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Re: Brain in Modern Drummer (May 2009)
i'm not saying that the music is bad...and i totally agree with you that the lack of promo hurt them...but maybe thats what Axl was after...maybe he's happier with a smaller fanbase than everyone and their dog listneing to the album, thats what i was gettng at...before we argue success or failure we need to measure it against soemthing..as a failure its easier to substantiate, cuz we have sales numbers...as a success its more of an abstract argument, but you cant argue commercial failure against emotional success...like i said, apples and oranges
Re: Brain in Modern Drummer (May 2009)
AC/DC - Black Ice (world wide sales - 5,659,000)
Metallica - Death Magnetic (world wide sales - 3,976,500)
U2 - No Line On The Horizon (world wide sales - 2,286,000)
Guns n Roses - Chinese Democracy (world wide sales - 1,998,500)
I don't see any surprise in these numbers. Either way. Those who do are clearly not understanding what GNR are and has been for the past 10 years or so. That goes both ways. From the "nobody cares anymore" to the "they are the biggest band in the world".
Re: Brain in Modern Drummer (May 2009)
From the "nobody cares anymore" to the "they are the biggest band in the world".
"Nobody cares anymore", "Its a flop" are very general terms. Obviously someone cares, or it would have sold zero copies. In the overall aspect of the band/album/actual music, very few care. It doesn't register on pop culture's "richter scale", and that's what is insinuated with the "nobody cares" mantra.
The sales are decent. Could it have sold more? Yeah, with a huge promo blitz. Could it have sold less? Definitely. Most of these 1 to 4 million(depending on which bean counter you believe) people moved on from this record quickly after purchase. The album suffered the quickest descent from the Top 200 charts from any mainstream band in history, the songs get little if any radio play(translation: no requests), none of these sites saw a boom after release like most communities do, and the public in general just doesn't care.
I once made a joke that if you wanted to stop a fistfight or potential riot, no need to call the cops. Simply push play on a stereo with this playing, and it clears the streets. Its a joke, but there's an ounce of truth to that.
Is the album totally dead? No. However, the answer is no only if they take a second push seriously. This Rock Band thing is a good start, and if they're smart, they are wrapping the rerelease in cellophane and are on the verge of an announcement and promo blitz. Regardless of whether or not 1 to 4 mil can be considered a success or failure, this album(and band) need to be reintroduced to casual music fans.
Re: Brain in Modern Drummer (May 2009)
James, I think you're wrong. I think CD is dead and I think a rerelease is gonna be a waste of time. The only--THE ONLY--way a rerelease even interests a fan like me is if it has an EP of other stuff, like, say, Silkworms, Oh My God (w/Bucket), maybe one new tune and maybe, just for fun, a rerecorded Appetite song like Think About You (that clunker shouldn't piss off purists too much). Then, I might look into the rerelease. Remixes ain't gonna matter.
- monkeychow
- Rep: 661
Re: Brain in Modern Drummer (May 2009)
as a success its more of an abstract argument, but you cant argue commercial failure against emotional success...like i said, apples and oranges
I agree....another issue is to define what we want even from a comercial success. For example...Avenged Sevenfold have sold 1,000,000 copies of their newest album worldwide.I don't see people saying that band "is done. it's over". I bet you buckcherry's newest album is way lower. Yet these bands carry on making music.
Re: Brain in Modern Drummer (May 2009)
A rerelease with the right new songs I think could hit a little bit. All it takes is a strong new single off a rerelease to catch on and make a little noise. Maybe play an awards show to show that there is a band behind this product. And then to get fans like bigbri happy again would throw some demos and older versions or even remixes on itunes. Will it happen though? Hopefully something close to any of that.
- monkeychow
- Rep: 661
Re: Brain in Modern Drummer (May 2009)
Yeah...maybe like how contraband had that re-release with the cool bonus disk with the covers and stuff. If they re-rereleased with new art, but also maybe a like 1 extra track or something to entice for people who already got the album to double dip, I can see it working.
Re: Brain in Modern Drummer (May 2009)
this all seems to be relatively speaking to each individual poster...everyone just keeps saying the same shit but nobody is willing to step back and see the other's POV
ranked against AFD and UYI's CD is a commercial failure
ranked against other big name rock acts who released albums in 2008 its a commercial failure
if platinum in the world is good enough then its a success
if just releasing the damn thing is good enough then its a success
if paying off debt is good enough then its a successyou guys should figure out the context instead of talking apples and oranges
for example, my kids went on an easter egg hunt this past weekend...my oldest found like $8 in change in her eggs and was happier than a pig in shit...my youngest found $2 and threw it away cuz she wanted a chocolate egg instead, and was happy as can be with the 1 cent chocolate...who is the winner? you tell me
actually, in the financial world, it is about dollars and cents and Axl and Geffen made money off Chinese...that is what business is all about and it is not open to interpretation. Jimmy Iovine happy...Axl somewhat happy...Azoff happy..Axl still has a record contract...good business, odd business, but still profitable in the end. Now, going forward is a different animal. Slate clean and Axl's new Gnr doesn't have any proven commercial draw.
- monkeychow
- Rep: 661
Re: Brain in Modern Drummer (May 2009)
Slate clean and Axl's new Gnr doesn't have any proven commercial draw.
Actually I think the CD sales show the band has commerical potential. They did NOTHING that they "should" have done by industry standards yet came up with reasonable sales figures.
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry's charts show Chinese democracy as 15th in the top 50 worldwide sales figures for 2008.
That this band has nothing like the sales power of a giant like U2 does not mean it is not a viable entity. There are a ton of bands that sell less records than GNR just did, yet are considered as ongoing propositions in the industry.
