You're forgetting Bono's talk about relevance. It's not enough for the band to find 10 "worthy" songs - they have to find 10 worthy songs that they feel will resonate with the public for years to come. And on the whole, be cohesive. I assume they're trying to find another JT/AB (whatever your feelings on this may be), not another NLOTH. This was probably why they were unsatisfied with this last album, and, in their minds, probably why it didn't sell well. There are plenty of highly rated albums out there that are not as successful as they could/should have been, and vice versa, and I think Bono believes it boils down to relevance.
GOYB = relevance and will resonate for years to come? Not even close!
Whomever decided to put that steaming pile of shiite on the album and then said "Hey, lets put this out as lead single" should be banned from making any music or business decisions going forward, in fact maybe he should be banned from listening to any music at all.