Every huge artist has their "New Jersey" - a huge event album that ultimately feels a bit hollow & signals a career decline

also the fact that gauging multiplatinum success is easier after the riaa starting giving out the multi-platinum awards

In 1976, RIAA introduced the platinum certification, first awarded to Johnnie Taylor's single, "Disco Lady", and to the Eagles album, Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975). As music sales increased with the introduction of compact discs, the RIAA created the Multi-Platinum award in 1984. Diamond awards, honoring those artists whose sales of singles or albums reached 10,000,000 copies, were introduced in 1999.

so basically, the only pre-80s albums to have multi-platinum certification are the ones who bother to get it

pretty sure yo la tengo's 3x platinum 'summer sun' has the whiff of new jersey, and i'm not talking about hoboken

I stand by my theory that New Jerseys depend on a certain way of marketing albums over a long period of time, and effectively only existed between Thriller and MP3s, although outliers can be found.

Is it too early to declare Katy Perry's Prism a New Jersey?

hüsker dü - candy apple grey, yea?

katy perry otm

da croupier getting hella salty as this thread ages, i love it

90's US underground version of this is Jesus Lizard's Down

Candy Apple Grey for me works.....at least sonically. Real sense that it is Flip Your Wig mk2

Would be easier to say had the latter album been released, as originally planned, on Warners

remember when Flip Your Wig sold 5 million copies?

lol still

guys "event albums"

arcade fire - reflektor

Even if we say Reflektor is big enough as a record, I think it's too much of an "artistic change-up," which may disqualify it from New Jersey status. My read is that the most universally agreed-upon New Jerseys in this thread (like Afterburner), have a "more of the same" feel.

true
hate to say it but could Animal Collective's Centipede Hz be their New Jersey?

feel like you're maybe trolling the originators of this theory

ahhh ok, even though i LOVE this record, …. Gaucho by Steely Dan?

wut? they basically broke up after thet album

The Cult - Sonic Temple

last records cant be a new jersey?

i would call a 20 year break up a 'career decline'

90's US underground version of this is Jesus Lizard's Down

― Master of Treacle, viernes 23 de mayo de 2014 00:38 (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

mmmm, Girls Against Boys' House of GVSB maybe?

Wouldn't it be Freak*on*ica?

Actually, you're probably right. Freak*on*ica was the long career decline one.

no, Freak*on*ica was a gigantic misfire. New Jersey's are popular-at-the moment records that, on the surface, seem to be continuing the artist's success, but in reality are a mirage of sorts. A New Jersey is a record whose success masks that the bottom has already fallen out. Very often the big, successful singles from a New Jersey disappear from the culture at large.

Also Freak*on*ica didn't even make the top 100. It's the record where GVSB fell off, but that isn't synonymous with a New Jersey as defined throughout this thread.

Ha, yes! I figured that out though. Just posted too fast.

Freak*on*ica was really awful.

totally with you on that, such an embarrassment.

Was Sonic Youth discussed itt? I guess purist stans would say Goo was their New Jersey. I don't buy it myself (it lead off to Dirty, my fave record of theirs during the 90s) but I can see how an argument could be made for Goo as the start of SY's long creative decline.

I thought of this concept when I was listening to the actual New Jersey the other day, and you don't even have to go further than Bad Medicine to know it was all over.

Sum 41 - Chuck

I bet slightly different eras of Sonic Youth fans would argue that Goo or Dirty or Experimental Jet Set were their New Jerseys. And the people in those eras would have aged about 2 years. (I like all those records though.)

Except that they kept getting more popular during that time. Washing Machine?

Yeah, it feels like to me that SY were at peak popularity around Washing Machine/SYR eps/A Thousand Leaves, even if none of those are among their best albums.

I really need to start thinking through these things before I post. Dirty was big, and Experimental Jet Set was very much looked forward to, and they got to be on the Simpsons from that, but people didn't love it, and their popularity went down after that. So I think it's that one.

Really, I think they were much bigger before Washing Machine and post?

Dirty was probably their most commercially successful album (just guessing, I don't know for sure), but mid to late 90s is when they had completely saturated the discussion.

joan of arc's third album, man all the DJs were playing that on my college radio station and I saw one the other day and was like "lol remember that joan of arc album?" and he was like "whut?" and then I screamed "NEW JERSEY!" at him until we were both in tears

I guess Mylo Xyloto would qualify for Coldplay on sales alone but I dig it and their new one so iono

Yallsodono whether ghost stories is their keep the faith yet so hold yer damn horses

Adele's New Jersey is obviously 28

"yallsodono"

lol

For real though, Prism actually seems like a New Jersey, right? Teenage Dream sold 6 million worldwide, had 5 #1 singles (6 if you count "Part of Me" from the deluxe edition). Prism sold big initially and has had 2 #1s, but its momentum is kind of waning.

it's really hard to say when someone's huge career peak also ultimately felt a bit hollow and signaled a career decline

did you guys hear that bon jovi is putting out a deluxe edition of their New Jersey?! www.rollingstone.com/music/news/bon-jovi-celebrate-three-decades-with-extensive-new-jersey-reissue-20140520

haha they're STARTING the reissue program with New Jersey instead of Slippery When Wet?

aaaaand Dolly Parton recorded a cover of "Lay Your Hands on Me" on her new album.

i didn't think it was possible for her to cover something worse than Collective Soul's "Shine"