Eras That Felt Big But Didn't Have Many Big Singles?

[collegedropout]

Tragic Kingdom

[someguy]

The Chicks - Taking The Long Way

[wrip]

Beyonce - Lemonade
Lorde - Melodrama
SZA - CTRL
Billie Eilish - don’t smile at me

these are the first ones that come to mind from recent years

[Lost In Musical Reverie]

I'm not too fond of her, but Melanie Martinez's "Cry Baby" album was very popular among some demographics, despite none of its songs ever touching the Hot 100.

There was so much hype surrounding her back then (at least among my social circles); songs like "Dollhouse", "Pity Party", and "Carousel", not to mention her strong and distinct aesthetic. However, she didn't get any chart success with the singles, though the album performed pretty well.

[Private Dancer]

I wanna go ahead and add Gwen Stefani sweet escape it only had 1 hit. I remember this era was huge but it's only one hit from the album.

[Private Dancer]

Also Shakirs oral fixation. 1 big hit and hips dont lie is the only song I remember be huge anything else released on it wasnt nearly as huge.

[Rose "Payola" Nylund]

Sept 25, 2020 19:02:19 GMT -5 thirddegree50123 said:

Sept 21, 2020 16:03:58 GMT -5 Linnethia Monique said:

Norah Jones - Come Away With Me — This album grew from nothing to eventually sell over 10 million copies with only a single song hitting the Hot 100. The early 2000s was a wild timeline and the way they lauded her around as the "next big thing" you would think huge singles would be attached to that number. The subsequent studio album release really drove that home when it debuted with over a million sold it's first week in the US.

Private Dancer I have to disagree with Loose. That album contained two massive #1 singles (Promiscuous, Say It Right), a Top 20 that was killed too early in the US for said 3rd single, and an adjacent #1 (Give it to Me) that was released during the album's campaign. That doesn't even factor in the huge success she had internationally especially with All Good Things (Come to an End) and Maneater.

I'm still trying to figure out how Norah broke out so big with that album. It is a great album for sure but I don't understand how "Don't Know Why," while not some #1 smash hit, did as well as it did. I can't recall a similar song reaching the top 40 on Pop radio/top 10 on Hot AC. Just seems like the kind of song that would've slayed AAA and maybe hit AC. Especially since she was an unknown artist. It seems more reasonable that a jazz legend would have some one-off comeback hit and a 3x platinum album than someone of her status at the time tripling that.

I don't quite remember either but I actually think her situation might have been similar to Adele in the beginning - except Adele was able to extend her success beyond just one big single. I think Norah was seen as sort of an anomaly where she was unlike anyone else in her genre, and her image had an appeal to other audiences, which was how she was able to crossover. From there, Norah's "image" was that she was hugely talented and different from everyone else, so she was hyped around her talent and uniqueness at the same, much the same as how Adele was during 21 - and the hype for both just built on itself so everyone jumped on the resulting bandwagon.
Don't Know Why wasn't a huge pop hit but it was still played on pop radio (where Adele obviously went all the way with Rolling In The Deep), but like Adele, their sounds were still different from what was being played at the time. I actually think Norah's lighter sound wasn't too far off from what was in in 2001, where AC-ballads regularly charted well anyway.

Norah's second album was also quite successful, selling over 4.5 million in the US (to Come Away With Me's 11 million) and Sunrise wasn't nearly as big a single as Don't Know Why.

[Deleted]

Sept 27, 2020 15:23:44 GMT -5 wrip said:

Beyonce - Lemonade
Lorde - Melodrama
SZA - CTRL
Billie Eilish - don’t smile at me

these are the first ones that come to mind from recent years

i'd argue dont smile at me was big because all of the tracks on spotify have 200m+ streams if i recall correctly. 

[wrip]

Sept 30, 2020 20:03:45 GMT -5 @jadenlefranks said:

Sept 27, 2020 15:23:44 GMT -5 wrip said:

Beyonce - Lemonade
Lorde - Melodrama
SZA - CTRL
Billie Eilish - don’t smile at me

these are the first ones that come to mind from recent years

i'd argue dont smile at me was big because all of the tracks on spotify have 200m+ streams if i recall correctly. 

yeah that's why I mentioned it haha. it was a big era but I'd say it didn't really have many "big" singles, at least at the time. obviously there was ocean eyes which helped push her into the spotlight, but otherwise I feel like a good amount of people go back to the EP as a whole, not necessarily for specific singles. or at least I do lol

[jimijoop]

Charli XCX - Brat

[• Господин Умљеновић •]

Born to Die • Lana Del Rey

That era is still big 10 years after and still on charts in top 50 on billboard 200

[Eternal]

Bangerz. It only had 3 singles but 2 of them were everywhere

[Positive Tension]

Celine's Let's Talk About Love.
Falling Into You could possibly qualify, too? "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" and "Because You Loved Me" were both huge, but I don't think the other singles were considered big hits, at least in the US. Considering the album's enormous sales, you'd probably expect 4-5 songs that were as big as "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" and "Because You Loved Me."

[mkarns]

Jul 13, 2024 15:51:21 GMT -5 Positive Tension said:

Celine's Let's Talk About Love.
Falling Into You could possibly qualify, too? "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" and "Because You Loved Me" were both huge, but I don't think the other singles were considered big hits, at least in the US. Considering the album's enormous sales, you'd probably expect 4-5 songs that were as big as "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" and "Because You Loved Me."

One could ask, "What about 'My Heart Will Go On'?" But while that was on LTAL, everyone then and now associates it with "Titanic", and it may not have been as big a hit without the movie (though then again it might have fared better in a sense: still becoming a hit without reaching a backlash-inducing level of overexposure.)

[Enigma.]

Sept 28, 2020 7:46:34 GMT -5 Lost In Musical Reverie said:

I'm not too fond of her, but Melanie Martinez's "Cry Baby" album was very popular among some demographics, despite none of its songs ever touching the Hot 100.

There was so much hype surrounding her back then (at least among my social circles); songs like "Dollhouse", "Pity Party", and "Carousel", not to mention her strong and distinct aesthetic. However, she didn't get any chart success with the singles, though the album performed pretty well.

This album is still charting in top 100 as we speak.

[johnm1120]

Jul 13, 2024 15:51:21 GMT -5 Positive Tension said:

Celine's Let's Talk About Love.
Falling Into You could possibly qualify, too? "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" and "Because You Loved Me" were both huge, but I don't think the other singles were considered big hits, at least in the US. Considering the album's enormous sales, you'd probably expect 4-5 songs that were as big as "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" and "Because You Loved Me."

All By Myself reached #4 on the Hot 100 and topped the AC chart.

Agreed on LTAL. To Love You More did reach #11 on the Hot 100 Airplay/Radio Songs chart at least, and the album had 2 more top 5s in the UK.

[Choco]

Folklore is still remembered but the two best known songs weren't exactly massive hits at the time (august isn't even a single!)