Red Mosquito

theplatypus wrote:Sorry sorry. She's not Australian, she's British. It's been like 10 years since I used to masturbate to that show.

Tuolumne wrote:

bluestate wrote:

Tuolumne wrote:

bluestate wrote:I was curious to see if PJ had any other albums that had the chance to reach Platinum status but it doesn't look promising. If Binaural hasn't been able to break 800,000 after 13 years then I doubt any of the 2nd decade albums will reach the mark.

Vastly different music industry these days. In 2013, it is a much much smaller number of acts that reach platinum status. From 10 years ago, the record industry in terms of sales is probably like a half or even a third of the size it was. Total sales in the industry fall around 10-15% each year. It sucks for people selling music, but it's a good time in terms of there not being as many acts that are deliberate knock offs (like the creed and nickelback) and especially in rock you have to have something original to offer in order to be noticed.

So what's an appropriate measure for success I wonder?
If Backspacer reached #1 on Billboard 200 (and S/T would've reached #1 as well if it weren't for that damn Tool album) then is that the mark set for LB to achieve since album sales are a pointless metric at this point?

Interesting question. I'm not sure. I think it's something else in this confusing era. It's more qualitative than quantitative. It's if it gains traction with a fanbase, if the fans come to the live shows, if they enjoy the music, etc. My guess is LB will sell in the half mill range, give or take, which is a moderate success these days. In some ways casue they've been around a long time, PJ is somewhat immune from having a complete career killing flop, and the only way to go anywhere beyond the half million mark to a bigger audience is to ignore the old "sell out or not" arguments (which are obsolete) and just really push hard to get the album noticed.

The Black Keys are basically the biggest selling proper "rock" band (Mumford are something else, more like a DMB) and they sold 1.1 mill or something. That's basically the ceiling of what a rock band consisting of a few white males can sell these days. In some ways, PJ have already lucked out. They play to big audiences regardless of whether an album is out or not. Overall, the audience is already fairly receptive to the material. No one gets the mass breakthrough anymore simply because there are no centralized gatekeepers like there were in the 80 or 90s. There's almost no chance of a "Ten" happening again, and that's not such a bad thing.

I suggest reading this really interesting article from Grantland on the Black Keys. Beyond the group itslef, it goes into where rock music is right now.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/895 ... black-keys

My feeling is that rock is in a contracting phase. Alot of people around here don't care for such things, but I personally want today's 14-16 year olds to experience proper rock music. The issue, as well articulated in the article, is a lack of "gateway" bands anymore. The indie rock community is happy in it's own little ghetto. But the result of that is today's 15 year olds will never experience the gateway and will miss out on alot of cool music as a result. It's worth a read, and the writer has a whole series on where rock music is right now. I think PJ's audience should read it. I'ts good stuff.

IlluminEddie wrote:Got this tracklist from a friend. He says he hacked iTunes and got it:

Pearl Jam
Lightning Bolt

1. Cross to Crescent
2. Gold Tongue
3. Mind Your Manners
4. Splintered
5. The Cyclops Approach
6. Data Mouth
7. Radio Waves
8. Lightning Bolt
9. Hypnotized
10. Revolution Spark
11. Annihilation Song
12. Future Days

bluestate wrote:

Tuolumne wrote:

bluestate wrote:I was curious to see if PJ had any other albums that had the chance to reach Platinum status but it doesn't look promising. If Binaural hasn't been able to break 800,000 after 13 years then I doubt any of the 2nd decade albums will reach the mark.

Vastly different music industry these days. In 2013, it is a much much smaller number of acts that reach platinum status. From 10 years ago, the record industry in terms of sales is probably like a half or even a third of the size it was. Total sales in the industry fall around 10-15% each year. It sucks for people selling music, but it's a good time in terms of there not being as many acts that are deliberate knock offs (like the creed and nickelback) and especially in rock you have to have something original to offer in order to be noticed.

So what's an appropriate measure for success I wonder?
If Backspacer reached #1 on Billboard 200 (and S/T would've reached #1 as well if it weren't for that damn Tool album) then is that the mark set for LB to achieve since album sales are a pointless metric at this point?

stip wrote:
McP's point that the relative positioning is the best way to control for this makes sense

lecherouslittlestump wrote:I'd say any Pearl Jam album is likely to do around 100,000 - 150,000 opening week, which is usually enough to go to number 1 (depending on the competition)

Steep drop off after that, though.

EJ wrote:

lecherouslittlestump wrote:I'd say any Pearl Jam album is likely to do around 100,000 - 150,000 opening week, which is usually enough to go to number 1 (depending on the competition)

Steep drop off after that, though.

How do you think Betterman (live) will do when its released as the second single?

stip wrote:

EJ wrote:

lecherouslittlestump wrote:I'd say any Pearl Jam album is likely to do around 100,000 - 150,000 opening week, which is usually enough to go to number 1 (depending on the competition)

Steep drop off after that, though.

How do you think Betterman (live) will do when its released as the second single?

lightning bolt has already produced several new memes that I thoroughly enjoy, but this one is my favorite

stupidmop wrote:My only worry about that song is that its gonna lose alot of its murky atmosphere when we're not hearing it through a wall.

That said im choosing to believe that that intro music on the tour vid is definitely on the album, because why not. And that definitely has some atmosphere to it.