Totally agree with you. And further I believe that Angels and Airwaves suffers from a lack of originality in the music itself, from overused chord progressions to just plain style. I, for one, am tired of those same 4 chords used in every pop/punk song (B-F#-G#m-E, sometimes without the F# and another E and played in various progressions.) But the main complaint I feel is as follows.
AvA is basically multiple repeated motifs layered on top of each other. Which serves its purpose. And of course U2 is famous for it. But there are 2 main differences. One is that the repetition of U2s guitar was two-fold: rhythmic repetition of the palm muted chucka-chuck and melodic repeated riffs on top of that, sometimes incorporated in the palm mute and sometimes left as a free flowing sound. The two combined helps to alleviate the innate boredom of hearing the same thing over and over again, and further more the melodic riff was always altered as the song progressed, reaching higher and lower and giving that suspense and release that AvA is currently missing.
And the repetition of U2 vocal lines is two-fold as well, the repetition of 2 motives, not just one as AvA does. Any single repeated line has a call and response form that lends a completeness to the sound. Perfect example of this is Pride, "One man come... One man he resists..." contrasting lines in both sound and meaning that together satisfy. And the vocal patterns are never strictly repeated, again they are altered as the song continues. And as such, the vocal carries the song to its rises and falls, giving that sense of arrival that songs like Shove lack.
I'm ranting somewhat, but the gist is that AvA is missing levels of complexity. I would love to see AvA reach the ranks of U2, and yes I agree they definitely have that potential. For now, I'm still waiting.
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