Are u2 really still THE biggest band in the world?

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Maoilbheannacht said:

But again, this thread is about who is currently the most popular band, and for that you only look at the sales of the latest new album of new material and the latest concert tour by the artist.
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No, this thread is about whether or not U2 is still THE biggest band in the world........according to our young friend torn vinyl, U2 can't hold Mick Hucknall's jock. We all grow up sometime............
 
BVS said:
So one year in George Michael's career makes him bigger than U2? You are not making sense. And no, Metallica are not just as big, they're big but not close to U2...

Nice try though. :huh:
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He was bigger than U2. And I think he was huge for more than one year, though Faith was the biggest selling album of 1988.

Those are his number one singles in the States.
UK number one singles (12)


 
My point is that it is debatable whether U2 have EVER been the "Biggest band in the World". In the mid-late 90s it was definitely Oasis. 92-95, Pearl Jam.
 
boorock74 said:
No, this thread is about whether or not U2 is still THE biggest band in the world........according to our young friend torn vinyl, U2 can't hold Mick Hucknall's jock. We all grow up sometime............
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why you gotta bring that stinking, disease ridden garment into this room?
 
torn vinyl said:
My point is that it is debatable whether U2 have EVER been the "Biggest band in the World". In the mid-late 90s it was definitely Oasis. 92-95, Pearl Jam.
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Oasis? Yes, in the United Kingdom, but not anywhere else. How many stadiums has Oasis played on tour in the United States or Canada? NONE except of course when the OPENED for U2.

In 1992, Pearl Jam were a new band with a just a single album. U2 outsold them that year anyways. Achtung Baby finished the year at #5 in the USA ahead of TEN's sales in the USA. Worldwide, its not even competitve. Pearl Jam did play a couple of stadium shows in the USA in 1995, but not worldwide. 75% of Pearl Jam's album sales came from the North American market during that time.

Its not really debatable if you know the concert boxscores for the artist in question as well as the GLOBAL album sales of the latest album.

But lets just look at 2009.

Is there any artist that has had an album that sold more in 2009 than NLOTH? There is one, Lady GaGa, but thats it. Is there another tour that has grossed or played to as many people as U2 have in 2009? Nope

So, is U2 still the biggest band in the world? The answer is yes, probably by several thousand light years too!
 
torn vinyl said:
I'm a U2 fan. Sorry for the typo! And how is making a suggestion and supporting it equal to trolling? That doesn't make any sense people! If you find that antagonistic...
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Well, its often hard to tell, but considering you have only 63 post, many of them in just this thread, and seem dedicated to suggesting that U2 is not this or that, the question does come to mind.

This statement by you was also a bit curious:

The mypoia of U2 fans is astounding!
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How's this for a trolling comment? Bono got the clap from Mich Hucknall and then gave it to Larry. That's why he was so surly during Passengers.

I'm not saying that they're not great, just that they're not the biggest and maybe never were. I forgot to mention Nirvana.
 
torn vinyl said:
How's this for a trolling comment? Bono got the clap from Mich Hucknall and then gave it to Larry. That's why he was so surly during Passengers.

I'm not saying that they're not great, just that they're not the biggest and maybe never were. I forgot to mention Nirvana.
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Its not the point. There have been people who have come on here in the past with no real interest in the band simply to state or argue that the band is not this or that. Its one thing to ask a serious question its another to rant and rave and list every artist that ever made the top 10 as being competitive with U2 for biggest band. Half the artist you have listed are not even bands which makes one take note as well.

Nirvana never made it big enough to play stadiums, and Nevermind only narrowly outsold Achtung Baby in 1992. But were talking about TODAY, not 17 years ago!
 
Maoilbheannacht said:
Out of the 20 million plus people in the NY/NJ area, how many of them have you actually spoken even one word to?

This is not something you would be able to see or make an assessment about based on your own personal observations.

The better way to tell is to look at what most people buy in the NY/NJ area in terms of concert tickets and albums. Its hard to get access to individual album sales figures for just a metropolitan area, but concert statistics for any area get posted in Billboard magazine and on Billboard.com.

That way, you can see who is truely selling well in your area. Thats how you can tell who is popular or not.
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Hey bro, i'm not claiming that i like have the facts or anything. I was just saying it's funny how U2 are the "biggest band in the world" when i seldom to never meet anyone who actually likes them, unless it's a fan of their older material. I'm sure they have fans out there, i just never seem to meet any.
 
ozeeko said:
Hey bro, i'm not claiming that i like have the facts or anything. I was just saying it's funny how U2 are the "biggest band in the world" when i seldom to never meet anyone who actually likes them, unless it's a fan of their older material. I'm sure they have fans out there, i just never seem to meet any.
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I'm not saying this to defend their newer stuff, but I honestly think(given many of your posts) you kinda live in a bubble. There are tons of fans just in here that love their 00 work and are mediocre or just learning about their older stuff. I just read a review last week about this tour saying "what happened to songs like OOTS and Wild Honey?" I meet people all the time that just have their 00 albums or don't even know about Zooropa or Pop. They exist... Hell I have a friend who used to make fun of me for being such a fanatic in the 90's and now she has Vertigo and Sometimes as her ringtones:shrug:
 
ozeeko said:
Hey bro, i'm not claiming that i like have the facts or anything. I was just saying it's funny how U2 are the "biggest band in the world" when i seldom to never meet anyone who actually likes them, unless it's a fan of their older material. I'm sure they have fans out there, i just never seem to meet any.
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For some reason, it's cool to not like U2, or at least say you don't.
I stopped worrying about being cool a long time ago.
YouTube - Jeff and Ian waiting for U2 9 13 09
 
BVS said:
I'm not saying this to defend their newer stuff, but I honestly think(given many of your posts) you kinda live in a bubble. There are tons of fans just in here that love their 00 work and are mediocre or just learning about their older stuff. I just read a review last week about this tour saying "what happened to songs like OOTS and Wild Honey?" I meet people all the time that just have their 00 albums or don't even know about Zooropa or Pop. They exist... Hell I have a friend who used to make fun of me for being such a fanatic in the 90's and now she has Vertigo and Sometimes as her ringtones:shrug:
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By saying i live in a bubble do you mean that new jersey is the bubble or that i just live in my own world?

I'm pretty in tune to the outside world. I am well aware, thank you, of U2 being a huge success. I wasn't denying their success.

I was relaying these observations to a previous poster who made a statement to the degree of "no young person cares about radiohead"- and all i said was that mostly every young person i talk to about music loves radiohead and can't stand U2.

Also, i was bringing this up because for all the talk about U2 being the greatest and biggest band in the world, I just find it ironic that i never hear anything about them...AT ALL...where i reside...other than "they suck" "they used to be good" "bono's a douche".

Obviously they are doing quite well for themselves. I wonder where all these fans are. I guess that's why i'm on this message board.
 
torn vinyl said:
That's why i put in quotes. But really, U2 don't have a young fanbase. Radiohead's is a bit younger, Coldplay younger still, just because they're younger bands. As a young person, I feel I can say that Radiohead and Coldplay are both bigger than U2 among my peers. A large number of my classmates, aquaintences and friends either went or wanted to see Radiohead and/or Coldplay live. I only know one person who wanted to see U2, and they did.
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So because you personally know more people who wanted to see Radiohead or Coldplay.....they have a younger fanbase than U2...and in general, U2 doesn't really have a young fanbase. Right. :rolleyes:

I can't believe you're actually serious. :lol:
 
I'm sure most people my age wouldn't know who Radiohead are, let alone like them, Coldplay yes, Radiohead no. This is coming from a person in this age bracket of young people.
 
Vlad n U 2 said:
I'm sure most people my age wouldn't know who Radiohead are, let alone like them, Coldplay yes, Radiohead no. This is coming from a person in this age bracket of young people.
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:yes:

i've met all of about four or five people in real life who really like radiohead.

most people i know are aware of them, though.

but everyone knows coldplay.
 
Galeongirl said:
My own musical taste. :) U2 are my favourite band, thus they're the biggest band in the world according to me.
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this is pretty much what i was thinking. i see alot of folks on this thread quoting "facts", record sales, tickets sales, etc, but the i like them or don't like them is whats shining thru as the real reasons behind people's opinions.
 
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