Albums where the biggest hit has fizzled out?

[iHype.]

I was looking up random Spotify numbers and noticed “Problem” gets the least streams of the 5 hit singles from Ariana’s sophomore album today.

What other albums had the biggest hit at the time fizzle out to other singles long term? I’m not talking about just 1 other single from the album now doing better, but many of them.

Another arguable one would be Drake’s Take Care, the title track was the highest peaking single and is generally less remembered and revisited than Marvin’s Room, Headlines, and The Motto these days.

[rnb]

anti by rihanna. all the singles get more streams than work (and woo cuz of that tiktok trend earlier this year) except maybe kiss it better? but they’re close, which is pretty weird for a #1 single vs what, #60? odd indeed

[rainie]

oooh cool thread idea ! though i personally don't know about take care being less remembered then the other singles from the era -- i remember hearing it incessantly on chr as a recurrent and even if that isn't still the case, it feels at least a bit more well remembered then headlines and a lot more well remembered then hyfr, which i don't think you mentioned but iirc was technically a single ? also i wonder how much of problem's lack of streaks has to do with iggy azalea being on the only version of the track lmao

speaking of ariana. y'all think dangerous woman counts for this too ? disregarding the flop single everyday, into you is (last i checked) still heralded as an underrated slice of pop perfection and side to side feels like one of her biggest tracks pre-sweetener / thank u next. meanwhile the title track feels ,,,, just there ??

edit: just realized the title said biggest single not lead single ,,,, in that case perhaps one of usher's many edm singles from the early 2000s ? cant imagine many people still bumpin scream, for example, even if it was by far the biggest song from the album at the time

[#brayden]

I think Lover might apply here. The title track and "The Man" receive more daily streams than the first two singles which have higher peaks on the official charts.

[Au$tin]

Up until the TikTok resurgence last year, Meghan Trainor's Me Too was consistently outstreaming NO.

Similarly, up until its TikTok resurgence last year, Demi Lovato's Cool for the Summer was being outstreamed by both Confident and, shockingly, Stone Cold.

Of course neither of those are the case anymore, though.

[iHype.]

"One Sweet Day" is also a highlight example of this, trailing behind "Fantasy" and "Always Be My Baby" nowadays despite being the ultimate smash of the album at the time.

Also this has more to do with Billboard's messy 90s charts and the industry airplay-only singles era, but it also annoys me how Aaliyah's "The One I Gave My Heart To" was her only top 10 single from her sophomore album when "One In A Million", "If Your Girl Only Knew", and "Hot Like Fire" all have pretty much always seemed bigger and are more revisited today.

[johnm1120]

I'll do a couple for Celine:

A New Day Has Come: While the title track was the main hit (and at one time record breaking #1 on AC) "I'm Alive" has more than double its streams and is also her most viewed video on Youtube.

The Colour of My Love: Despite being a top 20 and being a #1 Dance hit, 3 random album tracks are out streaming "Misled."

Celine Dion: "If You Asked Me To" was the biggest hit, but "Beauty & the Beast" has 10 times its streams. The next biggest song is a random track (I Love You Goodbye).


And a couple for Mariah:

Music Box: Dreamlover is nowhere near the level of "Hero" or "Without You."

Glitter: "Lead the Way" is outstreaming "Loverboy."

[#brayden]

I thought of another one that sort of applies here but also sort of doesn't. I believe "When We Were Young" and a couple other album tracks ("Love in the Dark" and "All I Ask") are currently outdoing "Hello" in daily streams. I think "Hello" still does more daily than the other two singles though.

[kcdawg13]

Bad by Michael Jackson has 5 #1 singles and none of them are Smooth Criminal, which only reached #7. However Smooth Criminal is by far the biggest song from that album and one of Jackson's most recognizable songs. It's in his Top 5 most streamed songs on Spotify while not a single other track from Bad is there.

[iHype.]

Jan 27, 2023 12:12:16 GMT -5 kcdawg13 said:

Bad by Michael Jackson has 5 #1 singles and none of them are Smooth Criminal, which only reached #7. However Smooth Criminal is by far the biggest song from that album and one of Jackson's most recognizable songs. It's in his Top 5 most streamed songs on Spotify while not a single other track from Bad is there.

The album with the most #1's having its most remembered song today being... a non #1 is hilarious irony.

[jenglisbe]

In terms of Hot 100 peaks, both "Open Arms" (#2 and Journey's highest peaking song) and "Who's Crying Now" (#4) were bigger hits off Journey's Escape than "Don't Stop Believing," but "DSB" is obviously truly iconic now.

[Private Dancer]

Karyn White had The Way You Love Me and Superwoman and Superwoman is her signature song, thanks to the urban community (her biggest R&B/Hip Hop song).

Pebbles's Always biggest song from the album was Giving You The Benefit, yet Love Makes Things Happen is her most popular song (thanks to the urban community also her biggest R&B hit)

[iHype.]

Chris Brown's "Kiss Kiss" also. It was his only #1 from his sophomore era yet "With You", "Forever", and "No Air" are more revisited today despite the #2/#3 peaks.

Carrie Underwood's debut album included her American Idol #1 single "Inside Your Heaven", yet all the singles for the album have more streams than it.

NSYNC's No Strings Attached only had "It's Gonna Be Me" reach #1, yet "Bye Bye Bye" and "This I Promise You" have more streams today even despite the former becoming a meme.

[iHype.]

Kanye's "Slow Jamz" was also the only #1 hit from his debut album, yet "All Falls Down", "Jesus Walks", and "Through The Wire" have more streams today.

Also, it's always been so interesting that "Pump It" is the most streamed song from Black Eyed Peas sophomore album when it was the lowest peaking single (#18). It has more streams than "My Humps" and "Don't Phunk With My Heart" combined (both peaked #3).

[johnm1120]

Austin Mahone's biggest hit was "Mmmm Yeah" but is currently being beaten by a ballad from the EP "All I Ever Need."


Sarah McLachlan - Afterglow: 2 of the album's singles (Stupid & World on Fire) are behind a random track (Answer)

Sarah McLachlan - Shine On: A random album track (Song for My Father) is the most streamed song on the album.

[bat1990]

How is "Back That Up To The Beat" faring against the other Madame X tracks with its resurgence?

[Daenerys]

Hold It Against Me is the least streamed single off of Femme Fatale. Every other single from the project has more total streams by comparison. Also relates to the Hot 100 -- HIAM is Femme Fatale's only #1 hit.

[Au$tin]

Feb 7, 2023 14:00:58 GMT -5 Daenerys said:

Hold It Against Me is the least streamed single off of Femme Fatale. Every other single from the project has more total streams by comparison. Also relates to the Hot 100 -- HIAM is Femme Fatale's only #1 hit.

And on that note, the album's worst performing single, "Criminal," is currently the most streamed on Spotify.

[jimijoop]

Not a US artist but Indila - Mini world.

Derniere danse was the most successful song of the album and it was a big hit in a number of European countries yet Tourner dans le vide (which charted only in France & Belgium) is the song which currently gets the most daily streams on Spotify.

The same thing happened also in 2022 with Love story & Ainsi bas la vida since both songs went viral on tiktok in the same year.

[Au$tin]

Here's another good one.

Teenage Dream's singles were all hits, let's be real, but some were obviously bigger than others. I'd say, in order of most successful to "least" successful during their runs, it would look something like this:
1. Firework
2. E.T.
3. California Gurls
4. Last Friday Night
5/6. Part of Me
5/6. Teenage Dream
7. Wide Awake
8. The One That Got Away

And yet, what if I told you that the lowest one, "The One That Got Away," is actually the third most streamed track of all time on Spotify, behind, the obvious, "Firework" and, the surprise, "Last Friday Night," which actually barely squeaks above "Firework" when combined with its remix. But it gets even crazier. The acoustic version of "The One That Got Away" has a lot of streams too, and when combined, pushes it to the most streamed track from the album. And crazier still, currently the original "The One That Got Away" is gaining more streams than all the other singles. When combined with its acoustic version, TOTGA will assuredly be the second Katy Perry song to cross 1 billion streams on Spotify. And hell, at the rate things are going, the original version will likely be the second or third track to cross the billion mark. Also, despite being one the album's biggest hits, "E.T.," even with the combined Kanye remix, falls below the streams of all the other five main album singles and only barely stays ahead of "Part of Me" from the deluxe. "Wide Awake" is in last place of all the singles, which is probably the only part of this all that makes sense.

TD's singles ranked by Spotify streams
1. Firework 790,872,857
2. Last Friday Night 773,636,871
3. The One That Got Away 619,878,353
4. California Gurls 582,335,337
5. Teenage Dream 516,382,614
6. Part of Me 370,193,693
7. E.T. 251,859,593
8. Wide Awake 233,359,575

And when combining all remixes and alternate versions:
1. The One That Got Away 891,038,217
2. Last Friday Night 792,710,028
3. Firework 791,470,999
4. California Gurls 586,877,259
5. Teenage Dream 534,436,284
6. E.T. 455,788,928
7. Part of Me 373,343,127
8. Wide Awake 233,361,554


And another one I just thought of: Demi Lovato's Unbroken. It spawned two singles, "Skyscraper" and "Give Your Heart a Break." "Skyscraper" shot straight to #1 on iTunes upon release due to its themes and managed to debut at #10 on the Hot 100, becoming her second top ten entry ever after "This Is Me" from Camp Rock. However, the track fizzled pretty quickly. While it did become her first charting song on the pop airplay charts, it didn't even make the top 30. It fell off of the Hot 100 after only 15 weeks and never even had a second week inside the top 50 at all. "Give Your Heart a Break," however, is the track that broke Demi into the mainstream for real. It didn't have quite as high a peak on the Hot 100 as "Skyscraper," peaking only at #16, but it lasted much longer on the chart, clocking 32 weeks on with 26 of them being inside the top 50 (versus "Skyscraper"'s one). "Give Your Heart a Break" also went all the way to #1 on the pop airplay charts and to this day is still one of the longest charting tracks before reaching the summit. "Give Your Heart a Break" is also certified 3x platinum to "Skyscraper"'s sole platinum status. So, despite the peaks, "Give Your Heart a Break" is clearly the bigger hit through its initial run.

And yet... they're pretty close together in total streams on Spotify. It can also easily be argued that "Skyscraper," in the long run, has wound up having the more lasting impact and might even be the more easily recognized track of the two in some countries. This could be in large part due to The X Factor winner, Sam Bailey, releasing a cover version of the song as her winning single and taking it to #1 in the UK and Ireland just two years after Demi's original was released. In fact, thanks to Sam's cover, "Skyscraper" actually recharted in the UK and even earned it a significantly higher peak (#32 in 2011 versus #7 in 2013). The track has become a fairly noteworthy staple on singing talent shows both professionally and locally while "Give Your Heart a Break" has sort of become just a footnote on Demi's career. Rarely is it ever brought up in discussion or played as a gold track. It's very similar to Miley's big first mainstream hit, "See You Again," in the way it just sort of disappeared from the collective conscious, though not nearly as bad as "See You Again" did.

[rainie]

^^ really good examples ! the one thing i'll note is that totgo is the one teenage dream era track (that i know of) to be semi big on tik tok, which is likely why it has such high numbers, though i wasn't necessarily expecting it to still be gaining more then the others. would be curious to know how it was doing pre tik tok boost (so circa 2021 or so ?) since it felt SUPER forgotten before then

[jimijoop]

Madonna - MDNA:

Girl gone wild is more remembered and streamed nowadays than Give me all your luvin (Madonna's last US TOP10 hit)

Fan fact: Madonna's 3 10s singles Bitch I'm Madonna, Girl Gone Wild & even Medellin surpassed Give me all your luvin in terms of daily streams.....

[Luckie Starchild]

What are the Spotify numbers for Hall & Oates' #1 single "Kiss On My List," from their album Voices? "You Make My Dreams," from the same album, hit #5 and seems to have greater longevity, I think.

[Au$tin]

Apr 10, 2023 8:48:35 GMT -5 Luckie Starchild said:

What are the Spotify numbers for Hall & Oates' #1 single "Kiss On My List," from their album Voices? "You Make My Dreams," from the same album, hit #5 and seems to have greater longevity, I think.

By a long shot!

Kiss on My List 71,656,330
You Make My Dreams (Come True) 764,096,347

Over ten times the amount of worldwide streams!

[Luckie Starchild]

^^ Wow, thanks!

[johnm1120]

M2M who had hits over here with "Don't Say You Love Me" and "Mirror Mirror" are both way behind songs "Pretty Boy" and "The Day You Went Away" on streams. Both have double DSYLM's numbers.

[tekkenguy]

Speed of Sound by Coldplay is virtually forgotten these days compared to Fix You.

[avamaxstan]

This has become super common now in the streaming/TikTok era, as the younger generation naturally gravitates to certain older songs without any knowledge or concern of how successful it was originally. I love it, as often the big obvious hit from an era often overshadows the better quality tracks.

[johnm1120]

Ace of Base:

"Happy Nation" which barely scraped the top 40 in the UK has more than triple the spins of "Living in Danger" and almost double "Wheel of Fortune." Currently it's their 2nd most streamed song weekly.

"Life is a Flower" has more than double the streams of "Cruel Summer."

[🇯🇲 lucy88 🇯🇲]

I guess with Janet.."When I Think Of You". It was her first and only #1 single from "Control", yet it feels like "Nasty", "What Have You Done For Me Lately", "Let's Wait Awhile", and "The Pleasure Principle" made a much bigger impact.