Band's it's cool to say "sold out," even if they really didn't

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Not to make another White Stripes thread but...

― David Allen, Thursday, 17 April 2003 01:14 (twenty-two years ago)

are people saying the stripes sold out? jesus christ

― James Blount (James Blount), Thursday, 17 April 2003 01:18 (twenty-two years ago)

metallica are probably the only group where I think 'okay - they sold out'

― James Blount (James Blount), Thursday, 17 April 2003 01:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Huh?

After Kill 'Em All or at some other arbitrary point? Metallica always seemed to me (after KEA anyway) like a band who was interested in becoming more pop.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 17 April 2003 01:25 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah but there's a world of difference between Justice and the Black Album.

― hstencil, Thursday, 17 April 2003 01:26 (twenty-two years ago)

It still doesn't seem like an illogical progression to me. I mean all of their PREVIOUS albums had more ballads and better production too.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 17 April 2003 01:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Than their immediate predecessor I meant to say.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 17 April 2003 01:29 (twenty-two years ago)

this new one's supposed to be HEAVY! ooh, watch out

― JasonD (JasonD), Thursday, 17 April 2003 01:29 (twenty-two years ago)

dr teeth and the electric mayhem.

― di smith (lucylurex), Thursday, 17 April 2003 01:29 (twenty-two years ago)

just the 'we'll never make videos/do love songs' statements through the nineties and then - POW! videos, power ballads, considerably shorter songs. the attempt at an image change mid-nineties was silly also.

― James Blount (James Blount), Thursday, 17 April 2003 01:37 (twenty-two years ago)

Watch what you say about Janice, di.

― slutsky (slutsky), Thursday, 17 April 2003 01:40 (twenty-two years ago)

Haha actually you could make the argument (and I almost might buy it) that Load, Reload was the real desperation "sell out" point where the band seemed to almost be grasping at straws in an attempt to maintain some sort of relevancy.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 17 April 2003 01:40 (twenty-two years ago)

Reload indeed was a wet wad of sold'n'resold old BolloXoR

― t''t, Thursday, 17 April 2003 01:43 (twenty-two years ago)

Load and Reload (or at least the songs I heard on the radio back then) were just about the only Metallica songs I liked.

I'm not much of a metal person.

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Thursday, 17 April 2003 01:57 (twenty-two years ago)

I didn't say that either album was bad. Just that they (and the band) seemed sort of forced/contrived.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 17 April 2003 02:08 (twenty-two years ago)

did REM sell out or merely turn into something that went against everything they used to stand for? Is the presence of lyrics in the liner notes a sign of Stipe's growing egomania or commercial desperation?

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 17 April 2003 02:10 (twenty-two years ago)

Kylie!

― Savin All My Love 4 u (Savin 4ll my (heart) 4u), Thursday, 17 April 2003 03:08 (twenty-two years ago)

Monte Rock III.

― rumpelstiltskin, Thursday, 17 April 2003 04:19 (twenty-two years ago)

I remember that I really liked "Hero of the Day," but I didn't want to buy an entire Metallica album for one good song.

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Thursday, 17 April 2003 04:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Metallica didn't sell out, they just got old. I'm glad I'm not in the world's biggest metal band so that I don't have people giving me flak for not playing thrash when I'm 40.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 17 April 2003 04:56 (twenty-two years ago)

The Who

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Thursday, 17 April 2003 05:13 (twenty-two years ago)

the R.E.M. sellout argument dates to 88 (lyric sheet for World Leader Pretend VERY controversial at the time).

"Hero of the Day" is my favorite Alice in Chains song.

― James Blount (James Blount), Thursday, 17 April 2003 05:36 (twenty-two years ago)

Metallica didn't sell out, they just got old. I'm glad I'm not in the world's biggest metal band so that I don't have people giving me flak for not playing thrash when I'm 40.

Well, this would ring true if they weren't still so clueless about how to reclaim lost fans. "St Anger is going to be the loudest mastered album ever," say Lars! WHOAOA.

― original bgm, Thursday, 17 April 2003 05:40 (twenty-two years ago)

everything that cums out of lars' mouth smells and sounds like shit

― JasonD (JasonD), Thursday, 17 April 2003 06:03 (twenty-two years ago)

Kylie ownz.

Oh, and I say Blur.

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Thursday, 17 April 2003 06:15 (twenty-two years ago)

If you equate "selling out" with becoming more accessible, then Blur don't fit. 13 is a difficult run-through, in terms of both ambition and plain listenablity (read: it stinks).

If you equate "selling out" with doing it for the money, then every band who has ever signed a record contract is guilty. This is such a nebulous argument, it's pointless.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Thursday, 17 April 2003 07:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Actually, agreed. Signing a deal=selling out, surely?

With Blur, "Song 2" was seen as a sell-out even though every album they've ever made has had one big silly punkyguitarpop tune on it; hats of to them, sez I, that a tune knocked off in 5 minutes as a piss-take on brainless US pop-punk became - gasp - an anthem for fans of brainless US pop-punk.

Anyway, any band with half a brain (that's all you need etc) would do well to nail their pop-loving colours to the mast fairly early in their career, so that when they "accidentally" score a massive! pop! hit! they can just say "yeah, well we always loved ABBA" or whatever.

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Thursday, 17 April 2003 07:47 (twenty-two years ago)

there is no such thing as selling out. it does not exist

― gareth (gareth), Thursday, 17 April 2003 08:49 (twenty-two years ago)

gareth makes sense. but its a fun insult.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Thursday, 17 April 2003 08:51 (twenty-two years ago)

It was amusing to see Beck try and sell out Wembley Arena a few years back, failing spectacular in the process. Does that count?

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Thursday, 17 April 2003 10:05 (twenty-two years ago)

I went to that gig. It was awful.

The Sugababes!

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Thursday, 17 April 2003 10:13 (twenty-two years ago)

Bo Diddley.

And Screamin Jay Hawkins, for that "Heartattack And Vine" cover/ad debacle.

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Thursday, 17 April 2003 10:23 (twenty-two years ago)

R.E.M. would own this thread anyway.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 17 April 2003 10:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Ultravox!

― matthew james (matthew james), Thursday, 17 April 2003 10:44 (twenty-two years ago)

I think that every metal band ever gets wrongly accused of selling out. I hate the accusations made against bands like Arcturus who used to do the usual 200 m/ph drumming and screaming schtick and as soon as they try and acheive something better they're accused of selling out. Personally I see bands like Darkthrone more of a sellout simply because they rehash the same styles each time and refuse to develop their sound because they seem afraid of changing from the black metal template. This is sad - I don't consider Darkthrone to have any significance in the world of Metal.

― dog latin (dog latin), Thursday, 17 April 2003 10:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Are we still talking about "cool to say" sold out? Elvis, Fleetwood Mac, Scritti Politti.

― Alan Connor, Jr (Alan Connor, Jr), Thursday, 17 April 2003 13:45 (twenty-two years ago)

Johnny Cash, American 4 was totally unneccessary.

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Thursday, 17 April 2003 14:08 (twenty-two years ago)

Whenever I look at this thread, I get mad pop-up ads. Has ILM sold out?

― Fivvy (Fivvy), Thursday, 17 April 2003 15:47 (twenty-two years ago)

metallica are probably the only group where I think 'okay - they sold out'
And Lars, god bless|damn him, has a perfect comeback to that:
"Sold Out? Sure, we sold out...every seat in every venue in every town we play."

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Thursday, 17 April 2003 16:44 (twenty-two years ago)

Haha, naw that was ex-bassist Jason Newstead's comment, even if it sounds annoying enough to be a Lars original. Somehow I don't think that really applies to Voivod now.

― original bgm, Thursday, 17 April 2003 16:50 (twenty-two years ago)

I suspect that comment is the "party line"; I heard Lars say that in a radio interview and then saw Jason say that on a VH1 special. It's official policy in Metallicopolis.

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Thursday, 17 April 2003 17:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Was Arcturus ever a 200 mph band? My Angel 7" was almost doom and Constellation EP wasn't that extreme either. I'm glad Arcturus do the things they do now, because the old stuff wasn't that great.

I'm at peace with what Darkthrone is doing now (although I haven't heard the new one yet). They're doing what they always (OK, post-'91) said they were: worshipping Celtic Frost and Bathory and not trying to be original. Those 2.5 albums where they went completely minimalistic and amazing were just an anomaly, really.

But yeah, every metal band gets accused of selling out, as soon as they release an album. The ~~demos~~ first demo was always better.

― Siegbran (eofor), Thursday, 17 April 2003 23:15 (twenty-two years ago)

U2 have been trying to sell out forever -- and if playing the Super Bowl halftime show whilst wearing a stars-n-stripes jacket doesn't count, they might as well just give up.

― JesseFox (JesseFox), Friday, 18 April 2003 04:59 (twenty-two years ago)

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