Ah, to be Bono. It must be nice to have the begrudging respect music fans and world leaders alike and also to have the chutzpah to make statements like this about the band’s follow-up to 2004’s How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb:

"We've hit a rich songwriting vein. It gets a bit dark down here but looks like we've found diamonds not coal. I thought a while back we might have the album wrapped by now, but why come up above ground now if there's more priceless stuff to be found? The last two records were very personal, with a kind of three-piece at their heart, the primary colours of rock - bass, guitars and drum. But what we're about now is of the same order as the transition that took us from The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby.”

Bono went on to add that U2 wouldn’t leave the studio until they had made their “best ever” album, and that if it wasn’t their most innovative or challenging collection, there isn’t a point in going to the studio. Though the idea of a “challenging” U2 album that echoes The Joshua Tree is no doubt intriguing, the band might find it hard to unring that Rattle and Hum, Zooropa, and Pop bell. He might find a little humilty could go a long way. U2’s new set, in all its greatness, should be released in early 2009. [NME]