Bono blames audience for poor sales

Why didn't U2's most recent album do very well? Sure, it went platinum, but for a man who can raise the dead and command the oceans to dry, that's a major underpeformance.

You or I might think it's because U2 are increasingly ropey, turning out pompy old churn and hoping it'll sell.

But, no: Bono and Adam Clayton blame the audience for, apparently, not being smart enough for the record:

Bono and company see factors such as the lack of a hit song and the fickle public's need for a "diet of pop" are contributing to this so-called slump.

"We weren't really in that mindset," Bono said about the lack of a commercial hit from 'No Line.' "We felt that the album was a kind of an almost extinct species, and we should approach it in totality and create a mood and a feeling, and a beginning, middle and an end. And I suppose we've made a work that is a bit challenging."

"The commercial challenges have to be confronted," bassist Adam Clayton said. "But I think, in a sense, the more interesting challenge is, 'What is rock 'n' roll in this changing world?' Because, to some extent, the concept of the music fan -- the concept of the person who buys music and listens to music for the pleasure of music itself -- is an outdated idea."

Really, Adam? You think that U2 records are being left stacked on the shelves because nobody likes music any more, do you? It's not just that people who buy U2, or people who can find pleasure in U2, are increasingly rare?