Bono KNOWS you are stupid - stealing from the middle class to give to the rich...Achtung Baby!

Bono knows we are stupid. He's the type that drops in on the Occupy City protests to get his picture taken with a slice of his "market" to keep up his street cred, all the while picking every loose pocket he can find in the crowd. These guys, MAJOR rich guys, are worse than the crooks on Wall Street. Those guys are obvious sharks. Bono et al are worse because they pretend to be great humanitarians, but are in reality the biggest capitalists around.

Here is the new 4 vinyl set of Achtung Baby by U2. List price $170USD. The original album on two slabs of 180g vinyl, along with a couple of remix LPs. Yes..that is right...U2 set ANOTHER world record - this time - MOST EXPENSIVE single album reissue ever.

Just for the record, I got mine for $120 CDN. Still a huge, huge ripoff. Here's why (if it isn't perfectly obvious already):

The records are superbly remastered by Bernie Grundman. That's the good news.

There is a sticker on the box stating "Pressed in Germany", which is a flat out lie. The records are manufactured by the underwhelming budget plant Gzvinyl in the Czech Republic, and the pressings are best described as 'serviceable' - they are not terribly quiet, they are very dirty and need a cleaning straight out before first play, and let's face it - for $170, anyone should expect a Pallas or RTI pressing at minimum.

The pressings are placed into rather rough cardboard sleeves without lining. At $170, there should easily have been a polylined inner or a round bottom inner before the cardboard inner sleeve. The discs are scuffed and dirty as a result - a cheap product. Obviously done at the lowest possible cost to maximize margin. U2 do not give a rats ass about quality. Just money.

The box itself holds the discs rather loosely. All the inner sleeves, as well as 3 or 4 outers, have split seams as a result. Really pisses me off that this thing lists at $170 for such a totally carelessly produced ripoff.

Why worry about value added - like a CD, or even a download code? Neither are here for your $170 list. Thanks, guys. I get newly recorded albums on vinyl for like $16, better pressed, sans seam splits, that include a download card. 

So there you have it. Bono loves you. A well remastered, mediocre pressing, dishonestly represented, one album and 40 minutes of remixes, arriving in poor condition due to careless package design, and a record setting price gouge. We, myself included, are so stupid this set is already pretty much sold out. Quality or value are not concerns.