Perennial nuisances U2 forced themselves into our lives via iTunes with their latest album Songs of Innocence, and a lot of people didn’t take too kindly to them doing that. In fact, so strong was the backlash regarding U2 and Apple’s partnership, which saw their latest LP elbowing its way into users’ iTunes libraries against their will, that Apple was forced to release a statement explaining how to remove it.
However, it seems that U2 strong-arming themselves into our music tastes didn’t put nearly as many people off the stadium rock gobshites as it should’ve done, with it being revealed that 26 million iTunes users – that’s 5% of the music service’s entire userbase – chose to download the new album following its placement on all customers’ Apple devices.
Those huge numbers have seen it inexplicably move into the top 40 best-selling albums of all time. Imagine that – an album that seemingly no one wanted now sits joint 32nd with Britney Spears’ …Baby One More Time. Oh, the humanity.
Related: WTF?! Bono Calls U2′s Surprise iTunes Invasion ‘Punk Rock’
Bono handled the reaction to him holding our eardrums hostage with a typical lack of self-awareness, saying that the “punk rock thing to do is annoy people and get in their faces”. Considering that U2’s output over the last decade has solely catered towards suburban dads struggling with mid-life crises, we’re not sure he should be considered an authority on what is/isn’t “punk rock”.
An extended version of the album featuring 10 brand new songs is set to release on October 13th, so if you want to continue fuelling Bono’s punk invasion, then next week you’ll get your chance.
Photo: Getty Images
