US first week - 500,000
WW first week - 1.3M
US first year - 2.1M
WW first year - 5.7M
US five years - 3.1M
WW five years - 7.9M
US ten years - 4.0M
WW ten years - 9.4M
i still cant belive people are predicting coldplay to be outselling U2
i still cant belive people are predicting coldplay to be outselling U2
i heard the compilation of 30 second clips presumeably the walmart ones. and i have to say i was v. disapointed, even if a few clips appeard to be intros. sounded more along the lines of 2nd half of ATYCLB to me, not rock at all. not gonna download the full album on mp3 and spoil listening to the CD on 2nd of march though
Believe me, the new album does not sound anything like ATYCLB.
For me, it´s their best since Acthung Baby.
i still cant belive people are predicting coldplay to be outselling U2
I gave a very accurate prediction four years ago (I believe I was only 8,000 units off).
It might be a bit too soon to release "Magnificent", but U2 shouldn't wait too long either.
I fear this could have a "Discotheque" effect. IMO, NLOTH is a much better album than "Pop" and I'd hate to see it dismissed because people didn't like GOYB.
At the same time, U2 are known for really milking those singles for every drop. I disagree. Get out a second and third single fairly early on. Even if one of them is a huge hit, nothing wrong with having a few songs in the Top 40 or Hot 100. As one song declines, another is rising and music fans hear two songs from the album.
With "Pop", U2 let "Discotheque" linger far too long. Time to let GOYB go. Have "Magnificent" be released the same weak as the album.
I would love my predictions to be wrong.
But Coldplay had that big hit. "Vertigo" carried HTDAAB a LONG way. Based on that one song, HTDAAB hit 2x Platinum in weeks. It took a while for the album to actually sell over 3M copies via Soundscan, but even then, the hit single and the tour did the job.
Coldplay is younger. U2 have age working against them. Kids really need a powerful song to like an older group. If I was 13, I probably wouldn't know U2 unless they had a huge hit.
GOYB is not that hit. But other songs could be.
"Magnificent" still might not be that hit - for 13 year olds. But it could be HUGE with adults - and that could also give the album a major push. And once the song starts to cross over, it will hit the Top 40 and then possibly become a hit with tweens and teens. This is how "Beautiful Day" grew.
If U2 have "Magnificent" and "Stand Up" or "Crazy" become those types of hits (I think "Stand Up" has a bigger chance of succeeding than "Crazy", but that's not may call), then U2 could very well outsell Coldplay.
The tour will help though. It could keep the album floating in the Top 100 for a long time and that can slowly, but surely, build up sales.
Is there any realistic challengers to U2 for the Number one spot on the UK and US album charts?
Well it's a little hard for me to do this now because I haven't yet heard the album. That being said...with all the raving going on on this website about how great this thing is, I'm gonna throw some numbers out there and then revise them later after I hear it. And I'm only going to do US for now...
US first week
550,000
US first year
2.9 million (Legs, baby, legs!)
US five years
4.1 million
US ten years
5.0 million
Worldwide...no clue
Alright, well there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of "3rd Masterpiece" talk outside of Interference so far so I'm probably going drastically alter these numbers downward after my first album listen
You´re wrong. Rolling Stone magazine gave the album 5 stars and dubbed it a masterpiece. Nearly all the reviews I´ve read (and I´ve read a lot) gave the album at least 4 stars. This is indeed a great work. Maybe it´s too early to give a definite opinion but when all is said and done I guess it will make my Top 3, right up there with JT and AB.