Bono: “Next year [2017] is going to be a big year for the U2 group. We have ‘Songs Of Experience’ coming, and to honour 30 years of ‘The Joshua Tree’, we have some very, very special shows coming”

At least the album still exists...

Some quick follow up album am I right?

A few reworked tracks for The Joshua Tree, really showing how the album has "come full circle" and is so relevant to the current times:
In Trumps Country
Brexit
Flip Through Your Emails
Clintons That Have Disappeared
Running for Vladimir
They Still Haven't Found What Tony Blair's Looking For

I wholeheartedly agree.

Music is a powerful tool, but Putin won't stop bombing Syria because fucking Bono told him not to during his speech between Sunday Bloody Sunday and Where the Streets Have No Name.

Get over it, you can't change the world! To be honest I'm fucking tired of watching him jumping on stage and saying all the usual things about war, peace, politics and whatever else. Leave those things to the Dalai Lama or the Pope. This is ridiculous.
I'm here for the music, I don't want to hear a wannabe priest talking about Trump and world peace at a gig. Just sing Pride (In the name of Love) and shut the fuck up! The songs will carry the message, if they're any good.

I've not got a problem with U2 doing that - they've written great political songs in the past and it makes up much of their world view. It would be almost weird if they ignored cancerous people like Trump. If it was Kasabian and their sixth form style social commentary from West Ryder, then yeah, I'd cringe but a band with great songs like Sunday Bloody Sunday and Bullet The Blue Sky have credibility in this field. Their better songs from the latter era are songs like Cedars of Lebanon are political, and I'd much rather hear this than awful songs like California or Song For Someone. If The JT tour gives an opportunity to play deeper cuts from their great eras then I'm all for it.

But the Edge's statements about this 'Trump brings an opportunity to write more material for the new album' is bullshit. Great albums transcend political events like this in my opinion, and there's no way their view of the album has been altered because of such events. They obviously don't have confidence in the new album. The simple fact is that this is a band that have a crisis of faith in the music they are making. They quite simply don't know what they're doing. It happens, some bands lose their way with diminishing returns while other acts still thrive late into their careers. I'm not really too fussed at this stage about what U2 bring out now, for me there is an outstanding 20 year timespan from 1980-2000 where almost everything was brilliant, aside from the odd hiccup like Rattle & Hum which still contains some great songs. That's more than enough music from them to keep me happy and it will permanently leave them as one of the greatest bands of all time.

At the moment though, their current situation reminds me of a lyric from a great band that sang "You glorify the past when the future dries up".

U2 blaming Trump for their own band faults. You aren't going to make popular relevant music anymore. You're mid 50s! Wake up!!!!! Just have fun.

pitchfork.com/thepitch/1406-u2-are-finally-acting-their-age/

This article from Pitchfork is actually spot on. It's neither snide or condescending (in fact the writer gave Unforgettable Fire 9.3 score) but hits some truths and a plea of acceptance to U2 (although watch out for the Noel Gallagher jibe ).

this. i mean i really like u2 and am very much looking forward to the joshua tree gig. and i don't even mind it when i go to see them live and bono starts going off on his little political rants. but let's not kid ourselves. the real reason why the album is being delayed isn't because of trump--- it's because most of the material probably stinks, just like their last couple of albums.

is 'no line on the horizon' u2's 'heathen chemistry'?

NLOTH is shit but HC is an extra shade of shit .

I remember when they had that short gig on the BBC rooftop on the NLOTH release day. It was pretty cool.

And yes, the album is mostly shit, but Magnificent is a tune. Probably The Edge's most inspired riff since Pop.

U2 feature on a new Kendrick Lamar track called XXX. To be honest, I thought this was going to be terrible like that track that was remixed by Kygo - images of Bono trying to compete with Lamar by imposing himself all over a track with a terrible attempt to rap is what I feared. In fact, the beat switch in the song for which they are credited with writing is surprising in its moody trip hop style drum, bass and piano. Even Bono isn't going all melodramatic in his little cameo and reverts back to his moody croon of the 90s.

One of the most inventive and inspired thing they've done since Pop. They've still got the ability, but it's how much they're willing to let go off their inhibitions and just start making decent music again rather than obsessing about being relevant and reaching out to everyone.