Long-time U2 fan Ruby shares an amusing discussion she had with Steve Averill at the Rock Hall last weekend:
“I’d heard/read somewhere that Four5One had heard a half dozen tracks of the new [U2] stuff, so I was curious what they thought of the material. I asked Averill at the book signing if it was true that the new stuff was along the sonic lines of All That You Can’t Leave Behind. He initially said, ‘Yes,’ but then followed with, ‘Actually, it sounded more like War but with a harder edge…and with the depth of Achtung Baby.‘ Laughing, I asked him, ‘So you are sure they won’t turn around and give us, say, Pop part two — more techno?’ And he said, very definitely, that this was indeed a guitar-driven album.”