North American Release

[Agent1]

I'm sure someone has probably asked, but I'd be happy if someone could summarize it again for me ;)

What is the planned schedule for the release of CHSIB in North America? I'm sitting here and finally know what the people in Europe must have felt like whenever an album they want gets released first in North America :)

[sherrie87]

All I've heard is a rather vague "August", no specific date. I can't wait, I've got my copy on order from Amazon.co.uk. so I "should" have it in hand the first or second week of May. August seems SO far away!

Sherrie

[Shane]

The last I heard, there was no scheduled date, but July (or August?) was mentioned. I got my copy from Amazon.de.

[Vickip]

The last I heard, there was no scheduled date, but July (or August?) was mentioned. I got my copy from Amazon.de.

Hi Shane

Meat sent me a PM saying they're aiming for an August release in the States :)

Vicki

[MBrevard]

Oh, Vicki! What a crime that it's going to be as late as August!! The tour over here starts June 22nd. Meat could be selling CDs at every show!! He could be doing local promotion at the various stops. (And I hope he still will be, even without it!!) The video probably won't be showing on VH1 yet, if the release isn't until late summer...It's a mess, guys!

It's so damn frustrating!! Stupid record labels over here have to sit on their butts until they see something happening in Europe before it gets their attention...."Hey, this album is in the Top Ten. Duh, maybe we ought to do something with it..." Idiots---with absolutely no foresight, no clue of how to listen to something and HEAR the potential in it. As always, money is the bottom line and if they don't see the $$ right in front of their noses...forget it! They can't imagine it! It just ain't 'happening'!

I don't blame Meat and other performers who take their product to Europe where they seem so much more open and willing to jump in with both feet for a performer who has a proven track record like Meat's--a performer who has always given his all, not only in the creation of his albums, but in the promotion, afterwards.

Look, he's going all through Europe. He's already been to Germany, Holland, Sweden. He's all over the UK TV and radio for the next couple of weeks, from the sounds of it. During the Hard Rock Cafe interview in Sweden, he mentioned next heading for Spain and Paris and Norway...He believes in this album SO much...It shows in every interview and every performance. He's always done this, though. It's not like the record companies are taking a chance. If someone wanted to put it in money terms, he's a proven commodity, with a large cross-generational audience!! WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT, people???!!!!

The record companies are SO narrow-sighted in the States! And because of that, we won't even have the chance to try to build on the excitement we're hearing out of Europe! Although the early part of the North American tour will be getting the word out, in its way, if the album isn't there--isn't available--then I worry that sales might be affected. How can we, as fans over here, help?? German and Dutch fans, for example, are SO organized. They're writing and calling their radio and TV stations. They're requesting the songs, every chance they get. They're buying as many of the CDs and singles as they can. I'm sure we'll be seeing the same thing in the UK in the next week or two...

What can WE do here--when the time comes...We're SO scattered and it's such a large country...I don't feel any organization--just individual fans, meeting in forums and mailing lists like these...I guess I'm looking for suggestions, ideas, plans...

In my last posting, I talked about being an "army" for Meat, about taking on the 'bad' elements FOR him, allowing him to remain positive and concentrate on the promotion--the things he does best. But I'd also like that army to be more than that, if it can (and it's already proving in Europe that it CAN). Without the product, though, what can WE do???

And I know, as frustrating as it is for US right now, it HAS to be a hundred times more frustrating for Meat! We're just ancillary to all this--but it's HIS business, HIS livelihood!!

We all know that timing is EVERYTHING and, because of our record companies' lack of courage, to say the least, (always taking the most cautious route), they may be missing the boat.

He's out there right now busting his a** to let the European audiences know the tour is coming, let them hear some of the new album, and he would/will do the same here, if there were something available to promote!!

Did you all see that terrific article from Business Wire last week? "...The international success of this album has caused a significant amount of interest among U.S. labels where the album has yet to be licensed...." Finally, some encouraging words for those of us who have been watching helplessly on the sidelines, while all this unfolds.

I've never been here for the release of an album before. I love and believe in this album. I'm so excited about the upcoming tour! But I have to admit to being at a loss. I want to do what I can to help...But what exactly IS that??

In the whole scheme of things, really, I represent four seats (so far) in a huge world tour, one CD (from another country) and two singles so far (also from other countries). That's a drop in the bucket, isn't it? What else can I/we do from here??

Speaking of tickets, we got ours for Saratoga today! I'm calling them our "miracle tickets." First row in the center section! Never in my entire life have I had front row seats to ANYTHING!! I'm SO excited! And tickets for Kelseyville will be coming soon...

Any of you ever been to the very first show of a tour before??? Just curious... I watched the Friends tour evolve as it slowly weaved its way through this country and over to the UK and back again. We were in the first half of it and the shows, toward the end, were, in their way, different from the ones we saw. (Every show is different. I don't mean to say otherwise. Those were my first two live ML concerts, two different venues--one fairly small; the other medium-sized--two nights in a row, and I walked away from them amazed at how, although the playlists were basically the same, Meat has this incredible talent for making each concert uniquely personal.)

I've been playing with two analogies for the evolution I observed and I'm not sure which is more accurate:

The first one is like a snowball, which has an unchanging core, but picks up more snow, twigs, rocks and other goodies along the way, as it continues on its path, growing ever larger, ever more complex.

The second is like a child, which starts out with basic knowledge and skill, but as time goes on, it learns that some things work, others don't; some things are funny, some aren't...so repeats the things that work and drops those that don't, constantly honing those skills, becoming ever more adept, ever more mature.

I found the evolution of the last tour quite fascinating. In fact, it is the evolution of Meat, which has always drawn me. Listening to and watching some of the performances from back in '78 and seeing how he has managed to always keep the songs, the performances, the concerts fresh and new and continually changing--even though he's still working with many of those same songs. I don't think any of us can fully understand or appreciate the kind of work and effort and creativity it takes to make this happen. Here he is, 25 years after Bat 1, for instance, still doing Paradise, still doing All Revved Up...

All he has to do--all WE have to do--is to look at a Meat audience (or even at this forum) and see the new faces, the new generations who are there because THEY love this music and him, as much as we always have, to understand how truly successful he has been at evolving just enough to stay relevant, without changing the 'core' of what has always brought people to him. And, in addition to continually renewing the older songs, he has always striven to surprise us with new and exciting material. None more than CHSIB, which sparkles with new-found maturity and once again demonstrates his willingness to experiment and take the "road less traveled."

Sorry for going off on a bit of a tangent, but you can probably tell that I've been doing a lot of thinking about all this lately. It's so exciting to be watching this process unfold, to be following Meat and Co. around via the Net, listening to interviews from countries I'm not likely to ever experience, seeing the events taking place through the eyes of people from all over the world and sharing their news, their excitement, their frustrations...and being close to it, and yet, oh so far away...

Before ending this message, I wanted to take a moment to thank you all for your positive and supportive comments to my last posting. It meant a lot! You sure know how to make a girl feel welcome! And you see, I wasn't quite so shy about posting again! (Something you all might live to regret! :lol: )

Well, enough rambling for this evening. As always, wishing each of you love and peace.

And much love to you, Meat, wherever you are and to those who are there with you.

[sherrie87]

MBrevard,

Wow, what an elouquent post- you have really put a great deal of thought into this!
I agree, a release in the states BEFORE the American tour starts would sell thousands, maybe even tens of thousands, of additional copies of the record. Why isn't this happening? I knew nothing about the Business Wire article, I will check it out.
So far as an "army" to pester the TV/radio/sales folks to push the record, sign me up! I'm all for emails, calls and visits to benefit Meat.
Many congrats on your front row center tickets!!! I have only had that sort of tix to see Meat once, about 14 years ago. I was close enough to get sweat on, back when he had the long hair. (Not that that was the highlight of the concert, I'm just giving you an idea of how close I was!) That was the best concert I've ever been to, and I'll never forget it. I'm sure that your experience in Saratoga will be just as memorable.
Sherrie
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[Tim]

Wow, what a long post!!! must read.........

Lol

But why don't you import it from europe?