Album Sales predictions-What do you think?

[ashstralia]

Makes perfect sense to me. Down at the starting line.

Ooh Yeeahh!

[vandeleur]

first time i heard dave say , told you I was coming back ... i nearly jumped out the window I was that hyper

[Tot Brengen]

first time i heard dave say , told you I was coming back ... i nearly jumped out the window I was that hyper

That's exactly how I felt!

[Nickdfresh]

In hindsight, they could have chosen a better first single. I would have gone with She's The Woman. Chinatown may be too heavy for radio but would also have announced they were back to their blistering early approach. You and Your Blues is 'catchier' and would have been another great choice.

The whole "Tattoo" thing with the speculated dampening of expectations sort of struck me as a bit arrogant actually...

[fourthcoming]

Here's to hoping it's not another 5 years until we hear a new album........

[78/84 guy]

In hindsight, they could have chosen a better first single. I would have gone with She's The Woman. Chinatown may be too heavy for radio but would also have announced they were back to their blistering early approach. You and Your Blues is 'catchier' and would have been another great choice.

Nah. Chinatown was it. It's not a redo of a old song and it kicks ass with the ability to still be catchy. Not to mention it is in the same vain as newer heavier top 40 metal bands on the radio these days. Blood and Fire should have been 2nd. She's The Woman is a great song but it's almost to simple.

[VHscraps]

The whole "Tattoo" thing with the speculated dampening of expectations sort of struck me as a bit arrogant actually...

I thought the totally underwhelming video did not help with ramping up interest beyond the hard core fans.

Y'know, I think it is a sad fact that most people probably hear things for the first time by checking them out on youtube. You don't need to spend a million on a video - that's not what I'm saying, but you should also avoid putting something sub-standard on there as the official vid.

On that score, they shoulda let Interscope get someone to make some video for them, even if it was something the band weren't in.

[DONNIEP]

One last time...Wouldn't the record company want to market the record so they'd sell as many copies as possible? Otherwise, what's the incentive to sign the band? I can't understand why they didn't push the record any harder than they did.

[Halen High]

Nah. Chinatown was it. It's not a redo of a old song and it kicks ass with the ability to still be catchy. Not to mention it is in the same vain as newer heavier top 40 metal bands on the radio these days. Blood and Fire should have been 2nd. She's The Woman is a great song but it's almost to simple.

You're probably right regarding their main market - the USA. I was being Aussie-centric and down here we don't really get the heavier stuff on commercial radio stations such as TripleM. Well not in Adelaide. Perhaps the other Aussies here can point to that not being the case in their market. Ash also mentioned Blood and Fire and how could I forget that gem of a track. Yep, would have been perfect for a first up single. When Dave says "say it like you mean it" and the band erupts into life...I go back to '84 and I'm 19 years old again.

[Halen High]

One last time...Wouldn't the record company want to market the record so they'd sell as many copies as possible? Otherwise, what's the incentive to sign the band? I can't understand why they didn't push the record any harder than they did.

The record company was probably banking on the tour pushing album sales, rather than spending advertising dollars. They could have done more, but to really get the message out there that this really is an amazing Van Halen album (in other words, you haven't heard them like this since '84), Dave, Eddie and Alex needed to do a lot more press and radio right from the start. That would have raised awareness and interest among general fans of hard rock. It seems the company was happy with the band's low key approach.

[ZahZoo]

One last time...Wouldn't the record company want to market the record so they'd sell as many copies as possible? Otherwise, what's the incentive to sign the band? I can't understand why they didn't push the record any harder than they did.

I believe the record company was expecting the brand name and legacy to drive sales predominately.

I think the extended down time with no band communication for years impacted this... if they had hopes the internet chatter would have driven more... Outside of the couple hundred fanatics here and Links, I think VH had fallen off most of the average/casual fans net interests. Mainstream press in radio and/or TV would have helped significantly...

[VHscraps]

Yep, Zahzoo is spot on.

Here in the UK there was only one interview, with DLR, in The Guardian newspaper.

I know someone who works at Classic Rock magazine and they, like many other magazines, were BEGGING for an interview and wanted to give them a cover story to coincide with the new album - carte blanche over what it looked like, who would interview them, etc. But 'no' was the answer. In the end, what did Van Halen get in return - a snotty 'review' of the album by one writer with a bone to pick, which appeared on the Classic Rock website. That might have been somewhat mitigated by the 'proper' review in print some time later, or maybe by then the negative perception was already out there.

In the UK the readership of that magazine is pretty much gonna be potential listeners.

The album was not getting played much on rock radio here, either. You usually have to go at least half-way with these guys and give them something or they don't feel any incentive to support the album.

[Zing!]

first time i heard dave say , told you I was coming back ... i nearly jumped out the window I was that hyper

You're goddamn right. First single based on that one line alone...

[Halen High]

You're goddamn right. First single based on that one line alone...

Listening to it now - with the dial set at Van Halen volume.

[chi-town324]

i didn't help that in the tattoo video, Eddie looked like he just crawled out from under a dumpster