Posted on 12/03/2008 9:58:41 AM PST by My Favorite Headache
APPETITE FOR SELF-DESTRUCTION: I.B. BAD ON CHINESE DEMOCRACY
IGA and Best Buy Faced an Uphill Fight in Their Efforts to Market GNR’s Album
December 3, 2008
Many are expressing surprise that Guns N’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy sold only 255k in its first week as a Best Buy exclusive. But those who have closely analyzed the situation say that comparing GNR’s total with the 802k tallied by AC/DC in its Wal-Mart exclusive is like comparing apples and oranges, in that radically different circumstances surrounded the two projects. AC/DC outsold GNR by nearly 500k not because of any particular difference between the two retailers, but as a result of the amount of exposure AC/DC had leading up to release relative to Guns—and most of the blame for that rests at the feet of Axl Rose. IGA and Best Buy were handicapped on a number of levels, due in large part to Rose’s refusal to participate in the setup—dramatically reducing the ability of the label and Best Buy to market the release.
Contrast this situation to Columbia’s superbly orchestrated campaign for AC/DC’s Black Ice, overseen by a highly motivated Steve Barnett, who has a long, close history with the band. AC/DC seemed to be everywhere on TV, radio and the Internet in the weeks leading up to release, spiking the perfectly calibrated campaign by announcing its tour in the midst of the ramp-up and kicking it off just days after Black Ice went to market.
By contrast, Rose submitted to no TV or press interviews, nor did he choose take his band on the road behind the release, while no official video has yet surfaced. AC/DC has also had a far greater radio presence, leading some to wonder why IGA would be motivated to pour additional marketing and promotion dollars into the record after pocketing $14m in the one-way sale of 1.6m units.
Factor in that this was Best Buy’s first exclusive with a major release from a high-profile act, while Wal-Mart pioneered the arrangement back in 2005 with Garth Brooks. And some are asking whether Best Buy had sufficient time to do its own setup, given the fact that Rose didn’t approve the final artwork until a few weeks prior to the release date.
On the other hand, even in these less-than-ideal circumstances, most believe that Chinese Democracy fared better with Best Buy than it would have in general release, due to a concentrated effort on the part of the chain.
The Best Buy/GNR situation is unlikely to slow the trend considering its obvious benefits—notably including guaranteed big money and the elimination of returns—and speculators are speculating that the next big act to ride the wave could be U2, whose next album will be an important part of IGA’s hoped-for recovery from a rare down year.
Some assert that the GNR situation exemplifies the risk/reward trade-off so prevalent in recent Q4s, as the majors rush out superstar albums without proper setups in order to make their numbers for the year, thereby sacrificing potential long-term results for a short-term gain in the crucial fourth quarter.
I guess Axl Rose is still a pompous a-hole.
Might also have something to do with the fact that it SUCKS!!!!!
PING!!
I’ve heard several tracks off of it and didn’t care for it. It sounds way to over-produced and like it only exists on a computer somewhere. I was most interested to learn that former Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson apparently is now part of GNR. I guess that means GnR is now Axl Rose and some other guys.
I’ve heard some new GnR and was not impressed
disclaimer : I’ve heard some old GnR and was not impressed either
It is downright awful.
However, I have it, plus several other whole albums on one mp3 cd I play on my drive to work. As I parked this morning, For Those About To Rock came on. Needless to say, I walked in to work on time, but barely.
All of the songs sound exactly the same.
If Slash, Duff, et al. are not it the band, it’s not GnR: it’s Axl’s karaoke act. That’s why there’s no interest.
They have for decades and yet like Coca-Cola the formula still sells big time.
IMHO, it's flat out terrible stuff. Axl was always hit-and-miss as a lyricist, but the tracks I listened to were all misses. The tracks are overproduced and the overall songs just aren't very interesting. Collectively, it reminded me more of some of the B-list hair metal bands of the late 80s than anything off of Appetite for Destruction (one of my all-time faves).
I had no idea these bands were still recording...
The first two are decent, everything else begins to blend. Everything sounds like something they've done in the past.
Of course, I remember someone saying that AC/DC's response to the accusation that they've made x number of albums that all sound the same was along the lines that they made more than x that sounded the same.
Being a big Rush and Van Halen fan I have difficulties with their actions and choices later in their careers song and touring wise. I always wind up with Van Halen on my i-pod from any era because the music is timeless...even the Hagar and Cherone stuff is still very listenable to me. Rush is another story. 1978-1990 is easily their best period of work and yet I hear fans all of the time telling me how their latest record is always the new “Moving Pictures” or “Signals” or “Permanent Waves”...yeah yadda yadda right...never happens not even close. Rush has changed their formula so many times its ridiculous. But they are given credit with doing that. However, it is commercially not accepted and that is the truth. You look at how their records sold even 10 years ago when an album would certainly go Gold. So many of the hardcore fans that stuck with the band in hopes of them turning something incredible out like they used to basically gave up and downloaded what they wanted to hear.
Guns n Roses was easily the biggest band on Earth along with U2 until 1991 when Metallica’s black album came out and they took over with Nirvana in 1992. Without that original line up or something close to it...zip will be on the menu for Axl.
its not awful. its kind of intersting. but it isnt anything i will listen to more than once.
i really liked old GNR though.
ping
I bought the CD the other day and was not at all impressed with it. I was a huge Gn’R fan back in the day and have met Slash and Izzy. This “effort” is just an Axl solo act using the Gn’R name. If anyone’s considering buying the CD or downloading it on iTunes, don’t bother.
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