's jeep, I was like "pbbb, these guys suck now."