This post seems to be angering many people. I have to say, I don't see it as anyone demanding something from the band. I'll be the first to admit that they have given us more than enough, musically.
BUT...
Lately, there is at least a 3-4 year waiting period between albums and this is the age of U2 iPods and such. I just think that it would be a very intelligent move on U2's part to at least throw us a bone here and there. Not just from a greedy fan's standpoint, but from the standpoint of good business these days; which is something U2 seems to be quite savvy with.
I mean, look at it. Society tends to have a low attention span lately. I think after 2 years, fans are already getting their mouths watering for new material. If you know you're going to keep them waiting for something awesome that is worth the wait; make sure you keep them interested, too. I'll give them some credit on this front, because of the DVD's, compilations, re-masters, movies, etc. they've been releasing will not allow us to forget about them (not that we would, anyway).
If we were to get maybe just brief monthly updates on new material, I think it would help the biggest band in the world become even bigger. There is a certain allure to leaving new songs a mystery, until they're ready to be released, yes. But these little bits and pieces of "new direction", "new locations" are all fine and good, but that's all we get and it doesn't tell us much. A year ago, Bono was talking about the same "new direction" that he is now. The most useful piece of information we received was "songwriting with Eno and Lanois in Morocco" which is very exciting news, indeed. It would just be nice if we got something that significant every month or so; just to highten the anxiety as much as possible until the release. And really, that bit of news wasn't giving away all that much. We still have no idea what that means for their music. I would even be satisfied with a track name of a song that they threw out or something. Even trashed ideas would be interesting to hear about; or maybe the reason why they strayed from Rubin for the time-being. I'm not asking for them to actually give us any of the new material, because yes that would be giving away the mystery. I just want to know that the band is still working hard to bring us the best music they can with maybe just a few hints as to where they're going mixed in.
This isn't a demand or a dissatisfaction with the band. It is a wishful request that would not only please fans, but would build advertisement/reputation/whatever you want to call it for the band. The way they do it now is that one of the band members will talk for 30 seconds to hype the new material, but really not give us any idea of anything. "We decided we didn't want to make another Rock record", "The band is doing new things". How many different ways can you dress that up or state it in different ways before your fans start getting tired of it? Even a "Punk Rock from Venus" styled quote would be welcome right now.