I feel like the OP is built on a premise that THINFS is crap while Songs of Experience is either this acclaimed masterpiece or very relevant in mainstream; both of which are factually false. They're both seen as "OK" by most.

The reception to SOE has not been overwhelming by any means. Other than your usual rainbow-farting from the RS magazine (which they do for every release from Bob Dylan/Bruce Springsteen/U2/Rolling Stone and a few other "selections", regardless if it's any good), it has been quite average (63 aggregate on Metacritic vs. 59 for THINFS), and I've read/heard several takes how this SOE+SOI saga established U2 as a legacy act.

Personally, it has some good spots (The Little Things That Give You Away definitely being one of them; U2's best song in years), and it's still very new, but my initial impression was actually stronger on Songs of Innocence. It feels longer than it actually is and definitely suffers from the absence of punchy rockers like Volcano or Raised By Wolves.

The reception to THINFS was not great in mainstream media either, but definitely positive among the fanbase (something that Panda himself somewhat acknowledged, but I feel has refused to take seriously, because he personally doesn't like it). Perhaps, hardcore U2 fans like the new album too, I'm not enough of a fan to be spending time at their forums to know this.

Also, I'm not sure what Panda is trying to achieve with posting that Ultimate Classick Rock ranking of Bon Jovi albums. Sure, the recent output ranks low, perhaps deservedly so. But if we have the same kind of article on U2 in about a year from now (once the novelty of SOE wears off), their last 3 records will surely rank very low on their discography too. So once again, apples and oranges.

My point is that U2 are roughly in the same boat as Bon Jovi these days, other than some left-over critics that still love them and slightly more commercial appeal due to less over-saturation in the last 10 years which Jon is definitely guilty of. If we were to try an name a peer that puts out new music that is much better received and is less of a legacy/nostalgia act, Metallica is a much better example - their last record was as successful as an artist of that age group can expect.