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Were they actually the biggest band in their prime?


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1 hour ago, RussTCB said:

Yessir. That show was the one and only time I've seen U2. I've passed on seeing them every single time since because I just don't think there's anyway I'll see them do another show that awesome. I don't mean they've fallen off or whatever, but you get what I'm saying.

I saw every tour since Elevation and liked every show, but ZooTV was extra special. An extravaganza which, at the time, you wouldn't have expected from U2.

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On Tuesday, March 01, 2016 at 5:45 PM, Nicklord said:

I've seen this said over and over during the years here but I also saw the same for Metallica and Nirvana on their forums for the same period (1991-1993) also although not R'n'R bands but still rock Pink Floyd had one of the biggest tours ever, U2 was there too.

I mean, in my opinion they were top 3 but I've seen that "the biggest band" thrown around pretty easily. Any opinions? Also, please specify where are you from because it's probably not the same in USA, Europe, Australia, Asia, South America...

Yeah they were easily. AFD went #1 a year after its release , Lies and AFD were 1/2 and both illusion albums sold 1mill copies each the day they were released and were 1/2. Metallica, Nirvana, U2 never came close to the frenzy that Guns created. 

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On 3/4/2016 at 0:17 PM, Sprite said:

I thought I saw the official numbers at 7 million each and I think that was a total from the late 90s. I think Matt said on twitter recently when someone asked him about that drum fill littered all over the album, part of his response was they've sold over 20 million combined. That sounds about right if it was 14 million 20 years ago.

Global sales are much higher.

http://tsort.info/music/faq_album_sales.htm

 

It has Illusions I at 16+ Million an Illusions II at 14.8 Million.  (Probable average numbers).

 

On a another note, as far as U2 goes, the closest they've come to Appetite in terms of global sales was with the Joshua Tree....which has approximately 25 million sales globally vs. 30+ mil for Appetite.

 

 

 

Edited by Kasanova King
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1 hour ago, Kasanova King said:

Global sales are much higher.

http://tsort.info/music/faq_album_sales.htm

 

It has Illusions I at 16+ Million an Illusions II at 14.8 Million.  (Probable average numbers).

 

On a another note, as far as U2 goes, the closest they've come to Appetite in terms of global sales was with the Joshua Tree....which has approximately 25 million sales globally vs. 30+ mil for Appetite.

To give the full picture you should also mention that it has "Achtung Baby" at 20.4 million, with probable range of 17 - 24 million. But really, to get acurate numbers for worldwide sales is pretty hard, as it is mostly guesswork from countless sources.

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16 hours ago, Kasanova King said:

Global sales are much higher.

http://tsort.info/music/faq_album_sales.htm

 

It has Illusions I at 16+ Million an Illusions II at 14.8 Million.  (Probable average numbers).

 

On a another note, as far as U2 goes, the closest they've come to Appetite in terms of global sales was with the Joshua Tree....which has approximately 25 million sales globally vs. 30+ mil for Appetite.

 

 

 

Nice find. Pretty cool they managed to match Appetite's sales with their 2nd big release. I know it was 2 albums but still.. That says a lot about just how popular they were/are.

Edited by Sprite
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Sorry to bump this but wanted to point something out, maybe it was mentioned. The music video for YCBM ... no band had anything like that at the time. You get Arnold in your music vid in that year's biggest action movie? Holy shit. I think that is evidence they were the biggest band in the world at that time.

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Notice the excitement on here today regarding E tix delivery.   And we are just a small GnR diehard community.  Imagine this excitement with the general public.  That's how it was back in the UYI tour days.  And I don't know about sales in regards to Guns vs whoever....I just know it was crazy....Guns & Metallica were 1-2 (pick your order) but it was insane.   (It would be comparable to a Kardashian/Kanye/Bieber tour) LOL....vomit bucket please. 

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On 6. März 2016 at 7:12 PM, PatrickS77 said:

Uhm. No. GNR weren't in Munich in '92 and in '93, the day they were in Munich, U2 were in Paris. Like I said, they played the same venue in Austria at the same weekend, 1 day apart. So most likely Bono visited them too the day before, but didn't get on stage with them.

According to Robert John's book the photo has been shot in Cologne, Mungersdorfer Stadion on May, 30, 1992.

On gnrontour.com you can find a second pic (see below). What makes me wonder are those Carlsberg-merch-umbrellas. Those aren´t german umbrellas. 

19920530photo02.jpg

 

Edited by Philcore
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I say, yes. For sure.

I was 14 years old in 1991 and they were the biggest thing in my music world. MTV was programmed for me and my ilk in those days (I think).

Sure, you had the MC Hammer type short-lived phenomenons, but Guns was established and taken serious as a stable world dominator and music world news creator, despite the unstableness of the band itself.

I feel that in 91, the age of hardcore Guns fans was in the 13-20ish range. But I know some club-goers from the early days were in their mid-twenties and probably loved them in the 90s as well.

The key demographic - 18-34 - may have been slightly too old to be in love with them. I don't real know, but I'd like to!

Metallica already had a well established diehard somewhat underground fan base when the Black album dropped. I feel that Metallica fans were slightly older and up to 10 -15 years older than Guns' fans.

But, put it this way -- my mom knew who Guns was, and that wasn't because of my fandom. She didn't have a clue about Metallica. The MTV videos/MTV awards shows, Most Dangerous Band in the World stigma, and Terminator 2 made them mainstream and beyond.

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I remember you could walk into a newsagent in the United Kingdom, circa 1992, and see Guns N' Roses on the cover of Look-In or Fast Forward (remember them?). It was like the Spice Girls or Take That. Guns N' Roses had crossed over to the teeny girls!

I agree about Metallica fans being a different type, somewhat more sweatier and male-dominated, still holding onto an underground 'metal ethos', although, that was barely tangible considering the fact that The Black album crossed over to the mainstream.

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On 3/11/2016 at 8:40 AM, Philcore said:

According to Robert John's book the photo has been shot in Cologne, Mungersdorfer Stadion on May, 30, 1992.

On gnrontour.com you can find a second pic (see below). What makes me wonder are those Carlsberg-merch-umbrellas. Those aren´t german umbrellas. 

19920530photo02.jpg

 

 

You can find umbrellas like that in just about any country in Europe, including Germany.  Many times, beer companies give them away to bars, etc as promotional items.....or at a deep discount.

Edited by Kasanova King
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1 hour ago, Kasanova King said:

 

You can find umbrellas like that in just about any country in Europe, including Germany.  Many times, beer companies give them away to bars, etc as promotional items.....or at a deep discount.

To set it straight: Of course I am not not talking about merch/beer companies-umbrellas in general but the specific Carlsberg ones you can see in the picture.  

I am from Germany and I can tell that you won't find any umbrella in Germany which states "beer". They always state "Bier".  At least this goes for pre-millenium times. Furthermore Carlsberg is very unpopular in Germany. When talking about major companies who sponsored big events and/or big venues in the 90ies it was all about Becks, Warsteiner, König Pilsener etc.

Furthermore Cologne has it's own kind of beer which is called "Kölsch". If I do remember correct "Früh Kölsch" is the one which was served in the Müngersdorfer stadium. In no way those Carlsberg umbrellas are belongings of the Müngersdorfer stadium. Of course it might be that Guns brought them on their own. 

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3 hours ago, Philcore said:

To set it straight: Of course I am not not talking about merch/beer companies-umbrellas in general but the specific Carlsberg ones you can see in the picture.  

I am from Germany and I can tell that you won't find any umbrella in Germany which states "beer". They always state "Bier".  At least this goes for pre-millenium times. Furthermore Carlsberg is very unpopular in Germany. When talking about major companies who sponsored big events and/or big venues in the 90ies it was all about Becks, Warsteiner, König Pilsener etc.

Furthermore Cologne has it's own kind of beer which is called "Kölsch". If I do remember correct "Früh Kölsch" is the one which was served in the Müngersdorfer stadium. In no way those Carlsberg umbrellas are belongings of the Müngersdorfer stadium. Of course it might be that Guns brought them on their own. 

Ok, I see what you're saying.  I was wondering about the "beer" spelling as well.

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