The album was shown as purchased in the iTunes Store app but there was no way to download the files, i.e., to have the album in my own library instead of just the ability to stream it via the iTunes Store.
A well-known BitTorrent search engine let me solve the issue.
As someone who didn't mind they gave me free stuff, it was hard to find out how to actually GET it.
Very strange, start to end.
I actually got up to "show all purchases" and immediately hated that I have to actually do this as the things I bought and discovered it was not what was advertised were visible again, just reminding me of something I'd rather forget. I wish there were just a simple possibility to "permanently delete the information that I've purchased particular tracks."
Then the special "U2 removal tool" weren't necessary too.
This statement is not true.
My first reaction to all this was "Cool, I'll give it a try". I found it in the iTunes store and it said 'Purchased' and... I couldn't download it. I waited 2 days before trying again to figure out how to do it.
Very odd.