The tour accomplished what it was done for.  $$$

The only thing it was promoting was getting Axl some money.

I like Matchbox 20 a lot and I'm a big fan of Youself or Someone Like You and More Than You Think You Are.  I thought Rob Thomas was close to becoming a top frontman before his solo career.  That ruined it for me.  If he can return to MB20 and put out music at the level of their music and not his solo career, I think he can climb back up the list pretty quickly.

I hope he runs.  He can't be any worse than anyone else we've had since Reagan.

Maroon 5 is actually pretty talented musically, but the singer's voice dominates the songs so much that you miss the quality of the music behind it.  I saw them live before their first album came out when they opened for Matchbox Twenty and they were pretty good for a band nobody knew anything about at the time.  I told my wife that they were goiing to make it after their set and a couple months later they did.

The mistake a lot of bands seem to make is selling out to be accpeted in the mainstream.  The Goo Goo Dolls, Sugar Ray, REM, Matchbox Twenty are all bands that I like to some degree or another, but they all sold out what they were (to some extent) to become accepted by the mainstream media.  Some of these bands today might actually be good rock bands, but they softened up their sound to be more radio friendly in this era dominated by pop/RB/Hip Hop.  Maybe not.  I don't know, just thinking outloud.

It's not THE basis for comparison, but it is A basis for comparison - it has to be part of the equation.  Otherwise, we'd have to look at all the one hit wonders and see who put on a great show but flamed out early for whatever reason.  I agree with you in principal, but don't see any objective way that Axl makes a top 5 frontmen of all time list (other than a personal favorite one, which is what it is).

I can see him being in YOUR top 5, but not THE top 5.