In answer to this question, I can only quote Khoi Vinh’s album cover analysis from the spring of 2008 and suggest that it might apply to more than the album covers:

What to make of U2, then, who seemingly can’t get enough of their own images? Judging by the phoned-in quality of their last album cover, “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb,” they might as well be inching closer to a faceless strategy. Never mind the half-assed nature of the typography and layout. Four aging rock ’n’ roll multi-millionaires who can’t even be bothered to stand up for their cover shoot? It’s a far cry from the urgent, direct and still riveting portrait that adorned their 1983 album “War.” Based on this, I expect the art for their next release will show them all napping, fully reclined in diamond-studded La-Z-Boy chairs.