Five Years Later, It’s Time To Admit We Overreacted About Apple Putting A Free U2 Album On Our Phones

Culture critic Steven Hyden argues that U2’s Song’s of Innocence was unfairly maligned.

But looking back all these years later, I can’t help but wonder: Why were we so mad about U2 putting a free album on our phones? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to live again in a pre-Trump world, where you had the luxury to get worked up about a so-called Orwellian scheme involving a melancholic late-period U2 record? Isn’t it crazy that people cared so much about this?

I listened to that album a couple times when it appeared on my iPhone, but found it forgettable. I may just give it another shot, now that I am no longer irate about getting it for free from Apple. 😜