leoapp
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Post by leoapp on Jun 27, 2021 11:07:22 GMT -5
Usually, a lead single is a catchy track/a banger/a strong ballad to open an era, and to make people interested buying the parent album. But there are some examples of questionable lead single choices which sound like average album tracks. (whether the singles were actually good & successful / weak & flopped)
These are some examples in my mind: - Touch My Body - Mariah Carey, a good track but there are far stronger tracks exist deserving as her easy 18th no.1. - Call On Me - Janet Jackson Feat. Nelly, meh, one of the weakest tracks on the album. - Leona Lewis - Happy, average not bad, still enjoyable but really killed her new era, should've been an uptempo. - Positions - Ariana Grande, a very good album track material. It wouldnt hit no.1 if it wasnt the lead. - Heartless - The Weeknd, very boring, weird choice - No Excuse - Meghan Trainor, too vanilla, very safea, a 4th/5th single material. The 2 follow up flop singles were far stronger tracks, sadly the original album was scrapped.
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Lost In Musical Reverie
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Post by Lost In Musical Reverie on Jun 27, 2021 12:47:05 GMT -5
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irice22
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Post by irice22 on Jun 28, 2021 11:00:46 GMT -5
"Don't Tell Me" by Avril Lavigne was a very strange lead single choice. Would have made a better third single.
"Russian Roulette" by Rihanna.
Honestly "Diamonds" by Rihanna always sounded so dull to me too. Never understood the appeal, but I recognize I'm in the minority
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Post by The Music Man on Jun 28, 2021 15:20:14 GMT -5
"Russian Roulette" by Rihanna. Although this certainly didn't go on to be one of Rihanna's enduring hits, I actually disagree with this one. It was very clearly designed to be her artistic re-emergence after the Chris Brown debacle, and it was too much of a statement piece to work as anything other than a lead single or an album opener. I agree with your other choices and the others mentioned so far. A few of my choices: Jay-Z - "Change Clothes" (completely forgettable introduction to what was supposedly his final album.) Beyonce - "If I Were A Boy" (absolutely no one was asking for this, and "Single Ladies" made that quite clear.) Kelly Clarkson - "Mr. Know-It-All (why they opened with this and not "Stronger," I'll never know.) Maroon 5 - "Payphone" (was obviously very successful, but I thought it was a very limp lead single, particularly as a direct follow-up to "Moves Like Jagger.") Maroon 5 - "Don't Wanna Know" (although in fairness, I'm not certain that an album even existed to offer them other options when they released this.)
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NeRD
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Post by NeRD on Jun 28, 2021 18:31:51 GMT -5
Run the World ME!
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Choco
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Post by Choco on Jun 28, 2021 19:21:53 GMT -5
"Solar Power". Haven't heard the album but the title track doesn't sound like what I expected her lead to be.
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leoapp
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Post by leoapp on Jun 28, 2021 19:48:21 GMT -5
Russian Roulette was perfect after Chris Brown incident. But during early in her career, i understood, most people would consider a ballad as Rihanna's lead single as an unexpected choice.
I also agree about If I Were A Boy. Very weird choice and too slow. It's like releasing Me, Myself & I as the lead for her debut. It was a UK no. 1 by the way.
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johnm1120
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Post by johnm1120 on Jun 28, 2021 23:46:15 GMT -5
- Call On Me - Janet Jackson Feat. Nelly, meh, one of the weakest tracks on the album. I could also argue "Got Til it's Gone" from The Velvet Rope.
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leoapp
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Post by leoapp on Jun 29, 2021 0:05:09 GMT -5
- Call On Me - Janet Jackson Feat. Nelly, meh, one of the weakest tracks on the album. I could also argue "Got Til it's Gone" from The Velvet Rope. Interesting opinion. GTIG is probably one of her singles being considered as underrated by most fans? For me, it actually wasnt an album track material. It was a strong song. But overall it was just a weird song/not my cup of tea. A bad lead single.
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johnm1120
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Post by johnm1120 on Jun 29, 2021 0:51:48 GMT -5
I could also argue "Got Til it's Gone" from The Velvet Rope. Interesting opinion. GTIG is probably one of her singles being considered as underrated by most fans? For me, it actually wasnt an album track material. It was a strong song. But overall it was just a weird song/not my cup of tea. A bad lead single. Not necessarily a bad song, but just a bad lead single. Together Again was much stronger. I'll name a few others meanwhile. Goo Goo Dolls - Here Is Gone. Not a bad song, but there's nothing special about it. It's just... there. Jennifer Lopez - Get Right. Sounded like a drunk NYE anthem gone on too long. Pretty much killed any chance of the era doing well. Bryan Adams - The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me is You. After the success of "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman" sadly this was the beginning of the end of his top 40 career. Has even made some worst of lists.
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#brayden
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Post by #brayden on Jun 29, 2021 0:55:06 GMT -5
I agree with "Don't Tell Me" by Avril and "Mr. Know It All" by Kelly.
Taylor Swift - "Mine" Carrie Underwood - "Smoke Break" and "So Small"
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mkarns
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Post by mkarns on Jun 29, 2021 11:16:07 GMT -5
"Russian Roulette" by Rihanna. Although this certainly didn't go on to be one of Rihanna's enduring hits, I actually disagree with this one. It was very clearly designed to be her artistic re-emergence after the Chris Brown debacle, and it was too much of a statement piece to work as anything other than a lead single or an album opener. I agree with your other choices and the others mentioned so far. A few of my choices: Jay-Z - "Change Clothes" (completely forgettable introduction to what was supposedly his final album.) Beyonce - "If I Were A Boy" (absolutely no one was asking for this, and "Single Ladies" made that quite clear.) Kelly Clarkson - "Mr. Know-It-All (why they opened with this and not "Stronger," I'll never know.) Maroon 5 - "Payphone" (was obviously very successful, but I thought it was a very limp lead single, particularly as a direct follow-up to "Moves Like Jagger.") Maroon 5 - "Don't Wanna Know" (although in fairness, I'm not certain that an album even existed to offer them other options when they released this.) I agree with "Russian Roulette" likely being intended to kick off the Rated R era with a post-assault statement piece, not a big commercial radio hit. "Hard" and "Rude Boy" both served the latter purpose. I also didn't care for "If I Were a Boy", but it was pretty well forgotten once "Single Ladies" quickly followed. "Don't Wanna Know" ended up on Red Pill Blues, but I'm not sure that a single released a full year before the album should count as a lead single even if it ultimately made the cut especially as it wasn't even on the initial physical album release, though it did make the deluxe edition and the digital download and streaming versions (which is probably how most consumed it). And there was an even longer gap between "Memories" and the Jordi album.
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degen
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Post by degen on Jun 29, 2021 14:40:31 GMT -5
I agree that “Touch My Body” was an underwhelming lead single. Mariah was pretty much in a position that no matter what lead single she released it was going to go to #1 coming off the hype of TEOM. So maybe the label thought, let’s put out a weaker song and get to #1 and save the catchier ones for later on. Obviously that didn’t happen.
I thought “Dangerous Woman” was a weird 1st single. Not the type of song you’d expect as a lead single from a pop star like Ariana. I would’ve pegged it as like a 3rd or 4th single. It caused Ariana’s era to start off a little slow but everything ended up turning out well after “Side to Side” became the biggest hit off the album.
“Heartless” by The Weeknd was also another weak 1st single choice considering how many good album tracks they let go to waste on this album. Sure it hit #1 but I feel like any song off the album could’ve hit #1 had it been released 1st.
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johnm1120
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Post by johnm1120 on Jul 3, 2021 17:17:14 GMT -5
I'm probably in the minority here, but I thought Katy Perry's "Chained to the Rhythm" sounded like a leftover from Prism.
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circadian
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Post by circadian on Jul 4, 2021 18:57:12 GMT -5
Billie's Your Power
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garrettlen
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Post by garrettlen on Jul 4, 2021 22:29:03 GMT -5
“Cardigan” by Taylor Swift.
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irice22
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Post by irice22 on Jul 6, 2021 0:07:01 GMT -5
I almost forgot
“Wind It Up” by Gwen Stefani
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Post by The Music Man on Jul 6, 2021 0:53:56 GMT -5
I almost forgot “Wind It Up” by Gwen Stefani There was absolutely nothing “average” about that song, even by the standards of Gwen’s mid-2000s output.
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leonagwen
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Post by leonagwen on Jul 6, 2021 2:05:19 GMT -5
I almost forgot “Wind It Up” by Gwen Stefani I dont understand your point? The concept of the Sweet Escape Album was songs related to the Sound of Music. Wind it Up fit that concept well.
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leoapp
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Post by leoapp on Jul 6, 2021 4:26:46 GMT -5
I almost forgot “Wind It Up” by Gwen Stefani I dont understand your point? The concept of the Sweet Escape Album was songs related to the Sound of Music. Wind it Up fit that concept well. It was a very strong song with great production and amazing music video. It's definitely not an average album track. But probably not really a commercial lead single. The Sweet Escape was off course more commercial.
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leoapp
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Post by leoapp on Jul 6, 2021 4:34:09 GMT -5
I agree with "Don't Tell Me" by Avril and "Mr. Know It All" by Kelly. Taylor Swift - "Mine" Carrie Underwood - "Smoke Break" and "So Small" Oh i forgot about Mine and So Small. The follow up single were much stronger. But both songs are still great.
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irice22
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Post by irice22 on Jul 6, 2021 23:22:07 GMT -5
I almost forgot “Wind It Up” by Gwen Stefani I dont understand your point? The concept of the Sweet Escape Album was songs related to the Sound of Music. Wind it Up fit that concept well. My point is that the song is bad.
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Post by Devil Marlena Nylund on Jul 6, 2021 23:39:36 GMT -5
I dont understand your point? The concept of the Sweet Escape Album was songs related to the Sound of Music. Wind it Up fit that concept well. My point is that the song is bad. This. It was awful. Some that come to mind: Kelly Clarkson - Heartbeat Song This was the lead single, right? Sia - Alive I think she’s lucky this album managed to give her a big hit. I like Alive but first single material it wasn’t. Lady Gaga - Perfect Illusion There were better options on the album. And I’m probably one of the few who doesn’t hate the song. Alanis Morissette - Everything There were several others on the album that would have been better choices. Celine Dion - Tell Him Imagine leading a new album off with this as a single. What indeed.
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gikem
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Post by gikem on Jul 7, 2021 8:14:05 GMT -5
Lights Up by Harry Styles.
Pretty good song, but not really something I’d put out as a lead single.
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Ling-Ling
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Post by Ling-Ling on Jul 7, 2021 11:34:19 GMT -5
Ella Mai's latest comes to mind. Wasn't first single worthy at all.
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SPRΞΞ
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Post by SPRΞΞ on Jul 7, 2021 13:14:47 GMT -5
Madonna - "Living for Love"
You have Ghosttown sitting RIGHT THERE.
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Zeebz
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Post by Zeebz on Jul 8, 2021 22:38:19 GMT -5
Carly Rae Jepsen - “I Really Like You”
ESPECIALLY considering that “Run Away With Me” is the smash that never was
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mkarns
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Post by mkarns on Jul 9, 2021 16:40:13 GMT -5
Celine Dion - Tell Him Imagine leading a new album off with this as a single. What indeed. In a historical paradox, the album ("Let's Talk About Love") was rescued by the Titanic.
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Envoirment
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Post by Envoirment on Jul 9, 2021 17:05:20 GMT -5
Surprised at the mention of "If I Were A Boy". I think it's a great song and was a great decision to have it as the lead single. All her leads up until that point were mid-uptempo numbers ("Crazy In Love"/"Check On It"/"Deja Vu"). It was a massive hit internationally, in fact a bigger hit in many places than "Single Ladies".
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Choco
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Post by Choco on Jul 12, 2021 7:57:38 GMT -5
Lights Up by Harry Styles. Pretty good song, but not really something I’d put out as a lead single. That was only a lead in name; they really didn't push it much and it wasn't sent to radio. I would put it close to the promo singles category.
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