Most Monumental Album Flops...

[one4u2]

Most Monumental Album Flops: No. 25
Posted May 24th 2007 5:00PM by Spinner Staff
Filed under: The Hit List

Failure, it has been argued, is more interesting than success. Try telling that to the superstars on our list of all-time album flops: We'd guess they were a tad more interested in the successes. You have to rise pretty high to have a stomach-turning letdown, which is why our list includes the creators of some of the biggest-selling albums of all time. From a Prince, several princesses and a King (of Pop) to the reigning jesters of punk and hip-hop, rock's royal court is clearly subject to the same laws of gravity as the rest of us.



'Pop'
U2, 1997

Rise: Ten years after U2 assumed the rock 'n' roll throne, they planned the glitzy Popmart tour as an ironic take on consumerism, and they rushed out the accompanying album to meet the deadline.

Fall: The half-baked 'Pop' was so forgettable that U2's next album, 'All That You Can't Leave Behind,' was widely hailed as the band's "comeback" record.

Stats: 'The Joshua Tree' (1987), 10 million; 'Pop,' 1.5 million

 

[U2Man]

well, as always, the numbers don't lie.

 

[mysterious_jen]

it may have been a flop commercially but some of us stilll love it !

pop lovers unite !!!!!!!!! BOOM CHA!

 

[iloveedge]

BOOM CHA it is! Maybe it didn't sell that well, I still love it!

 

[coolian2]

Sales it was a flop
Musically it ownz j0ur arse

 

[U2Man]

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

 

[vaz02]

BOOM CHA.

Pop appeals to me because it is regarded as a flop commerically, its apart of the attraction.

 

[catlhere]

Truth hurts.

Pop = Flop; They rhyme and everything.

Thankfully U2 got it back in gear.

 

[david]

I just remember buying it when it came out and listening to it a lot. Honestly if you never told me that it wasn't finished and they were short on time I would have never guessed.

 

[xaviMF22]

Truth hurts.

Pop = Flop; They rhyme and everything.

Thankfully U2 got it back in gear.

you mean didn't right?

 

[Bonogirl777]

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!!!

 

[TheBrazilianFly]

No matter how well it did sale wise it still is one of my favorite U2 records and one of their most interesting and experimental records. And it has the best lyrics ever written by Bono in my opinion.

Honestly if you never told me that it wasn't finished and they were short on time I would have never guessed.

The very same here. It sounds finished and amazing to me no matter how many times it's called unfinished and a failure.

 

[Screwtape2]

Fall: The half-baked 'Pop' was so forgettable that U2's next album, 'All That You Can't Leave Behind,' was widely hailed as the band's "comeback" record.

Honestly, how many of those critics really listened to Pop more than once? Sure it was a commercial failure but as an album it wasn't terrible. The whole "comeback" record idea implies that the band released an unimaginably bad record. Few people who follow the band would classify it as such. The critics got way too caught up in the race to crucify the band.

 

[Axver]

I'm struggling to see how Pop was a failure when it spawned the biggest US hit U2 has had since 1992.

 

[U2Man]

I'm struggling to see how Pop was a failure when it spawned the biggest US hit U2 has had since 1992.

the album didnt sell.

 

[Axver]

the album didnt sell.

Funny how almost every band on earth would kill for sales on the level of Pop's, and how Pop has sold better than U2 albums not considered to be flops.

And didn't it hit #1 in more countries than ATYCLB?

 

[BonoIsMyMuse]

If ATYCLB was a comeback album, I wish U2 would go back to flopping. Pop is a much richer album than most give it credit for. ATYCLB was certainly more commercially successful, but I don't think that makes it better. It was an uplifting album released when the world--America especially--needed something uplifting. Pop dealt with some darker themes, and that didn't go over well with casual fans and critics. It's too bad that substance isn't what sells albums.

 

[U2Man]

Funny how almost every band on earth would kill for sales on the level of Pop's, and how Pop has sold better than U2 albums not considered to be flops.

And didn't it hit #1 in more countries than ATYCLB?

everything is relative. considering u2's position at the time, pop was a huge flop commercially (this was the band that had dominated the eighties and reinvented themselves in the nineties, put on the greatest tour ever and sold 17 million copies of ab). anything below 10 million copies would be severely disappointing. pop sold just above half of that. flop might be too weak a word, actually.

JT 27M
R&H 13M
AB 17M

Pop 6M

ATYCLB 12M
HTDAAB 10M

i personally blame the unbelievably shitty first single, discotheque.

 

[Axver]

Pop didn't sell as well as prior albums did in the US, but it did pretty well in Europe. To call it a flop because of US sales is pretty Americentric to me.

And I repeat, how many countries did Pop hit #1 in? It did pretty damn well globally.

i personally blame the unbelievably shitty first single, discotheque.

While I agree that it was a shocker of a choice for a lead single (hey, U2, how about Gone?), it seems the determination of Pop being a flop rests on the US market and Discotheque absolutely blew Beautiful Day and Vertigo out of the water in the charts.

 

[U2Man]

you would have to ask sting2 about that. i don't know.

the above are worldwide sales, so while pop might have gone number 1 in a lot of countries, it didnt stay there for very long, and the competition must have been weak - which wouldnt be surprising considering it was released in march and not at christmas time, like u2 usually does nowadays.

i would guess that explains discotheque's succes at the charts compared to e.g. beautiful day too.

 

[Screwtape2]

It was an uplifting album released when the world--America especially--needed something uplifting. Pop dealt with some darker themes, and that didn't go over well with casual fans and critics.

In many ways, ATYCLB is a very dark album. Unfortunately, you can't see this because of the poppy music. ATYCLB was not an uplifting album until people made it one. When enough people say something other people will believe it without reservation. This is why Pop is considered a failure in theme and sales while ATYCLB is praised as an uplifting masterpeice.

 

[gherman]

Ya POP was a piece of shit

 

[phillyfan26]

Look, Pop defenders, it wasn't good. Compare Popmart to Pop. That's all I have to say.

Pop was, as Bono put it, the most expensive demo tape ever.

They finished the songs on Popmart. The album, though? Sucked.

 

[Screwtape2]

Look, Pop defenders, it wasn't good. Compare Popmart to Pop. That's all I have to say.

Pop was, as Bono put it, the most expensive demo tape ever.

They finished the songs on Popmart. The album, though? Sucked.

Pop defenders? You make it sound like people don't have a right to believe that the album is in anyway good. I find it interesting that you believe Popmart finished the songs because very few people would say that the live versions of Angels, Staring At The Sun, Do You Feel Loved and Wake Up Dead Man were better than they were on the album. Then you have songs like Mofo, Please and Gone where very little changed from the album versions to the live versions. Keeping in mind that Playboy Mansion wasn't played live, only four songs on the album really changed for the better on Popmart. That's not exactly "finishing" the album.

 

[LemonMelon]

the album didnt sell.

...more than 6 mil

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

Velvet Underground And Nico reached #171 on the charts when it was released and has become one of the most beloved albums of all time.

What the best-selling album of 2006? The High School Musical soundtrack.

So...what was your point again?

 

[BVS]

In many ways, ATYCLB is a very dark album. Unfortunately, you can't see this because of the poppy music. ATYCLB was not an uplifting album until people made it one. When enough people say something other people will believe it without reservation.

Really? With the exception of POE and WILATW it's a pretty uplifting album. They explore darker themes but with silver lining outcomes.

Stuck is a song about suicide but it's someone reaching out to help someone. BD is about someone who's lost everything but they see the light at the end of the tunnel. Walk On is about finding a way to overcome oppression of sorts. Kite is about some passing but in a life will go on without you'll be alright outlook.

Whereas Pop was dark without much silver lining...

 

[Axver]

Look, Pop defenders, it wasn't good. Compare Popmart to Pop. That's all I have to say.

Pop was, as Bono put it, the most expensive demo tape ever.

They finished the songs on Popmart. The album, though? Sucked.

Oh, come on, citing Bono as a source hardly counts. It seems the person least knowledgeable about U2 is the band's own lead singer.

Now, I'm no Pop defender. It was a pretty mediocre album, like everything U2 has done since Lovetown apart from Passengers. But it has a few gems and gets really unfairly trashed. As I think my discussion with U2Man shows, the statistics can be twisted to support both cases. It just so happens that the prevalent discourse is that Pop was not just a U2 album that failed to reach the standards of its immediate predecessors; it was a complete flop. For some daft reason, U2 themselves have bought into this.

 

[Screwtape2]

Really? With the exception of POE and WILATW it's a pretty uplifting album. They explore darker themes but with silver lining outcomes.

Stuck is a song about suicide but it's someone reaching out to help someone. BD is about someone who's lost everything but they see the light at the end of the tunnel. Walk On is about finding a way to overcome oppression of sorts. Kite is about some passing but in a life will go on without you'll be alright outlook.

Whereas Pop was dark without much silver lining...

I agree that Pop doesn't have much silver lining and it seems to rest more on interpretation as to how much silver lining ATYCLB has. Uplifting is encouragement and inspiration which I don't think the songs really provide. The songs on ATYCLB are thematically dark with just a little dab of hope. A little dab of hope does not equal inspiration.

 

[U2Man]

denying that pop was artistically a flop is totally fair, and i would do it myself.

but denying that pop was a commercial flop is denying empirical facts.


this article's failure is that it concludes that pop was an artistical flop based on the fact that it was a commercial flop. or at least, heavily insinuates it.

 

[LemonMelon]

denying that pop was artistically a flop is totally fair, and i would do it myself.

but denying that pop was a commercial flop is denying empirical facts,

My only point is that sales don't mean anything at all relating to artistic quality.