Arcade Fire criticise U2 ( and some others...)

[elevated_u2_fan]

Can we all agree that we would rather see U2 over hyped than say... Britney Spears?

Yes? No?

 

[Canadiens1131]

Can we all agree that we would rather see U2 over hyped than say... Britney Spears?

Yes? No?

Frankly, I think the more important Blue Crack/Arcade Fire-related issue today is the fact that I finally got the width of my signature picture/music bar/drop shadow sorted.

 

[david]

Arcade Fire got the word of mouth hype from having a good album. It wasn't forced.

U2 had that hype in the early to mid 80's.

 

[LMP]

Can we all agree that we would rather see U2 over hyped than say... Britney Spears?

Yes? No?

She was just trying to copy the Edge by going bald, you know.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

Frankly, I think the more important Blue Crack/Arcade Fire-related issue today is the fact that I finally got the width of my signature picture/music bar/drop shadow sorted.

Well that goes without saying!

She was just trying to copy the Edge by going bald, you know.

I never thought of it that way... I'm waiting for her interview with Barbara Walters where she slags off Bono as well...

 

[Zoots]

She was just trying to copy the Edge by going bald, you know.

 

[GibsonGirl]

Do you mind if I use Sensory Deprivation Tank as a title for a song?

Feel free. And congratulations on sorting out your sig shadowing issue!

Originally posted by ntalwar

I think a middle ground is good. A band doesn't need to ride around Manhattan on a flatbed truck. On the other hand, some good bands make it big on myspace.com and remain only on myspace.com.

Well, yeah, it goes without saying that having at least some exposure is good. Any publicity is good publicity. And sometimes too much publicity can be detrimental... I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if there were people out there who normally would have bought HTDAAB if they'd simply heard Vertigo on the radio. But after having Bono practically screaming "BUY OUR NEW ALBUM AND OUR SNAZZY NEW IPOD!" from every television set in North America and beyond, some people might have been annoyed enough not to purchase HTDAAB.

 

[Liesje]

Yes, but usually never at the extreme level that U2 does. I think what Win is saying is that you don't need to ram your music down society's throat in order to sell a few records. If the music is good, people will find out about it without needing it to be delivered to them on a platter. Honestly, the only way to avoid the U2 Hype Machine around the release of a new album is to lock yourself in a sensory deprivation tank.

I guess I don't see this. Maybe it depends on where you live. I'd have to call the local radio station and let them know a new U2 song/album is out in order to hear it. It's probably part of why I'm not sick of them yet. I've never figured out how they got so HUGE (locally, they probably have more insane fans than all other bands combined), but yet stores and radio stations are never promoting them. I've heard far more Arcade Fire promo going on than U2 promo when Vertigo came out (not that I mind, I like AF).

 

[U2girl]

Having a dig at someone else is the lousiest way to get publicity/marketing/hype. I understand though, it appears to be THE way of getting attention/publicity and do some nifty self-promotion and of course who better to print it than the UK media.

Hype/marketing ? Yes, it goes with the territorry of being a big band, let alone "the biggest band in the world". U2 never hid that desire from anyone, and heaven forbid having ambition in a rock band. And unlike 1988 or 1991 (lest we forget how they milked MTV or the movie/book/album combo), 40+ year old U2 actually needs the hype. Even with all their efforts only BD and Vertigo entered the top 30 of the charts. Hate the game, not the player though. (which, yeah, is the argument, except it stopped being talking in general when he name-checked specific bands. oh well, can't wait for Noel's reply. should be interesting)

Oh wait...isn't their latest album one of the most hyped and eagerly awaited albums of the year? And that wouldn't be the same band that just got some very fine free publicity opening for U2 would it?

Classy.

 

[JCOSTER]

 

[LemonMelon]

OH NOEZ,

they spoke ill of BONOE and YOUTWO.

I can never listen to them again.

Who has said that at any point in this thread?

Win Butler

There's nothing less interesting to me than the idea of marketing the fuck out of something so people are forced to like it. Some bands are just manipulating people to buy music. That's how 90 per cent of the record industry works! It's basically the same as selling a fucking toaster or a cruise package.

WTF is he going on about here?

I must give another to his indietastic marketing skills.

 

[LMP]

Who has said that at any point in this thread?

No one, but I was making the joke before anyone did. I'm pretty sure some fans are close to boycotting that Seattle radio DJ and the entire state of North Dakota though.

 

[blueeyedgirl]

What's that thread about U2 fans and dumb again????

 

[LemonMelon]

No one, but I was making the joke before anyone did. I'm pretty sure some fans are close to boycotting that Seattle radio DJ and the entire state of North Dakota though.

I'd like to think you're wrong about that, but you probably aren't.

 

[XHendrix24]

Did most of you even READ THE ARTICLE?

He didn't say anything bad about U2's music, nor did he say anything bad the members of U2. He just doesn't agree with the marketing strategies of big commercial bands like U2 (and Oasis and the Rolling Stones). And no, having your album hyped by magazine after magazine because of the quality of the record IS NOT the same thing as appearing on ipod commercials and playing at the Grammys and screaming to the world that you've got a new album out in every way possible.

And it's not even an ISSUE of "gratitude," since as I already mentioned, Win's beef is not with the MEMBERS of U2 OR the bands music, it's with the overblown marketing strategies that bands LIKE U2 happen to use.

I swear, some people...

 

[Allegra]

^I understand what you're saying, but I don't agree. He could have talked about this without mentioning any bands as an example, but he did. And the five members of U2 do have final say in what they do and how they market the band. Paul McGuinness doesn't do everything by himself. If Win is attacking U2, he is also attacking them personally.

Anyway, I thought it was pretty ballsy if you ask me. I would've never known who Arcade Fire was without U2's opening song. And to think I even went out and bought their album. Maybe I should ask for AF's money back and let them keep my CD if they want to act like this.

 

[adrball]

I'd like to nominate Arcade Fire for the "Lily Allen recognition award for contribution to bashing other artists"'

They could have made the same well structured argument without reference to any other band.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

Anyway, I thought it was pretty ballsy if you ask me. I would've never known who Arcade Fire was without U2's opening song. And to think I even went out and bought their album. Maybe I should ask for AF's money back and let them keep my CD if they want to act like this.

I think you might be getting a little too worked up about this, in general it's just musicians talking smack about each other. If everyone thought like this, Elton John would owe his fans a allot of money!

Bono himself can be accused of this, I have an interview he did in 2001-02 where he says that U2 became the biggest band in the 80s because all the rest were crap. Now I personally pretty much agree with him ( ) but I'm sure that would piss me off if I was a Madonna or Michael Jackson fan for instance...

 

[blueeyedgirl]

Puppies everywhere are crying...

 

[U2Man]

There is a big difference between a music magazine trying to sell copies of their magazines by talking about the hipster band of the day and a band itself trying to forcefeed a public that is probably already overexposed to said band.

The difference being who is trying to sell what.

well, i dont believe music magazines are that independent.

 

[LMP]

"I don't know if U2 started it, or The Stones or Oasis but a lot of bands think in terms of: 'I'm going to be the biggest band in the world. Fuck all those bands who've got no ambition'. I think that's a total crock of shit.

"There's nothing less interesting to me than the idea of marketing the fuck out of something so people are forced to like it. Some bands are just manipulating people to buy music. That's how 90 percent of the record industry works! It's basically the same as selling a fucking toaster or a cruise package."

he named arguably 3 of the biggest bands in the world, and never said the quality of their music was horrible or anything.

there's such a thing as examples.

and when you're on a rant, which is what that section of the interview was, that's probably the most eloquent it will get.

 

[Mofo]

Did most of you even READ THE ARTICLE?

He didn't say anything bad about U2's music, nor did he say anything bad the members of U2. He just doesn't agree with the marketing strategies of big commercial bands like U2 (and Oasis and the Rolling Stones). And no, having your album hyped by magazine after magazine because of the quality of the record IS NOT the same thing as appearing on ipod commercials and playing at the Grammys and screaming to the world that you've got a new album out in every way possible.

And it's not even an ISSUE of "gratitude," since as I already mentioned, Win's beef is not with the MEMBERS of U2 OR the bands music, it's with the overblown marketing strategies that bands LIKE U2 happen to use.

I swear, some people...

"I don't know if U2 started it, or The Stones or Oasis but a lot of bands think in terms of: 'I'm going to be the biggest band in the world. Fuck all those bands who've got no ambition'. I think that's a total crock of shit.

well that is a direct criticism against U2 especially that whole "biggest band in the world" which Bono couldn't get enough of mentioning during the Elevation Tour.

Any opinion is valid but just like Brandon Flowers attacking pretty much everyone when Sam's Town was just being released it's a bit suspicious...or just a little free publicity. And U2 has done nothing but support The Arcade Fire so a little gratitude isn't wrong, having said that this is being blown out of proportion I'm still buying Neon Bible

oh and talking about showing a little respect for bands with a legacy.. this is so fucked up, watch the las 10 sec

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnAy1HiH3k8

 

[dietcokeofevil]

NAIVE. SO NAIVE. The music business is a BUSINESS first and foremost. It is not ideal, but it is the nature of the beast. Rock and Roll is not the go-to beacon to the world of what things should be.

 

[lmjhitman]

Anyway, I thought it was pretty ballsy if you ask me. I would've never known who Arcade Fire was without U2's opening song. And to think I even went out and bought their album. Maybe I should ask for AF's money back and let them keep my CD if they want to act like this.

puh-LEEZ.

fact is, anyone who went out and bought funeral on the basis of hearing ONE song at a u2 show is probably not going to buy the new cd, and if they do, they probably won't even like it, since it has no association with u2.

so yeah, chances are win butler's not going to give a flying rat's ass what you do with your cd.

and win's right, marketing superstar groups like u2 is like, 80% of the game. if you have a good product you shouldn't have to ram it down everyone's throats. the 3 groups in question haven't put out quality work in years, and so yeah, marketing will have to do the job that the music can't. it leads to stuff like, having to hear 'window in the skies' on the radio eight times a day.

 

[bono_man]

puh-LEEZ.

fact is, anyone who went out and bought funeral on the basis of hearing ONE song at a u2 show is probably not going to buy the new cd, and if they do, they probably won't even like it, since it has no association with u2.

I did. Most people around here would have. Luckily, most of us thought the rest of the songs on Funeral were good and will buy Neon Bible.

I think Arcade Fire do owe U2 some gratitude for the exposure they gave them. Im sure they gained lots of new fans (me included) from having Wake Up as the intro song.

Also, if Arcade Fire get REALLY big...I would like to see how they deal with it. I cannot stand bands that get huge and then complain that they are big and successful. I love the fact that U2 embraces the success they get.

PS - I love Arcade Fire.

 

[indra]

I have to laugh at the people getting all huffy because he isn't showing "proper" gratitude or respect to U2 et al. I quite like that he is willing to ruffle some feathers and I think he's right. There's something very endearing (to me anyway) about a band/musician willing to bite the hand that feeds it if you will. Musicians shouldn't be hand fed anyway.

Arcade Fire just moved up a notch in my estimation.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

i hope bono's ok.

 

[MrBrau1]

I love the naive idealism in this thread.

It's cute.

"Just put out great records, people will find them and buy them."

Right.

Cause that happens all the time. And after 2 underpreforming albums, they get dropped by their label and are drowning in debt, so they break up the band.

But at least they did it right.

 

[Chizip]

WTF is he going on about here?

I must give another to his indietastic marketing skills.

he is right, look at the album charts. you really think the top selling albums are the best music, or are they the best marketed music?

the top selling albums are mostly the albums the record companies are forcing down your throats.

 

[Mofo]

I love the naive idealism in this thread.

It's cute.

"Just put out great records, people will find them and buy them."

Right.

Cause that happens all the time. And after 2 underpreforming albums, they get dropped by their label and are drowning in debt, so they break up the band.

But at least they did it right.

nicely put MrBrau, it's "all about the art", I live in Mexico and trust me I probably wouldn't have heard of The Arcade Fire if it wasn't for U2 2 years ago, well I probably would have but years later....