Maybe this topic has already been discussed,but I am still wondering why this great album did not sell in the US. To what extent will that questions the band in their own existence as a creative source. My answer is that they positionned Rough Justice instead of Street of Love as a single which for the latter is by far a much greater booster or potential blockbuster.

A number 3 spot is ahrdly a flop I think.

JumpingKentFlash

Spot #3 isn't a flop, but the chart run is.

i'm afraid it wouldn't have mattered what the stones release from this record. there is hardly a person over 50 yrs old on billboard charts these days, never mind a rock and roll institution like the stones that still create new music.

the simple matter is that despite i believe this is their most accessible new music in a while they have 'baggage' because of their long history, and the youth hip hop culture in america.

i'm dissapointed the fans didn't take a chance and buy the new cd. it's more organic than 'babylon', more rocking and quicker paced than 'voodoo' and more diverse than 'steel'. the best effort for me since 'undercover'.

many women i know just look at the band and there is no sex appeal because they look old, the guys i know just complain that they don't sound as good as classic years.

it's a tough sell to america these days. seems to be doing better in europe.

A bit of a backlash to Sweet Neocon & Dangerous Beauty? Hard for the US to swallow? Yes/No?

Well, in Europe the album is a very good seller!!

"Well, in Europe the album is a very good seller!!"

Then Stones, welcome back to Europe .....

Because it doesn't feature some lame rapper rapping about his guns or his money or his "bitches and hoes".

You mean its not CCCC RAPPPPP!!!!!!!!

I have wondered whether the misunderstanding, by the way cleared up in an early post on this very board (at a time when I myself had not yet obtained a vinyl version of the album), about whose point of view is taken during the verses of "Sweet NeoCon", in contrast to the short "answers", might have contributed to an amount of bad publicity. That is, some challenging lines are wrongly taken as the Stones' message to the USA, instead of being views attributed to NeoCons themselves, almost certainly not without controversial aspects for certain quarters even then, which, nonetheless, is something quite different. A possible fact that in its turn might have led to scarcer playing of the whole album on radio stations and so on. May this be the case to some degree?

No hit single, very little airplay.

The demonic trifecta of MTV, rap, and Cobain have killed blues-based rock and roll as we know and love it. The future of this type of music will be like the blues are now. Practiced and performed live in clubs and loved by millions, with the rare breakthrough on the airwaves.

If disco sucked, then rap swallows!!!

Now I got a witness

Because, the ban base in US is old and they're not attracting new crowd.
The first Stones album with troubles in US was Bridges To Babylon, but at least that album got 3 Top 15 rock radio hits and the album remained on chart through April 1998.
A Bigger Bang is not attracting new crowd, by first time on the Stones history the first single didn't reach the Top 3 on the rock chart (RJ only got the #25 position) and the general buying public is more interested on R&B and alternative rock than a new album of the old farts Stones or any other dinosaur act.
Sadly, the people only wants the old hits, just see the masive US sales for 40 Licks and the steady selling power of Jump Back.


At least the album didn't drop too much this week, it's #64 (down 1 spot) with 16,754 copies and 311,954 total after 7 weeks.

Elmo Lewis Wrote:
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> If disco sucked, then rap swallows!!!


That's a very good one, Elmo!

Thanks, WS!

1) They ticked off half their potential market with Neocon.

2) Most of their potential buyers had bootleg copies long before it went on sale.

3) Virgin did a terrible job marketing.

Pussy Whips Wrote:
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> Now I got a witness

Like Uncle Phil and Uncle Gene.

It was you then, Pussy Whips, that eloquently expressed the view at the early stage? I remember how I read it with much interest at a time when I had heard absolutely nothing of ABB. I had forgotten who wrote it.

Thanks goodness they didn't bring in Eminem or some other loser like they did on "Anybody Seen My Baby". The CD sounds retro and fresh at the same time. At this point in time (to me anyway), I couldn't care less about most new music.

Uh...Because the record SUCKS! There's no mystery to this, the record is a load of 3rd rate Bollocks plus they came out with the wrong single initally (should have been Streets of Love followed by Rain Fall Down). But that's all irrelevant as it's still a very uncommercial record in todays music scene which is, as you say, dominated by Rap and Teen Pop.

I ALSO THINK of the stones for their NEW music...0 albums in 8 years..
what they need to do, i think, is act like a young band and release a follow up soon...with all the pr of the tour, etc..i don't think the stones can be that surprised with the record sales...with the ticket prices so high that most new and young fans can't afford.. it seems to me that they are gearing to their older fans who will pay almost any price to see their gods..and many of them don't buy new albums...
if the stones want to turn sales around, i think they need another album and a few concerts that could be geared to the younger fans..lower tickets prices..
because they are better than ever...keep working keith!

Who said The Allman Brothers Band was a flop? Oooooops!

Witness Wrote:
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> Pussy Whips Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Now I got a witness
>
> Like Uncle Phil and Uncle Gene.
>
> It was you then, Pussy Whips.
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Alas It was not me.but it sounds like it should have been.

Monocultural 'music' consumers (note I said 'consumers', not 'listeners') can't handle music that isn't digitally overprocessed or sequenced.

Even real-played stuff (like drums) are sampled and/or sequenced. MUSIC that breathes just requires too much attention and effort to get into (or to 'get by on', which is what most of the monocultural pre-programmed 'music' is aimed toward, anyway-- PROGRAMMING.)

Having said that, I think Cobain was blues-based enough in his solos, but the band wasn't 'boogie-woogie' enough. Like most modern rock bands, it was all testosterone rock (without the roll). Metallica, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Van Halen, etc; i.e. all jocks that would call Mick Jagger a f*g.

F.ck them anyway.

Elmo Lewis Wrote:
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> Who said The Allman Brothers Band was a flop?
> Oooooops!


LOL! Elmo, You're on a roll! I'll have what you're havin!

Ross

First of all it is not a big flop. It sold a lot more than most bands can dream about. Secondly this is nothing about the States but it is the Stones in general.

The Stones are not a boy band anymore. If you are a boyband or a nice looking girl and the record company put 100 million dollars into the marketing campaign you will sell 100 million records. More or less. Just an example you know.

The Stones are not young boys or pretty women making sexy videos. So they sell just like many other artists, well but not outstanding. It would be supernatural if the Stones would sell more than the bands of the current new generations.

In fact, why on earth do you expect the Stones to be nukmber one in every aspect of life? Number one in shows. Number one in low ticket prices. Number one in changing set lists. Number one in making political statements. Number one in not mentioning politics at all. And so. It does not make sense!

I would not mind the Stones being less popular at all. I would still love their music. There would be less people pushing up the ticket price. Less people oustide the hotels stalking fr autographs so my be I could just talk to Mick and Keith as they left, and they would not need all these security people protecting them from the real world of fan maniacs.

Just ask yourself this question: Do I love the Stones because they sell a lot opf records or do I simply love their music? Then ask yourself would you buy their record if you were the only person in your town that liked it?

Bjornulf

Thanks, Ross! But what I'm having is a real boring day!!! Quitting time is just 2 hours away though!

Re: my earlier post

Who said The Allman Brothers Band was a flop? Oooooops!

It must be the Leavell connection.LOL

All you Chuck haters, get over it!

I pretty much agree with your assessement.

Sadly, the taste in music for the majority in the US sucks.

Maybe it's that hideous Cover Art. I was almost too embarrassed to take it to the front counter of the Music Store. When I saw the thumbnail on Amazon before the release date I assumed it was a placeholder until the real art was available. I would rather they used the distorted tongue form the inside or one of the new photos from the website. And get this, I went to Virgin Megastore on the day of release and they didn't have it yet! Isn't Virgin Records and Virgin Stores the same co.? I found a copy at a local chain however.