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- Intercourse
- Rep: 212
Re: VR - Why the Sophomore Slump?
Fellow ROV members,
Why have VR seen their popularity wane so much? I really thought '˜The Last Fight' would have secured their arrival with Libertad but it's not getting much airplay and languishes at the bottom of many radio charts. What would it take to get this album moving?
I personally would have done things differently if I was VR and their management team. I think '˜SBQM' was a weak opener. The tune is a '˜meh' moment for me, I don't like or dislike the tune, I am ambivalent about it which is the worst way to be about a band I am so fond of. SBQM it had nothing like the impact of '˜Slither' upon first listen. I am a fan of VRs more Stones-esqe delivery on Libertad but Slither had serious groove and attitude, I though SBQM sounded a little clunky (I still dislike the pre-chorus and can't make up my mind about the chorus) and with an obvious nod to U2's '˜Vertigo' as the opener for the verse it really wasn't in my opinion offering anything except a workmanlike rock song (albeit with a stellar solo from Slash) to drag the casual fan back buy Libertad.
I thought the band would have been more careful to absorb the opinions of its fans on the forums. After Contraband, the overwhelming feeling I got from reading fans opinions was that many felt that '˜You Got not Right' and '˜Lovin' the Alien' were ignored gems that could have benefitted from being singles much more so than '˜Dirty Little Thing' which got nowhere.
For me personally, I would have opened this albums onslaught with '˜Just Sixteen' as a single. I think it's got great energy and attitude, excellent verses and bridge, TONs of attitude and lots of Mr Slash. I think it could have been the '˜Friday night in the truck shaking your head with the windows down' tune of the summer. I don't think '˜Get Out the Door' will drag back any of the fans who bought Contraband but cried off Libertad and that song looks like it will probably be the third and last single if the sales continue as is.
I think consigning '˜Messages' to a little purchased EP was a crime. It may be viewed as a cynical marketing ploy but VR could have swapped '˜Can't Get It Out of my Head' for '˜Messages' and released it as a single on September 11th; donating all proceedings to the appropriate charities. Coupled with a tasteful and moving video it would have been played non-stop and given VR a truly global spotlight to shine in. I think '˜Messages' is such an emotive song with an unusual and touching perspective to write from. Re-recording '˜Candle in the Wind' for Princess Di never did Elton John any harm plus it generated a shit load of money for charity...
If I was the guys I'd be having some serious conversations with the people whose job it is to get my ass on the TV and radio. They have the minerals live, many of have seen them and the crwod responses they evoke. They have the rock pedigree, they have Slash, they should be doing a lot better than this.... what a fucking shame.
Glad to see ROV back,
I despaired at having to resort to looking in on mails with titles like 'what dreams about Axl have you had?' and 'where can I buy an Axl Rose duvet set?' in another nameless website ..:haha:
Re: VR - Why the Sophomore Slump?
I have felt for awhile that they are just doing their thing and don't really care who buys their album. I have a hard time calling it a sophomore slump because i think Libertad is far suprior to Contraband, especially if you take Slither out of the equation.
Sometimes progress isn't well received by the general public.
Re: VR - Why the Sophomore Slump?
I don't know what went on, whether radio has pushed them aside, or they passed on radio appearances & promo etc, and are just going thru the motions to get thru this tour. I dunno. Libertad is far better than the amount of (or lack of) attention it's gotten. You're right on alot of things though. SBQM was weak, and a waste. I think they should have opened with Last Fight, then Messeges, then another single, and come December/January, finish off with Gravedancer as a last single & goodbye song. For now at least.
- monkeychow
- Rep: 661
Re: VR - Why the Sophomore Slump?
Yeah i think the singles choices havn't helped as well.
I'd have liked to have seen Messages, Gravedancer or Let it Roll released.....
Re: VR - Why the Sophomore Slump?
The Last Fight, while a strong track, is not as strong as Fall to Pieces, and SBQM is not as strong as Slither. Get Out the Door is really their only chance, but it won't be enough to save them or salvage any hype for this album.
Promotion and everything for this album was all wrong. It's like they just gave up. Their first video/single didn't help matters one bit.
I disagree with Just Sixteen being a good lead off single. That song to me is really weak. Scott is playing the cock rocker and really the only good part of that song is Slash's solos. It's not even really that catchy. Get Out the Door or Let It Roll would have been good choices for their first single, then followed shortly after by The Last Fight, then wrapping it up with which ever of the first two weren't chosen first.
Tracklisting on the album was poor too. Take off the ELO cover, as well as Spay and For a Brother. And put on Psycho Killer and Messages. Make the whole album just 12 songs (plus the bonus), and release For a Brother as a b-side, and just leave the ELO cover and Spay to rot. That would have saved album sales a lot i think, combined with better promotion and a first single.
Re: VR - Why the Sophomore Slump?
The album is way past the point of being saved. Its been out too long. An artist has to strike while the iron is hot, and the Libertad iron is as cold as a witch's tit.
I try not to put down the album too much since music is subjective, but there was nothing on this album to grab people by the balls. There was no rocker that had summer hit written all over it, and the ballads were very average. Two songs that had potential(Messages and Psycho Killer) weren't even on the album.
Psycho Killer would have been a good 1st single. I could easily see that getting a ton of airplay on VH1.
Like I said, you gotta strike while the iron is hot. GNR is going to have to deal with the same thing. The wrong choice of songs or the wrong choice of a 1st single will kill the record. Society is different now. The attention span of the public is very short. You have to release your best song first.
- Intercourse
- Rep: 212
Re: VR - Why the Sophomore Slump?
I fully agree with what you're saying buzzsaw, 'the sophomore slump' I refer to is in the sales and public interest arena. I prefer Libertad as an album, I also feel it shows a hell of a lot of progression from Contraband.
I just don't get it.. If nobody was going to their shows after the hype of Slither had died down I'd understand. It would have proved that, once the public delved into the content of 'Contraband', they decided VR was not for them and moved on. But there was a great response to many of the songs on the album (particularly 'Fall to Pieces'). Their gigs were packed across Europe & America (8,000 in Dublin when I was there, about the same in Toronto). The crowd response was strong to the live versions of the tunes off Contraband which made me feel it was well liked.
As I said before 'Dirty Little Thing' seemed like an badly chosen final salvo from the album but it was the last single in a two year cycle of constant touring etc, I was a bit jaded with the album myself at that stage so I figured the fan base was the same; waiting for new material and not buying any more singles.
They come back out the gates with SBQM and the whole lot just goes into rigor mortis and seems to be unable to flicker into life again.. Where are the fans that bought CB and went to the gigs? Libertad is a solid enough album; it's not AFD or even Purple for that matter but solid all the same. I'm just surprised that they were deserted so completely by rock fans.
It reminds me of Limp Bizkit... still I think they just became painfully uncool and Durst such a loathsome creep that people just had to switch off.. I have issues with some of Scott's bad tempered antics but other than that the band seem ok as people and as a 'brand' (I hate that word but you get my drift...)
I'm just confused that something that was shaping up to be a juggernaut has come in like a wheezing balloon, what the fuck happened?
peace,
Intercourse
Re: VR - Why the Sophomore Slump?
There's going to be a LOT of "wheezing balloons" this decade. The music era we live in is unprecedented. There's a ton of bands in different genres all fighting for the small pie known as people who buy music. Without album sales able to gauge the interest in artists, and the huge tours becoming extinct, everything is upside down. You have huge bands like VR having low sales and little media interest, and artists like MIA getting tons of media attention yet very little record sales. Top sellers are Disney fads and other flavor of the month shit selling a max of 2 or 3 million copies. In 2007 and beyond, you can enter the Billboard top 20 by selling 10,000 copies. Thats insane. At that rate, no band can ever become dominant because they are always being pushed down the totem pole by the next artist to sell ten thousand albums. Its bizarre.
The days of Joe Public walking into a record store and buying several cds are long gone. You are lucky if you can even pay Joe Public to go within a mile of a record store, and if he does, he'll buy one album and its likely something he liked in his youth.
Also, the days of people sitting around talking about the hot new band are over as well. There's too many bands out there for a specific band/artist to gain a real buzz.
The industry is in chaos.
Re: VR - Why the Sophomore Slump?
While it's hard to say "never" anymore, I don't see there being a juggernaut musically anymore - not in rock music at least. Rock music has never been as unpopular as it is now with the mainstream media. Look at the charts these days. You'll see matchbox Twenty (who I enjoy listening to), Daughtry, and Nickleback. I don't consider any of these bands what I would call traditional rock bands.
Curiosity led to the purchase of the first album. There wasn't anything to draw people into this one.
Re: VR - Why the Sophomore Slump?
Here's what I think happened Intercourse. Their target audience is too small as far as cd--buying. High School kids buy rap & hip-hop albums, college kids listen to indie music, find bands on myspace, and download singles onto their iPod. So already, they're aiming for the 25-40 crowd. Mostly men too, so slice off another half of the cd buying audience. This age group probably buys a significantly less amount of albums than the younger crowd. I think back to high school, it wouldn't surprise me if out of all the kids I knew well, I was the only one who bought Libertad. Back in the day, we all owned AFD.
As Neemo said, people spend their money in other ways, rent, mortgage, cars, kids, nights out, vacations etc.. Money becomes tighter even though you make alot more. Wierd I guess, but that's the way it is. Anyway, mkt'g & promo was poor for this, no radio interviews/jams when they were in my city. I'm not positive but I don't recall any big RS coverage. Poor choice in fist single.
