fwiw, i think keeping this to giant hits a la REM, U2, Def Leppard, etc., makes more sense than something like Frank Black's solo albums...i mean it's hard to even fathom shoehorning "NJ" status on like The Cult of Ray
― alpine static, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 18:34 (eleven years ago) link
Tho in that case, the problem was that it deviated too far from its predecessor. So "coasting off the last one" isn't really in play.
― Eric H., Tuesday, 7 August 2012 18:34 (eleven years ago) link
and by Cult of Ray I meant Teenager of the Year
― alpine static, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 18:35 (eleven years ago) link
Also, "Rush Rush" gets played about as often as "Opposites Attract" and "The Way That You Love Me" these days, so *shrug*
― Eric H., Tuesday, 7 August 2012 18:36 (eleven years ago) link
I can't decide if it's Kid A or the one that came after it.
― Clarke B.
You're probably joking but anyhoo:Hail to the Thief did pretty good on sales and even though we don't know actual sales numbers 'In Rainbows' but it seemed like a big thing at the time. 'Nude' hitted the Top 40 charts (something which they hadn't managed since High and Dry) and it did pretty good with fans and critics. If anything The King of Limbs might be it but you'll have to wait for the next album to be sure.
― Moka, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 18:36 (eleven years ago) link
I think Ministry bricked too hard to qualify here otherwise I'd totally be repping Filth Pig
― keeping things contextual (DJP), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 18:36 (eleven years ago) link
Some people in this thread are confusing the difference between an album they consider bad versus one that gave the overall perception that it was over. I never said Bossanova or Monster were bad albums, I actually like them a lot.
― Moka, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 18:38 (eleven years ago) link
But do you think Bossanova gave the overall perception that it was over? If anything I think Trompe Le Monde did that.
― alpine static, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 18:39 (eleven years ago) link
which it was, of course. sort of. for a while.
cult acts have a different but similar arc involving albums that seemed like potential breakthroughs that weren't in hindsight, shit like that deserves its own thread
― da croupier, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 18:40 (eleven years ago) link
the ministry pick should be psalm 69 if you were an OG wax trax head but the sales numbers throw that one out, no?
xp hm lotta rules to this thing
― goole, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 18:41 (eleven years ago) link
well as an OG Wax Trax head I'd actually say A Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste is the answer but I know no one agrees with me; I did have Psalm 69 in there originally but for whatever reason a lot of people still like that thing
― keeping things contextual (DJP), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 18:42 (eleven years ago) link
But do you think Bossanova gave the overall perception that it was over?
I do, and I think you see a lot of Bossanova in used-CD racks a la Monster.
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 18:42 (eleven years ago) link
someone should have told spin
― da croupier, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 18:43 (eleven years ago) link
also u2
a lot of people in 1991 missed that the pixies were in decline
I think Bossa gave the perception that they'd only likely be a marginal concern going forward, rather than breaking through into the mainstream.In the slipstream of Doolittle, it kinda seemed anything was possible.
That WOULD be a nice separate thread.
― mr.raffles, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 18:43 (eleven years ago) link
Skimming 180+ posts, has anyone said Autoamerican? And does it qualify? Boatloads of people bought it for "Rapture," but many of my early-adopter Blondie-loving friends couldn't really hang with the lounge jazz or the pretensions of a lot of it.
― David Allan Cow (Dan Peterson), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 18:45 (eleven years ago) link
Tool - Lateralus
― Legendary General Cypher Raige (Gukbe), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 18:46 (eleven years ago) link
any album from this list of albums that sold less than half of their predecessors, including Filth Pig, should probably be out of contention: commercially disappointing major label rock/alternative albums of 1996
― some dude, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 18:47 (eleven years ago) link
Janet Jackson's last blockbuster from her 5 album run of being huge, All For You, probably deserves a mention
― some dude, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 18:49 (eleven years ago) link
I was trying to do Billy Joel, but I'm stymied by the fact that his last two records, which I think of as well past the point where he was at all relevant, were both massive hits and went to #1.
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 18:50 (eleven years ago) link
xpost Totally! Can't believe I didn't think of that one.
― Eric H., Tuesday, 7 August 2012 18:51 (eleven years ago) link
I'm stymied by the fact that his last two records, which I think of as well past the point where he was at all relevant, were both massive hits and went to #1.
That's part of the definition for being a New Jersey. That they were actually massive in every way but relevance.
― Eric H., Tuesday, 7 August 2012 18:52 (eleven years ago) link
Storm Front's singles have too much staying power to count, and River Of Dreams might be disqualified for not having a follow-up
― some dude, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 18:53 (eleven years ago) link
Janet Jackson is a slightly unfair case because IMO what actually torpedoed her career was having Justin Timberlake expose her breast piercing to everyone watching the Superbowl halftime show rather than everyone deciding that everything was over when All For You came out, plus the placement for the singles off of it isn't really surprising/shocking
it also didn't help that large chunks of Damita Jo were terrible
― keeping things contextual (DJP), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 18:53 (eleven years ago) link
Yeah, sad as it is I think "We Didn't Start The Fire" and "This is the Time" are both part of BJ's permanent record.
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 18:56 (eleven years ago) link
Surely Load is the Metallica entry. Loads of hype, huge event, biggest first week seller of the year (and Metallica's career), and then people listened to the thing and went "...eh." It's not a bad album but the magic is gone, and everything since has been awful.
― Leonard Pine, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 18:57 (eleven years ago) link
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Tuesday, August 7, 2012 1:50 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
billy joel is kind of weird because he was very popular in multiple decades and sort of distinctive eras....like the "Uptown Girl: A Tribute to 80's Billy Joel" joke in Step Brothers....
it's like, if Graceland existed in a vacuum in Paul Simon's career, Rhythm of the Saints might be a New Jersey, but obviously you'd have to ignore the rest of his career....
― Elrond Hubbard (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 18:59 (eleven years ago) link
but yeah Use Your Illusion 1 & 2 is sort of so accurate to this thread I'm shocked it took that long to get posted, and why didn't I think of that?
― Elrond Hubbard (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:00 (eleven years ago) link
how about "the next Fun. album"
― alpine static, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:00 (eleven years ago) link
it is an endless source of amusement to me that Billy Joel has an album called Storm Front
I keep wanting to googleproof the name
― keeping things contextual (DJP), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:01 (eleven years ago) link
― keeping things contextual (DJP), Tuesday, August 7, 2012 2:53 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark
i think the latter is key here -- the Justin thing didn't help but i don't really envision some scenario where Damito Jo was a success, none of those songs were ever gonna be chart-topping smash hits.
― some dude, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:01 (eleven years ago) link
Oh btw I'll defer to a goon expert on this for a ruling but I feel like T.I. probably has a New Jersey but I'm not quite sure which one it is.
― Elrond Hubbard (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:02 (eleven years ago) link
wouldn't the Velvet Rope be Janet Jackson's New Jersey?
re: Metallica - Load
I remember people being pretty much immediately disappointed with Load, which doesn't really fit the definition of a New Jersey.
xxxxxpost
― aspiring barkitect (silverfish), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:03 (eleven years ago) link
T.I. Vs. T.I.P. would be a New Jersey in that it sold well without anyone really liking it or remembering the singles but then Paper Trail came next and was huge
― some dude, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:03 (eleven years ago) link
incidentally i have a friend who, anytime Bon Jovi is mentions, says something about how huge New Jersey was and every time i'm like "uh pretty sure you mean Slippery When Wet"
Ha yes, the Use Your Illusions out-New Jersey New Jersey
― Ismael Klata, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:03 (eleven years ago) link
could the new Rick Ross be his New Jersey or was that the last one?
― Elrond Hubbard (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:04 (eleven years ago) link
I'm probably SO wrong, but for Janet, I'd probably go with "janet."
Looking at the list of singles on wiki, there's a lot of "eh?" there (for me)... and, in the US at least, her follow-up albums/singles didn't feel as effortlessly culturally relevant.
I feel like I believe this, but also feel like I'm grasping a bit. hahaha
― mr.raffles, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:04 (eleven years ago) link
People were really into Use Your Illusion 1 & 2. Everybody was listening to it and it was all over the radio. But these days when people think about 1991-1992 they just remember Nirvana/Pearl Jam/etc.
― aspiring barkitect (silverfish), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:05 (eleven years ago) link
They released 10 singles from the Use Your Illusions.
― aspiring barkitect (silverfish), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:06 (eleven years ago) link
listening to Damita Jo right now, I'm kind of getting the sense that aside from "All Nite (Don't Stop)" they actively chose some of the worst songs on the album to release as singles
I say "some of" because at least they had the sense to not try to release "Strawberry Bounce" as a single
also it's pretty well documented from Janet's/Jermaine's side that the label basically treated them like pariahs and didn't support the album at all after the Superbowl incident, which was only two months before the album was released (and it didn't help that, in the wake of a national nudity scandal, Janet released an album full of "oh hey guess what, everything is dirty dirty sex!" songs)
― keeping things contextual (DJP), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:06 (eleven years ago) link
― aspiring barkitect (silverfish), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 20:03 (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Ah, but they still bought it! Singles performed well too.
― Leonard Pine, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:07 (eleven years ago) link
also maybe this is an R&B radio vs pop radio thing but Janet was basically omnipresent and inescapable right up until the Superbowl, after which she basically disappeared without a trace until "All Nite (Don't Stop)" got some grudging video play because it's so awesome; she didn't reappear as an artist anyone cared about until "Feedback" and that only lasted for about three weeks
― keeping things contextual (DJP), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:09 (eleven years ago) link
Did you know SUPPOSED FORMER INFATUATION JUNKIE went triple platinum?
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:09 (eleven years ago) link
Although thinking about it I guess Load never did have that THIS IS GREAT! IT REALLY IS! thing going for it before everyone collectively forgot about it.
― Leonard Pine, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:10 (eleven years ago) link
i would definitely include River Of Dreams. All For You is Janet's if she has one - I like the hits but they do seem slight compared to previous albums.
― da croupier, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:11 (eleven years ago) link
Argument against River of Dreams: would anyone at the time have thought it likely that it was Joel's last record?
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:12 (eleven years ago) link