![\"Bono](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Bono-U2-Las-Vegas-Sphere-2023-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
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(Credits: Far Out \/ Phillip Lebowitz)<\/p>\n
Mon 11 August 2025 6:00, UK <\/p>\n
Few bands can talk about themselves the way that U2 <\/a>can, which kind of makes sense. <\/p>\n When you\u2019ve got an ego like Bono up front, then if he\u2019s going to do anything, it\u2019s know exactly what to say to make their next album sound like a world beater. It\u2019s one of the more underrated aspects of being a great frontman, not only do you have to be a great songwriter and a captivating performer, you also have to\u2026 y\u2019know, front. Talk a load of bollocks about how fantastic you are and make it sound legit. <\/p>\n Which has always been Bono\u2019s secret weapon. If you don\u2019t just dismiss his talk out of hand as the ramblings of an egomaniac who still swears blind that his wrap-around shades are there for medical reasons (seriously), then there are few people with a more effective gift of the gab. I mean, with one errant aside to the audience of Dublin\u2019s Point Depot he made a quote like \u201cgo away and dream it all up again<\/a>\u201d one of the most iconic quotes among the U2 fandom. <\/p>\n The man\u2019s talent for quotes added a whole new concept to the upper echelon of rock stardom. Few people talked about being the best or biggest band in the world for decades. That is, until the centrepiece for the promotion of 2000\u2019s All That You Can\u2019t Leave Behind became Bono saying that with the album, U2 were \u201creapplying for the job of best band in the world\u201d. <\/p>\n Is it snake oil salesmanship? Sure, to an extent. I mean, it\u2019s pop music. There\u2019s no real use to it, so any way you sell it is inherently lying if you want to be cynical about it. <\/p>\n U2, however, have been the enemy of cynicism for their entire career. Their whole thing is pushing sincerity as far as it will go, then pushing it a little bit further for good measure. Whether it\u2019s presented with furrowed brows and white flags or whether Bono\u2019s dressed as a yassified Lucifer or the band are stepping out from a giant mechanical lemon, there is still something the band means from the bottom of their heart buried close to the surface. <\/p>\n If you allow yourself to get swept up in it, it\u2019s some compelling stuff. Even when what you\u2019re getting swept up in is patently false. <\/p>\n What U2 album did Bono compare to their greatest moment? <\/p>\n The good news for the band was that all their patter about \u201creapplying for the job of best band in the world\u201d with All That You Can\u2019t Leave Behind was successful. The world took a look at their CV, compared it to other candidates, found that those other candidates were Nickelback, Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park and thought, sure, job\u2019s yours. Bono and the band were back on top after 1997\u2019s dance-inflected misfire.\u00a0Pop\u00a0seriously shook their confidence. The problem, as U2 have consistently shown, though, isn\u2019t getting to the top of Mount Rock; it\u2019s staying there. <\/p>\n