jughead
Platinum Member
Joined: August 2012
Posts: 1,024
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Post by jughead on Jan 3, 2013 20:09:53 GMT -5
I have to say, Carrie Underwood had a great year... The consistency with which her album(s) sell is incredible! #7 selling album of the year, and really the top COUNTRY album ain't bad! But it's Pop/Rock ??? |
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peterca
Charting
Joined: August 2010
Posts: 313
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Post by peterca on Jan 3, 2013 20:29:13 GMT -5
I have to say, Carrie Underwood had a great year... The consistency with which her album(s) sell is incredible! #7 selling album of the year, and really the top COUNTRY album ain't bad! But it's Pop/Rock ??? It's Pop/Rock perhaps in the '80s/'90s. It's contemporary country in 2010's. |
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2013 20:50:41 GMT -5
I think Carrie Underwood's legacy and reputation will be unaffected by the genre that Biillboard list Taylor Swift's albums under.
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carrieidol1
Diamond Member
Joined: August 2007
Posts: 12,769
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Post by carrieidol1 on Jan 4, 2013 0:59:35 GMT -5
I'm not diminishing the success, not at all. But she released a Pop album, that's a fact. There are a select few 'Country' songs, but overall Red is a Pop album, and should be labeled so. I own it, I LOVE it, and I repeat is constantly - but it's not Country... That's all. She still shits on everyone else with her hybrid-of-an-album, and that's commendable no matter the genre Red is identified with. Except it's NOT a fact, it's your opinion. The industry suggests otherwise and I guarantee you the ACM's will give Taylor her 4th consecutive album of the year nomination. Usually, I keep quiet regarding Taylor but it's super annoying when all these back handed comments are made about how her album is "pop" now just because she has 3 or 4 Max Martin tracks. Her music isn't any more "pop" than most of the artists on country radio. She is still primarily a country artist and she did make a primarily country record. I'm not here to categorize any artists - been there, done that, moved on. I could care less... It's such a subjective discussion to the point where it's pointless to have anyway. I meant nothing by what I said more than the fact that most of Taylor's success these days is coming from her Pop exposure, boasted by the Pop-ish music she has released from Red thus far. I think that's something very hard to argue... In my opinion, I feel, and I know I'm not alone, that Red is a primarily Pop album. That's not an insult, nor am I "under-handing" anyone by saying it. To me, it's Pop - end of story. I beg to differ on the point you make about the "industry thinking otherwise". Country radio, a huge Country outlet, has hardly embraced any of Taylor's music from this era. In fact, after a week, We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together was practically shunned from Country radio - that's probably and exaggeration, but still... The hit it took in airplay between it's first and second week was astonishing for someone as big as Taylor. Had the song recovered in airplay over the following weeks, this point would be void. However, it never recovered in terms of airplay. This, in the very least, shows that radio stations, and Country listeners who request songs, weren't requesting WANEGBT. The reasons for this are unknown, but I can't help but think it might have something to do with its very Pop-ish musical and vocal characteristics. Now this is just one song, and one example - but WANEGBT being the lead single makes it hard for me to categorize Red as Country, simply because this song is not the only one of its kind on the album. These songs have little-to-no Country influences in them at all. The lyrics, musical/chord progressions, instrumentations, vocals, and dynamics SCREAM Pop! Songs like these are songs I've never seen or heard on a Country album before, not even from Carrie or Shania... My point being; it's hard for me to perceive this album as any kind of Country with songs like WANEGBT and IKYWT on it. This is not to say I don't like Red, or its Country-lessness is a bad thing, I'm simply supporting why I don't think Red is primarily Country, as you said it was. Taylor's future nominations remain to be seen, but I do think some will be in for a shock this year when Taylor's name isn't called as much as it used to be. Her progression towards Pop definitely accelerated with Red, and I don't think that'll fare well for her regarding her associations with Country music. I don't know the history of this, but has a Country artist ever before released a song only to Pop formats, and not Country? I also wonder if there are Country artists who ever had to remix their songs to be played on Country radio - I've heard of the opposite, but not this? In the end, Taylor makes amazing, catchy, fun, diverse, and creative music. The genre(s) in which her music fits doesn't really matter - as long as the music is good, that's all I care about. But when it comes to charting, I think it's fair to look at the music and really analyze whether it should be classified Country or not, particularly in Taylor's case because there is such uncertainty. In my opinion, with Red, Taylor made a Pop statement, with prevalent Country influences. In doing this she went a lot further than any other Country artist has before in this regard, even Carrie, Shania, etc.. the result of that remains to be seen. Sorry for the long post, I kind of get into this stuff... Sort of on the topic, here's an article with comments from Taylor about how she feels about being labeled; tasteofcountry.com/taylor-swift-country-artist/ |
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jughead
Platinum Member
Joined: August 2012
Posts: 1,024
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Post by jughead on Jan 4, 2013 3:50:34 GMT -5
Shania was criticized in the 90s for being too pop/rock for country radios. Her albums have been labeled as being Pop. At the time, people just weren't sure if she was country. However, it is evident that by the late 2000s- present, the "sound" that Shania created (which other people used to call as "Pop" or "pushing it way too far") is a "norm" for country radios these days.
Don't you think the same thing is happening to Taylor? Right now, people might see her as "pushing it way too far." Maybe she really is taking it way too far, but maybe this would serve as a catalyst for a "new wave of sound." Not songs like WANEGBT or IKYWT (because those are clearly pop songs) but some songs on Red that are apparently "too pop" for some people. (Red, Starlight, Holy Ground, e.g)
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bornfearless2000
4x Platinum Member
SOMETHING IN THE WATER
Joined: November 2011
Posts: 4,053
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Post by bornfearless2000 on Jan 4, 2013 6:12:16 GMT -5
Oh God, the Taylor vs Carrie again
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