Hey, let's get back to the Penn quote. He's trying to soothe Bono's ego by saying that just because they didn't like your album doesn't mean they don't like you. Penn would know, right? He went from doing the crappy Shanghai Surprise in 1986 to Mystic River in 2004.
Since POP! came out ten years ago, it has evoked passionate responses from U2 fans. Some folks love it. Some folks hate it and others simply shrug their shoulders at it.
POP! was a great lesson for U2. You can't rush things. All of the band members state that if they had a little more time, POP! would've been completed to their satisfaction. But, Paul foolishly booked the tour, so now U2 had to rush to complete the album and rehearse it at practically the same time. Sounds kind of insane, right?
One thing that does tick me off though is the thought that US fans kind of have their heads up their asses when it comes to music. That we're not a hip as our European counterparts. You know, we just didn't get POP!? Well, the US is a pretty big country. A lot of us "got" POP!. I was one of them. I never thought for one moment that McDonald's or K-mart were proud sponsers of POP! But, apparently all of those dumb Americans thought so. LOL! Like I said, POP! was a good lesson for U2 on what NOT to do when you record, promote and tour your album.
From last I heard, Bono has made some good "movies" since then.