There is no such thing as a quick interview with U2 singer Bono. That also goes for guitarist the Edge, bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. Despite the short supply of spare time that U2 had for speaking to Rolling Stone during their recent, mad November weekend in New York — performing on Saturday Night Live, touring Manhattan on a flat-bed truck, playing for free under the Brooklyn Bridge at night — they went into deep, revealing detail about the personal and creative trials and triumphs that led to their Number One album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.

What follows are additional excerpts from the nearly six hours of interviews that produced the current Rolling Stone cover story — which comes just three months shy of the twentieth anniversary of U2's first appearance on our cover, in March, 1985. The headline then: "Our Choice: Band of the Eighties."

The decades have changed. Our choice has not.

BONO

You've been in high-gear this weekend, and for the past month, launching the new album. Do you feel like you're in control of its destiny?
I know we're in control. But it is a little frightening, because trajectory is everything. Two inches off on Earth, and you miss Mars [laughs]. But I won't really feel confident until "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own" or "Original of the Species," one of those two, punctures the "pop" balloon. Otherwise, the album won't be what it should be.