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?

Problem. I love Kanye West, but I hate Chris Martin. And yet here they are, collaborating on West’s latest single, Homecoming.

I have to admit, Chris Martin was the last person I expected to find on a Kanye West track. Taking whiny Indie vocals and adding them to a hip-hop track doesn’t work.

This is probably the weakest Kanye West track I’ve heard released as a single. The piano draws comparisons with old Elton John, but not in a cool way. It’s also a bit repetitive, and it doesn’t have the same level of ego stroking that you expect from West.

Bizarrely, Homecoming is a UK only single. The rest of the world gets Flashing Lights. Ah well, the good thing about a bad single is waiting for the inevitable return to form…

Homecoming is the 5th single to be released from Kanye’s Graduation album. The single is released on 4th February 2008.