Are U2 really the "biggest band" in the world?

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Well if you go by record sales

The biggest artists are

in 2006 was Amy Winehouse
2007 High School Musical Cast
2008 Coldplay

I don't know if U2 can compete with those amazing artists guys :sad:
 
there is no way to figure any of this shit out. You can't say U2 are the biggest band in the world because THEY'RE THE BEST! It's absolutely ridiculous. This wouldn't even be a discussion if it wasn't for Bono repeatedly claiming they're the "biggest band in the world" over and over again for the past i dunno 15 years. He's an egomaniac. He invented this whole "biggest band in the world" thing. It exists only in his enormous, ego-driven head. It's delusions of granduer, and quite frankly a turn off. I just want to hear music. I could give a fuck who else likes U2. I don't buy CD's of a band based on their massive audience. If the new album alienated 90% of the fan base, with me being in the 10% who actually enjoyed it....oh wait that happened already. The album was called "Zooropa".
 
When you see things in the media like, "U2 are still the biggest band in the world", you have to put it down to two things:

1) U2 have been going for 30 years, and they still get mainstream radio/MTV exposure, attract new fans regularly, and see each new record scrutinized as much as those from their first (and second) decade together. In addition, those earlier records are still listened to by thousands of people every day or week, in many countries around the world.

If you check my above statements against The Rolling Stones or AC/DC, you'll see that those things don't apply to them in the 80/90s and 90s (respectively).

2) The media that writes such statements (i.e., the music press) is largely male and white, and college-educated, writing for a largely male, white, college-educated readership. Such an audience does not like AC/DC or the old, bloated Stones.
 
babyman said:
Excuse me, but I can't understand such statement. What means present time? That a whole history gets flushed down the toilet, or what? What you made in the past has no meaning anymore?
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Yeah, pretty much. The present concerns itself with the amount of records they have sold recently (or, more specifically, within the past year or so), not 30 years ago. Zeppelin has sold more than 200 million, but they're not the biggest band in the world right now.

I have no idea why I'm even in here debating this. I, personally, couldn't care less if U2 is the biggest band in the world or in the top 2,500. It has no bearing on the extent to which I enjoy their music.
 
It was one thing when magazines were saying they were the biggest band on the planet. I wish *THEY'D* stop saying it. It's all going to their heads. Then what do we get? Safe albums where they try to maintain their standing as "biggest band on the planet"
 
Well I don't think it would make me less a fan of U2 if they actually weren't the biggest, best, whatever band in the world. It's all subjective anyway. I never go for statistics because I'm not interested in that. I don't measure my fandom by numbers. Some fans may need that but I don't. And I think all of this "biggest band" talk is ridiculous, the media just loves to give out labels, in a positive or negative way.
 
"For about eight months, we were as big as them" :hyper:

Personally I don't see the difference in the "biggest label" between a magazine or a critic or the band itself saying it. (especially one that has one of the biggest albums and tours under their belt)

As people have said: album sales + ticket sales + enduring popularity for 3 decades. They are certainly qualified for the job.
 
U2 is about the only artist around (perhaps Madonna) where the release of a new album will still be regarded as a world wide event in music

they are the biggest band around
 
Salome said:
U2 is about the only artist around (perhaps Madonna) where the release of a new album will still be regarded as a world wide event in music

they are the biggest band around
Click to expand...

exactly :up:

This basically sums it up....there's nothing else to say....Forget everything else!
 
According to Wikipedia, Bon Jovi is a lot better than U2, please allow me to laugh out loud, very loud. Bon Jovi sold like 4/5 in the US, so to me it's not a world artist, it's a US one. Same for a lot of them. Same when they are just sellin in India or europe.

Like one of you said previously, the title of "Biggest Band in the world" is defined not only by the album sales, but also by Live performance, live tickets sales, etc.... When we look at that, U2 is the biggest band right now. The Rolling Stones would be if they were still making good music, but...:down:
Who is seriously filling up 3 Stadium of 70'000 in Buenos Aires, London, Paris, New York, Sidney and Tokyo, Warsaw, Mexico, etc.... ??? I only see 2 bands, U2 and Stones.

The others are individuals like Madonna, but she just played Paris 2 nights, well, the second concert wasn't sold out. U2 played 2 sold out concerts "au Stade de France" 80'000 people each night....

The only thing that annoys me a bit is that U2 isn't seen as "legend" when I talk to "normal" non-fan people. They are just good, but no legend. What's missing I don't know. But Rolling Stones are legend, Jackson is a legend, Beattles, Pink Floyd, The Who's, etc.... Is it because they are still more relevant than ever?
 
Yahweh_OMG said:
Is it because they are still more relevant than ever?
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Yes, people don't understand U2...a lot of my friends don't even realize how long of a career U2 have had...they've only really heard of HTDAAB and ATYCLB as far as albums go...and they know that song that goes "...and I still haven't found what I'm looking for.." and "that Pride song...in the name of love" and of course One....In 50 years, I think U2 will be one of the most legendary bands ever, but people don't think of them in this context because unlike the Who, unlike the Stones and Beatles and Pink Floyd, etc who did their thing and had their moment years and years ago...U2 are still kicking ass in the music industry....and are as relevant as ever and trying to release their best material ever :up:
 
How old are you Rob? Young? I'm 31 and my friends usually know that U2 is huge, but older poeple, like my parents, they have no clue, and it seems like younger guys 15-20 years old now) also have no clue besides the hit songs... I think you're right, that's why I'm asking about your age... you have young friends, right?:wink:
 
I was going to answer a laconic "Yes", but after reading the posts I've decided to state this and state it clearly:
there's not such a thing as "the biggest band in the world",or "the best band" or "the best song", because taste is SUBJECTIVE, when magazines say this kind of things they do it because it sells, that's all.
 
Salome said:
U2 is about the only artist around (perhaps Madonna) where the release of a new album will still be regarded as a world wide event in music

they are the biggest band around
Click to expand...

A new album that fits that criteria just came out that went to #1 in 40 or so countries, and is 40,000 short of going platinum in the US in it's 3rd week.

It's not Madonna.

Another one will do the same in a few weeks, also not Madonna.

U2 are in a group of artists around who can do that, but hardly "about the only" one

By the way Madonna's last album in the US barely hit Gold, it's still about 400K short of Platinum.

In fact, 2 of her last 3 studio non-compilation albums failed to go Platinum.
 
Salome said:
U2 is about the only artist around (perhaps Madonna) where the release of a new album will still be regarded as a world wide event in music

they are the biggest band around
Click to expand...


Coldplay and Duffy are outselling Madonna though

Amy Winehouse's last album has outsold the Bomb

James Blunt's debut outsold the Bomb (Even in Ireland!)

Plenty of albums outsell U2
 
Yahweh_OMG said:
How old are you Rob? Young? I'm 31 and my friends usually know that U2 is huge, but older poeple, like my parents, they have no clue, and it seems like younger guys 15-20 years old now) also have no clue besides the hit songs... I think you're right, that's why I'm asking about your age... you have young friends, right?:wink:
Click to expand...

Yeah... my friends are for the most part clueless when it comes to U2...I'm 18, so we're pretty young haha...although a lot of them are now becoming casual fans cause of me...;)
 
Rob33 said:
Yeah... my friends are for the most part clueless when it comes to U2...I'm 18, so we're pretty young haha...although a lot of them are now becoming casual fans cause of me...;)
Click to expand...

Thats right, keep on converting people into U2 fans, i've managed to convert a couple of my friends to U2 as well, and they seem to enjoy it every time I give them more U2 songs. :wink:
 
Salome said:
U2 is about the only artist around (perhaps Madonna) where the release of a new album will still be regarded as a world wide event in music

they are the biggest band around
Click to expand...

Sure, like Death Magnetic wasn't (and in my opinion was way better in its genre than anything that U2 has released since Acthung). You only hear more about the new U2 album than any other because that is what you're interested to hear, but there are people awaiting the new album from ANY of the top selling acts. There is no such thing as the biggest band or biggest artist, they're all relevant artist that appeal to different people.
 
Cask said:
Sure, like Death Magnetic wasn't (and in my opinion was way better in its genre than anything that U2 has released since Acthung). .
Click to expand...

Not really - any U2 album is a bigger event than Metallica albums. And while it is a comeback (from what I heard, a return to their 80's sound - gasp! imagine a rock and roll band getting away with that) there's still a lot of fans that feel the Black album or the 80's stuff was better. So I don't think it's exactly "best metal album since 1991".

Salome wasn't talking about sales, anyway.
 
I think that THE best band in the world does not exist. It's just personal.
If you wanna name a band the best band in the world you should do a worldwise questionaire...

I have several personal best bands ion the world:
-U2
-Radiohead
-Pearl Jam
-The E Street Band
 
The idea of a 'biggest band in the world' is sort of like being the heavyweight champion of the world in boxing, and both titles have really fallen into disrepair in recent years. In boxing you had a clear lineage of who 'the man' was since that was an area where you could actually have two challengers literally fight it out. In music it's a bit more controversial, but I think you could make a demarkation as follows....

1960's --- the Beatles
1970's --- the Stones, though Zeppelin and to some extent the Who were also contenders
1980-1986 --- The Police
1987-1993 --- U2

After that it gets murky due to the proliferation of singles, MTV, one-album wonders and so forth. It's like how in boxing, there is no one HW champ any more since every organization has their own champion and it's all in disarray. As was pointed out earlier in the thread, nobody is claiming that the High School Musical kids are the biggest 'band' in the world.

So even if U2 may not be the biggest, one can argue they were the 'last' biggest band in the world.
 
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