"EVERY HUGE ARTIST HAS A BE HERE NOW" AKA the UK version

but the single sales ROSE in the UK then. the few years of the britpop era were the best singles sales in the past 20 odd years apparently

Jeff Wayne went 5x Platinum in the UK? Never heard of him....

Turrican - VS outsold In Utero here though

― Cosmic Slop, Sunday, January 11, 2015 11:53 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It did!?

If "here" means America, yes.

UK too, i had a mate who worked in our price and he showed me the official industry stats.
Possible in the last 20 years it's sold more now of course.

but the single sales ROSE in the UK then. the few years of the britpop era were the best singles sales in the past 20 odd years apparently

― Cosmic Slop, Sunday, January 11, 2015 11:59 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The fact that almost everyone was releasing 2CD versions of their singles no doubt helped!

Lee626 maybe americans were still shitting themselves after this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds_%28radio_drama%29

"The War of the Worlds" is an episode of the American radio drama anthology series The Mercury Theatre on the Air. It was performed as a Halloween episode of the series on October 30, 1938, and aired over the Columbia Broadcasting System radio network. Directed and narrated by actor and future filmmaker Orson Welles, the episode was an adaptation of H. G. Wells's novel The War of the Worlds (1898). It became famous for causing mass panic, although the extent of this panic is debated.[4]

UK too, i had a mate who worked in our price and he showed me the official industry stats.
Possible in the last 20 years it's sold more now of course.

― Cosmic Slop, Monday, January 12, 2015 12:08 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

That's interesting, I always had Nirvana down as a much bigger band in the UK than Pearl Jam ever were.

you would have thought so. After Kurts death and the fact PJ never toured here after their tiny venues tour when ten came out til late 90s didnt help their cause

Yeah, that Jeff Wayne album was incredibly popular here. Even now I still seem to find copies of it nestling in the record collections of people of a certain age. Not too long back I saw a local band play and the bassist kept playing licks from that album in between songs.

when they did tour tix sold so fast i missed out. was raging. (and of course i never saw nirvana as the gig was postponed after his od and rescheduled date never took place..)

turrican there was a big tour of war of the worlds a few years ago then got a dodgy remake

check out who is on it

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jeff-Waynes-Musical-Version-Worlds/dp/B009CAAGCG/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1421021800&sr=1-2&keywords=war+of+the+worlds

In 2012, an all New Generation of artists guest on a fresh recording of one of the most iconic albums of all time. Originally released in 1978, Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of The Worlds remains an award-winning landmark masterpiece that has continually won new fans. For 2012, Jeff embarked on a new interpretation with guest stars every bit as talented as their illustrious predecessors. He has once again brought HG Wells’ classic novel to life on a new double album.
Two of the modern era's most respected artists, Oscar-nominated actor Liam Neeson and celebrated singer/songwriter/producer and Take That’s main man Gary Barlow play the two key roles of The Journalist and The Sung Thoughts of The Journalist. Gary is the new voice of the singles "The Eve of The War" and "Forever Autumn". A life-long fan of the original album, he was most excited at the chance to appear on the new one. He says: "I've been a huge fan of The War of The Worlds score since I was a kid, so to be asked to work with the legend that is Jeff Wayne was a real privilege."
Thirty-four years on, Liam Neeson inherits his role from Richard Burton, whose voice is an abiding memory for a generation haunted by his album narration. While a hard act to follow, he makes the role his own. Liam says: "I knew and loved the book from when I was a teenager and it was an easy persuasion. And I bought the album in 1979 when I was working in Ireland. I still have that little cassette.”
Ricky, from the Kaiser Chiefs, takes over from David Essex’s classic rendition as The Artilleryman. Ricky commented: “Jeff Wayne’s The War of The Worlds is part of the musical landscape and I have always been a fan. It is daunting to do because people love it so much. I got the email from Jeff Wayne inviting me to be part of it and that is not something you can say ‘No’ to.”
Bringing a fresh sound to the role of Parson Nathaniel is acclaimed new singer Maverick Sabre. Originally performed by Thin Lizzy’s Phil Lynott, Maverick performs with Joss Stone, the stunning choice to play Parson Nathaniel’s wife; their performances on "The Spirit Of Man" are truly mesmerising. Hot new talent, Alex Clare, following his breakout hit "Too Close", takes over as The Voice of Humanity, originally recorded by Chris Thompson.
This is a limited edition hardback digipack format.

Oh yeah, I was aware of the tour (one or two folks I know went to see it), but had no idea about that remake. Gary Barlow? Fuck off, he has no place on this record.

tim tbh I dont think there is any album that fits a new jersey - slippery when wet exactly anyway

― Cosmic Slop, Sunday, January 11, 2015 10:38 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah I agree with this - I wasn't saying that the This Is My Truth was a bad choice for the thread, more that you get these variations around the idea which combine a whole bunch of different factors pointing in multiple directions.

If anything what you see with Manics is the effect of a series of interrelated and rebounding New Jersey moments: Everything Must Go came out while Britpop still appeared to be on top, but itself was probably the first post-Britpop / "Britrock" record (see also OK Computer obv), and TIMTTMY was basically MSP cashing in on the momentum generated by this new widescreen seriousness.

It was over-embraced at the outset as much due to the British press's belated reaction to Be Here Now as due to credit that had been generated by Everything Must Go. Which is both ironic and understandable: TIMTTMY and BHN arguably suffer from many of the same flaws but offer alternative models of rock-identity.

So I think it was as much the New Jersey for an entire notion of what British rock was supposed to do post-Britpop as it was for MSP in particular. You can read the floundering of NME-approved rock in 1999-2000 as a sign that while it was now a truth universally acknowledged that Britpop was over, with TIMTTMY the Manics had failed to establish a viable replacement movement to rally around.

Another album I would say partly fits this thread but with a few key caveats is The Chemical Bros' Surrender.

I thought about that one but Come with Us and Push the Button held their own, no?

Surrender was actually the biggest.

Exit Planet Dust and Dig Your Own Hole both went platinum in the UK, Surrender went 2x platinum, then the next three albums only went gold (though all of them hit number 1).

So this is another example (like with the Manics) where I feel like the New Jersey album is one that still pulls in a lot of new fans and objectively looks like the artist's pinnacle, but it's like they've gone off a ski-jump ramp and the ascent necessarily will be followed by a descent.

I wonder if a Wings album counts. Pretty sure a macca album in the 70s would count as an event and after all "Wings were only the band The Beatles could have been"

can't suss out the Coldplay example of this phenomenon but there must be one.

Muse - The Resistance

I hear what you're saying Tim but I don't think either the Manics or the Chems fit the Be Here Now paradigm at all, ie bloated & self-parodic. Be Here Now was deemed a disappontment within months if not weeks and it contains none of Oasis's best-loved songs. If you see the Manics live now, Tolerate and You Stole the Sun From My Heart are still two of their most popular songs. And Know Your Enemy was an act of deliberate self-sabotage, a rejection of success, rather than diminishing returns. Also, TIMT has a strange sense of depression and defeat (cf The Everlasting) rather than hubris.

Coldplay had two - X&Y and Mylo Xyloto, bouncing back inbetween with Viva La Vida.

This Is My Truth was my first Manics album and I really liked it at the time, in a similar way to something like the Bends. Listening to it in more recent years, the songs suffer from being overlong and not really doing very much within their timespans, but as far as the songs are concerned, there are few bad moments. I prefer it to Everything Must Go and I'd put it up with the Holy Bible as my favourite album by them.

Surely 13 is Blur's New Jersey, if not their Be Here Now? A few popular singles, but if Tender wasn't the most tedious, overripe slog of an opening track and lead single... As if it had been intelligently designed to blow up on Jools Holland. By comparison, the rest of the album was fairly experimental, but lazily so (unlike the preceding self-titled album which hit a great balance between acceptance and rejection of their superstatus). It marks the beginning of Albarn's decline as a writer of strong songs and a turn towards the stuff on Gorillaz, Think Tank, TGTBATQ which barring a few exceptions feels like B-side music to me. Sloppy grooves, uninspired vocals, insipid lyrics...

Doesn't this have to mean more than "an album I liked less than the ones before"? The defining quality of New Jersey and Be Here Now is that they're not experimental, lazily or otherwise, but bombastic reiterations and amplifications of a successful formula. I don't think much of 13 but it's not remotely that.

I know Bowie's a different thing in the sense he found a way to retain some degree of relevance but..."Tonight"? Its success can be mostly attributed to the residual goodwill from "Let's dance", and the next record really was the end of an era for him.

The Great Escape is so obviously the relevant Blur album here - the moment when the music fails to match up to the cultural wave it's cresting, and everyone secretly knows it, even though it's sold truckloads. This Is My Truth... counts here as well, as does Surrender (it was the first of many Chems albums that were all basically following the same formula).

If I'd ever bothered to listen to that fifth Dizzee album I might be tempted to lump it in here as well, but that's an even more abrupt commercial crash than most of the records being discussed here.

Oh and obviously "How to dismantle an atomic bomb" was really carried by the success of "All that you can't leave behind" and all those Apple keynotes but couldn't land a worthwile single other than the shitty "Vertigo".

I'm wondering if Escapology also qualifies.

TGE could be a better example MDC. I like the album quite a lot (shades of TIMTTMY, a kind of post-success depression all over it), but even 15 y/o me had the suspicion that Blur were tipping from charming into noxious by this point.

I stand by what I said somewhere in the other thread that Welcome To The Pleasuredome was Frankie Goes To Hollywood's NJ / BHN, albeit predating both of them. Double album, huge expectations, massive media rollout, straight in at #1, yielded a Xmas #1 hit single but everyone knew it just wasn't that great. 6 months later the second-hand shops were drowning in it, and they followed it up with the game-is-upper of Liverpool.

I got it - Catatonia Equally Cursed & Blessed:

1. Followed a 3X platinum crossover success

2. Went to number 1 but only went platinum

3. No big successful singles (some of the album is not bad though if my 16 years old memory serves correct)

4. Next album only went silver.

Also was totally a repeat of the previous album only with shinier production.

The Fat Of The Land?

not quite old enough to remember the reception, maybe Paul Young's The Secret of Association?

Catatonia is a good call and by this token we can maybe have Pulp and Suede too - pretty much exactly the same trajectory for This Is Hardcore and Head Music.

(the legitimate charm of TiH is perhaps that it is so cavernous and hollowed-out and the 'charm' of HM that it is so overworked and shiny and patchy as hell)

"Change" by Sugababes. Came after their second or third successful reinvention, was terribly stagnant, and put them into the fast track to irrelevance.

All this while being pretty successful.

Dead From the Waist Down is my favourite Catatonia single (competition not stiff tbh) but I remember nothing else about that album.

As with the New Jersey thread, I've already lost any sense of what the criteria are. Surrender? Fat of the Land? idgi From upthread: "has less and/or smaller hits than prev album - or - hits based more on momentum than appeal". Wouldn't say that about Firestarter or Hey Boy Hey Girl. And TIMT was so genuinely big that in Jan 2000 the Manics could get a number one single from momentum alone. Crucially, Be Here Now was deemed a dud within six months of release. I think that, rather than the performance of a follow-up album three years later, has to be key.

It doesn't have to be directly analogous to Be Here Now, few bands drop such an outright clunker at the height of their cultural moment, but most big bands have a moment when people are straining a bit to pretend they aren't just past their peak. Surrender is definitely one of those, even if it has its moments, and it definitely precipitated a career decline.

The Fat of the Land is maybe more of a Welcome to the Pleasuredome in that it clearly didn't match up to the colossally high expectations arising from its massive, zeitgeisty singles.

Hmmm... Okay, maybe I don't quite get the criteria.
The reason I proposed FOTL is because of the relatively big time that elapsed between the two lead singles - Firestarter and Breathe - that preceded FOTL, both of which promised so much: a fresh new approach, a bigger sound, a step towards being, commercially, quite a bit more than just a rave/dance act but still retaining the darkness and the aggro of Jilted.
But those singles were released months before the album proper. By the time the album did come out the Prodigy, and especially Keith Flint, had become a sort-of Sex Pistols parody, stripping away all the underlying narcotic evil of their second album in favour of comedy-punk exhibitionism. They courted unnecessary controversy in the media with Smack My Bitch Up. Then there was the ill-advised collaboration with Crispin from Kula Shaker. All in all, it was an album made up of variations on the first two singles.
Didn't stop it selling a shit-ton though, much like Be Here Now, but I don't believe many fans still enjoy this record much beyond those first two singles.

xp

*big time difference between the singles and the album.

(And of course Relax/Two Tribes and Firestarter/Breathe are two of the most larger-than-life pairings of hit singles in this history of British pop.)

xp That's not how I think about those albums at all. You might prefer DYOH to Surrender, as do I, but I didn't have to strain to like the latter. Or indeed most of Fat of the Land. smh at the idea that Smack My Bitch Up controversy was "unnecessary". It was the point.

Here today, tomorrow, next week

Fat of the Land was shit though - totally bouyed up by the lead singles and a massive disappointment when it came out. SMBU was media-baiting pure and simple. Coming from out the rave scene, the Prodigy had never needed to advertise themselves as merchants of shock-value before. This was felt inherently. At their peak, I was way too young to attend a club or rave (despite being the target audience), but Music For A Jilted Generation felt like a genuinely illicit record, dripping with all the disturbing, exciting things I'd heard about drug and dance culture through the news and radio. It didn't need to try and be scary - the choking, spluttering noises on the Narcotic Suite were enough. But FOTL? SMBU? People getting het up about a Kool Keith sample, a deliberately provocative video and a cartoon man with spiky hair.

I think you might be mistaking your opinion for the consensus. The qualities you dislike are the ones that made that record so successful. It left them in a great position with a massive new audience and they only fucked it up by taking too long to follow it up.

I don't really see how this weak-sauce, self-parodic record was that much different to the trajectory signified by Be Here Now, save for two strong lead singles which came out several months before. Be Here Now was bought by, and enjoyed, by countless new fans. Lots of people bought it and convinced themselves it was worthwhile, but which of those three first Prodigy albums has aged the worst? It's got to be FOTL by quite a margin.

that's probably the correct choice but 'once upon a time' was definitely a major dry heave before they coughed their guts up

Street Fighting Years is a good one.

yeah on the back of their only UK #1 Belfast Child wasn't it? Definitely a big anticipated album by everyone my age bar me at my school.

It's like a really sanctimonious proto-Be Here Now - the three times I forced myself to listen to it, I was reminded of This Is My Truth as well. No fun.

You never see pro-Street Fighting Years pieces, eh?

http://nobilliards.blogspot.com/2015/07/simple-minds-street-fighting-years.html

heh it seems i ask that question a lot about bon jovi