Last week U2 frontman Bono apologized for partnering with iTunes to have their latest album, Songs of Innocence, download automatically to about 500 million iTunes account holders.
The automatic, free downtown happened on Sept. 9 and prompted a public backlash.
"I had this beautiful idea and we kind of got carried away with ourselves. Artists are prone to that kind of thing," Bono said. "[A] drop of megalomania, touch of generosity, dash of self-promotion and deep fear that these songs that we poured our life into over the last few years mightn't be heard. There's a lot of noise out there. I guess we got a little noisy ourselves to get through it."
While it was a bad idea, getting a free album you didn't want - which is easily deleted - from one of the top rock bands in the world is definitely a first world problem. There are starving children in Africa who don't even have iTunes, or food, or an Ebola vaccine.
While Songs of Innocence is not of the same calibre as Joshua Tree, War, The Unforgettable Fire or Achtung Baby, it has a couple decent tracks.
The Miracle (of Joey Ramone), the lead single from Songs of Innocence, almost recaptures the old U2 -the U2 that wrote songs that filled huge arenas with lighter-waving fans.
It's a song about when Bono, The Edge and the rest of the U2 gang were just fans themselves, and got their minds blown by that great punk rock band The Ramones. It's probably the best of the tracks on the album, although Raised by Wolves is also worth a listen.
If you deleted it, give The Miracle (of Joey Ramone) another listen online here: http://youtu.be/pEkRy9EX3t8
