New Album Discussion (Will it be bigger than Zeppelin? Rush? Bon Jovi? Jesus? Allah?)

[Mrs. Garrison]

NLOTH suffered because of its own weakness for sure, but I think that a lot of people didn't come back from Bomb because they didn't like it in the end, and a lot moved on to Lady GaGa. And I think a lot of Bomb's success came off the Beautiful Day wave, and the eagerness for more U2 that followed.

Those fans that didn't show up for NLOTH weren't lost with the record, they were lost in between 2004 and 2009, a long gap which probably explains a lot.

You really have no way of knowing any of this, but I will give it to you that Beautiful Day created some kind of wave. I think Vertigo got a lot of people's attention and sold a lot of copies for Bomb. Some people may have been disappointed that there weren't more songs as loud or rocky as vertigo on Bomb, who knows? Those people would have been disappointed with NLOTH, because that album was rather tame by comparison to the previous records.

If fans actually went from U2 to Lady Gaga, which is a stretch, but if that's the case then I think its possible they come back to U2 with this new record. I say this assuming that U2 has a catchy new single for the new album, plus the super bowl commercial/hype/buzz that goes along with that, Danger Mouse, etc. Also, from what ive heard, Lady Gaga isn't as popular as she used to be, I guess anyway.

 

[LemonMelon]

I can't imagine there being much overlap between U2's fanbase and Lady Gaga's.

 

[Mrs. Garrison]

I can't imagine there being much overlap between U2's fanbase and Lady Gaga's.

yeah that was a bit of a stretch there...

 

[corianderstem]

If Gaga's fans are Little Monsters, what are U2's fans?

Little Achtungs?
Little Guinesses?
Bon-Bons?
Zoo Babies?
Pop Tarts?

 

[jeevey]

Yes. Fans didn't buy that crappy NLOTH because they didn't really like that hugely popular, multiplatinum, radio playing, Grammy winning juggernaut from five years earlier that they bought millions and millions of copies of. That's exactly why they didn't buy No Line.

 

[God Part III]

If Gaga's fans are Little Monsters, what are U2's fans?

Pop tarts, definitely.

 

[gvox]

I can't imagine there being much overlap between U2's fanbase and Lady Gaga's.

Oh, I dunno..when you look at who actually buys albums anymore, there might be more overlap there than might be imagined..

 

[jphelmet]

Yes. Fans didn't buy that crappy NLOTH because they didn't really like that hugely popular, multiplatinum, radio playing, Grammy winning juggernaut from five years earlier that they bought millions and millions of copies of. That's exactly why they didn't buy No Line.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Yes. Fans didn't buy that crappy NLOTH because they didn't really like that hugely popular, multiplatinum, radio playing, Grammy winning juggernaut from five years earlier that they bought millions and millions of copies of. That's exactly why they didn't buy No Line.

Honestly I don't know where some people come up with these bat shit crazy arguments.

Sent from my carrier pigeon using U2 Interference mobile app

 

[BVS]

Some have lost all sense of logic...

 

[Shawn Bonneau]

If Gaga's fans are Little Monsters, what are U2's fans?

Little Achtungs?
Little Guinesses?
Bon-Bons?
Zoo Babies?
Pop Tarts?

I'm digging Zoo Babies

 

[lmixristhebest]

Just curious, with all the talk of what albums sold big & what didn't, is there a chart or list where we can compare sales numbers?

 

[rennowba]

I predict that the new U2 record will have similar numbers to NLOTH.

If this is true the album will be massive in todays market.nobodys selling between 4-5 million records now apart from adele. It would be massive if the new album sold like nloth

 

[SecretFly]

Just curious, with all the talk of what albums sold big & what didn't, is there a chart or list where we can compare sales numbers?

I don't know whether this is accurate but in summary:

The Joshua Tree: 25,000,000+

Rattle & Hum: 14,000,000+

Achtung Baby: 18,000,000+

Zooropa: 7,000,000+

POP: 8,000,000+

ATYCLB: 12,000,000+

HTDAAB: 9,000,000+

NLOTH: 5,000,000+

U2 discography - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[jeevey]

PopTarts, definitely.

Right there. That one.

 

[ChargedVT]

Some of those numbers aren't quite right... Pop actually sold less than Zooropa but pretty much matched it outside of USA. It shipped 5.5 million in 1997. NLOTH is closer to 4 million, though in this day and age it's likely a few million more had it illegally. Impressively, Bomb would not be far off 10 million.
Anyway, my guess is mid January to get some solid release info!

 

[Hollow Island]

Yes. Fans didn't buy that crappy NLOTH because they didn't really like that hugely popular, multiplatinum, radio playing, Grammy winning juggernaut from five years earlier that they bought millions and millions of copies of. That's exactly why they didn't buy No Line.

They liked it, just not enough to get the next one. It's just a hypothesis, but I think that a lot of people who bought that record (if the fans I encountered at the Vertigo gig are any indication) were casual music consumers who latch on to whatever is being shoved in their face. The low standing of Bomb now indicates that appreciation for the album since it came out has diminished dramatically. So while it was popular, in the intervening years people jumped ship. It's not unprecedented.

Take Be Here Now for example. A hugely popular record when it was released, and it got good reviews. Fast forward to 1999: it was already a joke, reviled as a terrible record, and millions of fans jumped ship. To paraphrase you, fans didn't buy Standing On The Shoulder... because they didn't really like that hugely popular, multiplatinum, radio playing, juggernaut from two years earlier that they bought millions and millions of copies of. While Bomb has not suffered the same fate as Be Here Now, it is unloved, and there is no reason to assume that casual music consumers would come back for a less immediate record.

It's not inconceivable for people to jump from U2004 to Lady Yaya. People have diverse tastes, particularly the people who just take what they're given.

Remember when Bomb came out, the excitement there was? That was before Vertigo even came out, because of the wave from Beautiful Day. There was none of that for NLOTH. Why is that? Before a single even came out, nobody was really excited for a U2 album. There was no buzz. Where did those millions go? It's a valid question. I'm not saying I'm right, but it's a possibility.

 

[wolbersu2]

What a boring theories about the so called flopped NLOTH. Personally I think it's one of their best albums to date. The album sold well, but not for u2 standards. So did POP, in my opinion a great and fresh record. In about a month there should be concrete news about the new album, that's what I 'm excited about for now.

 

[stigman]

What a boring theories about the so called flopped NLOTH. Personally I think it's one of their best albums to date. The album sold well, but not for u2 standards. So did POP, in my opinion a great and fresh record. In about a month there should be concrete news about the new album, that's what I 'm excited about for now.

here here brother

 

[rennowba]

New Album Discussion (Will it be bigger than Zeppelin? Rush? Bon Jovi? Jesus?...

Just to put into context if the new album did between 4-5 million like nloth did heres the top 40 selling albums of 2013. If nloth was released in 2013 it would be the biggest seller of the year! I didnt realise how bad cd sales had got before i looked at this

BEST SELLING ALBUMS WORLDWIDE 2013

1. "Unorthodox Jukebox" Bruno Mars* - 4,043,000
2. "The 20/20 Experience" Justin Timberlake - 3,577,000
3. "The Marshall Matters LP 2" Eminem - 2,928,000
4. "Random Access Memories" Daft Punk - 2,920,000
5. "The Truth About Love" P!nk* - 2,728,000
6. "Midnight Memories" One Direction - 2,546,000
7. "Night Visions" Imagine Dragons* - 2,281,000
8. "Babel" Mumford & Sons* - 2,127,000*
9. "To Be Loved" Michael Buble - 2,076,000
10. "Take Me Home" One Direction* - 2,021,000*

11. "Prism" Katy Perry - 1,779,000
12. "The Heist" Macklemore & Ryan Lewis* - 1,668,000
13. "Crash My Party" Luke Bryan - 1,562,000
14. "Nothing Was The Same" Drake - 1,531,000
15. "The Lumineers" The Lumineers* - 1,504,000
16. "Red" Taylor Swift* - 1,483,000
17. "Unapologetic" Rihanna* - 1,463,000
18. "Magna Carta... Holy Grail" Jay-Z - 1,410,000
19. "Les Miserables" OST - 1,389,000
20. "Beyoncé" Beyoncé - 1,354,000

21. "Artpop" Lady Gaga - 1,309,000
22. "Racine carrée" Stromae - 1,258,000
23. "21" Adele* - 1,248,000
24. "Bangerz" Miley Cyrus - 1,217,000
25. "Swing Both Ways" Robbie Williams - 1,080,000
26. "Loved Me Back To Life" Celine Dion - 1,057,000
27. "Pure Heroine" Lorde - 1,055,000
28. "Our Version of Events" Emeli Sande* - 1,024,000
29. "All The Little Lights" Passenger - 994,000
30. "AM" Arctic Monkeys - 994,000 (not on cumulative year-end chart)

31. "The 20/20 Experience, Part 2" Justin Timberlake - 975,000
32. "The Next Day" David Bowie - 956,000
33. "Born To Die" Lana Del Rey* - 912,000
34. "Based On A True Story" Blake Shelton - 904,000
35. "Blurred Lines" Robin Thicke - 869,000
36. "Here's To Good News" Florida Georgia Line* - 862,000
37. "Delta Machine" Depeche Mode - 854,000
38. "13" Black Sabbath - 827,000 (not on cumulative year-end chart)
39. "True" Avicii - 819,000 (not on cumulative year-end chart)
40. "Wrapped in Red" Kelly Clarkson - 802,000 (not on cumulative year-end chart)

Source: United World Chart
- Numbers indicate sales between 1.1.2013. and 12.24.2013.
- Albums that have star (*) next to the number were released last year, or even earlier, so the figure doesn't represent their total sales.
- The numbers are solely based on presence of the albums in UWC weekly top 40.

 

[Registered Dude]

So, realistically, the new u2 album probably won't sell more than 2.5-3 million, at best

 

[ChargedVT]

So, realistically, the new u2 album probably won't sell more than 2.5-3 million, at best

I believe so. Question is, would they (incorrectly) see that as another failure?

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

I think their move to management by a touring agency is almost a confirmation that they know the times have changed... and that true success is measured in different ways now

Sent from my android cause iphones are for old people

 

[gvox]

Sent from my android cause iphones are for old people

Sent from the tip of my boot to your ass

 

[jeevey]

So whatever the new equivalent of the biggest, greatest, most popular best-selling ever! album is...that's what they want.

 

[Mrs. Garrison]

So is/was 'Every Breaking Wave' supposed to be the followup to (the) Beautiful Day (wave)? The U2 must know what they are doing, riding waves without jumping sharks, singing about fish needing bicycles, etc. That's pretty impressive for a group of 50-somethings who have Vertigo.

 

[The_acrobat]

This will possibly be U2's first album to not go platinum in the US. A factoid like that will certainly make them think hard about releasing many more albums.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Sent from the tip of my boot to your ass

Sent from my android cause iphones are for old people

 

[trevgreg]

Take Be Here Now for example. A hugely popular record when it was released, and it got good reviews. Fast forward to 1999: it was already a joke, reviled as a terrible record, and millions of fans jumped ship. To paraphrase you, fans didn't buy Standing On The Shoulder... because they didn't really like that hugely popular, multiplatinum, radio playing, juggernaut from two years earlier that they bought millions and millions of copies of. While Bomb has not suffered the same fate as Be Here Now, it is unloved, and there is no reason to assume that casual music consumers would come back for a less immediate record.

It's also possible that you can't really have two incredibly successful albums in a row, in terms of sales, if one of them comes out when people aren't buying them as much anymore. And without a song to grab the public's attention in a huge way (as the prior two did), then it makes sense how NLOTH went that way in the end. The amount of time that passed between the two album basically served as a reset button for anything new, and people just didn't respond to it as a whole.

If the theory that people hated Bomb enough to not buy the next release, then wouldn't people have not bought Bomb in massive numbers due to the critical "failure" of ATYCLB? Assuming we're going by the ten people on here that hated that album and era of U2, of course...

 

[Poptart75]

Pop tarts, definitely.

Nice