Known as something of a musical chameleon, former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne has proved himself a master of another art: backhanded compliments. In a journal entry on his official Web site, Byrne takes aim at U2's massive world tour, crediting it for paying for his current tour while saying it's an overblown spectacle.

"The promoter of [our] dates, and of much of the U2 stadium tour, is Live Nation, the global conglomerate," Byrne writes, explaining that the Warsaw venue he'd just performed in is way too small to pay for his entire show. "It's not like they can charge $200 a seat and make up their losses that way -- this is a standing room club ... with a floor made of plywood. So in order to book our date, [Livenation] must (we figure) be losing money now, then making it up with what they expect to earn on the upcoming U2 stadium dates."

The current U2 '360° Tour,' which kicked off at the end of June, includes shows across Europe and the U.S. before wrapping up on October 28. "Those stadium shows may possibly be the most extravagant and expensive (production-wise) ever: $40 million to build the stage and, having done the math, we estimate 200 semi trucks crisscrossing Europe for the duration," Byrne writes."It could be professional envy speaking here, but it sure looks like, well, overkill, and just a wee bit out of balance given all the starving people in Africa and all."

And with that zinger that could only be aimed at Bono's humanitarian efforts, Byrne admits that he might just be a little jealous. "Maybe it's the fact that we were booted off our Letterman spot so U2 could keep their exclusive week-long run that's making me less than charitable?" he asks. "Take your pick -- but thanks, guys!" Way to go, David -- that's probably the politest dissing of U2 and Live Nation we've ever heard.