Essential Pop Albums for Younger Listeners

[born]

This title is probably the cringiest thing I've done this year but read my actual question for more insight. Whoever reads the entire thing gets a cookie.


So, this is something I've always wanted to ask but I was kinda embarassed, lol. I would really like to familiarize myself with albums pre-2005 cause I haven't done that and I should.

This summer has been proven to be the most productive period of my life ever as I've really started finishing some of my best ideas for songs and I am constantly thinking in lyrics and beat patterns. I've found myself to be heavily inspired by certain artists and/or albums which have really changed the way I perceive music, not just as a listener but as a writer as well. I'm a sucker for great productions and simplicity in brilliantly written songs.

So, I would like to get some suggestions for albums (or maybe even songs and Spotify playlists). They could be groundbreaking albums that changed the industry, praised albums that underperformed, concept albums, albums that you just connected with. Hell, you can just recommend albums released in 2010. Doesn't matter. I just want to get actual feedback from people I recognize. 

I decided to start with 'Purple Rain' by Prince and the Revolution and then maybe I'll check out something by Bob Dylan or Bryan Adams? I don't know. I'm open to suggestions, literally anything. You could also include key tracks in your posts, songs I should check out first, kinda like a teaser.

I'm a huge pop music fan, something many of you know. I'm a sucker for mainstream music as I usually pay attention to a song's production, melody and replay value. I'm trying to analyze songwriting styles now though. 

These are the (mostly) pop albums that have inspired me the most, ranked.

1. Melodrama - Lorde
2. 1989 - Taylor Swift
3. Pure Heroine - Lorde
4. Beyoncé - Beyoncé
5. Channel Orange - Frank Ocean
-- Red - Taylor Swift
6. Emotion Side B - Carly Rae Jepsen
7. Beauty Behind The Madness - The Weeknd
8. Queen Of The Clouds - Tove Lo
9. Take Care - Drake
10. Strange Desire - Bleachers
-- After Laughter - Paramore

[born]

Basically, if you're bored to read the entire thing, I need you all to recommend some great pop records, preferably from the 20th century. Albums that everyone has to listen/experience at least once in their life.

PS: Country, R&B, alternative are all genres I like too. 

[gbaby]

Christina Aguilera's "Stripped"

[jenglisbe]

Essential pop albums for any listener (and to me these might have other influences but still fall into the pop realm):

Janet Jackson - Control
Stevie Wonder - Talking Book, Songs in the Key of Life
Mariah Carey - Daydream, Mariah Carey
Michael Jackson - Thriller, Bad
Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Nelly Furtado - Whoa Nelly!
Prince - 1999
George Michael - Faith

[YourFaveIsAFlop]

My Top 10 Albums that Everybody Needs to Hear (in no particular order)

Lana Del Rey - Born to Die
Taylor Swift - 1989
Shakira - Fijacion Oral Vol 1
Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head
Joni Mitchell - Hijra
Chet Baker - Chet Baker Sings
Gwen Stefani - Love Angel Music Baby
Cher - Heart of Stone
Prince - Purple Rain
Beyonce - Beyonce

[beach1]

Erasure - The Innocents
Erasure - Chorus
OMD - Sugar Tax

[born]

jenglisbe Thank you! I definitely see some nice picks in there and artists I really want to check out!

YourFaveIsAFlop A great mix of oldschool and modern releases! I'm definitely gonna check out some of them, thank you

beach1 Omg, am I in for some synthpop slayage? Thank you very much!

Codex I've listened to most of Britney's discography (ITZ included) but I should definitely relisten some of her stuff. Thanks!

[🇯🇲 lucy88 🇯🇲]

These are some of my fave pop albums:

Janet Jackson - Control, Rhythm Nation
Paula Abdul - Forever Your Girl
Kylie Minogue - Fever, Body Language
Madonna - True Blue, Ray Of Light
Destiny's Child - Survivor, The Writings On The Wall
Mariah Carey - Butterfly
Jennifer Lopez - J.Lo, This Is Me...Then

[Glove Slap]

Aug 14, 2018 11:26:00 GMT -5 born said:

These are the (mostly) pop albums that have inspired me the most, ranked.

1. Melodrama - Lorde
2. 1989 - Taylor Swift
3. Pure Heroine - Lorde
4. Beyoncé - Beyoncé
5. Channel Orange - Frank Ocean
-- Red - Taylor Swift
6. Emotion Side B - Carly Rae Jepsen
7. Beauty Behind The Madness - The Weeknd
8. Queen Of The Clouds - Tove Lo
9. Take Care - Drake
10. Strange Desire - Bleachers
-- After Laughter - Paramore

So rather than just give you a list of albums I like, I'm going to work backwards from this to try to recommend sets that influenced those, or are similar to what I've seen you like. I think I remember you saying that you weren't fond of music that's too much in the funk/R&B direction (the ones you listed hint at a fondness for the more contemporary style of Urban music) so I'll steer clear of too much of that stuff. The albums to the left are the ones I recommend first from that group.

I'll start with Taylor. Her major predecessor was Shania Twain, who had three major albums. The key efforts from those would be The Woman In Me (1995), which is more country-leaning (relative to her own work), and Come On Over (1997), which went more into Pop. There's also Up! (2002) which continued the trend, but the prior two are much more essential, including the International Version.




Her sound was very much due to her collaborator and then-husband, Mutt Lange. If you like her sound, I'd recommend the two major Def Leppard albums that were both produced by Mutt, Pyromania (1983) and Hysteria (1987). Both are very production-heavy, especially Hysteria.



You mentioned Bryan Adams, who actually had an album produced by Mutt called Waking Up The Neighbours (1991), which is very long like many albums from big acts in the early 90s when CDs allowed for more space. That said, I think his best album is Reckless (1984), as a unit and the hits. If you like Paramore's new 80s-styled sound, you might like these. I'll mention some acts closer to to it later.



Taylor listed Madonna's Like A Prayer (1989) as a major influence on 1989, but I think that Madonna's album is a bit closer to Red because it explores various sounds, but minimizes electronic sounds. For the more straightforward 1989, I'd actually note True Blue (1986) as another listen. Its highlights are the five singles (which are 5/9 of the album), so don't be expecting something revelatory if you've heard all of them, but it's the most outwardly Pop album she's ever done (i.e. major curtailing of R&B influences and straightforward Dance).




Lorde's music (and sorta Tove Lo) is one of the successors to the alt. female archetype that Kate Bush pioneered in the 80s, and then had things added by several artists in the 90s. The difference would be that the material today would have more electronic influences within given the majority of progression and experimentation has involved electronic music.

For my first recommendation from these, I'd actually recommend Bjork, in particular her first two albums that were done by Nellee Hopper, Debut (1993) and Post (1995). Very innovative and impactful works, and not too challenging to get into. With Beyonce and Take Care being on your list, I'd also recommend Homogenic (1997) after, which really pushes outward.




Then, there's Tori Amos. She fell off really hard after the early 00s, but her 90s material is very strong overall. I'd put both Little Earthquakes (1992) (more earthy) and From The Choirgirl Hotel (1998) (more electronic) up as well. She has two albums in between those, but one is in the vein of LE and the other is extremely insular and not as beginner friendly.




Sheryl Crow is another one, her influences are more towards classic rock, but she had big pop success in the 90s and is spiritually closer to more left-field women who have had pop success. Her first three albums are recommended, especially the self-titled (1996) and The Globe Sessions (1998).




If you want to check out Kate herself, I'd recommend Hounds Of Love (1985). It's not my personal favorite album from her, but it's the one to start with. Very notably, all the singles are from the first half, and what was side B on the LP is meant to be a concept piece taken together.




Another album I think you may like is Janet Jackson's The Velvet Rope (1997). A lot of what's considered "alternative R&B" today started coming up in the mid-00s and grew from there, so there isn't a lot from very far back that in that vein, but this has some early splashes at parts. It's post 2005, but if you haven't heard 808s & Heartbreak it's essential. Drake and Beyonce wouldn't be making the type of music they have otherwise.




Alternative R&B originally meant more neo-soul based acts like Maxwell and Erykah Badu who didn't aim for any crossover efforts. Since you mentioned Frank Ocean, you may like Embrya (1998) and Baduizm (1997), the former is an early example of more vibe-orientated R&B that has become popular.




You might also like some trip-hop albums, a lot of the slower influences in modern hip-hop that Drake, The Weeknd, and Beyonce used are from that field. Massive Attack's Mezzanine (1998) and Blue Lines (1991) are very notable works, as is Tricky's Maxinquaye (1995).




The pop stylings on BBTM were very Michael Jackson inspired. As far as full albums go, I'd recommend the four he produced from 1979 through 1991. There's some filler on Bad (1987) and Dangerous (1991), but they're still extremely strong Black Pop albums in their own rights, just not on the leaner Thriller (1982) and Off The Wall (1979).




I'll second the mention of Christina's Stripped (2002). Given your admiration of production, I'd add Gwen Stefani's Love Angel Music Baby (2004). A significant amount of "pop" from the 00s was a pop/rock style (Avril, Kelly, P!nk) that became very dated and lost prominence after 2010. These ones bucked that trend, and stand up better in some respects due to it.




For Carly, I picked out some 80s Pop albums, some were big, some less so. She's So Unusual (1983) might be the best bet, but I definitely think Touch (1983) and The Innocents (1988) are the strongest efforts here.




Back to Paramore, they really drew a lot from the new wave period in the first half of the 80s. Duran Duran were probably the biggest stars, and Rio (1982) was the major album. It's held up very well too. Next one is Heartbeat City (1984) from The Cars, who were pioneers in what became New Wave. This particular album was actually produced by Mutt Lange as well, and you can definitely tell the similarities to Shania and Bryan. I also included Dare (1981) which was the more synth-driven (the first totally electronic pop album) but very influential too, and Parallel Lines (1978), that was another album that laid down foundations for a good amount of what happened in the 80s.




Finally an act I'd put forward that has influenced all of the acts on your list to various extents is Depeche Mode, who were one of the most important acts in the development and progression of electronic music. Violator (1990) is the most essential and the most successful, but Music For the Masses (1987) and Black Celebration (1986) were also vital and instant standouts. Their final album as a four-piece, Songs Of Faith And Devotion (1993) is an earthier take on this sound, which by this time had influenced other notable works such as Nine Inch Nails' Pretty Hate Machine (1989).

[thelegends]

1- Akon - Freedom
2- Akon - Trouble
3- Akon - Konvicted
4- 50 Cent - Get Rich or Die Tryin
5- Eminem - Recovery
6- The Notorious B.I.G. - Life After Death
7- The Notorious B.I.G. - Ready To Die
8- Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III and IV
9- Lorde - Melodrama
10- Twenty One Pilots - Blurryface
11- Michael Jackson - Bad
12- Michael Jackson - Thriller
13- Ariana Grande - My Everything
14- Sean Kingston - Back 2 Life
15- Sabrina Carpenter - Evolution


Half Hip-Hop and Half Pop

[Devil Marlena Nylund]

I think in terms of the songwriting, I've always enjoyed Alanis Morissette's style. Jagged Little Pill is a great one to go with.

For something more modern, I really enjoyed most of fun's Some Nights album. Not so much for the individual lyrics but the flowing theme throughout it. It really spoke to me at the time because it runs like a coming-of-age early-20s story about growing up but still being carefree and wanting love and to feel wanted and needed and to need and want.

For melody, Avril's Let Go is pure perfection. What she lacks in ability to write good lyrics, she more than makes up for amazing melodies.

Some of my favourite albums are breakup albums and it astounds me how different they can be. Kathleen Edwards' Voyageur is probably my favourite of those because she captures so much of how I felt during my last breakup, but it wasn't much focused on the bitterness as just the emptiness and disappointment that comes with knowing a relationship failed.

Tegan and Sara's albums, any of them really, carry a lot of great songwriting in them. If you're feeling angsty, maybe go with So Jealous. If you're feeling a little more put together but heartbroken, go with The Con.

And my last recommendation might be Years & Years' first album. This one caught my attention lyrically because of how it captured a certain reckless gay lifestyle of someone who just makes bad choices but is still able to romanticize them. I always found that such an interesting perspective.

[🇯🇲 lucy88 🇯🇲]

I forgot to mention Whitney Houston and Celine Dion on my list. These are my fave albums by them:

Whitney:

Whitney (1987)
I'm Your Baby Tonight (1990)

Celine:

Celine Dion (1992)
The Colour Of My Love (1993)
Falling Into You (1996)

[born]

🇯🇲 lucy88 🇯🇲 I smell female excellence & domination! I was actually surprised to see Whitney and Celine missing from your list and then I saw the extra post  Thank you :)

thelegends I should really check out The Notorious B.I.G. some day cause he's considered a legend and I'm intrigued. Thanks for all of your recommendations!

Devil Marlena Nylund I literally have/wanna check out pretty much every act you've mentioned here. "Jagged Little Pill" will be first cause it's considered a classic and I really want to give it a full listen. Plus, I'm loving 'Palo Santo' right now so I'm gonna go backwards and familiarize myself with Y&Y's debut. Thank you very much!

Glove Slap This is honestly an amazing post. Can't believe you actually read the whole thing then spent hours to compile a list of recommendations based on the albums I mentioned. I appreciate this (and I've read your commentary like a thousand times lol) and that will definitely be proven helpful. Thank you!!!

[Janhova's Witness]

The Queen of R&B, and I'm not talking about Luther Vandross. If you like R&Aubrey, you'll love Mary.

[willapted33]

Don't know if you've heard Blonde by Frank Ocean, but I would HIGHLY recommend it

Prince's discography is incredible
as is David Bowie's

if you're looking to expand to some rock/alt then Pink Floyd's albums are a must as well as Radiohead's and Nirvana's

I personally adore Coldplay's discography and recommend all of their albums


this isn't a recommendation but i think it's really cool to check out the classics, so i wish you luck !

[jenglisbe]

Wait. If we’re including Alanis Morissette and Mary J Blige as “pop” then I need to add Aretha. Her I Never Loved A Man is one of the greatest albums of all-time. We all know the hits like “Respect,” but every damn song is perfection. Listen to “Drown in My Own Tears.” “Do Right Woman - Do Right Man” is a life changer. The title track is stunning. “Dr Feelgood” is iconic.

[born]

Aug 16, 2018 9:10:08 GMT -5 jenglisbe said:

Wait. If we’re including Alanis Morissette and Mary J Blige as “pop” then I need to add Aretha. Her I Never Loved A Man is one of the greatest albums of all-time. We all know the hits like “Respect,” but every damn song is perfection. Listen to “Drown in My Own Tears.” “Do Right Woman - Do Right Man” is a life changer. The title track is stunning. “Dr Feelgood” is iconic.

Did you write this before or after the news? Wow.

[divasummer]

Donna Summer- "Bad Girls" (1979) nominated for "Album Of The Year" - Has the num.1 singles "Hot Stuff and "Bad Girls" on there along with the num.2 peaking "Dim All The Lights".
Other great tracks include "Our Love, Walk Away, Sunset People, My Baby Understands and There Will Always Be A You".
Some of the above tracks were either big in the clubs or got a decent amount of radio play at the time.
A Great Pop/dance/rnb with even some rock influence album.

[born]

Janhova's Witness I think highly of Mary but I've always thought she's not close to my style. I would definitely like to check this out though, thank you


willapted33 I've listened to 'Blonde' but I didn't connect with it as much as I did with CO. Thank you for the rest of your recommendations, I'm totally gonna delve into David Bowie's world. Same with some classic alternative/rock albums.

divasummer That seems like a big club record. I'm interested in this, thanks a lot

Ps: I actually started a reviews thread with comments on every recommended album I listen. I posted my first review and I'm gonna do another one before Sunday.
I don't wanna tag you on every post cause you probably don't care, so I decided to tag you once in this post and you can tell me whether you wanna be tagged for every album I do or just the ones you recommended (maybe even no album at all lol)

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}gbaby jenglisbe YourFaveIsAFlop beach1 Codex lucy Glove Slap thelegends Devil Marlena Nylund Janhova's Witness willapted33 divasummer

[Az Paynter]

Aug 15, 2018 14:05:45 GMT -5 Codex said:

Britney Spears - In The Zone

You can skip her first two (three?) albums, but ITZ is great, sexy dirty fun.

Skipping 'Britney' is not an option. Never mind that it gave us 'Slave' (one of her most iconic moments and a crown jewel in her discography) I've always found it to be one of the most cohesive bodies of work she's ever done. I view it as the bridge between the teen bubblegum pop of her first two albums and the direction she began to take with her further albums.

[divasummer]

Born In 1989,
Donna's "Bad Girls" was a double album. 1 side was midtempo and ballads so not all dance. lol

[born]

Aug 16, 2018 14:32:31 GMT -5 divasummer said:

Born In 1989,
Donna's "Bad Girls" was a double album. 1 side was midtempo and ballads so not all dance. lol

I didn't know about that, you just mentioned some songs I consider big dance hits (Hot Stuff & Bad Girls) and you also said there were several club anthems so I just assumed this was a massive dance pop record. I like the fact that it has ballads too though! Thank you!

[ILLUSION]

I'm actually in disbelief that I haven't seen the following mentioned:

Lady Gaga - The Fame (Monster)
Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway
Katy Perry - Teenage Dream

Not only 3 of the best pop albums EVER, 3 of the most monumental pop eras in music history.

[Deleted]

I mean most people named essential ones but some that I'd also just add onto here

Betty Who - "Betty, Pt 1"
A nice crossover between pop vibes of the 80s and 90s in a small 5 track EP. If you like this, then definitely pursue her 2 whole albums afterwards.

INNA - "Party Never Ends"
A bit of a personal preference on mine in fun dance music and this album is essentially all of that, very summery and fun. (Definitely recommend at least In Your Eyes, Cola Song, Good Time, Crazy Sexy Wild, and More Than Friends)

Janelle Monáe - "Metropolis" (EP) and her 3 albums (go in chronological order)
Ok so I stan Janelle a lot she just offers a ton of old school realness into her work, definitely start with her Ep then 1st album and then onwards. My reason is because they're a whole concept album split into parts. Though even each on it's own merits and as it's own part is really good. Also do check out her music videos, they just add on even more to the work.

[Choco]

Shakira's Donde están los Ladrones? is probably one of the biggest and best pop/rock albums ever in Latin America. Depending on how much you enjoy music in Spanish, I'd recommed that. She has never approached that level of consistency and cohesion with any other album and the six or seven singles are all iconic (in Latin America).

I think Breakaway and M!ssundaztood are great too. I don't think neither Kelly nor P!nk would be anywhere near where they are today without those albums.

[stunnedout]

Aug 14, 2018 11:26:00 GMT -5 born said:

This title is probably the cringiest thing I've done this year but read my actual question for more insight. Whoever reads the entire thing gets a cookie.


So, this is something I've always wanted to ask but I was kinda embarassed, lol. I would really like to familiarize myself with albums pre-2005 cause I haven't done that and I should.

This summer has been proven to be the most productive period of my life ever as I've really started finishing some of my best ideas for songs and I am constantly thinking in lyrics and beat patterns. I've found myself to be heavily inspired by certain artists and/or albums which have really changed the way I perceive music, not just as a listener but as a writer as well. I'm a sucker for great productions and simplicity in brilliantly written songs.

So, I would like to get some suggestions for albums (or maybe even songs and Spotify playlists). They could be groundbreaking albums that changed the industry, praised albums that underperformed, concept albums, albums that you just connected with. Hell, you can just recommend albums released in 2010. Doesn't matter. I just want to get actual feedback from people I recognize. 

I decided to start with 'Purple Rain' by Prince and the Revolution and then maybe I'll check out something by Bob Dylan or Bryan Adams? I don't know. I'm open to suggestions, literally anything. You could also include key tracks in your posts, songs I should check out first, kinda like a teaser.

I'm a huge pop music fan, something many of you know. I'm a sucker for mainstream music as I usually pay attention to a song's production, melody and replay value. I'm trying to analyze songwriting styles now though. 

These are the (mostly) pop albums that have inspired me the most, ranked.

1. Melodrama - Lorde
2. 1989 - Taylor Swift
3. Pure Heroine - Lorde
4. Beyoncé - Beyoncé
5. Channel Orange - Frank Ocean
-- Red - Taylor Swift
6. Emotion Side B - Carly Rae Jepsen
7. Beauty Behind The Madness - The Weeknd
8. Queen Of The Clouds - Tove Lo
9. Take Care - Drake
10. Strange Desire - Bleachers
-- After Laughter - Paramore

This is actually one of the best threads i've seen here in a long time because a lot of younger listeners donn't familiarize themselves with classic work. I usually lean more R&B but here are a few selections that were very influential during their time and even today.


1. Rhythm Nation - Janet Jackson
2. Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill
3. Spice Girls - Spice
4. Paula Abdul - Forever Your Girl
5. Jenifer Lopez - On the 6
6. Mariah Carey - Music Box

[Devil Marlena Nylund]

Aug 16, 2018 14:58:44 GMT -5 ILLUSION said:

I'm actually in disbelief that I haven't seen the following mentioned:

Lady Gaga - The Fame (Monster)
Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway
Katy Perry - Teenage Dream

Not only 3 of the best pop albums EVER, 3 of the most monumental pop eras in music history.

I didn't mention Gaga because he mentioned an emphasis for pre-2005 albums (though I did proceed to mention several post-2005 albums lmao). Plus I figure he's already familiar with that and Teenage Dream anyway. Otherwise I'd have thrown in Perfection, I mean, Emotion by Carly too.

[Glove Slap]

I can totally see stunnedout judging Ciara while listening to Music Box. There's a serenity in their viciousness.

[Janhova's Witness]

Aug 16, 2018 13:53:37 GMT -5 born said:

Janhova's Witness I think highly of Mary but I've always thought she's not close to my style. I would definitely like to check this out though, thank you :)

I used to think the same and kept it cute with the hits, but one night I got high and gave My Life a listen. Everything suddenly started to make sense. Mary has penetrated my heart and my soul. 😌

I must warn you, there is no going back once you've heard this album. There is only life before My Life and life after My Life. Choose wisely

[when the pawn...]

Pop classics of 80s and 90s?

Michael Jackson - Thrller; Bad; Dangerous
Madonna - True Blue; Like a Prayer; Ray of Light
Prince - Purple Rain; Sign O The Times
George Michael - Faith
Janet Jackson - Control; Rhythm Nation 1814; Janet; The Velvet Rope
TLC - CrazySexyCool
Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual