An album? For free? Get that shit AWAY from me.

[The Curmudgeon]

You'll have heard of this by now, but thought I'd gauge the opinion on here about this outbreak of faux outrage and "invasion of privacy." It involves two of the most popular, and also loathed, entities around. Namely Apple (booo!) and U2 (boooooooooooooo!)

So U2 struck a gazillion dollar deal with Apple that meant their new album was free to anyone with an Apple product. Didn't have to be the brand new iPhone 6 that they now soundtrack the advert to, but anyone with an iPhone or iPad had the brand new U2 album stuck on their device whether they wanted it or not.

You'll have heard of this already. You'll also have heard about people losing their shit over it.

They didn't ASK for a free album, God damn it, so why has it magically appeared on their phone? What. An. Outrage. Never mind the fact you remove it by, like, pressing a button and that you don't actually have to listen to the fucking thing, what an invasion of our fundamental rights, amirite?

For what it's worth, I went out of my way to get the free album. I'm no huge U2 fan or anything, but yeah if they want to give me their record for free and I don't even have to do much to get it? Bring it on. And the song I DID hear, lead single "The Miracle of Joey Ramone" is pretty damn cool. So yeah. Count me in.

Does it devalue music? In a way, sure. But we live in an age where music IS fucking worthless to a huge number of people, something to "get" simply by clicking on a torrent. The fact that this became SUCH a huge deal because it's free surely echoes how rare it is to actually get something (legally) for free? And as for the "invasion of privacy" thing - do shut up.

That's me, of course. What's your take on this whole thing?

[trashcanman]

I had trouble figuring out how to get it on my iTunes. It definitely didn't show up on its own. It was listed as "purchased" but i had to go through my account's purchase history to actually listen to it. I do think it's mega-assholish and very typical of U2 to assume everybody in the world wants their new album on their device and I heard Apple had to devise an app to remove it, but I'm a fan of the band's music so I'm not going to complain. It's not exactly their best work, but it's definitely got its moments too.

I obviously share Bono's enthusiasm for the Ramones, but he is like the worst possible person to pay tribute to them. His brand of pretentious hyper-sincerity is the antithesis of the snotty "who gives a fuck" approach the Ramones popularized and hearing him soulfully croon about Joey's cretin voice being "the most beautiful sound I've ever heard" is pretty snicker-worthy. He could have written the song and called "The Miracle" without the unnecessary name-check as punk cred grab. U2 doesn't have punk cred and the can't get it playing the music they play. Nothing wrong with being a fan or being influenced by punk, but tone it down a little, yeah?

[trashcanman]

Well here's some more stuff.

www.craveonline.com/music/articles/772745-5-itunes-users-chose-download-u2s-songs-innocence-free-will

First off, I don't think that an album given away for free should count as a "sale". Second, god fucking damn it, Bono needs to stop with the punk thing. He's the third richest musician on the planet, has been making mainstream hits his entire career, and I'm pretty sure the hook for "California" is a deliberate attempt to channel Katy Perry. Third, if he thinks all you have to do to be punk is piss people off, then Justin Beiber is Sid fucking Vicious. Apparently, the word has lost all meaning. Time to find one offensive enough that corporate sellouts won't dare co-opt it. How about fuckmyass rock? No way Bono and Avril Lavigne are going to go around bragging about how fuckmyass they are.

[The Curmudgeon]

Ah, that X Factor style notion that being, like, totally in your face dude is being "punk." I can forgive reality show imbeciles sneering at the camera with a buzz-cut haircut thinking they're "punk", but Bono really should know fucking better. Last time I checked, signing an exclusive deal with the biggest music empire in the world and getting billion dollar pop producers like Ryan Tedder on your record is pretty much as anti-punk as it gets.

Damn it, Bono. I really try to have a grudging admiration for you but you really make it impossible at times. SHUT UP.