The News: Midnight Oil beat U2. An Opinion.

[zoomerang II]

Alan - i have been to 7 U2 shows and 6 Oils shows, and own all U2 and Oils albums (except capricornia).

on your points:

1. "they sacrificed popularity for the sake of sales."
I disagree - U2 could not have known that ATYCLB = increased sales. They seemed quite nervous at first how it would be accepted.

2. U2 do not deliver as intense a show as midnight oil.
Disagree - both deliver very intense shows - just a different approach.


3. the Oils are more interesting and better players than U2.
Disagree in part - ok Rob Hurst is a genius, but then Edge is too.

4.
Band togetherness:
The Oils: 5 Members, 2 changes (they have had 3 bass players) for 27 years
U2: 4 Members, No changes for 26 years
its a statement

5.
Midnight Oil: When they tour play about 4 dates a week small venues for increased intesity (IRVING PLAZA size)
U2: When they tour play 2 - 3 dates a week.
small venues for increased intensity (MADISON SQUARE GARDEN SIZE).
well it generally takes longer to setup a U2 show than an oils one. Also Garretts voice has held up better over the years.

 

[brettig]

Garrett has held up better fullstop...

 

[scatteroflight]

Originally posted by brettig:
Garrett has held up better fullstop...

Why would you say that, brettig, just curious?

Also, have you seen them live before? I got my ticket for the Vancouver show today! I am very excited!!!!!!!



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Your sun so bright it leaves no shadows, only scars
Carved into stone on the face of earth
The moon is up and over One Tree Hill
We see the sun go down in your eyes

 

[Salome]

comparing U2 to Midnight Oil doesn't make much sense to me

they are both in the same game but the expectations re U2 are much higher

people talk about ATYCLB as a clever ploy to win back fans
I don't think U2 was that certain this would happen with ATYCLB
I do think they know that after POP mediocre sales of the new album would mean the end of the band

I don't think they'll keep going when only a few people out there are left to anticipate a new album/tour
their ambitions have always been much higher

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Salome
Shake it, shake it, shake it

 

[STING2]

I would not call the sales of POP small. POP sold nearly 6 million copies. Most artist would kill to sale that much. The POPMART tour was the 3rd highest grossing tour worldwide in the history of the planet! 172,000,000 US dollars in Gross from 93 shows. The band have been together for to long and made so much money for it to be about simply how many albums are sold on one particular release of an album.

 

[Salome]

Originally posted by STING2:
I would not call the sales of POP small. POP sold nearly 6 million copies. Most artist would kill to sale that much.

that only shows how difficult it is to compare U2 to other bands like Midnight Oil (btw, I said mediocre sales - which leaves more room IMO - instead of small

)

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Salome
Shake it, shake it, shake it

[This message has been edited by Salome (edited 03-16-2002).]

 

[STING2]

Well POPs sales were not mediocre. Robbie Williams latest album has not sold 6 million copies. Its sold about 4.2 million and he is consider a huge star everywhere except the USA. I would call 1 or 2 million in sales for a major act to be mediocre but definitely not 6 million.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

Originally posted by AlanPARTRIDGE:
Band togetherness:
The Oils: 5 Members, 2 changes (they have had 3 bass players) for 27 years
U2: 4 Members, No changes for 26 years

i'm not saying this is right or wrong, and i've avoided doing anything but reading this thread since i don't know much about midnight oil, but all i wonder is what do you mean by this statement? are you saying midnight oil is better because they've had member changes, or U2 is better because they haven't?

ooh, btw, with what salome said about the pop sales, i interpreted the statement as like, comparing it to their previous album sales. i believe pop was the lowest selling album of theirs for the 90's, if you discount passengers, of course. and in comparison to atyclb, it sold far less. i think salome was making a comparison to past U2 record sales, not record sales in general. i remember defending to U2 fans online as to why pop was *not* a flop.

 

[HolyJoe914]

What the hell's all this fighting about??

This is like the "U2-vs-Beatles" threads that start up now and then. Who said that being a U2 fan means you can't dig the Beatles? Or that being a U2 fan means you can't like Midnight Oil?

It ain't a boxing match. You don't have to have a "winner."

 

[Eliv8]

I went to see them last night and I was not disappointed. I'll probably buy the new CD. Here is the rest of the tour dates. Well worth seeing if you get a chance.

Thu 03/21/02 West Hollywood, CA House Of Blues
Tue 03/26/02 New York, NY Irving Plaza
Wed 03/27/02 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
Fri 04/26/02 Killington, VT The Picklebarrel
Sat 04/27/02 Boston, MA Hatch Shell
Sun 04/28/02 Plainview, NY The Vanderbilt
Wed 05/01/02 Chicago, IL House Of Blues
Thu 05/02/02 Chicago, IL House Of Blues
Sat 05/04/02 Denver, CO To Be Announced
Tue 05/07/02 San Francisco, CA The Warfield
Thu 05/09/02 Portland, OR Roseland Theater
Fri 05/10/02 Seattle, WA Moore Theatre
Sat 05/11/02 Vancouver, BC Commodore Ballroom
Tue 05/14/02 Calgary, AB MacEwan Hall
Wed 05/15/02 Edmonton, AB Red's
Fri 05/17/02 Winnipeg, MB Walker Theatre
Thu 07/04/02 Chicago, IL Taste of Chicago