The Best Thing.
The Blackout has the right idea, but succumbs to post-Vertigo punkrockitis, meaning it sweats it, and stretches way past the doormat. It's The Miracle pt. II, thinking one good riff is enough to fill out four minutes or more.
TLT may be great in its final form, but I'm underwhelmed by the verses in a rock band performance. The U2 by numbers crescendo is enjoyable as is, but I don't want them to reheat old stuff. Winter was more interesting.
GOOYOW, given I have only heard the chorus and some lines of the bridge, is just Beautiful Day retooled for a new generation, with more interesting lyrics. I'm not a fan of BD, so I'll have to wait and hear where it strays from the formula.
I could imagine SOE being a last hurrah effort, like REM's Collapse Into Now, given the clear distinction between these four very accessible, single type songs, all representing a different facet of U2-dom, bearing U2-isms on their sleeves. If my hunch ends up being true, it might just work. The lyrics are not terrible at least.