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Post by vivfromcov on Nov 19, 2016 15:45:41 GMT
The negative reception of AQ2 and short time in the charts has started me off thinking (dangerous I know! )..... If the reunion hadn't have happened and the 'current' Quo had continued with Bula and their usual tours, would there have been enough sustained interest to make AQ1 as successful as it was or would it have bombed? I think it was a success partly because of the renewed interest in the band after the reunion. The buzz at The Roundhouse was great and it was cool to hear the Quo Army singing along to a lot of our old favourites. Yes the songs were done in a different way and some I liked better than others, but I enjoy the ones I like when in a mellow mood. I think it was a novelty project though and unrealistic to expect that any follow up would be as successful (especially when the quality of the product was way below the first imo).
What do you think? Without the reunion, do you think their ticket and product sales would have declined? I definitely think interest and sales in their back catalogue have risen because of the reunion.
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Post by Whoppa Choppa on Nov 19, 2016 15:59:44 GMT
My own interest in Quo rose a lot after the reunions, but it was effectively shot to pieces by TAFKAR & Co.... What a clever marketing ploy!
IMO, so much more could have been done to the acoustic treatment of the songs, I mean, me and my mates have created masterpieces by the campfire during the years...
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Post by vivfromcov on Nov 19, 2016 16:10:43 GMT
My own interest in Quo rose a lot after the reunions, but it was effectively shot to pieces by TAFKAR & Co.... What a clever marketing ploy! IMO, so much more could have been done to the acoustic treatment of the songs, I mean, me and my mates have created masterpieces by the campfire during the years... I definitely agree that a proper, rawer acoustic album would have been better but I guess they were aiming more for the general public sales.
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Post by curiousgirl on Nov 19, 2016 16:38:24 GMT
I'm not sure. I thought that AQ1 was not aimed at the reunion fans. It felt more mainstream to me. Aimed more at the casual fans who would realise what great tunes Quo wrote when they heard them rearranged like this. Why else did they go for that ridiculous cover and ad campaign. And that's why it sold so well.
But AQ2 was more experimental in its approach to a number of tracks popular with the more dedicated Quo fan. The only big hit is ITAN. And then its mix of tracks from psychedelic era, the 70s, 80s and 90s. And without the hits, and it because its this strange mix with even stranger arrangements, it hasn't sold as well.
I think if they'd gone the real unplugged route, in the way that many of the reunion fans would have preferred it might still have sold well but in a slower way. But it might well have got good reviews in the music press in the way that the reunion gigs did. And that might have built a word of mouth sales campaign and buzz.
But as they didn't do that, we'll never know for sure it that would have worked. Even if it was was I hoped for.
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Post by vivfromcov on Nov 19, 2016 17:43:35 GMT
Sorry CG, I did not explain myself very well! I know that AQ1 was targeted more to the main stream but what I meant was that I felt a lot of fans had become more interested in the band again because of the reunion and after the high of the reunion tours and heightened fan interaction, that may have created more atmosphere and buzz at the Roundhouse, which in turn made the TV coverage more exciting to joe public. This and the heavy marketing, translated to much higher sales than previous albums, but I wondered if it might not have had the same impact if there had been no reunion and interest in the band had waned after Bula?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 19, 2016 18:22:39 GMT
I think a number of people were drawn to the band because of the reunion, like anything really. But Quo's reputation was already being boosted due to QPQ, Radio 2, Glastonbury, the OBEs, etc.
Aquostic would have sold well regardless. Aquostic II should have sold better, but that's down to the lacklustre promotion and general nothingness feeling from the songs that have been used to promote it.
A vast majority of the sales for Aquostic were Xmas presents, and as it was an album that was far too long and samey, I don't think a lot of people would have been convinced to buy the follow-up regardless of how more experimental it is. Quo also waited far too long to capitalize on the success of the first album.
The sensible thing would have been to release Aquostic II LAST YEAR, giving a clear run-in to promote LNOTE this year. All too messy. Hold back Accept No Substitute for next year - the 50th anniversary.
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Post by markquo on Nov 19, 2016 19:58:36 GMT
No Cheers
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Post by curiousgirl on Nov 19, 2016 21:45:54 GMT
Thanks vivfromcov, I see more what you're getting at. My interest in Quo was sparked long before the reunion when I saw that C4 doc in 2001 and then I bought Heavy Traffic. And that took me both back down memory lane with their old albums but I also checked out newer albums as they were released like ISOTFC and QPQ. But from going to the reunion gigs, I'm sure many older fans who stopped following them even as far back as 76, had a renewed interest for a while. And I was struck by the serious gig reviews at last. And delighted that they were being recognised for their musical talents as a serious rock band. But then Bula Quo happened and I think that did as much or if not more damage to my interest in Quo. And I suspect for other fans too. Having said that, I doubt I would have gone to the Roundhouse if I hadn't gone to the reunion gigs. I wanted that excitement again and the novelty factor was a hope that it might be as good. And for that I agree with what I think you're getting at. As far as the Aquostic album goes, I think the first one would have done well because of all the publicity. Plus the backing from R2 who also backed the band for QPQ (live studio recording) and for their Sept Hyde Park gig.
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Post by freewilly on Nov 19, 2016 22:15:12 GMT
Nope.
I walked into the Manchester Apollo on the 13th of March 2013, thinking that there was no way a band, that hadn't toured since 1981, would be in any way be better than the tight, slick and polished unit that was Francis Rossi's band.
By the end of Junior's Wailing, in my gobsmacked state of mind, I was done with CQ. It's never been the same since.
For example, I used to buy every Quo release on the morning they came out. I still do and done that for the original line up but, it took me over a month to buy the Bula Quo album and I won't buy any of the acoustic stuff.
It really is incredible to think that Queen played MK in 1982 and had a much smaller crowd than Quo had in the same venue, in 1984...And then Queen go on to be the biggest band in the world by 1986 and a version of Qup are back and are on the verge of a massive decline
But alas, back on the topic, from my point of view, the reunion opened my eyes to the lies the present line up have been feeding us. It opened my eyes to the general awfulness of some projects and music the current line up produced. It opened my eyes to the lack of dynamics and enthusiasm the current line up put into their shows, over the last 9 years. It made me lose interest in the current line up
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Post by Deleted on Nov 19, 2016 22:44:43 GMT
The reunions rekindled my interest in wanting to listen to the original 4 , now RAOTW is my fav album and that's after slagging it off for over 3 decades .
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Post by paradiseflats on Nov 19, 2016 23:58:09 GMT
Aquostic was a greatest hits album yes done differently but it is still a greatest hits album. I didn't not think there is a best of that hasn't done well. But only a small proportion of Status Quo buy the product. This has been the case for years. I would guess a hundred thousand people attend a Winter tour. Maybe more. Even if you half that couples go etc. About 20% of people normally buy the new product. So it's hardly surprising a greatest hits album did well. The fact that the same numbers haven't bought two says to me a lot of pele didn't like what they heard.
I wonder how many people who are no longer Status Quo fans but had it bought for them.
The Roundhouse holds maybe 2000, I think I amongst many hoped it would be good. The second time round they couldn't sell it out despite it being in London and the band reserving hundreds of tickets for friends, family and industry types.
There was probably a slight up turn in attendances at gigs by people who thought they would give the band another try. The fact that the following attendances were mostly down speaks volumes.
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Post by Mrs Flittersnoop on Nov 20, 2016 1:03:40 GMT
A small sample I know, but the people I talked to who liked Quo in their younger days, still remembered them with great fondness but weren't particularly interested in the "reunion". Possibly if it had been a longer tour, and not talked up as a hardcore special, they might have been. I'm not aware of anyone who thought that they would go and see current Quo on the strength of the reunion publicity.
So I suspect that the reunion project has not impacted much on the Aquostic project. Am inclined to agree with Deepthroat that they should have followed through with the second one sooner (but the time just whizzes by anyway).
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Post by vivfromcov on Nov 20, 2016 11:26:12 GMT
Thanks for all the interesting comments folks! I was just thinking aloud yesterday... making conversation! Yes there would have been both reactions to the reunion. For some fans it obviously made them lose all interest in CQ but for others it may have rekindled an interest or at least curiosity of how they were at the current time. I agree that actually the band's promotion had been going well with Glastonbury, R2, Hyde Park gig etc. and yes AQ1 was a greatest hits/ compilation album, good for Christmas present sales. So maybe the CQ machine would have carried on as they have done and the reunion did not affect it either way? I'm just so glad that the reunion did happen though. I was so pleased and excited about it beforehand but never imagined it could be as incredible as it was. It certainly revived my interest in buying their old albums again on cd. Personally, if it hadn't have happened, I think my involvement with the band might have been limited to going to just one gig a year (if that) for old times sake?
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Post by lazypokerblues on Nov 21, 2016 9:56:43 GMT
In hindsight now, the reunion tours were a blip in the grand scheme of things. They were a money making opportunity, which came about as a direct consequence of the Hello Quo! documentary. Whilst I, as a fan, saw it at the time as the Second Coming, now that all the fuss has died down, and everything that has happened subsequently, I find it easier to understand Frame's take on it.
The Quo machine - the Continuous World Tour - has rumbled on regardless. There was never any romantic notions of the original band getting back together. It has been a succession of very sad marketing campaigns that, frankly, are devoid of any inspiration or creative mojo.
We should be grateful to Alan G Parker for getting the band back to play together in the film. If it hadn't been for that - I don't think the reunion tours would have happened.
Forget the reunion tours happened, and this is what the last few years have been like:
2010/11 Quid Pro Quo 2011/12 QuoFestive 2012/13 Made in Britain 2013/14 Bula Quo 2014/15 Live In Concert 2015/16 Accept No Substitute
Since there has been no new album to promote, it's just been naff themes. Made in Britain? Live in Concert? Accept No Substitute?
It's all just dwindled down to a Groundhog Day situation, with the same setlist year in, year out. Sure, they play very tightly together, but it's no surprise when you play the same songs over and over and over again. The endless medleys. It's a very well oiled mechanical entertainment machine.
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Post by charles on Nov 21, 2016 13:45:32 GMT
They play like a well oiled machine, shame Rhino's Creaking Up On the fans though.
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