Only U2 Can Save The World From Itself!

And by "Itself" I mean: U2.

But I'm kidding, though! They needn't save the world from themselves. They have already saved the world from themselves. In so many ways!

Let's face it - what does it matter what I think or what anyone else thinks of U2's new album? U2 bestride our tiny pebble-like globe of a world like a shining, gigantic colossus of fire. Their musical competence is matched only by their delicate yet firm collective conscience, alloyed to an iron will to embody themselves, as a band, as an ideal: their own. They made themselves, and then they broke their own mold. The bonds that they have forged between each other will outlast them all.

These four men have not only redeemed the aging rebel-pose so pitiful in most over-the-hill rockers, they have made it sexy. To the fury and detriment of self-styled unrespectable rock rebels everywhere, U2 have made rock respectable on a global scale. Respectable at the level of nations. They have created and staffed a new international travelling ambassadorship, beholden to no one, and with temporary consulates in every country they stop to play on their never-ending peacekeeping/goodwill tour.

But are they stuck up with it? Are they besotted with their own sense of exalted purpose? Do they put on airs? Do they strike poses? No! They bring to it the humility and the humanity of anyone who has...well wait, shit - yes, they do strike poses! But that's just part of the job. They're rock stars! You got to jump up on that amp, strike that stance in leather pants with your arms shot high, microphones in hands. But they do it with humility. That's what I'm trying to say, here. These men have a sense of perspective on their towering significance in the grand scheme of things. We can imagine Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen sitting on the edge of the stage like grizzled Greek fishermen with their legs splayed swinging loose over the dock's end, swapping old stories and looking out past the horizon with all the dignity of an honest job done well for a lifetime.

And they deserve it. That sense of peaceful, well-earned dignity is earned.

God bless each of U2.