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From MTV.com
Anyone with a copy of War or The Joshua Tree in their collection might disagree, but Bono is calling U2's next album their first guitar-driven outing.
"We're banging the dustbin lids back home in Dublin. We've got a rehearsal studio/recording studio type of deal," the Irish singer said at the Golden Globes on Sunday, where he was a presenter. He and The Edge also accepted Best Original Song for "The Hands That Built America," U2's contribution to "Gangs of New York (see " 'Chicago' Knocks 'Em Dead, Wins Three Golden Globes").
"Edge, I must say, is really doing some extraordinary stuff," Bono added. "It's a guitar record. Which is, I think, our first."
U2's last studio album, 2000's redefining All That You Can't Leave Behind, saw the band abandoning many of the eccentricities of their '90s output in favor of more bombastic songs. "Beautiful Day" and "Elevation" became nearly inescapable at radio.
"I love singles in rock and roll, the great 45s," Bono said. "That's what I loved about Nirvana, that's what I loved about the Sex Pistols, and going back to the Beatles and the Rolling Stones ? when you make that one record that changes everything."
"It's at the beginning. We're working on the songs right now," The Edge explained. "It's far too early to say if anything's a single. But there's some nice stuff coming through."
Bono added that U2's next album should surface by the end of the year or early 2004.
I always love when they start talking about things to expect with the next album...I think it was Bono who once said that they always go into the studio with an idea to make a certain kind of record, and in the end they're left with something quite different. 
We'll see what happens, but in any case, I'd be very surprised to see the new album any earlier than 2004.
Woo-hoo! Sounds good to me, Beth! I know I'll be going to Detroit, and maybe Chicago too!
