My question was really:

Would the band have taken a different direction if Sex Sells had come out in 1999. I think due to the reasons of them delaying the release it gave them more time to tinker with it and re-think the final release, that we know of as Crush.

True, without IML would Sex Sells have had a hit on it, who knows, but as a fan at that time I was not interested in hit singles I was interested in good music. Since These Days there has not been an album with enough good music on it IMO, don't get me wrong, there are some strong songs but not a consistant album.

I think the direction may have changed anyway as Jon had released DA and had some success with it. Obviously songs like Older were written and played on his solo tour in 1998.

My point is that due to the circumstances surrounding the delay of Sex Sells/Crush the idea of the album changed. I am just very interested to know what that original idea was like.

As for the promotion, you can catch the early promotion in the video for Real Life, would that song have made the Sex Sells album??