Don't post anything "negative" on here, some people here wont like what you have to say. It is one thing to be a troll and say negative things just for the heck of it and it is a completely different thing to state the facts and then have people start to make excuses.
All in all unless something changes this album will struggle to outsell U218 and that is a failure by any standard. You can blame downloading and the economy all you want these are factors but I think the ultimate factor is that Get On Your Boots was not well recieved from the start and this album up to this point has had a very poor promotion rating, as well as they waited far too long to put out a second single. Magnificent should have been out a month ago. Last but not least maybe people are just getting tired of U2 and think they are long past their best song writting days.
I think this is a great album myself but in my opinion from first listen there are only 2 tracks that have the potential to be "hits", Magnificent and Crazy Tonight because they remind people of the U2 sound the mainstream has come to expect from the band, whether that is a good or a bad thing.
The album will always be a classic in my mind, but it will be a sales failure for the band, I thought it would sell better then this but I think U2 are just getting a bit old age wise to have album selling appeal. It happens to the best of them and it is starting to happen to U2.
Yes this album has sold decently when compaired to other albums from this year but in the end I am sure that everybody expected more. Spin the numbers all you want these are the facts.
People can state negative facts. After all, he's not making up the numbers.
The difference is when someone is gloating about how much a "failure" this album is. One just doesn't expect that from U2 fans on a U2 message board.
All of what you wrote above is correct. GOYB was not a big hit. I think U2 hoped it would be another "Vertigo", but it wasn't. In fact, its similarity to "Vertigo" is part of what hurt it. As GOYB was not a hit, "Magnificent" should have come out earlier. These days, many artists are releasing their albums in conjunction with the release of a second single, not shortly after the first single. This now gives two potential hit songs from an album, thus pushing album sales. Also, the economy and mainly downloading have hurt the album. These days, kids download albums using Torrents. The days of teens buying CD's are dwindling fast. Lastly, it appears the era of the hit single has returned. While GOYB didn't sell well, many other artists are seeing huge sales for their songs, but relatively weak album sales.
This last point is key. You say people are tired of U2. Maybe. But Kelly Clarkson's album came out a week later, yet has about half the sales of NLOTH. That album featured a #1 single. So are people getting tired of Clarkson too? Flo Rida had a monster #1 single with a ton of legal downloads of the song. Yet his album has dropped fast on the charts, debuting at a rather weak #8, despite this huge hit song. People aren't interested in albums as much - people, especially teens, are all about the hit single.
"Magnificent" is defintely following the path of "Beautiful Day". That song did not leap out of the gates like "Vertigo". BD slowly grew week after week, month after month. It peaked on the Hot 100 months after it was released, not the first few weeks! NLOTH may eventually feel the effects of "Magnificent" several months from now.
My point is that we have to consider all aspects. Numbers are numbers and posting them is not negative. Stating why something is a big hit or a flop is speculative though - we don't know for sure, but we can theorize. I knew GOYB was in trouble based on the reception it received on Interference at @U2 - if this song wasn't appreciated by the die-hards, would the casual fan enjoy it? But U2 has done this approach before - "The Fly" wasn't a big hit and "Numb" wasn't even released as a CD single. Both are very odd songs as well. Yet, those albums did well. I think once "Magnificent" finally kicks in and the tour comes to the U.S., we'll see a boost with NLOTH. But until then, the album will see a slower pace of sales. I thought it may level, and it still might, but perhaps lower than I initially thought (as I was counting on "Magnificent" already being a bigger hit).