The new U2 album, Songs of Innocence

I've been a U2 fan for many years - I think The Joshua Tree is a great album, certainly one of the best of the 1980s.

I also embraced Achtung Baby, which was a change of direction musically for the band, and One is probably one of my favourite songs.

But I was more than a little annoyed with Bono and the boys last week when they gave away their latest album, Songs of Innocence. 

Not that I mind them giving away their music - that's completely up to them.  No, it was the fact that they gave it away on iTunes, and I don't have an iTunes account!

I'm one of those Luddites who prefers to still have actual CDs.  I even trundle off to record shops to buy them, rather than having them delivered (how quaint and old-fashioned I hear you cry!)

I appreciate that this perhaps puts me in a minority.  But I personally don't own an MP3 player of any variety.  Instead I have numerous CD players and like to play music on those.

I also study the artwork on the cover of the CD and read the sleeve notes.  I like reading the lyrics of songs - invariably I've mis-heard them and would be singing along to my own variation were it not for the fact I can discover what they're actually saying.

I was in a local town centre the other Saturday morning and I took a notion that I'd like to buy The Pierces or Ward Thomas's albums - perhaps I was feeling influenced by the Yeehaw! festival at Rockingham Castle.

Sadly, there wasn't anywhere I could go to make this purchase. All the record shops in this particular town have closed down. Thankfully there's still a HMV in Kettering, and I will head there soon.

As for the new U2 album, I believe it's on general release from 13th October.  But will anyone buy it?  I'm not sure I will - if they can give it away to iTunes customers, many of whom didn't even want it, why not give it to fans who do?