Not A 5 Star Review

No, the 2009 albums by U2 and Bruce Springsteen aren't 5 star albums, no matter what the suck-ups at Rolling Stone say. In fact I have a theory, the higher the rating Rolling Stone gives an album, deduct at least 1-2 stars. U2's album is better than Springsteen's and it took me a couple of spins to figure out why. It's mostly a sense of humor that was missing on their last album. But I still don't hear the future classic others see.
But we all know why the magazine would give each artist its highest mark. In fact Springsteen's last album also got a 5 star rating. Jann Wenner loves 'em and wants them to continue gracing his covers. But old time readers like us will likely shrug our shoulders at such high ratings.