Successful album in which the lead single flopped.

[leonagwen]

A good example of this is Gwen Stefani- Love Angel Music Baby. Where the lead single What You Waiting For only peaked at #47 on The Billboard Hot 100, the 2nd single Rich Girl peaked at #7, the 3rd single Hollaback Girl peaked at #1, the 4th single Cool peaked at #13, the 5th single Luxurious peaked at #21, the 6th single Crash peaked at #49. Can you think of any successful album in which the lead single flopped even though the next few singles were hits?

[damazz09]

I don't know if you consider Me Against the Music a flop but In The Zone turned out to be successful after the initial single was disappointing in chart run and impact.

[𝓲𝓽'𝓼.𝓰𝓿]

Beauty Behind The Madness by The Weeknd (lead single is Often)

[rainie]

I’d call Rated R by Rihanna a fairly successful album, despite Russian Roulette flopping. I know it did debut top 10, but it tumbled down the charts afterwards ala Focus and didn’t even make a year end list.

[Glove Slap]

In the US, the lead single from Def Leppard’s Hysteria only got to #80. The following six singles would all go top 20 (19, 10, 2, 1, 3, 12). The album itself would hit #1 almost a year after release and was eventually certified 12x Platinum.

[Choco]

In the Zone - Britney (MATM was a win after the Britney era, but #35 on the Hot 100 is nothing to celebrate either)
Rated R - Rih (Russian Roulette was comparatively a flop, stalling very quickly)
Reflection - Fifth Harmony
Dua Lipa (what even was the first single? New Love? Last Dance? Two underrated quality bops though).
Under My Skin - Avril Lavigne (not a complete flop but DTM didn't match her past hits or even what was coming later with MHE)
I'm Not Dead - P!nk

Some people like Nicki (Massive Attack), Ariana (Focus) and Camila (Crying in the Club) barely escape this list because they dropped the flop songs from their albums. Back in the day this wasn't so easy.

[Deleted]

Twenty One Pilots - Blurryface

The lead single, Fairly Local, was their first song to ever chart on the Hot 100. But it was still a flop compared to the massive success of Stressed Out and Ride nearly a year later.

[Private Dancer]

Where Did Our Love Go- Supremes
Love Child- Supremes
Imagination- Gladys Knight
Diana Ross- Diana Ross
Aretha- Aretha Franklin
Madonna- Madonna
I Remember Yesterday- Donna Summer
Breakout- Pointer Sisters

[irice22]

"Feel Again" and "If I Lose Myself Tonight" both failed to make the Hot 100 year-end chart with low initial chart positions, and the third single ("Counting Stars") ended up being massive. The era ended up being pretty lengthy and the album went platinum.

[Lost In Musical Reverie]

Sept 27, 2018 17:25:51 GMT -5 rainie said:

I’d call Rated R by Rihanna a fairly successful album, despite Russian Roulette flopping. I know it did debut top 10, but it tumbled down the charts afterwards ala Focus and didn’t even make a year end list.

To be fair, "Russian Roulette" kind of got caught between years, didn't it? I know "Focus" could have passed the cut-off had its full run been counted, a principle which also applies to Britney Spears' "Gimme More" (another infamous case of a lead single getting caught between years).

You are right that it was definitely an underperformance to Rihanna's standards, though, and "Rude Boy" ultimately breathed in new life to the project in the commercial side of things.

[irice22]

Ehh... I think anyone could have expected Rihanna's lead single to debut Top 10 just by name alone, but it massively underperformed by her standards at the time. I think it counts.

[Koochie]

Surprised nobody mentioned Love. Angel. Music. Baby. "What You Waiting For?" wasn't exactly a bomb, but for how much Gwen Stefani's first solo project was promoted a peak of #47 for her debut was abysmal, especially after her feature on "Let Me Blow Your Mind" reached #2. She circled back to the urban-lite image with "Rich Girl" and "Hollaback Girl"; both went #7 and #1 respectively and more or less saved the album.

It debuted in the top 10 with 309k sold, but didn't peak until June of the following year at #5 and ended up going 4x Platinum.

Edit: it's literally in the OP but I'm leaving this up as a testament to just how much I don't read. 

[Glass Joe]

It basically happened twice to Matchbox Twenty. From Yourself or Someone Like You in 1996, the first release was "Long Day," which didn't get too much attention. But after that, came 3 extremely successful tracks. Same thing in 2002 when they started with "Disease" which got close to the Top 20, but never made any year end show. But then, "Unwell" and "Bright Lights" did much better and it turned into a major success!

Also, R.E.M. with Automatic for the People (possibly their best album) in 1992. "Drive" was the lead single which barely made the Top 30, but "Man on the Moon" and "Everybody Hurts" were major hits.

Also, let's not forget Green Day in 2005. "American Idiot" did not do too much except a little bit of rock radio airplay. But "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and the two hits that followed became their 3 most successful songs!

Same for Simple Plan in 2003. On No Pads, No Helmets, they started with "I'm Just a Kid" which got no radio play really. Just some MTV airtime. But, "I'd Do Anything," "Addicted," and "Perfect" really launched them into the mainstream and then some.

[Au$tin]

I guess on paper they don't seem like hits, but I'd argue the cultural impact of I'm Just a Kid and American Idiot match the on paper hits from those same albums. Both tracks are literally the most streamed tracks on Spotify from their respective albums.

[salt]

I'd say Bruno Mars' 24k Magic qualifies. Sure, the lead single didn't perform THAT badly, but it's performance paled in comparison to Uptown Funk. I'm pretty sure everyone was expecting it to break records on release in 2016. However, the album cycle overall managed to be a success via longevity. That's What I Like was a slow-burning #1 hit, and Finesse kept the album cycle going well into 2018. And the album overall achieved the same double platinum numbers that his previous albums did.

Also, I'm not sure I'd count lead singles like American Idiot or Fairly Local. For it to be a flop, I think there has to be at least some expectation that the songs were gonna blow up in the first place. It's not like 21P or Green Day were mega Hot 100 juggernauts before these singles released anyways.

[After Minutes]

I think we're all forgetting that the lead single off Astroworld was Butterfly Effect

Also, on that note, I'm calling it now - Utopia will be one of the biggest streaming debuts of 2022 (I can only see Kendrick and potentially Frank and Olivia doing better) while Escape Plan was just a flop, though the drama could've had an impact

[SPRΞΞ]

Emancipation of Mimi

[Mic Technique]

Worth mentioning that 'What You Waiting For' was an international hit on par with 'Rich Girl'. If memory serves, Billboard changed its methodology to include digital downloads at the same time 'Rich Girl' was gaining in early 2005. Songs like that, 'Since U Been Gone', and 'Mr. Brightside' immediately or quickly vaulted into the top 10 because of that fix. So, yeah, 'What You Waiting For' wasn't the radio hit 'Rich Girl' was but it wouldn't look like a total dud today had they changed the methodology a month or so earlier.

[Private Dancer]

Jan 18, 2022 11:14:12 GMT -5 SPRΞΞ said:

Emancipation of Mimi

The single didn't flop necessarily.

Did It chart like Mariah's usual singles? No. It did go gold and reach a peak of #15 and did well on airplay. The song did what it was meant to do and that was to give the public and precursor to her 2005 smash!

[Private Dancer]

Destiny's Child debut. At first No No No Pt. 1 was released and flopped until...they released No No No pt. 2 and ofc it was combined into one.

[leonagwen]

Jan 18, 2022 2:03:32 GMT -5 Au$tin said:

I guess on paper they don't seem like hits, but I'd argue the cultural impact of I'm Just a Kid and American Idiot match the on paper hits from those same albums. Both tracks are literally the most streamed tracks on Spotify from their respective albums.

I totally agree with you! I hear American Idiot on Rock stations in 2022 more than Boulevard of Broken Dreams. American Idiot is more well known than Boulevard of Broken Dreams.

[johnm1120]

Tell Him from "Let's Talk About Love." Only reached #58 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart.

[YourFaveIsAFlop]

Shakira's Oral Fixation Vol 2 debuted at #5 with 128k units with lead single Don't Bother peaking at only #42. Pretty decent hold from the 157k she moved with Vol 1 earlier the same year. Of course the album was in rapid free fall until they tacked Hips Don't Lie onto it to save the album 6 months later

[Groovy]

When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? You Should See Me in a Crown didn't even reach the top 40.

[Devil Marlena Nylund]

Jan 18, 2022 15:59:07 GMT -5 leonagwen said:

Jan 18, 2022 2:03:32 GMT -5 Au$tin said:

I guess on paper they don't seem like hits, but I'd argue the cultural impact of I'm Just a Kid and American Idiot match the on paper hits from those same albums. Both tracks are literally the most streamed tracks on Spotify from their respective albums.

I totally agree with you! I hear American Idiot on Rock stations in 2022 more than Boulevard of Broken Dreams. American Idiot is more well known than Boulevard of Broken Dreams.

I mean, I wouldn’t go THAT far, but yeah, American Idiot was a sizeable rock and alternative hit, which was kind of their focus at that point anyway.

[jimijoop]

Loose is a perfect example of this:

No hay igual was apparently the lead single of the album and it had very little commercial success. Then Promiscuous came and the rest is history........

[Au$tin]

May 9, 2023 12:18:10 GMT -5 jimijoop said:

Loose is a perfect example of this:

No hay igual was apparently the lead single of the album and it had very little commercial success. Then Promiscuous came and the rest is history........

Pretty sure that was just a buzz single. It didn't receive any major push anywhere and seems to have just been thrown out there on digital retailers and dance clubs to build buzz. Promiscuous came out only 2 weeks later with a big rollout. (Maneater was also the lead in Europe, btw. Surprisingly Promiscuous was a late summer/early fall release in Europe and Latin America while Maneater was the summer single. They were swapped in the US, with Maneater actually getting abruptly canceled in the US for some reason.)

[irice22]

Ooh I think I'm Not Dead and Under My Skin fit here.

[Au$tin]

May 9, 2023 12:35:53 GMT -5 irice22 said:

Ooh I think I'm Not Dead and Under My Skin fit here.

Don't Tell Me kinda rides that lines of being a moderate success/slightly underperformed. So I'm not sure it really fits here, especially when the only other song that did better was My Happy Ending.

I'm Not Dead I think does fit, though! Stupid Girls wasn't an outright flop, especially when considering it outperformed all singles from the previous album, but it still was sorta flash in the pan and gone quickly without a real high peak or anything, and then the other singles smashed hard. I'd +1 it lol.

[mkarns]

May 9, 2023 13:36:13 GMT -5 Au$tin said:

May 9, 2023 12:35:53 GMT -5 irice22 said:

Ooh I think I'm Not Dead and Under My Skin fit here.

Don't Tell Me kinda rides that lines of being a moderate success/slightly underperformed. So I'm not sure it really fits here, especially when the only other song that did better was My Happy Ending.

I'm Not Dead I think does fit, though! Stupid Girls wasn't an outright flop, especially when considering it outperformed all singles from the previous album, but it still was sorta flash in the pan and gone quickly without a real high peak or anything, and then the other singles smashed hard. I'd +1 it lol.

And it's worth noting that Who Knew was the initial followup to Stupid Girls, and it flopped. Then U + Ur Hand smashed, and Who Knew was reactivated and became a big hit as well.