jick
Refugee
After the failure of Electrical Storm and Hands That Built America to even make a blip of the top 40 radars, and its absence in any MTV rotation, can we say U2's top40 days are behind them?
And no, I am not equating top 40 with success. Bands like The Rolling Stones, Depeche Mode, Rush, and the Psychedelic Furs still put out some new material every now and then, and their hardcore fans even argue that the new material is better than the old. But that is not the point. The point is whether you think U2 can still make an impact on the top 40 with their new album.
You think they still can? My guess is they can't. ATYCLB went well with the masses because U2 had marketed that album as the anti-Britney, the anti-boyband, the anti-manufactured-music. They marketed it as a band in full flight playing hand played instruments and having their own songs. So ATYCLB did fill up a void the music-buying public was looking for. But with the advent of artists like Avril Lavigne, Michelle Branch, and Vanessa Carlton, all who also belong to the anti-Britney, anti-manufactured-music brigade, U2 has now lost its market niche to much younger, more marketable females.
So my guess is that U2 will make good music with their upcoming album, but they won't get the radio play and MTV play they deserve.
Cheers,
J
The King Of POP
And no, I am not equating top 40 with success. Bands like The Rolling Stones, Depeche Mode, Rush, and the Psychedelic Furs still put out some new material every now and then, and their hardcore fans even argue that the new material is better than the old. But that is not the point. The point is whether you think U2 can still make an impact on the top 40 with their new album.
You think they still can? My guess is they can't. ATYCLB went well with the masses because U2 had marketed that album as the anti-Britney, the anti-boyband, the anti-manufactured-music. They marketed it as a band in full flight playing hand played instruments and having their own songs. So ATYCLB did fill up a void the music-buying public was looking for. But with the advent of artists like Avril Lavigne, Michelle Branch, and Vanessa Carlton, all who also belong to the anti-Britney, anti-manufactured-music brigade, U2 has now lost its market niche to much younger, more marketable females.
So my guess is that U2 will make good music with their upcoming album, but they won't get the radio play and MTV play they deserve.
Cheers,
J
The King Of POP