U2 > General U2 Discussion
Get on Your Boots may have ruined U2
TheSceneoftheAccident:
For starters the song itself is bad. Now I've stated the obvious I'll get on with it. It was the lead single, many loathed it outside of the U2 fanbase, it underperformed, it got mixed reviews and so on and so forth. I blame it for the relatively 'low' long-term sales of No Line on the Horizon. Think about it for a minute. Technology is moving faster, people's lives are moving faster, it's not like the good old days where bands could churn out three or four top ten singles from an album. The lead single matters more than absolutely anything. If your lead single flops, the album is gone. Look at My Chemical Romance's Danger Days album; prior album The Black Parade was huge here in the UK. Lead single flopped, album peaked at like 14 on the album charts. Massive drop. Red Hot Chili Peppers' I'm with You sold only 800,000 copies worldwide in 2011, compared to Stadium Arcadium's 8million in the opening year of 2006, after lead single The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie peaked at 44 (never got into the UK top 40, which is bad for a band as big as them).
Get on Your Boots had a similar effect on No Line on the Horizon. No matter how hit-worthy Magnificent and I'll Go Crazy were, they should have been lead singles if they wanted them to be hits. Maybe then if one of them were a hit, the other singles would have been. And of course the lack of a hit and slower sales than usual has lead to Bono babbling on about being relevant and producing a hit... Get on Your Boots is to blame for U2's current state.
Tumbling Dice:
It was a poor choice for lead single, but I'm not sure it significantly affected No Line's sales for the worse. It certainly didn't have the universal appeal of a Vertigo or a Beautiful Day. In this age of digital downloads, if the mass consumers really liked Boots, would they then have shelled out for the album or would they just have downloaded the song, legally or otherwise? Artists don't make much money from individual singles' sales. And because of the fractured nature of No Line, no other song from the album would have reflected what the album was really about, if U2 had gone with another pick for lead single. I don't think Magnificent, MOS or I'll Go Crazy would have been big hitters in the charts or radio airplay, either, because two are just pretty average U2 songs and the other comes in at an uncommercial 7 minutes+.
In the event, I think Boots was a live highlight of the 360 tour and their Glastonbury performance. So, it's not too shabby.
Sugarcube:
It was a shockingly bad song and no mistake. Things were looking bad when bonbon started wearing eye liner in publicity shots. However, a crap single doesn't mean a crap album. Unfortunately NLOTH was patchy at best. And the tour was totally meaningless in terms of a concept.
I don't think it ruined the band. They've been successfully doing that since ATYCLB. Artistically NLOTH was another nail in the coffin.
Singles can be important. Making brilliant albums is more important and they've stopped doing that - perhaps their boy band efforts will bear more fruit
Tumbling Dice:
--- Quote from: Sugarcube on April 07, 2012, 01:16:18 PM ---
It was a shockingly bad song and no mistake. Things were looking bad when bonbon started wearing eye liner in publicity shots. However, a crap single doesn't mean a crap album. Unfortunately NLOTH was patchy at best. And the tour was totally meaningless in terms of a concept.
I don't think it ruined the band. They've been successfully doing that since ATYCLB. Artistically NLOTH was another nail in the coffin.
Singles can be important. Making brilliant albums is more important and they've stopped doing that - perhaps their boy band efforts will bear more fruit
--- End quote ---
I've heard they've sacked Baron Greenback and hired Louis Walsh as their new manager.
Sugarcube:
--- Quote from: Tumbling Dice on April 07, 2012, 01:18:58 PM ---
--- Quote from: Sugarcube on April 07, 2012, 01:16:18 PM ---
It was a shockingly bad song and no mistake. Things were looking bad when bonbon started wearing eye liner in publicity shots. However, a crap single doesn't mean a crap album. Unfortunately NLOTH was patchy at best. And the tour was totally meaningless in terms of a concept.
I don't think it ruined the band. They've been successfully doing that since ATYCLB. Artistically NLOTH was another nail in the coffin.
Singles can be important. Making brilliant albums is more important and they've stopped doing that - perhaps their boy band efforts will bear more fruit
--- End quote ---
I've heard they've sacked Baron Greenback and hired Louis Walsh as their new manager.
--- End quote ---
But that means all 4 members will have to have do sex with Louis - quite an exciting thought, I'm sure you'll agree
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