UPDATE: “Songs of Innocence,” the new U2 album, did much less well than anyone thought. Hitsdailydouble says it sold 23,142 copies. That’s the deluxe edition, finishing at number 12 on the charts in its debut. This is after its September 9th launch on iTunes for free, which pushed 26 million people to press “download” from their Purchased queue.
This is what U2 hoped to avoid: a chart embarrassment. In the end, only 23,142 people wanted their CD enough to buy it. There was a hope that the number would be as high as 30,000. A couple of weeks ago they speculated that it would be 70,000. After all, there are bonus tracks and the booklet and the actual CD. There’s also a creepy cover.
U2 will still sell out its 2015 tour. Fans want to hear their hits. Radio is partially to blame for this mess. They simply won’t play new music from legacy artists. I wonder what would happen if the Beatles returned, or Led Zeppelin put out a new single. All pop radio wants is crap from over produced kids singing very loudly. And it’s unoriginal crap at that.
