Is it safe to admit releasing singles only didn’t work?

[slash&axl]

I was recently talking to some rock fans who were very surprised to hear Gnr had released 4 singles since the reunion and in ‘General’ have noticed almost no buzz what so ever about what Gnr released and I’ve been wondering if these had come out as a 4 song EP would it have made more of an impact?
I guess the idea of people consuming the 4 songs as one piece of work, or even the placing of a new release single vs EP on streaming sites (or something new under the Gnr name in our local record stores if you even have one) also may have made people care more, this is all speculative obviously and it does seem that all 4 songs are mastered at different volumes so it’s possible that could be one of the reasons.
This kind of came to my attention also with the Schenker release where I was very happy to pick up my vinyl in the local shop.
Going beyond that ramble, would most people rather wait for the next batch or prefer the drips and drabs approach?

[jarmo]

Maybe a combination. Singles and then combine them into a physical release to coincide with the last single.

But who knows. Albums seem to get more attention in the media, but not sure if the average music fan actually listens to full albums anymore. Seems to be more about singles and curated playlists.




/jarmo

[cineater]

I was on the release singles too as a way to get around the slow album sales for all bands.  I think you have look at the how the industry did with that as far as a marketing idea.  As far as GNR and singles, sorry to say it, but they failed on a musical level. 

I don't really know if they failed.  Don't know how they did as far as sales.  For me, those songs were fillers.  Nothing I would want to hear that often.  The videos were excellent though.

[Gavgnr]

I think they’ve been released too far apart for them to have any impact. Years between single releases is just too long.

Just my $0.02

[rebelhipi]

Im quite oldschool but i think albums are still the way to go.
Look at Taylor Swift. Billie Eilish. All doing albums.
In the rock world theres The Rolling Stones, Metallica and The Cure recently that made albums that made quite an impact.
And GNRs main target audience are not exactly teenagers.


Nothing wrong with singles tho.

Id like to think theres an album coming with new songs and these 2021-2023 singles were a stopgap

[ITARocker]

The true question is: it didn't work for what exactly? They are just a touring band that built its legacy between the late 80s and the early 90s. New songs don't move a single person (nobody go to the show to listen to hard skool) and a full album just matters for the die hard fans at this point in time.
So there's no question and there's no answer, they can do whatever they want, it doesn't change anything. If i was them and if it was for the "art" and the fun part only i'd put out the last album (full of new songs and 0 leftovers) to say "this is it". But if they don't have time to play togheter apart from live shows and they don't even have fun in doing that there's no reason to do that.

So at this point the most important thing is to bring some transparency they (he) never had: just tell what your intentions are cause after 30 years of "i don't know, we'll see, soon is the word, I don't mean being vague (actually being vague)" and so on it's just time. You don't owe anyone anything but some respect. That's my opinion.

[DeN]

singles are cool for the fans, but yeah the album is the way to go to
have a full support of the record company and a commercial strategy.

the last singles are very, very good, but the lack of promotion made
them a bit useless in terms of publicity.