Achtung Industry!

The U2 campaign is officially on. The interview exclusive went to Q magazine while the New York Times introduced Bono as a columnist. I actually enjoyed the fella's article on Frank Sinatra, 'My Way' and despondency in Dublin. He wrote something a bit similar for a book called Idle Worship, but he gives it a relevant spin and if all good writing is autobiography by stealth, then Bono is again aiming to define his life and his times.

Tomorrow, U2 will be in Washington for the Obama Inauguration party. On Monday Morning, Dave Fanning gets the first play of 'Put On Your Boots'. The Brit Awards have been booked, the album is prepped in a series of formats and you can bet that an 18 month world tour is being scheduled with world-pummeling intent.

The record label would have liked a November release. Manager Paul McGuinness once stated that a good album gets two Xmas runs on the shelves. But the band famously rushed the arrival of 'Pop', and regretted it afterwards. This time, the firm has signed off with producers Eno, Lanois and Lillywhite and the December competition is effectively offside.

The record industry will now be doing what it has traditionally excelled at: getting CDs into shops, putting up posters everywhere, working the playlists and getting their pluggers into the heart of media corporations. I'll guess that at least three singles have been selected and that tour designer Willie Williams has another intrepid concept ready to fly.

Some critics feel that this style is clumsy and old fashioned. In this post, Jim Carroll from the Irish Times rails against this ferocious front-loading. My caveat would be that U2 misjudged 'Rattle And Hum' and 'Pop', and that they sometimes overstate their own power. However, that's also exhilaration when U2 have something to say and a barrelling momentum behind them. I also hope that there are little slivers of quiet illumination of the new record, which often redeems a lot.

It's hardly an exaggeration to say that the music business is banking on this one. If U2 can't make the system work, then nobody can.