U2 admit they can overwork their songs in the studio.

The Irish group’s bass player, Adam Clayton, claims their 2009 single ‘Get on Your Boots’ “confused people” because it was so deeply layered, and since they stripped it down for their present 360 Degree tour they have had a better reaction to it.

He told Rolling Stone magazine: “Interestingly, it’s going off live. I think probably what happened was it’s a common U2 problem. I think we probably worked on it and worked on it and worked on it, and instead of executing one idea well, I think we had probably five ideas in the song, and it just confused people. They weren’t sure what they were hearing.”

The group’s lead singer, Bono, claims, however, their audience are just not “groovy” enough to appreciate their attempts at marrying genres such as dance and rock together.

He added: “Look, sometimes our audience isn’t as groovy as we’d like. ‘Get on Your Boots,’ as it was released, is a sort of crossover, half-club, half-indie-rock record.

“People are not sure about the club side of U2. They want ‘Vertigo.’ And when we did this the last time – with ‘Discotheque,’ from ‘Pop’, they didn’t like it either.”

Last week U2’s 360 Degree tour – which runs in North America until July – became the highest grossing in history, beating the record set by The Rolling Stones with their ‘A Bigger Bang’ tour in 2007.