U2 becoming a cult band again!

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
B

blueyedpoet

Refugee
Joined
Aug 23, 2000
Messages
1,349
Location
LA, California, USA
I'm not opposed to commercial success. And, I love the "we're rock stars! And we are the GREATEST rock band in the world" meglomaniacy; however, I'm very excited that Vertigo is off the radio and that Sometimes is not this huge hit that many on this site have wanted it to be. U2 is at it's best when their songs aren't huge hits. Think about One, Streets, the Fly, Bad, Out of Control, New Year's Day etc. All the best live songs are songs that didn't exactly blow up the charts. U2 - prior to recent years - has never been about having huge singles. The Edge even talks about this in some books.
Okay, i'm not making much sense maybe.
U2 has not had many chart-topping singles, and yet they've sold millions upon millions of albums. I love hanging out with U2 fans outside of shows. We all have this connection because we understand the greatness of the opening to Streets; we understand the fragility behind the (ironically) empowering One; we understand that it's okay not to have found what we're looking for; we understand that the power that Bono's messaniac yet fragile voice brings; we understand the brushes of heaven the edge creates; we understand the sex appeal and boldness of adam's bass; and we understand why it's fucking fantastic that Larry isn't Keith Moon.
Save ATYCLB, JT, and HTDAAB, their other albums have sold millions without Billboard success.
Sorry for repeating myself and whatnot...I'm just happiest when U2 are a massive cult band.
 
WOWY, I still haven't found..., Desire, One, MW, Discotheque - all top 10 hits on Billboard.
 
i said aside from JT, thus WOWY and ISHFWILF doesn't count... MW, O (i decided that with all my abbreviations I should just abbreviate One...we're so ridiculous), NYD, Pride, the Fly, Wild Horses etc were not huge at all on charts. Desire was only big in UK from what i've read.
Look at the early 90s...pop singles propelled big sells for Michael Jackson, New Kids on the Block, Wham etc. Even Nirvana had the treat of SLTS (ooh a new abbreviation on this site for a different band!) tearin' up the charts. The Fly didn't even crack the Top 40 and yet AB sold like 10 million world wide in it's first year. Even Joshua Tree only had two hit singles and it has sold like 25 million. Michael Jackson's albums that have sold similar numbers have had like 3-5 huge hits.
but yes, bottom line: U2 rocks
 
U2girl said:
WOWY, I still haven't found..., Desire, One, MW, Discotheque - all top 10 hits on Billboard.
Click to expand...

One was No. 10, Mysterious ways was no.9, Desire was no.3 and Discotheque was no.10 on Billboard charts in the US.
 
blueyedpoet said:
I'm not opposed to commercial success. And, I love the "we're rock stars! And we are the GREATEST rock band in the world" meglomaniacy; however, I'm very excited that Vertigo is off the radio and that Sometimes is not this huge hit that many on this site have wanted it to be. U2 is at it's best when their songs aren't huge hits. Think about One, Streets, the Fly, Bad, Out of Control, New Year's Day etc. All the best live songs are songs that didn't exactly blow up the charts. U2 - prior to recent years - has never been about having huge singles. The Edge even talks about this in some books.
Okay, i'm not making much sense maybe.
U2 has not had many chart-topping singles, and yet they've sold millions upon millions of albums. I love hanging out with U2 fans outside of shows. We all have this connection because we understand the greatness of the opening to Streets; we understand the fragility behind the (ironically) empowering One; we understand that it's okay not to have found what we're looking for; we understand that the power that Bono's messaniac yet fragile voice brings; we understand the brushes of heaven the edge creates; we understand the sex appeal and boldness of adam's bass; and we understand why it's fucking fantastic that Larry isn't Keith Moon.
Save ATYCLB, JT, and HTDAAB, their other albums have sold millions without Billboard success.
Sorry for repeating myself and whatnot...I'm just happiest when U2 are a massive cult band.
Click to expand...

I noticed that too.
And it's a good thing.
I just don't think it has anything to do with the "charts".
U2 are the best when they don't "have to do", but when they "want to do".
After "War" there was much presure on them to repeat that album's succes... and "UF" wasn't exactly what the band wanted it to be...
After "JT" it happened again with "R&H"...
...and then there's a story of U2's worst album -> ATYCLB... a.k.a. "we realy HAVE TO make a comercialy succesful album with 11 singles on it...blah..:blahblah: ..."

I'm happy they left it all behind while making HTDAAB... maybe the songs are less radio friendly... but at least they're honest... and great... and "classic".
 
One was an enormous success. It reached Number 10 and the only reason it wasn't higher is because Billboard 100 was based on sales at the time and the single didn't sell as much because everybody just bought the album.

And besides, cult band? That would make it about the largest cult in the world.
 
And with the media onslaught (and constant play for Vertigo) these last months I think you can't say they're becoming a cult band again. I mean, just because Vertigo has disappeared from the radio for 5 minutes doesn't mean that U2 are out of the spotlight or not having much success. Their tour is the biggest tour of the year and this has not happened unnoticed. And Sometimes... has just entered the Billboard Hot 100, so its 'hit success' is just starting.

No, right now U2 is the band most in the spotlight, not some cult band operating on the sidelines. So in that sense your post did not make sense. ;)

C ya!

Marty
 
blueyedpoet said:
I'm not opposed to commercial success. And, I love the "we're rock stars! And we are the GREATEST rock band in the world" meglomaniacy; however, I'm very excited that Vertigo is off the radio and that Sometimes is not this huge hit that many on this site have wanted it to be. U2 is at it's best when their songs aren't huge hits. Think about One, Streets, the Fly, Bad, Out of Control, New Year's Day etc. All the best live songs are songs that didn't exactly blow up the charts. U2 - prior to recent years - has never been about having huge singles. The Edge even talks about this in some books.
Okay, i'm not making much sense maybe.
U2 has not had many chart-topping singles, and yet they've sold millions upon millions of albums. I love hanging out with U2 fans outside of shows. We all have this connection because we understand the greatness of the opening to Streets; we understand the fragility behind the (ironically) empowering One; we understand that it's okay not to have found what we're looking for; we understand that the power that Bono's messaniac yet fragile voice brings; we understand the brushes of heaven the edge creates; we understand the sex appeal and boldness of adam's bass; and we understand why it's fucking fantastic that Larry isn't Keith Moon.
Save ATYCLB, JT, and HTDAAB, their other albums have sold millions without Billboard success.
Sorry for repeating myself and whatnot...I'm just happiest when U2 are a massive cult band.
Click to expand...

This is a great post and thread.
I agree with you 1000%:)

The secret of U2 is to see them live. More cases than not that is when you find out if a person has the apitude to becoming a fan.:)
If they walk away from the show not feeling much, its best to send them a Ricky Martin or Bon Jovi album for Christmas:sexywink:

Great post BEPoet.

db9
 
everytime when u2 are out with a record they're constantly in the charts, at least here in europe. u2 videos, interviews, specials are on heavy rotation on music televisions and over the radio waves there's every each day a u2 song or even more. what disturbs me is to see u2 in charts with jlo, christina, moby, eminem and stuff like that. i wish u2 would never be in charts, but they WANT to. they've reached their success thanx to the hits, many of the u2 fans have learned to know them thanx tv and radio, otherwise u2 would have been a normal band. think if there wouldn't have been hits like pride, with or without you, streets, one and many many many others! there are a few bands who don't have the same media resonance (like pink floyd or pearl jam for instance) who have their audience without doing videos or going through the radio waves. those are the bands that YOU must find and discover and maybe appreciate, u2 is a band who finds you. u2 is one of the most commercial bands in the world, their ability is to be commercial but to produce excellent music. in this sense, u2 is the smartest band in the world, too
 
babyman said:
everytime when u2 are out with a record they're constantly in the charts, at least here in europe. u2 videos, interviews, specials are on heavy rotation on music televisions and over the radio waves there's every each day a u2 song or even more. what disturbs me is to see u2 in charts with jlo, christina, moby, eminem and stuff like that. i wish u2 would never be in charts, but they WANT to. they've reached their success thanx to the hits, many of the u2 fans have learned to know them thanx tv and radio, otherwise u2 would have been a normal band. think if there wouldn't have been hits like pride, with or without you, streets, one and many many many others! there are a few bands who don't have the same media resonance (like pink floyd or pearl jam for instance) who have their audience without doing videos or going through the radio waves. those are the bands that YOU must find and discover and maybe appreciate, u2 is a band who finds you. u2 is one of the most commercial bands in the world, their ability is to be commercial but to produce excellent music. in this sense, u2 is the smartest band in the world, too
Click to expand...

babyman, you`re right as well. maybe the truth lies in between.
 
blueyedpoet said:
i said aside from JT, thus WOWY and ISHFWILF doesn't count... MW, O (i decided that with all my abbreviations I should just abbreviate One...we're so ridiculous), NYD, Pride, the Fly, Wild Horses etc were not huge at all on charts. Desire was only big in UK from what i've read.
Look at the early 90s...pop singles propelled big sells for Michael Jackson, New Kids on the Block, Wham etc. Even Nirvana had the treat of SLTS (ooh a new abbreviation on this site for a different band!) tearin' up the charts. The Fly didn't even crack the Top 40 and yet AB sold like 10 million world wide in it's first year. Even Joshua Tree only had two hit singles and it has sold like 25 million. Michael Jackson's albums that have sold similar numbers have had like 3-5 huge hits.
but yes, bottom line: U2 rocks
Click to expand...

What U2Girl said, though, is correct.

Yes, "The Fly" failed to crack the Top 40 in the U.S. And this did have a slight effect on AB as, while it debuted at #1, didn't exactly blow the roof off in terms of sales (and it should have considering U2 were coming off of the JT/R&H period).

AB ultimately sold boatloads though because both "One" and "Mysterious Ways" were top 10 hits pretty much around the world, including the U.S.

"Pride" was a Top 40 hit, as was "Streets", "Angel of Harlem", "Even Better Than...", "Who's Gonna Ride...", "Discotheque", "Staring at the Sun", "Hold Me...Kill Me", "Beautiful Day" and "Vertigo". In fact, "Vertigo" would have been a Top 20, if not Top 10, hit had Billboard counted downloads (Billboard started this process too late to help "Vertigo").

In other words, while you may like the cult band status, U2 has had their share of Top 40 hits since 1984. And U2 have had many other Hot 100 hits - in fact, "Sometimes..." just entered the Top 100 this week! People pay a lot of attention to the Top 10 or Top 40, but really, having your song be one of the 100 most popular songs - out of all the music out there - in a given week is a huge success. Combine this single success with album chart and sales success and tour success and I'm afraid U2 won't be a cult band again for some time. Sorry. :(
 
I would LOVE for U2 to be a cult band again, but I don't see this happening. Don't let the lack of chart success for the recent singles fool you. U2 is at the point where they don't even need hit singles to be the biggest band in the world.
 
Yeah... I'm surprised at the sheer number of people I know that don't care much about U2. Outside of this website, I can't really discuss this stuff with anyone. How are they so big then? :huh:
 
Popmartijn said:
And with the media onslaught (and constant play for Vertigo) these last months I think you can't say they're becoming a cult band again. I mean, just because Vertigo has disappeared from the radio for 5 minutes doesn't mean that U2 are out of the spotlight or not having much success. Their tour is the biggest tour of the year and this has not happened unnoticed. And Sometimes... has just entered the Billboard Hot 100, so its 'hit success' is just starting.

No, right now U2 is the band most in the spotlight, not some cult band operating on the sidelines. So in that sense your post did not make sense. ;)

C ya!

Marty
Click to expand...
oooo picky:ohmy:
 
Zootlesque said:
Yeah... I'm surprised at the sheer number of people I know that don't care much about U2. Outside of this website, I can't really discuss this stuff with anyone. How are they so big then? :huh:
Click to expand...

Well, I don't personally know anyone who will admit to liking (even a tiny bit) any of the current crop of chart toppers, but they are out there somewhere.
 
Saracene said:
I'm pretty sure you can't sell millions -and- be a cult band...
Click to expand...

No kidding!

I laughed so hard when I read the title of this post. I seriously doubt U2 has ever been a cult band, let alone being one now.
 
Zootlesque said:
Yeah... I'm surprised at the sheer number of people I know that don't care much about U2. Outside of this website, I can't really discuss this stuff with anyone. How are they so big then? :huh:
Click to expand...

I have some friends and acquaintances who are just as mad about this band as me, but yes, most people in our everyday lives could care less, and just a few people think we are simply Bono bonkers.
love, Anu
 
Zootlesque said:
Yeah... I'm surprised at the sheer number of people I know that don't care much about U2. Outside of this website, I can't really discuss this stuff with anyone. How are they so big then? :huh:
Click to expand...

I would say that 98% of people I know don't know any songs by U2 other than the ATYCLB releases (minus 'Walk On'), the HTDAAB releases, Sweetest Thing, and maybe, at a push, One.
Not only is it a case that they don't care for U2 - it's also that they don't know about them and the music.
 
reply

U2girl said:
WOWY, I still haven't found..., Desire, One, MW, Discotheque - all top 10 hits on Billboard.
Click to expand...

Hi!

and I just picked up a new nailpolish today called "Top 10".....:rolleyes:

makes as much sense as Billboard's top 10.... :huh:

carol
wizard2c
:|
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

MrsSpringsteen
Atomic City
Replies
11
Views
1K
HeartlandGirl
HeartlandGirl
prbiker15
U2:UV Boxscore Discussion
Replies
20
Views
1K
DeVaul
DeVaul
O
Better late than never “they” say…
Replies
1
Views
285
Headache in a Suitcase
Headache in a Suitcase
N
Hello From Alberta, Canada
Replies
4
Views
401
NormB
N
U
Hello, From Dallas, Texas
Replies
3
Views
540
TheFlyZooTV
T

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom