U2 Delays Release Of Next Album

U2’s next album, which record retailers were counting on this fall to help boost holiday sales, won’t be released until early next year.

Though neither U2 nor Island Records had announced a formal release date, published reports have indicated that the album was anticipated as early as October or November.

This gave retailers hopes of a major rock ‘n’ roll sales sweepstakes this fall - with albums coming from four of the best-selling and most respected bands in rock: U2, R.E.M., Pearl Jam and Nirvana.

Pearl Jam’s “No Code” album was released last week by Epic Records, while R.E.M.’s “New Adventures in Hi-Fi” is due Sept. 10 from Warner Bros. A live Nirvana album, “From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah,” will be released Oct. 8 by Geffen Records.

The still-untitled U2 album had been penciled in on many retailers’ calendars for the week of Oct. 28.

A source said that the group hasn’t finished work on the record and is now thinking that early 1997 is a much more realistic release target. The band is expected to tour after the release. Neither the band nor its label had an official comment.