jon_lemire
Acrobat
Oh God! Why??? Do they always have to capitalize on maximum sales? They have more money than God! It will be very refreshing if they simply drop an album in February or something with minimal hype. That is the sort of unpredictable U2 that a lot of us have been missing lately!
But it's also about RELEVANCE. If U2 wants to keep its standing as the biggest band in the world (which it clearly does), it NEEDS to have a big first week of sales. The music industry is like the movie business now, meaning that the opening week's "box office" is a huge part of measuring an album's success. And for U2 to keep its stature, it needs the album to sell. Part of the band's overall image/reputation is that it's the only group making fresh material 20 years into its career that is both a critical and commercial success.
Obviously, you can still put out a blockbuster album in Jan/Feb/March. But it's easier at Xmas. And the band certainly respects the Grammys, too.