Which massive album eras you think are Weak?

[leoapp]

These 6 album eras were the biggest female eras from the past decade.
With hits after hits after hits after hits...
So now in 2021....
Which one do you think is/are actually WEAK eras? In term of album quality, single choices, music style, etc.
You can pick more than 1.
Or maybe you like all?

*I combined Lady Gaga's The Fame + The Fame Monster and Katy's Teenage Dream + Complete Confection.

*I also combined Ariana's 2 album eras, because the gap between Sweetener and TUN was so close

[leoapp]

I pick Loud and 21 as the 2 weaker ones.

Loud: overall the album is just oka. The singles were huge, but imo not that strong, compared to Good Girl Gone Bad era. I only love Only Girl, but the other singles are just average.

21: I dont know why, but the whole album was/is too overrated. Too boring for me. RITD is fine, while the other singles are nothing special. Someone Like You is maybe one of the most overrated love songs ever. I prefer 19 by miles.

[Ling-Ling]

Teenage Dream. It wasn't a good album then and it's an even worse album now.

[YourFaveIsAFlop]

Jun 28, 2021 2:56:14 GMT -5 leoapp said:

21: I dont know why, but the whole album was/is too overrated. Too boring for me. RITD is fine, while the other singles are nothing special. Someone Like You is maybe one of the most overrated love songs ever. I prefer 19 by miles.

Love song? It's literally a fuck you song about finding a replacement man 

But anyway.

In terms of album quality, I'd go with Ariana. Her albums are also full of filler, IMO. There's a reason they move on so quickly from them once they pop out the singles.

[dremolus - solarpunk]

In terms of any lasting impact and longevity, Loud is probably the answer.

[AmazDrag]

Easily Ariana.

[Devil Marlena Nylund]

I've heard all of them except Ariana's albums, which I could only judge by the singles. I voted Loud. I suppose I could vote Ariana too because I've never had much of an interest in listening to the rest of the albums.

[mkarns]

Either Rihanna or Ariana, as the albums really aren't remembered for anything other than the hit singles, though there were a lot of those.

Katy comes close to that but the TD eras feel more cohesive, maybe because the albums produced so many hits and she established a multimedia presence that went beyond radio singles--something she's wisely kept since, as she maintains celebrity status despite a lack of big recent hits.

[kimberly]

I'm surprised Ariana is leading this. Sweetener is her best project and thank u, next comes pretty close. Definitely not the weakest of the bunch here for me, but I suppose I understand why people would feel that way—it's the only option here that's 2 full studio albums for a reason.

I voted for Adele's 21. It just doesn't appeal to me much outside of the singles, like I have no intentions of listening to that album in full again. To be honest, I haven't listened to the singles in a very long time, either. 

I am struggling to pick a second one, so I won't. Loud, Teenage Dream, The Fame + Monster, and 1989 all feel super nostalgic and had a huge impact on me and how my music tastes have evolved. Sweetener/TUN era was much more recent (which also works against it in this poll) but I bumped that shit EVERYWHERE. 

[Choco]

Mmmh. It does feel to me like the Ariana eras aren't as iconic as the others (Loud ain't that iconic per se, but I mean the red hair alone was a moment for Rih, so I'm giving it a slight edge over Ari). They were huge albums though and both have a lot of gems.

The other four are iconic moments in pop music.

[#LisaRinna]

Rihanna, Adull and Ariana. Bland albums, overhyped, aged terribly, didn't bring anything substantial to the table.

[die Lotterie]

Love Rihanna and the singles from Loud, but the era melts into "Rude Boy" and "We Found Love" for me. I don't really remember Loud beginning or ending, it doesn't feel like a singular defining era in the way that the other eras do.

edit: Ariana's eras aren't really defining either. We got new music so rapidly and the eras didn't seem like big shifts musically or image-wise in my opinion.

[leoapp]

Ariana "winning" so far...
I wonder is this because her era was the most recent and most of the voters here are now older in 2021, and were younger pre 1989 era? So nostalgic factors influence the voting?

Or younger voters here also consider Ariana's eras are really weak...

[Ernesto]

Ariana Grande's era. I don't like most of the music she produces. But I can understand that other people love her stuff and that's alright.

I have no problem with the other eras. Not even with "Loud."

[Au$tin]

Gonna get a lot of anger for saying this, but the only era in this list I don't own/have most of the era saved is The Fame because I could not at all get into it outside of some of the singles. Still can't. (Which has always been bizarre to me given I obsessed over Just Dance the minute I heard it.)

But I got to be honest, of all of these, the two I find myself not really revisiting much anymore are 21 and Loud. Weird.

[Ginger Spice]

Loud was a disappointment in terms of album quality (especially coming after Good Girl Gone Bad and Rated R which were both fairly strong), and I hardly ever revisit it. At the time I was expecting it to be a poppier affair (i.e. most songs sounding like "S&M" and "Only Girl"). While it was better for her in the long run that she didn't commit to that sound, it also means that album is a complete mishmash of styles and half of the tracks are really sleepy given the album title. The song that's aged the best is, idk, "Skin"? I wouldn't say the era had a specific impact on pop culture either, if anything the album was Rihanna responding to trends rather than setting them. I actually kind of merge Loud and Talk That Talk in my head, because those albums were probably when I was most into Rihanna, but also when she felt the least inspired, compared to what became before and after them.

1989 also hasn't aged as well as I thought it would, but I wouldn't call it a weak album, and the single choices were mostly on point (even if I hate "Shake It Off"). On the flip side, The Fame + Fame Monster is the most iconic of the eras for me, and listening to it a couple weeks ago, I still really enjoy it.

[Deleted]

Teenage Dream. Actual garbage fire of an album I remember watching the singles rise up the charts and seething so hard. Katy was putting out the worst performances I’ve consistently seen in my lifetime from a major pop star until Taylor went pop and it was like no one gave a shit.... it was such a confusing time.

[toomuchboy]

Rihanna's Loud is the weakest here, imo. "Only Girl (in the World)" is one of my favorites by her, but it's the only single I cared for. As for Ariana, while I thought Sweetener was a horrible album, its singles were incredible and thank u, next as a whole was amazing.

I wasn't crazy about Katy when her big era was happening. I had bought her first album and felt angry that I'd bought it when I found she sings...really bad. So I was kind of annoyed during her rise even though the singles themselves were good songs (and how it was a time with an influx of horrible singers--Taylor Swift included). I only came around to liking her despite all that later. I still think she is a poor singer regardless, but singing talent doesn't really matter anymore these days (sadly).

[wjr15]

I put my vote for Loud. As much as I adore that album and loved Rihanna with the red hair, that album really felt like it was playing second string to Gaga or Katy in 2010-11. It was a very radio friendly album and looking back through Rihanna’s discography, that album stick out like a sore thumb and feels the least like her. I still bop to that album every now and again, especially the singles!

Also, I’d love to see a follow up poll/thread to this question asking which follow up album eras people think are weak (Born This Way, Prism, Talk That Talk, 25, Reputation, Positions).