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Re: 'Chinese Democracy' Officially Drops out of the Billboard Top 200
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who remembers what was going on.
I think we've distinguished the fact that what was going on for some of you was not going on for others. I think we've come to an agreement that it really depends on where you were living. Here Gn'R was pretty mucha top 3 fav all through highschool by everyone. Hell in my Grad in 1996 we used Yesterdays as one of our grad songs along with Tonight, Tonight by Smashing Pumpkins.
Oasis was a massively huge band around here and I'm going to guess some of you(especially in the States) probably would argue that they weren't that big. But here they were huge for a long time. No just for Wonderwall.
Re: 'Chinese Democracy' Officially Drops out of the Billboard Top 200
yada yada yada....the original Gnr has always been cool, in some form or fashion. While grunge was cool from 92-97, Gnr was lighting up the cash registers with sales. From a strictly business standpoint, no rock band outside of U2 or Metallica could come close to selling as many records during the 90's as Gnr.....Soundgarden, Nirvana, and AIC weren't in the same league, not in the US and definitely not Internationally.
Re: 'Chinese Democracy' Officially Drops out of the Billboard Top 200
yada yada yada....the original Gnr has always been cool, in some form or fashion. While grunge was cool from 92-97, Gnr was lighting up the cash registers with sales. From a strictly business standpoint, no rock band outside of U2 or Metallica could come close to selling as many records during the 90's as Gnr.....Soundgarden, Nirvana, and AIC weren't in the same league, not in the US and definitely not Internationally.
Exactly. People didn't stop buying Gn'R records, people weren't hiding the ones they already owned and people were definately not turning down the radio when Gn'R came on.
Re: 'Chinese Democracy' Officially Drops out of the Billboard Top 200
yada yada yada....the original Gnr has always been cool, in some form or fashion. While grunge was cool from 92-97, Gnr was lighting up the cash registers with sales. From a strictly business standpoint, no rock band outside of U2 or Metallica could come close to selling as many records during the 90's as Gnr.....Soundgarden, Nirvana, and AIC weren't in the same league, not in the US and definitely not Internationally.
Record sales aren't everything(like you've mentioned in other threads), and even if they are, here's a pop quiz....
Which of these albums sold less in 1993-95?
Superunknown
In Utero
The Spaghetti Incident
Smash
Jar of Flies
You get a karma point if you get the correct answer.
Re: 'Chinese Democracy' Officially Drops out of the Billboard Top 200
madagas wrote:yada yada yada....the original Gnr has always been cool, in some form or fashion. While grunge was cool from 92-97, Gnr was lighting up the cash registers with sales. From a strictly business standpoint, no rock band outside of U2 or Metallica could come close to selling as many records during the 90's as Gnr.....Soundgarden, Nirvana, and AIC weren't in the same league, not in the US and definitely not Internationally.
Record sales aren't everything(like you've mentioned in other threads), and even if they are, here's a pop quiz....
Which of these albums sold less in 1993-95?
Superunknown
In Utero
The Spaghetti Incident
Smash
Jar of FliesYou get a karma point if you get the correct answer.
TSI is irrelvant. It was a throw away album ment to tide fans over. Gn'R were not trying to break any ground or make a musical statement with this album. People knew what the album was, it was never promoted with a proper single. Since I Don't Have You? C'mon. Had Gn'R put out a true Gn'R album in 1996 I think it would've been a real big success.
Smashing Pumpkins Pisces Iscariot didn't sell well either. Why? cause it was a b-side album. Nobody bases the interest in Smashing Pumpkins on that album. They follwoed it up with a hugel;y successful real album. TSI was a cover album with a bunch of song most people had never even heard of so..... I dont' see how TSI holds any water in thsi discussion.
It's completely unfair to use TSI as a gage of people's interest in Gn'R at that time..
And I get Smash is the Offspring album not Smashing Pumpkins 
I just used them as an example.
Re: 'Chinese Democracy' Officially Drops out of the Billboard Top 200
We're not talking about overall GNR sales in the 90s. This morphed into a discussion about how "cool" GNR were in the mid 90s, and TSI is certainly relevant to a discussion about that time frame. Other than Sympathy for the Devil, it was their only release in that period.
Re: 'Chinese Democracy' Officially Drops out of the Billboard Top 200
No one is questioning GNR's sales numbers. That was a huge album that still sells well around the world. I really don't see what that has to do with the conversation. The eagles albums continuously sold huge amounts since the 80's, but it didn't stop people from making fun of them relentlessly. You can insert a vast number of artists that it completely stupifies me that still have huge album sells.
ABBA anyone? Are they relevant to this argument because of how much shit they've sold?
Re: 'Chinese Democracy' Officially Drops out of the Billboard Top 200
I'll agree with James here that GNR wasn't big at all from 1993-1997. I remember a whole bunch of hip hop being "cool" at the time. In addition, the pop/punk stuff gained popularity such as Green Day's When I Come Around and as previously mentioned by Bono, Oasis exploded in the US along with such bands as SilverChair, Bush, and No Doubt. I think Pantera and Sepultura became popular during the time period as well and GNR got stuck in no man's land. They weren't really pop but yet not heavy enough to be considered metal. Ironically, Aerosmith their idols managed a pretty decent run of success, although that was with the help of the Alicia Silverstone videos and primarily ballad singles.
Popular culture has always been sort of temporal in that what is in one day will be out the next. It was inevitable that the anti-GNR backlash would occur. Now the band didn't help themselves with some of their actions.
Quiz answer is : The Spaghetti Incident
Re: 'Chinese Democracy' Officially Drops out of the Billboard Top 200
Guys the reason Gn'R weren't "big" or seen on MTV or heard as often on radio is because they released NOTHING. It wasn't a backlash from the public thinking Gn'R just weren't cool anymore, there was simply nothing new for people to get into regarding Guns N' Roses. They stopped making music. They didn't stop being cool. U2 won't be seen all over the place come fall 2010 cause their album and tour will have run it's course. Does that make them uncool suddenly? Of course these other bands had the headlines they were active. I think some of you are confusing cool and uncool with being active or inactive.
And I'll say it again I think we have to agree that Gn'R's popularity obviously varied depending on where you lived at the time. Western Canada got it and always thought they rocked. The rest of you lived in lame places that thought they were uncool. 
Re: 'Chinese Democracy' Officially Drops out of the Billboard Top 200
I remember GNR becoming a bit of a joke, not amongst the GNR fans but in pop culture. I remember Axl and GNR being voted joke/lamest of the year in a few music magazines in 92 93, I also recall reading reviews critising the live shows for being boring and contrived. The Skin N Bones era was brought about partly in responce to the critisim.
I cant remember exactly but I dont think the Estranged single did too well and the Tokyo shows were not recieved well.
I think they suffered from over exposure, they were essentialy a pop act for a period.
I particuarly recall a certain lead singer becoming the butt of many a joke and object of dislike without the help of the lead guitarist talking about him in interviews.
