yertle-the-turtle
ONE love, blood, life
Most of the time the biggest band ever is a pile of wank.
Hallucination said:
Who's better? New Kids on the Block or Motley Crue. Hilarious. At least that was the scene in grade 8
Headache in a Suitcase said:please don't mention the beatles and guns and roses in the same breath again.
thank you
-god
TheQuiet1 said:I remember once reading a magazine article on the top 50 biggest bands ever (it was based on biggest gig ever, album sales, weeks in chart etc). They came up with Pink Floyd as the top band.
Angela Harlem said:GnR weren't ever at the same level U2 have been. And U2 certainly haven't been the world's biggest band. They might be America's golden child, in an adopted sort of way, but that doesn't make them the world's biggest.
It does all come back to era and where you are as to who is the biggest in your neck of woods.
2Hearts said:
Now that we have the benefit of hindsight, the answer is clear:
New Kids on the Block
As far as GNR vs. U2 in '91-'93, I did not know 1 person (including myself) at my high school that liked U2 or bought Achtung Baby.
On the other hand, virtually every white kid in the school had GNR albums, T-shirts, etc.
MsMofoGone said:The Police in 1983
STING2 said:Guns N Roses popularity from 1988 through 1993 was very impressive. The band started out playing theaters at the begining of 1988 and then spent most of the year opening up for other bands. Towards the end of the year that did headline a few Arena shows themselves, but not stadiums at that point. Appetite For Destruction was a huge selling album, but the Use Your Illusion double album did not do nearly as well. Despite that, by 1991, almost 3 years away from the road, Guns N Roses launched its first true and what became their only headlining arena/stadium tour. It was spread out over 2 and half years and played mainly arena's as opposed to stadiums.
The ZOO TV tour was primarily a stadium tour and the band soldout multiple stadium shows in many cities on their own. U2 did not tour as long as Guns N Roses did, but if one looks at the average attendance and ticket price per show, U2 clearly was ahead of Guns Roses at that time. In addition, Achtung Baby sold more than Use Your Illusion did.
Guns N Roses did not have any stadium shows in North America where they attracted 40,000 plus people to a show without a strong support band like Metallica. In fact, there were many people in 1992 that would argue that Metallica had become bigger than Guns N Roses.
Hallucination said:
You can't compare album sales because it's obvious that Achtung Baby would be able to sustain albums sales far longer than UYI 1 & 2. Plus U2 is still putting out new albums gaining new fans who in turn are checking out U2's older material. Guns N' Roses don't have the benifit of that. A more acurate album comparison might be Zooropa and AB albums sales combined, compared to the combined sales of UYI 1 & 2, and how many units they sold in the first two years of release. I might be wrong but isn't Appetite for Destruction(Gn'R's top selling album) a bigger seller than Joshua Tree(U2's top seller)? Either way I think that's also an irrelevant stat as it doesn't really say anythig about the peak of a bands "biggness" as album sales are always ongoing. Also you can't use ticket prices as a comparison because U2's stage show was so damn expensive they must of had to compensate for it with higher prices. Gn'R were only charging $30.00 per but I think it's safe to say that had they charged $60.00 they still would've sold just as much, doubling their gross. All I know is that U2 weren't even close to as big as Guns N' Roses durring that time(1991-1993). At least not where I live(Alberta, Canada), and everyone I've asked(in real life) since I posted this has agreed. I'm starting to think that maybe it's the U2 fans here who are letting their own perception distort things. U2 is my favorite band so I have no agenda in wanting or thinking Gn'R were bigger, they just were. At least for my age group which at the time was 15-20 year olds. NO doubt U2 is far and away the bigger of the two bands but I just don't by the arguement that at thier highest point they were bigger than Gn'R at thier highest point. We shoud try this; put your personal opinions aside and put statistics aside and try asking around. Ask random people who have no interest either way who was the bigger band in 1991-1993, Guns N' Roses or U2. I would be willing to bet that the results woud surprise alot of te fans here on this board.
STING2 said:Its not accurate to simply ask people's perceptions around you about events that were nearly 15 years ago or to simply go by what one remembers friends and people around them enjoying or liking at the time.
For example, more than half of my entire Highschool Class saw the ZOO TV show. But I was the only person who saw Guns N Roses in concert. I saw them in Washington DC when Metallica was opening or co-headlining with them. But I can't take this and extrapolate this in to being an accurate comparison between the popularity of the two bands at the time.
The only accurate way to compare the two bands at that time is the concert statistics and album sales for the two artist during the time period. I'm taking their current tour and current album sales during the period.
The Use Your Illusion tour vs. ZOO TV tour. Achtung Baby vs. the Use Your Illusion double album. Both albums were released in late 1991 and I agree that one should measure the first two years of release for both albums.
Regardless of the cost of any tour, the ticket price that fans pay is based on the level of demand for the tour. The higher the demand to see one in concert, the greater the ticket price. Its straight forward economics. Your market value determines the price you can charge and sellout a given venue.
The range of ticket prices back then was much closer than it is today. U2 charged an average of $30 dollars for all of its Stadium and Arena shows on ZOO TV. Guns N Roses prices ranged from as low as $16 dollars for their Stadium show at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami on New Years Eve, to as high as $26 dollars for many of their Arena shows.
Guns N Roses played mainly arena shows and would often not utilize the seats behind the stage for the show, which is usually a sign of smaller demand. U2 on the other hand played primarily Stadium shows on ZOO TV and for the Arena shows used all the seats behind the stage.
Take the city of Philadelphia. U2 played two Stadium shows and one Arena show there on ZOO TV. Guns N Roses played 3 arena shows that did not utilize the full capacity of the arena for the shows in Philly. The GNR/Metallica tour skipped Philadelphia, most likely because the promoter did not feel the demand strong enough to even pay for the cost of a show there.
Achtung Baby was released in November of 1991 and made it to 4 times platinum in the USA faster than the Use Your Illusion album did, despite the fact that Use Your Illusion was released two months prior to Achtung Baby. Outside the United States, Achtung Baby's lead back then widened even more. Take the United Kingdom for example, Achtung Baby hit the 900,000 mark there in under two years while Use Your Illusion only hit the 300,000 mark. Thats a ratio of 3 to 1 in the 1991 to 1993 period in favor of Achtung Baby in the United Kingdom.
smurf_sista said:at the hight of their career...although they may not have been a band...the spice girls
1), and you all had your favourite!
Hallucination said:
Boo Hoo
Zootlesque said:
Guns n Roses were hands down more well known in the early 90s than U2.
I didn't say they were better.
shaun vox said:GUNS N ROSES they will rock your face off lol
Hallucination said:
Anways I thought you said not to ever say Guns N' Roses and The Beatles in the same sentence ever again. that's why i responded with the Boo Hoo
Zootlesque said:
That wasn't me, buddy.
Hallucination said:
Were you laughin at my response to headache in a suitcase?
Zootlesque said:
Popmartijn said:
If you're alluding to an article that appeared in Q magazine last year (coincidentally the one with U2 on the cover promoting HTDAAB),