What does U2 sound like?

For a question that seems so absurd to ask-surely, everyone knows!--it's pretty hard to answer. Not because the band has been around for over three decades and experimented with a number of styles. Its that the answer is tautological: U2 sounds like U2. Its commercial success and attendant ubiquity has done something to it: it's transcended pop music.

Of course, Bono, The Edge, Larry, Mullin, Jr. and Adam Clayton weren't born fully grown, as their first three albums, all reissued in remastered form last week, attest. Boy, October, and War come out together today in a super-deluxe box set which cheekily leaves room for collectors to add an extra disk of their own, as if it's being left to the listener to judge whether The Joshua Tree belongs here.  read more »

In Vogue's holiday issue, actress Penelope Cruz unloads on the paparazzi that fueled the story that she and U2's Bono were having an affair:  read more »

Last night at the Hammerstein Ballroom, where celebrities converged for Conde Nast's Black Ball to benefit Keep a Child Alive, singer Alicia Keys was decked out in head-to-toe Armani and a lot of black patent leather. She told she was taking a very special date to the Bungalow 8-themed, Amy Sacco-designed after-party ...  read more »

We were surprised to see more speculation in this morning's Post about tenants in Julian Schnabel's Palazzo Chupi on West 11th Street. This time it’s Richard Gere and wife, Carey Lowell, who have reportedly been seen in the West Village building “numerous times in the past few days”.

This may be the case, but the Post’s claim that Mr. Gere will first have to sell his Sullivan Street townhouse to buy one of Mr. Schnabel’s condos is way off base. Mr. Gere’s already sold that townhouse for a record $12.85 million, and we reported on the sale in June (and also in May, before it closed).

There is no end to the rumors about Schnabel’s pricey digs. The Post also mentions the reports from The Villager newspaper that Bono has purchased a place in the building. As we reported earlier this week, no city records show evidence of that sale.

In fact, there's been one official sale in the Palazzo Chupi. Read about it here.

MemoPad is reporting that the Bono Vox guest-edited July issue of Vanity Fair, with its theme of Africa, will up the ante on that whole "collect-'em-all" cover trend:

"Sources close to the title said it could publish as many as 20 different covers, all shot by Annie Leibovitz."

Insiders seem to be telling MemoPad good things about Bono's editing abilities, though we can't help but wonder what's going on between the lines here:  read more »

Forbes.com counts Bono as an investor, but some of the many who’ve recently fled cite ‘page-view sweatshop’ conditions.  read more »

It may not be as grand as Bono’s I.M. Pei–designed duplex across the park, but U2’s longtime manager, Paul McGuinness, and his wife Kathy have bought a fifth-floor, six-room apartment at 40 East 62nd.  read more »

Come Back to San Gennaro: The Mob is Deeply Missed
City officials have since strived to cleanse San Gennaro of certain less than desirable elements: No more gambling. No more booze-slinging street vendors. And, if you believe the current organizers, no more Mafia involvement. Mob mentality, though, still has its place. Go to story by Chris Shott.  read more »

This isn't about Bono. He's a good guy. More power to him. It's about Americans. Can we care about anything without a celebrity attached? Global Warming, brought to you by Al Gore. Literature, sponsored by Oprah. African Hunger, presented by Bono. And now George Clooney brings us—genocide.