Disregarding the point about the self-titled Motley Crue album and sales - I was taken aback at the comment “Hard rock in 1994 was simply not going to sell. Nothing was going to change that.”
This just isn’t true. If anything, hard rock dominated music in 1994. Grunge and punk acts had huge albums, including The Downward Spiral (Nine Inch Nails) and Jar of Flies (Alice In Chains). There is a reason these acts still headline rock and metal fests all these years later.
It isn’t like Soundgarden or Bush - two more bands with huge albums in 1994 - were putting out pop anthems. This was not the age of the boy band or pop princess. The early 90s were huge for rock music. Guns n’ Roses released the Use Your Illusion records in 1991, Alice In Chains dropped their self-titled album in 1995 - and they released Facelift in 1990.
Shoot, AC/DC released The Razor’s Edge in 1990. That album gave us “Thunderstruck,” people! And in - again - 1994, we got Far Beyond Drive from Pantera.
Again, the early 90s were just crazy for hard rock. Unless I’m misunderstanding the post below… I think it really missed the mark.
(Also, Motley Crue debuted at number 7 on Billboard. No it didn’t sell better than Dr. Feelgood, but come on. It wasn’t all about the actual music when it comes to sales on this one.)
