"There's still excitement when it works," says U2's famous frontman Bono. "'Look, we actually did it!' That's genuine excitement, it's not self-effacement. Even though we put the doves in the jacket or the rabbit in the hat, we're very, very excited and can't believe the magic trick when the rabbit actually comes out."

There's a friendly atmosphere as U2 receive guests at the band's own studio in Hanover Quay. It isn't in the nicest corner of Dublin, but the recording studio feels light and inviting. Directly behind the large windows of the studio's reception room, the Liffey flows by. A few washed-up boats lie on the quay itself, but they only serve as a deterrent. To be honest, it's better that the fans aren't tempted to loiter here and cause a disturbance. After all, the work done in this place in the last few months has been managed under extreme pressure. Now the album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, is complete, the Irishmen are - to some extent - ready to talk about it.

The four members of this most recognisable of the world's bands - the last great rock dinosaur, if you will - are gathered together for a brief burst of promotion. They'll soon decide that their signature iPod has generated sufficient initial media excitement to allow them to cancel their remaining interviews until their 2005 world tour begins. For now, though, U2 are keen to talk.

Adam Clayton doesn't wear glasses anymore, he has his grey hair shaved ultra-short and still has an air of distance about him. The bassist gave up drinking alcohol six years ago, and he appears fitter than ever. With his Louis Vuitton shoes and Bulgari watch, Clayton doesn't exactly fit in with the local surroundings, and even less with the man next to him, the Edge. The guitarist who never takes his hat off is wearing grubby trousers and old Converse sneakers that have also seen better days. He speaks quietly, but certainly, and always with emphasis. It's true, what Bono once said, that "Edge seems like a girl with a moustache". Clayton prefers distance; he likes to raise his eyebrows and often appears to ask himself why he really has to be here when his colleague is giving all the answers.

The speaking time is also unfairly divided between the other pair, as Bono is clearly in the mood to talk. It's just occurred to him that it'd be better if journalists could listen to the album more than twice before they ask questions. He wants to clear this up with management. He lights a cigarette and accidentally knocks the whole packet on the floor, shaking his head at himself. Finally, he sits himself on the sofa - on the outside edge - but he doesn't stay there long. He likes to stand up, elaborating on details with expansive hand gestures. Bono is completely clad in denim, wears the obligatory tinted glasses and, if my eyes don't deceive me, has added some colour to his hair. Bono carries his 44 years well, even sitting next to drummer Larry Mullen Jr. - who shows nary a blemish on his face, despite at times looking thoughtful to the point of exertion. Mullen Jr. offers tea, sinks into his seat, and lets his friend to the talking, It seems he's only here to jump into the breach when Bono doesn't know what else to say - or needs to go to the bathroom. And then Mullen Jr. tells some interesting stories. But only when there's nothing else for it.

It's been four years since their last album, All That You Can't Leave Behind, was released, and U2 were re-embraced by fans and critics alike; by those that loved the seriousness and spiritual quest of The Joshua Tree and by those that favoured the soft irony and daring sounds of Achtung Baby. Even by those that felt alienated by the dance pop of Zooropa and the strange stage of the Zoo TV and Popmart tours (U2 in a giant lemon? In glittery silver jackets? With gas masks?) In the '90s, there were many misunderstandings between the band and their fans, but by the new millennium, the different sides of U2 came together to form a new version of the group that looked, for once to be at peace with themselves. At the same time, rock music came back with a vengeance and U2 felt more than happy among British stars such as Travis and Coldplay - bands that readily admitted the influence U2 had on their music. The Elevation world tour in 2001 was a success and everything appeared to be perfect in U2 land.

And then it all came crashing down again. Bono's father, Bob Hewson, died - and while the band were still touring. Bono began to slide into the biggest crisis of his life. He admits to having drunk too much and losing the plot, but at the same time he was working hard at his main social project, DATA. Short for Debt AIDS Trade in Africa, the organisation co-founded by Bono attempts to minimise debt in Africa and increase trade relationships between richer and poorer countries. Bob Geldof and Brad Pitt, Dr Dre and Beyoncé helped him raise public awareness on those subjects. Bono shares the irritating contrasts of his personality with Geldof. He rails against the damage globalisation has done to the impoverished and disempowered, but he appears to relish his place in the spotlight when meeting with figureheads of the current world order - Bush, Blair, Schrö der, Annan, Gates, even the Pope. He has become, as he has put it, "A rock star with a cause - the worst thing on God's green earth".

If these different faces don't seem to fit - perhaps it's a result of the inner fight between the rock star we're familiar with and the more private Christian who strives to read the Bible daily. As U2's frontman, Bono seems to be on a constant search for spiritual meaning, for ways to help the poor and create a better world. And then, he can also be a typical Irish lad, in the pub drinking too hard, partying with his friends till the lights go out, wearing sunglasses at night. One day those different sides of Bono may come together, but for now he is satisfied if they don't clash too hard. The one thing that always helps to keep him grounded: He is a family man with four children, having been together with his wife Ali for almost 30 years. That says something about his loyalty, and maybe stubbornness, too: the same partner for 30, the same band for 25 years.

You should think the man is content, but he never was and probably never will be. Bono is always looking for more. And so is his band. The musical landscape has changed, even since bands like Coldplay - who headlined the U.K.'s "quiet is the new loud" scene - rekindled the world's love of the anthemic song with the soaring vocal. Clayton raves about Franz Ferdinand and the Hives, how exciting it all is, and how, at the "Q Awards" loud rock & roll bands were being nominated again. He thought that was great. The fact that U2 came away with the "Icon" prize (well, he doesn't mention that at all at first, but yes, that was good too).

U2 are the elder statesmen of rock, but Bono is surrounded by signs of the young guard. Even close to home, he's enjoying a second wind. His 13-year-old daughter, Eve - who only listens to hip-hop - recently wanted to hear Boy, which Dad allowed. Jordan, 15, prefers Queens of the Stone Age; he [sic] can't stand ballads, but he [sic] can tolerate U2 in their more aggressive moments. The Edge is also pleased by rock's rebirth. "We don't work in a vacuum," he says. "Even though our music has never been at the centre of any particular movement at any particular time, it always has an element of what's going on. The great resurgence of rock & roll bans is so exciting for us. We had been living in a period where hip-hop was the music - in terms of innovation, production, songwriting, in pretty much every aspect. Suddenly rock & roll came back in a fresh, interesting way, with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Razorlight.

When Bruce Springsteen visited U2 during the Zoo TV tour, he told them the hardest part of the job was to surprise people. When Mullen Jr. is asked whether u2 would prefer to constantly please or surprise their fans, he takes the middle ground. "Consistent surprises," he laughs. Bono agrees, but adds: "Maybe even more important is to surprise yourself."

Bono: "We wanted to make a rock & roll record. We never really made a rock & roll record. We made a rock record, but not rock & roll. Chris Thomas had made Never Mind the Bollocks, he worked with Roxy Music, he has those guitar sounds, that directness. But in the end - the primary colours - there's only so much you can take of red, yellow and blue. But there's violet and all these other shades that we're interested in - turquoise, aquamarine. We wanted to have much more dimension in the end...I said dimension, not dementia! But we got both."

Mullen Jr.: "That's the story of U2. It's never as it seems, it always finds its own place. The records that we make are the ones we're given. No matter how hard we fight against it. It's like putting a square peg in a round hole sometimes."

Bono: [Laughs] "We need somebody in the room sometimes to be objective. Because we can disappear up our own arse. And it's a nice arse, but you do need somebody to come in [and be objective]. And Chris Thomas was wonderful, he brought that rock & roll experience. But we needed more, and Steve came in. But we also needed what you might call the irritants in the studio - the alchemists, the people who like it when the waters are disturbed, because then you can find magic. The Brian Enos. Or in this case, we found that great young producer, Jacknife Lee. We like both. We want to experiment, but we also want - at some point - to communicate. So the combination of both. Flood is an alchemist and a great communicator. It takes a lot for us. It's hard. You look at the list of producers and you see how difficult it is to make a great record. But then again, it's almost impossible to make a great movie, to write a great book. So once you know that you are not shy from asking for help."

The Edge: "The real nightmare of sequencing was All That You Can't Leave Behind, not this one. This time we had a few attempts, and then I sat up one night with a few glasses of wine and tried to think completely objectively about it, like I would be a DJ putting on the songs. At first we were a bit uncertain about the order, it doesn't necessarily put all the best, big songs at the beginning - which is what the record company is usually trying to do. It felt right, but it was Bono later who realised what had happened: The album has an arc - we take it from fear to faith. In this particular moment of time there is basically two strategies to inform your decision-making. One is you are driven by fear and allow it to dictate how you live and how you act - or you take faith as being a more constructive approach. These two contrasting strategies build the arc of the album. Funny how hidden logic works, subconsciously.”

Bono: “It has that journey from a freaked-out fearful place of paranoia like ‘Vertigo’ and it ends on its knees with ‘Yahweh’. It’s not a concept album, it’s a collection of songs, but that seems to be the arc of the record. And to me that actually mirrors the album we started out to make and the one we ended up with. The one we asked for and the one we were given - they are different. That often happens.”

Bono: “Revenge! The last album was probably our best collection of songs. But we felt that the whole wasn’t better than the sum of its parts. And this is the thing that’s so hard to pull off: When it’s more than just the songs that are on it, it is a thing unto itself. I think we got that with Achtung Baby, Zooropa and The Joshua Tree. These overall moods. That’s what [we] were working on. We could have put out an album last year, and it would have been really good. It might have been very good. But very good is the enemy of great. Great is what happens when very good gets tired. If you’re lucky.”

Bono: “Edge is still mixing the album. I’m not kidding! I think he really, really is. He’s at home at night and he’s still trying things even when we’re telling him, ‘It’s actually at the pressing plant, there’s nothing you can do!’ And now he’s gone from that to the artwork. The posters will be next.”

The Edge: “It’s not an unusual thing for us. Our songs will occasionally at the very last minute take a completely different turn. Which drives our producers completely mad, because they never fully know what’s going on until the very end of the recording, until you mix the songs. Only then can they really relax.”

Bono: “The lyrics were very easy. I have two critics in Larry and Adam, and an avenger with Edge. That’s how it works. But they were probably the easiest-ever lyrics for me - they were written in minutes. One thing about the album: It might have taken two years, but the songs themselves, they were done in three or four takes. Maybe ‘Yahweh’ was played 10 times; ‘Vertigo’ was probably played four times. I never did more than three or four takes on the vocals. So most of the time was spend mixing the ink, as the Chinese proverb suggests. you spend a year mixing the ink and a second making the mark. Songwriting, improvisation; we worked on 30 songs. Some songs are not on the album not because they are not great, but because they didn’t fit the feeling. There’s a song we did with Dr Dre called ‘Treason’. There’s a song about Johnny Cash called ‘North Star’. There are amazing songs that I’d like to get finished at some point. I don’t want to wait too long - we’d like another album soon.”

Mullen Jr.: “Don’t hold your breath!”

Bono: “But we’re in the zone. In the zone. That’s the mental state, not the diet.”

Bono: “Exhibition is a prerequisite for being an artist. In fact, I would say I have made a life, a job, an exhibition of myself, ourselves. The job is open-heart surgery. The job is the arrogance to believe that if you’re having a thought, if you are vulnerable, other people might share that. And really what you’re trying to do is: That roar, that cry, it comes from a place that I certainly don’t understand, but I don’t have a choice personally, I wake up in the morning with a melody in my head. I write notes to myself, to keep myself sane. So I have to do this anyway.

Bono: “I think so. But certainly the job of art is to find beauty in unexpected places. Often ugly places. So many people who sing have been abandoned - John Lennon, John Lydon - whether it’s the death of their mother or whatever, I think grief is part of it. The Dalai Lama was saying, ‘Begin your meditation on life with death.’ It’s a pretentious phrase, but I’m a big fan of people who make pretentious announcements. He’s a very eloquent and able man in that regard - much more than I. But there’s something to that. I haven’t quite figured it out. But I think I wouldn’t be in a band if my mother hadn’t died when I was 14. And I don’t think Larry would be the same musician if his father [sic] hadn’t died when he was 17. Now, to convert despair to joy, that’s rock & roll. So even if this has been a terrible time for me, in that my father’s death was a kind of Pandora’s box and when it opened lots of ghosts jumped out and chased me around the table and on the street and into some very dodgy places - out of that also comes this very joyful record. For me that’s just amazing, uplifting music. With a bittersweetness to it, a melancholy.”

Bono: “That song, ‘Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own’, took time. It was a slow burner. I was sitting there when my father was sick, I then sang it at his funeral, but we still couldn’t get it right. We wanted it to be like the Walker Brothers - some ’50s ballad - but we couldn’t get it off the ground. Then Nellee Hooper and Steve Lillywhite sorted it out.

Bono: “Love. Because it’s the lack of love that makes the world the way it is. And it’s not my definition of God, but I believe that God is love, they are the same thing.”

Bono: “We played it to somebody from the record label and he said, “What’s that, Yahweh?’ I said, ‘It’s one of the more mysterious names for God, and in fact you’re not allowed to write it down or say it if you are a fundamental Jewish person.’ And he just looked at me and said, ‘I wish you hadn’t told me that! Couldn’t you call it something else? Call it ‘Ali’, it’s a great song then!’ But it formed in my mouth as I sang it before it was really a word, and we just ran with it.”

Clayton: “Well, it’s a very beautiful song. The lyric does politicise it to some extent, but in the end it’s about reconciling. I like the line that nobody can own Jerusalem. I don’t have a difficulty with the religious aspect of it, no.”

The Edge: “We are very proud of Bono’s achievements in politics. As sceptical as I might have been, I’ve had to eat my words on a lot of subjects and just say that he has somehow - and I have no idea how - become very respected in very high level political circles, while also being able to maintain all the necessary things he does for U2: writing lyrics, performing, singing. As his political work has got more and more high profile, that obviously started to have an impact on people’s perception of him and the band. So it’ll be interesting to se with this album how the persona of Bono will go down. Is he the part-time musician who really spends his time in politics? Or will people remember him as the full-time musician who sometimes becomes involved in politics? Either way, it doesn’t really matter. It’s about the quality of the work, and this is a great record.”

The Edge: “Deep down he knows that the credibility that he has, to be able to call for those meetings and the amount of respect he gets, is largely due to the profile that our fans have given us. To a politician, somebody who commands so much respect and interest of so many people is both a very attractive ally and a terrifying enemy.”

The Edge: “George Bush was bad enough, [retired Republican and well-known conservative] Jesse Helms was even worse. At the time I was really against it, and I made my feelings very clear. He took them on board, but in the end he took a judgement based on what he thought he could get out of meeting Bush. It was not a small thing for him. He knew that it was very unhip and would quite likely have a negative effect on the way people perceived him. But there was a chance of becoming involved with Bush’s other people and talk about Aids in Africa. And this administration has done more than any other in recent history for the plights of Africa, in terms of Aids and trade. The commitments to give money will stand, the results will have repercussions for generations. So what can you say? The results came through. Was it worth it? Absolutely. He was right.”

Bono: “It’s a kind of slapping I can live with. People want to slap me the way you want to have an argument with somebody you really disagree with. In fact, that’s a big compliment. To have strong feelings about U2 and think, ‘I can’t stand that Bono’ is just great. Indifference is the enemy of love, not hate.

Bono: “It’s not that different. I consider myself a travelling salesman. With U2 we go from town to town selling songs. And with politics I go from politician to politician selling ideas. I’m a good salesman. I come from a long line of sales people on me mother’s side. What’s different about it? This is a lot more fun! But the process of communication is the common thread. Being able to communicate ideas. But one has fallen to me because politicians are not doing their job, so now I have this job. The other thing is much more natural, it’s a gift. Music is a gift that you’re given, and it should humble you actually - to know that you have this great life. It always amazes me that artists are so arrogant when their success has some from a gift. Whereas people you’d expect to be arrogant, self-made men who put themselves through college and worked very hard to start a business, are often not as arrogant as rock stars. Being talented is like being beautiful or being born into a rich family - you didn’t do it.”

Bono: “If we had considered what people think a bit more, I’m sure we would have been in less trouble. I certainly would be. I think Larry is probably my best bodyguard in the band. He is often worried that when we jump off a building we may not be able to fly. But I think that’s also part of our job as a band. To go to those subjects that other people feel are just taboo. It started out on our first album, on Boy. People had written adolescent music before, it was all about sexuality, hormones. But we ended up writing an album about how allusive that is, that maleness, how fragile a place it is to be a teenager. The loss of innocence. It was just completely uncool. But it’s honest. We were never cool. We were always hot, passionate, blood was running through our veins and adrenaline was high. The opposite of cool.”

There are a lot of people who identify with me, because there are a lot of uncool people in the world - and I’m happy to be one of them. Cool only gets you so far. People probably identify with me because, I hope, my mind and my heart are open. My face used to be much more open. But even if I’m wearing glasses, I think I’m still more transparent as a rock star. Even in full rock star mode, I’m more see-through than most. It must be true, because people come up to me all the time. They don’t treat me like a star.”

Mullen Jr.: “It’s not like celebrity. Celebrity ain’t worth a shit.”

The Edge: “We push things. We take risks. And we either have big successes or, on occasion, bug faux pas. Therefore you are forced to take a stance on the band. And that’s not true of every group; a lot of groups are far more cautious than we are. I would have to lay the credit or blame - depending on which way you look at it - at Bono’s feet. He is not scared to be controversial and to cause a fuss.”

Bono: “I’ve made a career out of a personality crises. But it’s just that I want the band and myself to realise our potential. That’s really it. And in order to do that you have to fail a lot and you have to try a lot and be prepared to fail. You put on different clothes and shoes and see where they’ll take you. It’s intellectual curiosity. You’re lifting stones to see what’s underneath them. Sometimes it’s a lot of creepy crawlies, sometimes there are diamonds in the dirt. The curiosity is what brought me into looking like there’s a whole lot of different people in there. But it’s really just the one megalomaniac.”

Clayton: “You have to have a bit of distance, I guess. Some of these young bands are far enough behind to be able to mention us. At any other time, it wouldn’t have been cool to admit being fond of U2. It’s a generation thing.”

The Edge: “Time goes by and good work survives, bad work is forgotten. The context of any band’s hipness - or lack of it - also fades away. For instance, I’ve noticed that people are now openly saying how much they love Led Zeppelin. In the ‘80s they were a band that epitomised the dinosaurs of the previous phase of music; they were the ones that had to be torn down. It’s interesting to see that happen. Even the Bee Gees - they were hated for most of their actual career, and now the guy form the Pixies is saying, ‘Fantastic songs!’ It’s fine. It’s the one consolation of bands that are incredibly unhip. They know that great work will eventually get recognised. I’m waiting for early-80s haircuts to be given full recognition. I think there are pockets of mullet support everywhere in Europe. I’m sure there will be a resurgence of the mullet. But I might be wrong.”

Bono: “There’s the mullet. There are, of course, the excruciating moments. I have sung in many different voices, and I find some of the stuff hard to listen to. Say, ‘Pride (In the Name of Love)’, I sound like a girl. No offence. [Laughs]

Mullen Jr.: “He likes girls!”

Bono: “I heard unfinished lyrics, unfinished thoughts, unfinished songs. And the singing was sounding a little raw. But I did realise that there was an ecstatic quality to the music. There was something very special, as embarrassing as it was and is.”

Bono: “You think Dublin is not cool? [Laughs] We use it as a retreat. We go off and pretend to be rock stars and then come home and hang out with our family and friends. There’s a community here that we’ve grown up with, they have really no regard for the fact that we are in a band. I find myself over the last few years forgetting that I am in a band. And that’s nice, sometimes.”

Bono: “There is no other reason to do this now, for us. It’s a blessing or it’s a curse, but the independence that being so financially rewarded gives you - if that was your reason to begin with - to be rich and famous, well, once you get it, you’re out of a reason. I don’t think it was ever our reason. I’ve enjoyed it, we’ve had a lot of laughs and a lot of fun with it. But we’ve got something to prove. You can’t have this life that we’ve been given - with a nice place to go to in the summer and to sleep in at night and not worrying about the mortgage or where your children are going to school - and be crap. That’s is the breaking of the promise. I think our audience have make a deal with us: The give us this extraordinary life, but in return we have to give them extraordinary music. And when we stop, they’ll stop.