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| Author |
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krj
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Guns 'n' Roses
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Sep 28 10:55 UTC 1991 |
Geffen Records claims to have sold 500,000 Guns N Roses CDs in the first
two hours after they went on sale. One of those 500,000 dedicated fans
who went to the record store at midnight must log in to Grex. :-)
I have to admit that the reviews I've read make it very clear that I
will NOT approve of the album, but I thought I'd ask to hear from the band's
fans.
We could also discuss the marketing strategy of releasing two albums by the
band as separate packages, simultaneously. The last time I think anything
like this was tried was with the infamous set of four solo albums by the
members of Kiss; this set was famous for "returning platinum."
(This meant that enough copies shipped in the initial order to garner
platinum records from the RIAA, but several months later most of them, unsold,
came pouring back into the label's warehouses. Those things hung on in the
cutout bins for *years*.)
But I digress; USE YOUR ILLUSION I & II are clearly far more commercially
successful than the Kiss works.
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| 27 responses total. |
mcnally
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response 1 of 27:
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Sep 28 18:56 UTC 1991 |
Though I suspect it's not a good plan from the record company's standpoint,
there are several double albums I can think of that I'd really prefer to
only have one disc of. (Unfortunately in some cases, like "The Beatles"
(White Album) the album's worth of really good stuff isn't all on one of
the two platters. There's certainly an album's worth of great stuff there,
and probably an album's worth of losers like "Revolution Number Nine", but
they're unfortunately all mixed together.)
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ragnar
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response 2 of 27:
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Sep 30 01:23 UTC 1991 |
I heard they pre-sold 10 million, and went retail platinum by dawn, SHATTERING
Boston's old speed-sales record.
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mcnally
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response 3 of 27:
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Sep 30 06:11 UTC 1991 |
I find it surprising that Guns 'n' Roses should be the band to set a record
like this. Not shocking, mind you, they seem to be better than the run-of-
the-mill heavy metal/hard rock band, but I hadn't realized they were all that
popular. I guess in terms of popularity, they're the Zeppelin of the 90s.
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mythago
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response 4 of 27:
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Sep 30 12:44 UTC 1991 |
(Not in terms of talent, though....)
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hawkeye
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response 5 of 27:
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Sep 30 14:53 UTC 1991 |
Pbbt! I *like* "Appetite for Destruction". It's the first hard rock
album in years that I bought because it just leapt from my speakers
with an amazing amount of energy.
I bought the two "Use Your Illusion" discs at Wazoo last week, but I
haven't had time to listen to them yet.
(I also own two of the four Kiss solo albums, but I digress...)
There are lots of great double albums, though. Hendrix's "Electric
Ladyland", Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"
, Pink Floyd's "The Wall", and lots of Frank Zappa records as well.
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mcnally
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response 6 of 27:
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Sep 30 19:41 UTC 1991 |
Hmmm.. I'm a pretty big Hendrix fan but I think I could find nearly an
album side's worth to scrap on "Electric Ladyland", even if I couldn't find
a whole album. "Voodoo Chile" alone is 15 minutes and then there's the
decidedly inferior cover of Earl King's "Come On (part one)" which Hendrix
should've been able to do really well.
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mythago
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response 7 of 27:
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Sep 30 20:33 UTC 1991 |
There are people who like Chips Ahoy cookies, too....that doesn't make
them great.....
If it's to your taste, fine; if I want to hear adolescent goons screaming
how much they hate women and gays, I don't have to buy a CD to do it.
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hawkeye
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response 8 of 27:
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Oct 1 13:48 UTC 1991 |
Nobody said you had to buy *anything*, mythago...
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mythago
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response 9 of 27:
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Oct 2 11:03 UTC 1991 |
Nobody said that opinions on Gn'R were disallowed, either.
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hawkeye
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response 10 of 27:
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Oct 2 15:33 UTC 1991 |
Another great double album: Todd Rundgren's "Something/Anything".
But I digress...
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ragnar
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response 11 of 27:
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Oct 3 02:29 UTC 1991 |
It is hereby declared: opinions on Gn'R are disallowed, so there!
I wasn't at al surprised to hear GNR took speed sales honors. This
album got more hype and pre-play than anything *I* have seen. There
were more singles on the radio before that midnight than you'll hear
from most albums before or after release. Now let's just see what they
can do to Def Leppard's 10 top-ten singles (out of only 12 songs on the
album) from Hysteria. If you count both UYU I and II, maybe...
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hawkeye
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response 12 of 27:
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Oct 3 15:35 UTC 1991 |
Singles? I doubt it very much. Most songs on the album contain
the work "fuck", so they won't get played on top-40 radio. The cover
of "Live and Let Die" isn't that great. "Civil War" has already
been out for some time - though not as a single. And the really *great*
songs are all over 5:00 minutes in length.
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mythago
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response 13 of 27:
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Oct 4 15:57 UTC 1991 |
Sure, they can be played, they just bleep out the "fuck"s. I'm surprised
that nobody noticed what a cheap marketing technique it was to put
out two albums at once....
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mcnally
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response 14 of 27:
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Oct 4 18:19 UTC 1991 |
What makes it a "cheap" marketing ploy, other than the fact that
Guns 'n' Roses benefit from it? Also, what makes you think that
people haven't noticed it? Why do you think we were discussing
it in the earlier part of this item?
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krj
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response 15 of 27:
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Oct 5 04:54 UTC 1991 |
I seem to recall reading somewhere that GnR & their record company were
concerned that many of their fans wouldn't be able to afford a 2-CD set;
this way those who find it necessary can buy the different volumes in
different months. (A question - isn't this the first major pop/rock
release to come out as a multiple disc set in the CD era? Boxed set
retrospectives don't count -- they're consciously aimed at folks with
surplus cash. But I'm thinking of new releases in the tradition of
The White Album, "Exile on Main Street", "London Calling", or Prince's
2 LP release whose title I cannot recall.)
Anyway, I can't be hostile to the technique itself; from what I hear, the
two CDs are quite thoroughly packed, not 30-minute shorties. I'd be
delighted to get two simultaneous discs from some of my favorite artists.
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mcnally
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response 16 of 27:
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Oct 5 05:28 UTC 1991 |
Wasn't Prince's double album 1999 (or if there was more than one of them,
was that the one you were thinking of?)
I certainly can't think of any new, non-concert albums that have been
released in the past 5 years that showed up as more than one CD (with the
exception of boxed sets, of course.)
All in all, I'd rather have the albums be released as soon as they have
enough material for one album. One of them had to have been finished first.
If it were a band I cared about, I'd prefer that any new release hit the
stores as soon as it possibly could.
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mythago
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response 17 of 27:
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Oct 5 19:29 UTC 1991 |
Usually when a marketing game like "Part I and II" comes along, people
bitch about it. I guess Gn'R is so popular that their fans just kind
of nod and say "Gee, I hope I can make enough money to buy BOTH..."
or something. (I'm not overly fond of 2-album sets.)
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mcnally
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response 18 of 27:
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Oct 5 21:04 UTC 1991 |
When was the last time "a marketing game like 'Part I and II'" came
along? I'm not a G'n'R fan but it sounds to me like your major objection
is that they're the "artists" who put these albums out. What if it had
been Nine Inch Nails, or Ministry, or some other group you listen to?
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ragnar
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response 19 of 27:
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Oct 6 14:33 UTC 1991 |
Actually, they may not have been able to finish one first. These things tend
to move along as one project, with each song getting a little attention
here and there. If things really click one day and you get the whole thing
on tape just the way you like it, great. But then you usually have to set it
aside and wait for the regular mixdown.
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mythago
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response 20 of 27:
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Oct 6 23:39 UTC 1991 |
re :18, I doubt I would have bought "Pretty Hate Machine Parts I and II."
For some reason it doesn't bother me if it's a double-album set, like
The Wall, but separate CDs annoys me. FYI, my objections to Gn'R have
zero to do with their marketing techniques.
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jeffk
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response 21 of 27:
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Jul 11 02:37 UTC 1992 |
I think GNR should have done one really good album instead of 2 watered-down
ones.
"Appetite", as re#5 (hawkeye) says, is truely great. LOTS of energy and
speed-guitar wizardry. "Lose" is just that. It lost something. Its like GNR
was trying TOO hard to put out a great album. Ever see "Eddie & the Cruisers"?
In the movie, the last album the group did was too abitious. They tried to be
artistic and to put out a great album and acomplished neither. GNR has to go
back to doing what they do best and forget about TRYING to be artistic. You
can't TRY to be artistic, you just ARE.
I'll wait for the next album.
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djmay
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response 22 of 27:
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Jan 13 04:10 UTC 1995 |
GNR in only there second try at a full length alblum released a 2 cd set
Who do they think they are
I like them and I bought it then there great commerial succes caused others to
buy it but alot of people have sophmore flops so
Why do they think they can pull a 2 cd set so early in their carrer
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erni3
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response 23 of 27:
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Jan 14 15:31 UTC 1995 |
talk s5
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peacefrg
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response 24 of 27:
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Jan 17 15:06 UTC 1995 |
Guns N' Rumors have a stolen sound, a stolen image, and they have no
personalities except for what the tabloids give them.
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