As the U2 publicity juggernaut invades every possible pop culture show on the planet, Bono soundbites are becoming unfortunately more frequent. And about as welcome as a dose of gonorrhea.

The latest is what seems to be a back-handed compliment to Coldplay’s Chris Martin. After initially calling him a wanker, Bono went on to praise Martin’s ‘genius’, saying:

Obviously he is a completely dysfunctional character and a cretin but he happens to be a genius melodist and I think up there with Ray Davies and Noel Gallagher and Paul McCartney.

Naturally, a lot of the insults are healthy camaraderie and not sensational at all. After all, U2 and Coldplay are still labelmates, aren’t they?

To my mind, Coldplay always seemed a bit derivative of U2. Not an exact soundalike, but you can hear a clear influence on their sound.

So, following that line of thought, is it fair to say that Bono just gave himself a back-handed compliment?