Can we get it anywhere else besides iTunes?

Never mind!
 

I don't see anything wrong with liking or disliking U2. People will always love or hate music to the end of time. It's called musical taste. For me the original albums were quite good esp with Lillywhite, but they've really gone beyond their sell by date. I actually went to the Zooropa gig at Wembley London and honestly after that gig I decided they were too full of themselves to be likeable any more. Now they are in bed with the corporates (as they have been for a while) and that ain't real rock and roll. Just my opinion.

CakeAlexS
I don't see anything wrong with liking or disliking U2. People will always love or hate music to the end of time. It's called musical taste. For me the original albums were quite good esp with Lillywhite, but they've really gone beyond their sell by date. I actually went to the Zooropa gig at Wembley London and honestly after that gig I decided they were too full of themselves to be likeable any more. Now they are in bed with the corporates (as they have been for a while) and that ain't real rock and roll. Just my opinion.

Yeah, but at times, I take a step and feel it's a bit sad that we can take so much pleasure in trying to verbally destroy people and things.
 
People don't just state their taste like you just did, they put on a show - and it's to who's going to come up with the most shocking or surprising way to voice their hatred.
 
More often than not, it's people who's sole claim to (internet) notoriety is their ability to verbally assault artists. That's their 15 seconds of fame.
 
I read one such articles last night - something along the lines of "10 reasons why I hate U2"... I don't like U2 too much more, and I do find they can be annoying at times. But, man, that thing was pretty intense. Someone definitely thought that the most derogatory one gets, the coolest he looks. Everything is over the top, everyone goes for the most outrageous remark.
 
What's more annoying than Bono? A nobody trying to get attention by bashing Bono. A parasite, really.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Heard the new album last night - not bad at all!  I think I probably have most, if not all, of their studio albums (and at least one live album), but I definitely have my favorites (Achtung Baby being very high up there).
 
When bands change their style, instead of getting bent, if I like the new stuff I just subconsciously pretend it's a different band.  If it stinks, especially if it shows a huge lack of effort, then I get annoyed (I'm a bit more lenient when a band really tries a new direction, but it just doesn't work).  Boston's latest is one example where you have to wonder about the effort put in (and I like some of the song on there).  It's been 11 years since their last album, yet this one has three songs previously released, just remixed or remastered AND Tom evidently thought he could program drums better than a real drummer would sound (NOT).
 
What I will add, and this definitely applies to both Bono and Scholtz, is that I want to hear the music.  Stop using your position to try and shove your political agendas and opinions down our throat.

craigb
What I will add, and this definitely applies to both Bono and Scholtz, is that I want to hear the music.  Stop using your position to try and shove your political agendas and opinions down our throat.

 
Yeah that's what gets on my nerves. I don't mind people making a lot of money but stop pretending what you ain't any more. Write about how wonderful your yacht is or how much you made from ticketmaster. That is fine. When they bang on about the worlds poor and yet go into bed with apple who use the worlds poor:
http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/riots-suicides-and-other-issues-in-foxconns-iphone-factories/
 
... Don't get me wrong, we all use the world's poor, my clothes and my android phone was probably made from somebody on a few dollars a day. I'm a hypocrite but then again I am not in a tax haven.
 
Before Apple they got Blackberry to sponsor them. Before that Apple again. Let's not forget BOA as well and probably many more. Of course they aren't the only band that does this, but it does make me want to chuck up. I prefer looking at kick starter type bands now as I know there are bands out there every bit as good as U2 who haven't sold out yet. Heck every other month I see an amazing band for nothing here in London who deserve to be supported.

craigb
 
When bands change their style, instead of getting bent, if I like the new stuff I just subconsciously pretend it's a different band.  If it stinks, especially if it shows a huge lack of effort, then I get annoyed (I'm a bit more lenient when a band really tries a new direction, but it just doesn't work).  

I think it's a game you just can't win as an artist. Either you'll be accused of repeating yourself, either you'll be accused of selling out.
 
I understood that at a young age as a Metallica fan. People were accusing them of selling out as early as their 3rd album (maybe as early as their second, actually). 
 
Me, I liked that they kept on evolving - it allowed me to keep on enjoying their music. For me, selling out would have been to try to hide their evolution as people and musicians and to keep on pretending that they were angry and broke teenagers when they were millionaires and had grown to discover and appreciate all kinds of music.
 
From my perspective, Load and Reload were the most honest thing they could have done at that point - and I could relate to that a lot more than if they'd denied that evolution.
 
Same for U2. People were criticizing them way back... I remember reading a review of Rattle and Hum that criticized them, saying that they were spending millions trying to keep up their "simple band" image.
 
Though I may lose interest in them, I rarely criticize bands because they evolve and try new things, though I feel that they tend to reach a point where they've pretty much dilapidated their potential and simply lose me.
 
As for Bono... That South Park episode a few years ago pretty much summed it up for me. ;)

Ha!  South Park does tend to get to the nuts of an issue, don't they?  Then they express the opinion in a cartoon so they can get away with it on television. 
 
I like that Kick-Starter project that BitFlipper wrote about.  That's one I'll be getting in on.

In the UK this album is now mainstream news as social media is going crazy. People can't seem to find a way to remove this apparent 'virus' from their Apple products. My Facebook wall is full of talk about U2. I think people aren't liking the idea of having music that they aren't choosing to listen to being forced down their throats... Apple might need to do a rethink...

CakeAlexS
In the UK this album is now mainstream news as social media is going crazy. People can't seem to find a way to remove this apparent 'virus' from their Apple products. My Facebook wall is full of talk about U2. I think people aren't liking the idea of having music that they aren't choosing to listen to being forced down their throats... Apple might need to do a rethink...

The album is simply added to your purchased album list, so that you can download it if you want it. They don't like it, they simply don't download it. It doesn't download itself and it won't show up in your library unless you redeem it.
 
It's only a frickin' link in iTunes for Yoda's sake! People need to get a grasp!
 
It's quite amazing how people will jump on the first opportunity to overreact go hysterical. 
 
Do they all go that crazy every time they receive a coupon?
 
If Apple had sent a coupon, there'd be tons of people complaining that they never received it, that their code had expired, that this and that...