Live Era, why didn't it sell?

[jarmo]

Now that the Greatest Hits cd has sold more than one million copies in the USA alone, we can safely say it's a bigger success than Live Era ever was.

So the question is, why didn't Live Era sell nearly as much as Greatest Hits? Lack of promotion? Because it was a double cd? Poor song selection? The timing wasn't right? Or the fact that it was a live album which only interests fans like us?



/jarmo

[Eva GnRAxlRosette]

all of the above 


um.. .maybe Axl should have tried to block Live Era also 

perhaps that is the marketing scheme for CD! 
then when it does come out axl's management can advise us that Axl was against it...
and we can boycott it... and "viola" it will sell go platinum .
that seems to be the formula in GN'R world 

eh... i havepurchased 3 copies of Live Era on CD...
and Zero of GH 

[Mayne]

Lack of promotion? Because it was a double cd? Or the fact that it was a live album which only interests fans like us?



/jarmo

yes

[DemocracyRose]

2 things:

Lack of promotions... Yeah, there was no commercials in Denmark for Live Era, and it only sold, i would say 10% of what  the Greatest Hits record sold....

And if youre not a big fan of GNR, then i guess you want a studio-version of the songs...

[SADIS]

The timing wasn't right.

People are now more into GNR then ever (well, since '94 ofcourse). If a band stepped up as badass and as musically talented as GNR was they'd be a major hit. People are cravin' for that kind of music now. Why do you think VR sold well in US? If they did it 3 years earlier it wouldn't have done as much as now.

And same for Axl. He'd better hurry cause one of these days there's gonna step a group into spotlight that will be as good and as huge as GNR was. Timing is more important then anything. That's also why AFD was so huge. 2 years earlier or 2 years later it wouldn't have so succesfull......

[slave2thegrind]

The timing wasn't right.

People are now more into GNR then ever (well, since '94 ofcourse). If a band stepped up as badass and as musically talented as GNR was they'd be a major hit. People are cravin' for that kind of music now. Why do you think VR sold well in US? If they did it 3 years earlier it wouldn't have done as much as now.

And same for Axl. He'd better hurry cause one of these days there's gonna step a group into spotlight that will be as good and as huge as GNR was. Timing is more important then anything. That's also why AFD was so huge. 2 years earlier or 2 years later it wouldn't have so succesfull......

I couldn't have said it better myself SADIS...i agree

[bolton]

i think that was time of nirvana and same shit bands(1993-2000),but now lot of changed.

[LeftToDecay]

Like teh J-man said, only fans seem to care of live records. Can anyone name a live record that has sold even remotely aswell as the studio albums of the band in guestion?
 

[Naupis]

The fact it was a double cd and cost more than double than GH sure doesn't help when you're trying to sell albums. I have seen GH for like 7.99 just about everywhere as opposed to the 19.99-22.99 I used to see GH for when it came out. If you are a fringe fan you are much more likely to plop down 8 bucks as opposed to 20.

[DizzyReed63]

I was in Best Buy yesterday, and Live Era was on the end cap for $12.99.

Which now is cheaper than the reg. price of Greatest Hits.
Looks like they're trying to maximize their gnr stock!

[Saul]

Like teh J-man said, only fans seem to care of live records. Can anyone name a live record that has sold even remotely aswell as the studio albums of the band in guestion?
 

KISS - ALIVE 1

[Eva GnRAxlRosette]

I was in Best Buy yesterday, and Live Era was on the end cap for $12.99.

really?  cool..!  I actually do need another copy... 

[gnrvrrule]

From my experience with other bands' records, I would say the price and the fact that it was a live CD.  Generally, when there's a band I like but don't love, I'll buy their Greatest Hits or Best of collection.  I'll rarely if ever buy a live CD.  Plus, I'd be reluctant to pay $25 for any CD, let alone a live CD.  Also, like you guys have said, the interest in Gn'r wasn't really there much.  I would say all of these reasons are valid.

[kupirock]

Well there was two "new" videos when Live era came out so that was "promotion" ..Now when GH came out there wasnt' even videos...

[ccorn69]

I was in Best Buy yesterday, and Live Era was on the end cap for $12.99.

really?? cool..!? I actually do need another copy...?

me too,

why didnt it sell as well as GH well not enough promotion (help from VR) and because when LE was released focus in the rock part of the music industry was on  rap/rock shit like limp bizket and Korn and bands of sort while today thanks to VH1 I would say the 80s are cool again so people are going back and looking at things in the 80s you see a bunch of "rock" band which are heavily influienced by the early 80s music and others who are about bare bones rock music, guitar, bass, drums  a couple of riffs and thats the song, best example white stripes one guitar one drum and simple songs, so its only inevitable that GNR would become cool again and I think with Velvet Revolver comeing out and that being marketed as a meeting of the badest rock band (matt, Slash, and Duff from GNR) of the late 80s and early 90s  meets one of the coolest singers of rock from one of the most popular bands of the 90s (weilend from STP).  Hell people who are normally into dance crap music where all the suddenly going to me "hell yeah dude GNR rocks" "I love that song, whats it called, with the piano" when I where my GNR t-shirt. so those factors coupled with all the free publicity from VH1 and worldwide publicity from universal Im sure have made it sell, people wont buy what  Hope I make sense Ive been out partying and im just getting back, and I am incredibly hung over

[Ted Nugent]

There were two main problems.  A total lack of promotion from anyone involved.  The record company did as little as possible and the band members just seemed to ignore its release.

Also there was no indication of when or where the tracks were recorded which is very frustrating for fans as it seems like instead of taking the best live performaces  from the tour they just took alot of material from the tokyo show which many of us already owned on video and no on dvd.  How many different formats do they expect us to buy the same material on?

[RitzWalker8]

This is an easy one.  There was no apetitie for GNR at the time.  At the time there were still some okay bands left that were in their prime.  Now, there isn't shit out there.  The current rock scence is awful.  DREADFUL.   

[KeVoRkIaN]

Given the recent breakup of the band it appeared to be a cash grab by many - that was the opinion people told me when I worked at a record store.......

[FragileVision]

I agree with that. With Slash gone, a lot of people probably figured that his exit meant that GNR had effectively broken up - Despite the hype for "Oh My God" at around the same time.

It was probably viewed as a 'last gasp' at the time, and GNR had been basically forgotten by the 'mainstream' by that point. I think that Live Era would've fared far, far better in 2004 - Surprisingly, when the GNR name is at its most valuable since 1992 or so.

I just think it has a lot to do with timing and the publics perception of the band at the time.

[Dr. Blutarsky]

Like teh J-man said, only fans seem to care of live records. Can anyone name a live record that has sold even remotely aswell as the studio albums of the band in guestion?
 

"Framton Comes Alive" would be one example.