I think with iTunes and YouTube and the ability to listen to any song, the strategy of the music industry has changed.
The tactic of releasing the best song on the album first doesn't work anymore because then people will just download that instead of the full album.
In my opinion, the best strategy for an established band making a comeback is to put out an awkward, artsy song first. This has a few benefits:
It gets people talking. If they put out another Feel Good Inc people would like it and move on but this track made people to take time to complain on social media. I'm probably making this up but I think I read somewhere that after experiencing something you're more likely to tell a friend about a movie or whatever that you hated rather than one you loved.
People are going to complain about something new no matter what so there's no point in giving them the best song first to rip apart.
The next track released will sound 10x better by comparison than it would have if it had been released first.
Personally, I didn't care for the song but on the other hand I don't think it's that far outside their eclectic spectrum of sound either.