I agree with bono here in principle. SOE is still mostly shit, though
Bono said: “The popsters are beating the others on melody. Not in lyrics, not in their aesthetic, but they’re writing better tunes. That was not the case with The Beatles and the Stones. The Beatles were writing better tunes than the popsters and not compromising on their lyrics and their aesthetic. When Brian Burton [Danger Mouse] ran out of time to work with us – and he’s by far the biggest presence on the album as a producer – we got to work with Paul Epworth, we got to work with Ryan Tedder. Their only interest is in melody that you haven’t heard before and the uniqueness of it. So that changed the game for us.”