Billboard album sales

[Brwn_eyes0511]

Originally Posted by dissention

But, honestly, how should they have marketed the album? As far as it stands as an actual piece of work, it's just a dark and brooding mish-mash of two musical styles that don't work together. Red Rover on the same album as Everybody Finds Out? Silver Girl on the same album as Murrow Turning Over In His Grave? Come on the same album as Goodbye Baby? As much as I love the album, it has no continuity, none of it blends together at all, and it turns out just being mess. It's just too much for one to handle, many of the die-hards on this board have even said as much. And if it's hard for the big fans to swallow, just imagine how hard a pill it was for the general public to swallow.

I think part of the reason the album sank like a stone is bad word of mouth. Reading the user reviews on Amazon is very telling because most of them come from simply casual fans. Boiled down, most people missed Christine, found Lindsey's tracks were off-putting, and Stevie either left people scratching their heads or loving what were seen as the only commercial tracks on the blasted thing. The reviews weren't exactly kind, either. Some critics thought Silver Girl was about a porn star, they called Red Rover noisy junk, said Illume was downright "embarrassing," thought Everybody Finds Out was a desperate attempt to reach the young crowd, accused Lindsey of being a spoiler when it comes to production, and blasted it for being such a long epic album with no real point. What gets our jollies off as fans is really off-putting to casual fans.

The album could have been a big hit, but the actual content of it prevented that from happening. I think Warners did a phenomenal job marketing it, the public just didn't care for the product very much.

I agree with your post. I think Christine's style of music was really missed and she always was able to make their albums blend more with the three of their styles all together instead of just two.

Hasn't the album gone Gold? I believe it has, which isn't that great considering what FM is capable of doing and for the simple fact that their "The Very Best Of..." 2 CD set has gone multiplatinum and was only released a year BEFORE SYW. But hey, at least Gold is SOMETHING, it's no platinum but its something considering most artist today don't even merit that.

[GypsySorcerer]

No matter how it was marketed, I don't think Say You Will would have been a hit released as it is. Most casual fans yearn for the "Rumours" days, and anything but "Go Your Own Way" and "Dreams" will be greeted with apprehension. The tour sold well because it included a generous helping of their hits, and I think many felt that this tour might be their last chance to see FM in concert.

[dissention]

Originally Posted by Lux

Tsk. Most people simply haven't a clue, nor an appreciation for the finer things. Still, it makes one realise their superiority over the masses.

That it does.

Most people are dolts, unfortunately.

[Johnny Stew]

Originally Posted by dissention

As much as I love the album, it has no continuity, none of it blends together at all, and it turns out just being mess. It's just too much for one to handle, many of the die-hards on this board have even said as much. And if it's hard for the big fans to swallow, just imagine how hard a pill it was for the general public to swallow.
Reading the user reviews on Amazon is very telling because most of them come from simply casual fans. Boiled down, most people missed Christine, found Lindsey's tracks were off-putting, and Stevie either left people scratching their heads or loving what were seen as the only commercial tracks on the blasted thing.

Yet, many of those things can be said of 'Tusk,' too, and that album is regarded as a masterpiece around here.
'Tusk' is definitely a mishmash of styles. Need I remind anyone that the CLOMP! CLOMP! CLOMP! of "What Makes You Think You're The One" follows the languid six-minute piano & acoustic guitar laced "Sara"? And that the edgy, brash and punk-tinged "WMYTYTO" then leads into "Storms"... another slow and mournful ballad?

Or that "The Ledge"... a quirky head-scratcher of a song if ever there was one... is only the second track on the album, following on the heels of Christine's ballad, "Over And Over," and then leading into the Top 40 sounding "Think About Me"?

The album is filled with jarring moments like that.

And as far as missing Christine... well, on 'Tusk' there's a span of nine songs between two of Christine's tunes, and people seem to get through that all right.

Originally Posted by dissention

What gets our jollies off as fans is really off-putting to casual fans.

Well, the band makes up for it with the casual fans, by sticking to all the big hits in their concert setlists.

As usual, it's a damned if you do/damned if you don't situation. The "commercial" moments on the album... "Say You Will," "Steal Your Heart Away," etc.... were met with groans of displeasure from the "diehards." But the edgy material that many of us here love, elicited groans from the casual fans (and, hell, even many of the diehards too!).

They have material on this album that SHOULD please both factions... and, yet, neither seem pleased. One group wishes the album was entirely "like the Mac of old," and the other group wishes the entire album was dark and edgy.

I'm a weird little goober, because I love Fleetwood Mac's "variety pack" albums, and the fact that many moods and styles are reflected in the selection.

Originally Posted by dissention

The album could have been a big hit, but the actual content of it prevented that from happening. I think Warners did a phenomenal job marketing it, the public just didn't care for the product very much.

Had the band capitalized on the success of 'The Dance' and released an album like this within a year and a half of that monster seller, I think it could have sold MUCH better.

But, they didn't strike while the iron was hot... a six year wait is a LIFETIME in the music industry... so a safer album would have been an "easier sell," and might have helped them overcome the length of time between releases.
Instead, they released a very eclectic album which required more investment from its audience.

From a business standpoint, it wasn't at all wise... but if the band feels satisfied with the album creatively, then it was definitely a success in the end.

[dissention]

Originally Posted by Johnny Stew

Yet, many of those things can be said of 'Tusk,' too, and that album is regarded as a masterpiece around here.
'Tusk' is definitely a mishmash of styles. Need I remind anyone that the CLOMP! CLOMP! CLOMP! of "What Makes You Think You're The One" follows the languid six-minute piano & acoustic guitar laced "Sara"? And that the edgy, brash and punk-tinged "WMYTYTO" then leads into "Storms"... another slow and mournful ballad?

Or that "The Ledge"... a quirky head-scratcher of a song if ever there was one... is only the second track on the album, following on the heels of Christine's ballad, "Over And Over," and then leading into the Top 40 sounding "Think About Me"?

The album is filled with jarring moments like that.

And as far as missing Christine... well, on 'Tusk' there's a span of nine songs between two of Christine's tunes, and people seem to get through that all right.

Yeah, and Tusk flopped as well.

Originally Posted by Johnny Stew

Well, the band makes up for it with the casual fans, by sticking to all the big hits in their concert setlists.

But of course, that's where the money is. Heaven forbid Fleetwood Mac ever did anything unexpected or halfway original in concert. More power to those that spend $125 to hear Stevie sing Dreams for the 34,987,013 time because I could never do it.

Originally Posted by Johnny Stew

As usual, it's a damned if you do/damned if you don't situation. The "commercial" moments on the album... "Say You Will," "Steal Your Heart Away," etc.... were met with groans of displeasure from the "diehards." But the edgy material that many of us here love, elicited groans from the casual fans (and, hell, even many of the diehards too!).

They have material on this album that SHOULD please both factions... and, yet, neither seem pleased. One group wishes the album was entirely "like the Mac of old," and the other group wishes the entire album was dark and edgy.

I'm a weird little goober, because I love Fleetwood Mac's "variety pack" albums, and the fact that many moods and styles are reflected in the selection.

You make it sound as if no one likes the album. You must have missed it in my post where I was speaking form the viewpoint of the casual fan. When put into their shoes, you should have no problem understanding why the content of the album was the cause of its bombing. To fans of Landslide and Go Your Own Way, it was nothing more than a slap in the face and just a lot of noise with no purpose.

Originally Posted by Johnny Stew

Had the band capitalized on the success of 'The Dance' and released an album like this within a year and a half of that monster seller, I think it could have sold MUCH better.

But, they didn't strike while the iron was hot... a six year wait is a LIFETIME in the music industry... so a safer album would have been an "easier sell," and might have helped them overcome the length of time between releases.
Instead, they released a very eclectic album which required more investment from its audience.

Eclectic is a nice way to say that it's disjointed and flows together like oil and water. It can be called many nice names and I happen to like the album a lot, but let's stop the window dressing and call it what it is: a monster of an album that is quite the acquired taste. It's Lindsey and Stevie unleashed and at their most indulgent. While the individual songs are pretty damn good, there was absolutely no vision or thinking as to how it would go together as a final product and the album suffers from it. While I love getting 18 tracks as opposed to 12, most folks simply don't have the patience to listen to it.

Tusk flows better for the simple fact that there are two extremes (Lindsey and Stevie) with Christine's middle-of-the-road approach between them to lessen their impact a bit. Say You Will, unfortunately, is in your face constantly and the fact that, as someone pointed out earlier, you hear little kids singing "Say you will give me one more chance" followed by Lindsey talking about coming and not coming is not only off-putting but it makes you wonder if they really put ANY thought into the what the album would be as an end product. Instead, it sounds like two different artists laying down a bit of vocals on each other's songs to pretty them up for the use of the Fleetwood Mac name. And that's what it really is, essentially. Doesn't mean I don't love the album, it just means calling a spade a spade.

Originally Posted by Johnny Stew

From a business standpoint, it wasn't at all wise... but if the band feels satisfied with the album creatively, then it was definitely a success in the end.

Since when has Fleetwood Mac made smart business decisions?

[ShangriLaTroubl]

Originally Posted by Brwn_eyes0511

I agree with your post. I think Christine's style of music was really missed and she always was able to make their albums blend more with the three of their styles all together instead of just two.

Hasn't the album gone Gold? I believe it has, which isn't that great considering what FM is capable of doing and for the simple fact that their "The Very Best Of..." 2 CD set has gone multiplatinum and was only released a year BEFORE SYW. But hey, at least Gold is SOMETHING, it's no platinum but its something considering most artist today don't even merit that.

TVBOFM still hasnt SOLD as much as SAY YOU WILL...as was discussed earlier it has shipped many more units because they give stores many more copies of best of albums...hence the reason Best Buy here has like 50 VBOFM albums and like 3 SYW's...but its first week of release it only sold around 66,000 and debuted at #12...SAY YOU WILL has actually sold nearly 900,000 copies...and likely has shipped over a million---but for whatever reason they still havent gotten it certified platinum

[joe68]

Dissention, you're taking the words from my mouth. And you saved me from having to write it down!

[dissention]

Originally Posted by joe68

Dissention, you're taking the words from my mouth. And you saved me from having to write it down!

Ah, it's my pleasure.

[Brwn_eyes0511]

Originally Posted by ShangriLaTroubl

TVBOFM still hasnt SOLD as much as SAY YOU WILL...as was discussed earlier it has shipped many more units because they give stores many more copies of best of albums...hence the reason Best Buy here has like 50 VBOFM albums and like 3 SYW's...but its first week of release it only sold around 66,000 and debuted at #12...SAY YOU WILL has actually sold nearly 900,000 copies...and likely has shipped over a million---but for whatever reason they still havent gotten it certified platinum

Correction TVBOFM HAS gone platinum (therefore selling more than SYW) according to RIAA anyways!

FLEETWOOD MAC: THE VERY BEST OF FLEETWOOD MAC (as of 01/10/03)WARNER STRATEGIC MARKETING Platinum ALBUM

www.riaa.com

[dissention]

Originally Posted by Brwn_eyes0511

Correction TVBOFM HAS gone platinum (therefore selling more than SYW) according to RIAA anyways!

FLEETWOOD MAC: THE VERY BEST OF FLEETWOOD MAC (as of 01/10/03)WARNER STRATEGIC MARKETING Platinum ALBUM

www.riaa.com

VBOFM hasn't sold as much as SYW because VBOFM is counted as two discs, so when it says platinum, it really means gold (500,000).

[Brwn_eyes0511]

Originally Posted by dissention

VBOFM hasn't sold as much as SYW because VBOFM is counted as two discs, so when it says platinum, it really means gold (500,000).

Oh ok. I didn't realize they count that as two.

[MacMan]

This was the initial answer from Billboard, when I first asked the question on sales: TVBOFM is on its way to being Double Platinum actually, because the 2 disc set is counted as 2 for every single purchase.

TIME has sold 50,000 copies as of November 2004

25 YEARS: THE CHAIN has sold 79,000 copies as of November 2004

THE DANCE has sold 4.3 million copies as of November 2004

VERY BEST OF FLEETWOOD MAC has sold 958,000 copies as of November 2004

LIVE IN BOSTON has sold 50,000 copies as of November 2004

SOMETHING BIG has sold 2,000 copies as of November 2004

[macfan 57]

And, I remember SYW was at 838,000 sold around that time.

[Brwn_eyes0511]

Originally Posted by MacMan

This was the initial answer from Billboard, when I first asked the question on sales: TVBOFM is on its way to being Double Platinum actually, because the 2 disc set is counted as 2 for every single purchase.

TIME has sold 50,000 copies as of November 2004

25 YEARS: THE CHAIN has sold 79,000 copies as of November 2004

THE DANCE has sold 4.3 million copies as of November 2004

VERY BEST OF FLEETWOOD MAC has sold 958,000 copies as of November 2004

LIVE IN BOSTON has sold 50,000 copies as of November 2004

SOMETHING BIG has sold 2,000 copies as of November 2004

I wonder what In The Meatime has sold? US and UK?

[Brwn_eyes0511]

Originally Posted by macfan 57

And, I remember SYW was at 838,000 sold around that time.

OK. I thought that TVBOFM had sold more than SYW. I remember reading SOMEWHERE! lol