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
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, 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
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, 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
I would agree All For One would be Janet's, I just don't know if the situation actually works given the whole Superbowl fiasco
Had that not happened, we could be saying that Damita Jo is her New Jersey
― keeping things contextual (DJP), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:12 (eleven years ago) link
xpost doesn't matter - River was a big hit album with practically no songs anyone gives a shit about and the follow-up was a huuge bomb. admittedly it was a classical album but hey i didn't put a gun to his head
― da croupier, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:13 (eleven years ago) link
ooh wait, would Sting's Brand New Day count?
― keeping things contextual (DJP), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:16 (eleven years ago) link
or actually Sacred Love, which I forgot existed and has a song on it that won a Grammy?
― keeping things contextual (DJP), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:18 (eleven years ago) link
I'm torn on The Eminem Show....it *should* be but I don't know, might just be a crappy followup record to a hit.
― Elrond Hubbard (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:21 (eleven years ago) link
btw guys i'm listening to New Jersey on Spotify right now
― Elrond Hubbard (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:22 (eleven years ago) link
yeah eminem show was followed by "lose yourself" so no career decline there
― da croupier, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:23 (eleven years ago) link
Hard-pressed to say that janet. was coasting on anything.
― Eric H., Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:23 (eleven years ago) link
maybe that's the one I'm thinking of. the problem is that Mercury Calling went in between that and Ten Summoner's Tales and his commercial career definitely took a hit there. for a lot of his audience it maybe was The Dream of the Blue Turtles. I think Brand New Day had those moments that were good and the singles off it did well, but there was a feeling of "this is almost certainly going to be his last big single" there
― frogbs, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:24 (eleven years ago) link
I could buy Velvet Rope being her NJ, tho, in that it did seem to announce that her era was ending (despite the album being as interesting as anything before it).
― Eric H., Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:24 (eleven years ago) link
I don't think Joel's classical album counts as a "followup" and I think the title song from River of Dreams remains pretty inescapable twenty years later.
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:25 (eleven years ago) link
― da croupier, Tuesday, August 7, 2012 2:23 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
oops yeah forgot about 8 Mile....which is weird because in a way that movie and single is *actually* his high watermark in terms of dominating the culture, even moreso than albums that sold more...
― Elrond Hubbard (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:27 (eleven years ago) link
i dunno if sting ever had a "everybody bought that and no one knows why" moment on his way to the "nobody cares but your mom" zone.
― da croupier, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:30 (eleven years ago) link
I can't decide if it's Kid A or the one that came after it.
In strictly commercial terms, Kid A would be the closest (unless it wasn't big enough to qualify) :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiohead_discography
OK Computer was 3x platinum in the UK and Canada, 2x platinum in the US. Kid A went platinum in all three countries. Amnesiac and every subsequent album only went gold in the US (although Thief went platinum in the UK and they continued to maintain platinum sales in Canada).
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:30 (eleven years ago) link
yeah i don't think it passes the "ultimately feels a bit hollow" test
― da croupier, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:31 (eleven years ago) link
Radiohead's New Jersey is probably Hail to the Thief
― Elrond Hubbard (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:35 (eleven years ago) link
it's not all sales or charts or singles guys....a "New Jersey" is a *feeling* too
Y E S
― mr.raffles, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:36 (eleven years ago) link
Well, yeah, in that sense, I don't think Radiohead has had a New Jersey. In Rainbows is their best work imo.
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:37 (eleven years ago) link
yeah, it's REAL HARD for a critical favorite to have one of these, otherwise they wouldn't be a critical favorite
― da croupier, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:39 (eleven years ago) link
Love this thread btw. New Jersey was the first album I ever got (that wasn't e.g. something taped off my Mum's friend's kid or something). IIRC, the local album rock station played the whole thing when it came out. Even then, I think I kind of felt that it was an event yet not quite the same as "You Give Love a Bad Name" and "Livin' on a Prayer".
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:39 (eleven years ago) link
trying to figure out which Garth Brooks record was his New Jersey...probably Sevens? 10x platinum, but when's the last time you heard "Longneck Bottle" (a #1) on the radio? Plus it's followed by a live album & the Chris Gaines thing.
― Euler, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:40 (eleven years ago) link
yeah that sounds right
― da croupier, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:40 (eleven years ago) link
It's too soon to give a nod to Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown but if that new single is any sign of where they're headed, jesus
― da croupier, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:41 (eleven years ago) link
Is it that a NJ feels a little bit hollow or makes you feel that everything before it was also hollow and you just didn't notice it until NJ came along?
― Eric H., Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:42 (eleven years ago) link
the former, I think. Latter seems overly personal an experience.
― da croupier, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 19:43 (eleven years ago) link