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NOT CONTENT WITH beaming their album, free of charge, to half a billion iTunes users — U2 are back with a new venture.
The project — “Films of Innocence” — will feature motion pictures by 11 artists known for work in city spaces.
The band said the urban artists were given “complete creative freedom to showcase their personal responses” to their latest album “Songs of Innocence”.
According to the promotional bumf:
Taking the political murals of Northern Ireland as a reference point, U2 pioneered the project to celebrate the unique democratic power of urban art.
This time, however, there’ll be no freebies — the package of short films goes on sale from the iTunes store on 9 December.
Artists who took part in the project include Robin Rhode, the South African artist who uses simple but falsely three-dimensional drawings as the base for street performances, and Oliver Jeffers, a Belfast native best known for his illustrations of children’s books.
U2 announced the free release of “Songs of Innocence” as part of a promotion campaign for Apple’s new iPhone 6. It automatically appeared in people’s iTunes accounts, the world over.
After something of a (global) backlash, Bono and the Edge both apologised for the move.
“I had this beautiful idea and we kind of got carried away with ourselves. Artists are prone to that kind of thing – drop of megalomania, touch of generosity, a dash of self-promotion,” was Bono’s post-release take on what happened.
Edge, meanwhile, acknowledged that it may not have been the band’s finest hour, and said that he understood why people regarded it as “an unwanted gift”.
In the end, Apple received so many complaints that it offered special advice on how users could delete it.
Some fellow artists have been especially harsh of the move, saying that the superstars devalued music.
Most recently, Sinead O’Connor, speaking to the Daily Mail, called U2′s decision an invasion of privacy that was”almost terrorist.”
Additional reporting, AFP.
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Great album….. Happy days when we got free CD with the Sunday papers… If I didn’t want it I threw it out…. Same principles apply…. Well done to the Irish lads..
I think now is the time to call it a day. Don’t get me wrong I love an awful lot of U2′s songs but that last album was like water boarding
I couldn’t disagree more.
Their last album imho was lyrically their best since Joshua tree and R&H (2 albums that defined my childhood)
It is clearly obvious they are still relevant. They still want to produce original material (unlike some of their peers)
If they were to call it a day then I’d have another bad taste in my mouth rather like when REM split.
Tom, everyone to their own but its the live performances that are amazing. “Every Breaking Wave” is a tremendous song live and the emotion that’s in it is amazing. You should give the album a chance. Plus U2 write and play their own instruments too. A bonus
I’ll be honest, when I listened to their new album the very first time, I wasn’t that impressed with it. But after listening to it probably 100+ times since it was released, I now think it’s one of the best albums they’ve made. The lyrics are excellent and the stories behind each song are brilliant.
“Every Breaking Wave”, “Song For Someone”, and “Raised By Wolves” are probably my favourite songs from the album. Keep up the great work lads. Roll on the world tour!
Thank god it’s not free. I don’t want that shite on my phone
Their next album will be entitled “gift Horse”.
Sure poor Sinead is high on the smell of her own Bull poo ……….
At least I won’t have to go through the effort of deleting it this time.
Ohh Ohh Bono
Will it be in Dutch with English subtitles?
Will it be filmed in your new premises on the quays?
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/sale-of-u2s-dublin-docklands-studio-queried-by-watchdog-30671173.html
Will you be asking us all to give generous charitable donations whilst you and the rest of your tax dodging band members keep your hands firmly in your pockets?
Yeah because we know you and everyone else likes to pay the max amount of tax you possibly can. Idiot.
Yeah, who wants to pay the max tax possible? They pay tax here. The Dutch thing is just for part of their income. Not a U2 fan.
In that case we should all be permitted to do it.
And if we were allowed to do so.
Tell me who would keep the basic public services going here?
Bono continually claims that he’s Irish.
He even lives here.
He ponces around telling us all to give generously to chip in.
Yet he skives of when it comes to paying his own taxes and picks up prime property behind closed doors courtesy of the Irish taxpayer.
That really says just how much he cares for his countrymen/women.
He’d probably have to pay feck all tax here anyway, due to our low corporation tax policies.
Why not?
If they just bought 1 round for the country they’d be Heros!
Mine’s a pint lads, cheers.
Wooohoooo. Let joy be unconfined :-/ any sign of the money for the ebola victims, lads?
Sure somebodys got to pay to fix the door on his private jet!!! Ohhh no the profit he makes off singing to help the poor and the poor misfortunes with ebola will make him enough for a new jet!!! Somebody just please just kill him!
He doesn’t own private jet! Only leased!
Let he who has done, or tried to do, more to help make the world a better place, cast the first stone.
If your big thing was making the world a better place then why would you be throwing stones at people
Was listening to some Van Morrison earlier. For once I agreed with Bono
[Bono:]
Well tonight thank God it’s Them instead of U2
Sure Van Morrisson is a dick.
have your say