I'm a rock n roll fan, i've my own band and i play since i was very young (michele rovatti soundcloud). Having said that i also have to express my criticism for a band that i loved so much through the years. U2 have always been over-rated but no one can deny their live-power, their risk-taking attitude and their ability to connect with the audience.
U2 best records are the result of a very successfull collaboration with producer Brian Eno (read: Brian Eno) starting with "The unforgettable fire" and ending with "Zooropa".
After Eno's era U2 got back where they started in square one.
"With or Without you"
With this last record "Songs of innocence" U2's recorded five studio album without Eno after the five they recorded with. Eno's record are wonderful, U2's record are one worst the other. The disaster culminate in this latest work, a terrible imitation worst than any other made by the many U2's imitator (the script or coldplay to name a couple).
If they keep on making this terrible records their Eno's dependency will get every year more evident and they will end up putting their artistic heritage at risk.
U2 have had only one nr 1 single in the US billboard chart (I Still haven't found what i'm looking for) in 1988 and more than 23 years have passed since their masterpiece "Achtung Baby".
U2 don't play "the Blues" like the Stones but they play punk transformed into Stadium Rock a genre who gets older faster than Blues.
Deliver for free a record to 500 million people with just a click can be very risky if that record is one of your worst.
Only mass marketing and extensive airplay can save this commercial operation. No art in here.