Songs of Ascent, then Spiderman, then Rubin.
Songs of Ascent, at least by description, sounds like the U2 album I've been waiting on for a long time. NLOTH scratched the itch, but Songs of Ascent sounds like it's really gonna do the trick. A dark album of meditative, moody songs?
I agree with hatrickpatrick when he says that Lanois and Eno are like the 5th and 6th members of the band. I agree. They take the band into that "otherness" that makes up their greatest work, IMO. The best songs on NLOTH were all co-written with Eno and Lanois (except Breathe, which was just U2, and it's a damn good one!).
I love Rick Rubin. He's a good producer, and he just helped Metallica, my other favorite band, write and record what could go down as their best album. But I don't think he's right for U2. His working style, in my opinion, is not a positive influence on the band.
He produced "Window In The Skies", and that was an instantly forgettable song to me. Rubin's style is "write first, don't go into the studio until you have everything written and ready to go." It's common knowledge that U2 does their best work while just tinkering and writing in the studio. "Beautiful Day" would have never come about with Rick Rubin, it would have remained "Always".
Rubin also likes a very dry, stripped sound to his records. When you listen to Rubin record, say, the Chili Peppers or Metallica, you are very conscious to the fact that "there are only 4 people in this band." I don't think that works for U2, a band where it sounds like a full symphony orchestra, a marching band, and a choir are all playing at one time (and that's just The Edge.)