Most Monumental Album Flops...

[one4u2]

wow all I did was post a little blurb about Pop I found on the net and I come back to an 8 page debate

 

[U2Man]

oh snap.

you just wanted to stir up some pop shit.

 

[one4u2]

 

[Chizip]

U2 was too old to be popular with the kids in 1997, and they put out an album that turned off older fans. That is why it was a commercial flop. They learned that, so Bono grew back his hair, they took on a more clean cut look and adult contemporary sound to win back the older fans that loved them in the 80s. You know, the U2Kitten type fans.

 

[U2Man]

bono grew his hair back because he sings better with long hair. that's the reason.

 

[phillyfan26]

so POP sold "only" 1.5 million albums. what a friggin failure huh? who cares? either you like it or hate it. at least come up with something better than "oh it only sold blah blah blah blah copies."
bring something sensible to the table. maybe you didn't like the lyrics, music, mixing, style etc. the sales numbers? what the fuck kind of u2 fan cares about the numbers?

Well people can define failure by the album selling poorly. They don't mean it was a bad album, but a failure in the sense that it was not well received.

I just think it wasn't finished personally. They had the right ideas, but didn't pull them off till later, live. They know it too.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

I think the general populous (read: people outside the U2 fanbase) stops caring post single no. 1. Look at how anything outside of BD/Vertigo/Discotheque basically tanked in the US. Add to that the new genres on the scene there and the age factor and this explains why U2's singles don't work, with the exception of the "new U2 material!!" hype that helps the first single.

The most obvious explanation of course is that the 1st single is out almost a month before the album. Everyone buys in. Once the album is out, you're up against the wall convincing even the fanbase to buy the single - they already own the song - let alone the general public.

 

[kingofsorrow]

you don't think bono cares about the numbers?

like i said "FAN", not "BAND", "FAN".

 

[kingofsorrow]

Well people can define failure by the album selling poorly. They don't mean it was a bad album, but a failure in the sense that it was not well received.

I just think it wasn't finished personally. They had the right ideas, but didn't pull them off till later, live. They know it too.

so in other words:
maybe you didn't like the lyrics, music, mixing, style etc.

 

[U2girl]

The most obvious explanation of course is that the 1st single is out almost a month before the album. Everyone buys in. Once the album is out, you're up against the wall convincing even the fanbase to buy the single - they already own the song - let alone the general public.

Well yeah, hence the "new U2 hype". I don't know, I think the fanbase is actually more prone to buying singles for the B-sides/collecting alone.
The tricky part is convincing the people outside of that population, which only happens if the song clicks with the bigger audience, like I still haven't found... or One, or maybe in a lesser way SIAM in the US after 9/11.


And whoever said it earlier: a reasonable thread and a nice discussion on Pop.

 

[Yahweh]

U2 didnt gain as many fans as they lost with POP, most of the other albums U2 has lost some fans but gained a lot more....Zooropa and POP lost more fans then they gained, does this mean they arent good albums, absolutely not, they just arent what people are going to listen to as a general rule.

U2 had developed a sound which for the most part they went away from in the 90s, and the only record that suceeded from that was Achtung Baby, but that probably has the most popular U2 song on it of all time "One", and just for the record I think the 90s overall is U2s best musical decade but it was also the most unaccessable to the masses.

Most people think in straight lines and in black and white, for the most part the 3 albums from the 90s forced people to think in many colours and many dimensions, a lot of people arent ready nor willing to do that.

 

[kingofsorrow]

Most people think in straight lines and in black and white, for the most part the 3 albums from the 90s forced people to think in many colours and many dimensions, a lot of people arent ready nor willing to do that.

it's a musical dystopia i tell ya, a musical friggin dystopia.

 

[intedomine]

Ridiculously shallow review about a ridiculously remarkable album. I love it. One of U2's moments of perfection, if only for the sheer shock it was to hear U2 sounding like that....

Here's hoping LP12 is as left-field as Pop....

 

[U2Man]

like i said "FAN", not "BAND", "FAN".

as a fan you should care about whatever bono cares about.

 

[mysterious_jen]

Ridiculously shallow review about a ridiculously remarkable album. I love it. One of U2's moments of perfection, if only for the sheer shock it was to hear U2 sounding like that....

Here's hoping LP12 is as left-field as Pop....

AGREED!!!
(not too much hip hop though thanks )

 

[U2Man]

i've always found it really arrogant when people address a certain band's next album just as "lp12" for instance. it's like they're the only band that have made 12 albums.

 

[mysterious_jen]

ok call it "the next album" is that better ??

 

[U2Man]

no, that's still arrogant.

 

[mysterious_jen]

what was the argument again ??
pop oh yeah ....
its different and refreshing in a good way , it didnt sell well, so what .

 

[cobl04]

BOOM-CHA, BOOM-CHA!!!! When I first got Pop a couple weeks ago, I couldn't stop listening to it. I STILL can't stop!!!

Me to.

What I want to ask is, how many times has that guy listened to Pop?

 

[intedomine]

Bullshit, and there's nothing arrogant about naming Radiohead's next album as LP7

You want arrogance...I'll call U2's next album whatever I fucking well want thank you very much

 

[U2Man]

sometimes i wish bono would stop all the talk about being "the biggest".

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

Sometimes I wish people would stop equating sales with the quality of an album...

 

[toscano]

dude, do yourself a favour and read the entire thread before you post. it would make you look so much better.

My my, such short-term memory loss in one so young..........

"i'm sorry, but the stats show that the half-baked pop was forgettable."

 

[U2Man]

they say that irony is lost on kids and the dumb.

 

[LemonMelon]

Sometimes I wish people would stop equating sales with the quality of an album...

Again, I approve. This thread would be two pages long and be on the third page of ETYKIW if more people would take that into consideration.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

Thanks Dad...

This kills me:

wow all I did was post a little blurb about Pop I found on the net and I come back to an 8 page debate

How long have you been posting here???

 

[LemonMelon]

Thanks Dad...

This kills me:



How long have you been posting here???

It's why U2 is making the music and we're here nitpicking...U2 fans generally miss the forest for the trees.

 

[phillyfan26]

so in other words:
maybe you didn't like the lyrics, music, mixing, style etc.

As I've stated, I think there were three terrible songs, two well-done songs, and seven songs that were good ideas but poorly executed, and finished later in the live format.

 

[Lancemc]

Pop and HTDAAB both sound like shit. Can we all stop arguing now?