I've been wrestling with 7&TRT all day. Fits a load of the criteria, but... just doesn't smell like a NJ to me. Can't put my finger on why.
― mr.raffles, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 22:15 (eleven years ago) link
i was gonna say carter IV but wasn't sure
― Elrond Hubbard (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 22:18 (eleven years ago) link
FUCK by Van Halen is def a New Jersey
Blur - The Great Escape
― Ismael Klata, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 18:44 (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
aye.
― thomasintrouble, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 22:19 (eleven years ago) link
Hall and Oates - ooh yeah!
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 22:19 (eleven years ago) link
Big Bam Boom, maybe?
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 22:20 (eleven years ago) link
Those hits are still inescapable though
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 22:21 (eleven years ago) link
Bobby Brown - Bobby
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 22:22 (eleven years ago) link
i keep wanting to object to stuff because there's at least one song i hear plenty now, but i guess NJ has "Bad Medicine" so "Right Now" doesn't disqualify it
― some dude, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 22:22 (eleven years ago) link
Maybe part of being a New Jersey is undergoing some kind of shift from "oh yeah, this thing is a sales juggernaut, racking up the hits!" to a perception of "one big hit and then some other stuff." And again I think this relates a lot to subsequent decisions about what stuff gets long-term airplay, and on what stations. If there's no one out there really convinced that the four or five top-twenty but not #1 singles, they'll kind of disappear from the popular imagination to the point where you scan the back of the sleeve in the used bin and go "hrm, I only recognize one of these songs on here" even though the others all had a substantial short-term radio presence. I mean, do even dentist's offices play "I Go To Extremes" at this point? Why would you, when you've got "She's Always A Woman," "The Longest Time," and so on?
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 22:26 (eleven years ago) link
btw I hope Bon Jovi is grateful, this thread is probably the most attention New Jersey has had since 1989 or so...
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 22:27 (eleven years ago) link
er, "really convinced that the four or five top-twenty-but-not-#1-singles belong in the rotation"
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 22:28 (eleven years ago) link
i can hum "I Go To Extremes" way more readily than "She's Always A Woman"
― some dude, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 22:32 (eleven years ago) link
also, i feel like there should be some sort of thread-ring or meta-thread that connects all these thoughts, but this all grows, for me, out of things getting discussed on Modern Rock #1 Hits of 1999 , re: bands such as Matchbox 20 whose long strings of big, big hits have been cherry-picked down to one or two that fit the sonic profile of contemporary radio formats, while things like "Push," "3 AM," and "The Real World" have vanished despite being once their biggest, most inescapable songs.
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 22:32 (eleven years ago) link
i wrote a thing a while back that touched on how a lot of alt-rock records that crossed over to pop have mostly vanished from rock playlists -- like Alanis and Matchbox 20's big breakthroughs had tons of alt-rock hits but now you only hear "You Oughta Know" from the former and nothing from the latter on those stations
― some dude, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 22:36 (eleven years ago) link
That'd be a great thread in itself, Doctor!
Loads of conflict between 'hits at the time' and 'songs perceived as hits now.' Girls on Film (USA - didn't chart) vs Union of the Snake (#3, but has lost its status), etc...
― mr.raffles, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 22:38 (eleven years ago) link
The Eminem Show
― ma ck ro ma ck ro (mackro mackro), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 22:39 (eleven years ago) link
some dude - Yeah, your posts on that same thread add a lot to this picture for me. Maybe a different topic than New Jersey albums but it's an interesting phenomenon.
Sort of the inverse of songs that weren't a bands biggest hit, but have gone on to be their legacy song and biggest iTunes seller
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 22:39 (eleven years ago) link
ha yes a retroactive one-hit wonder
― goole, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 22:53 (eleven years ago) link
lol should this be the thread where i nitpick that review
― some dude, Tuesday, August 7, 2012 5:58 PM (55 minutes ago) Bookmark
sure!
or not, whatever. you can dig up a ross thread if you want or go to the goon thread.
― tauheed & cambria (J0rdan S.), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 22:55 (eleven years ago) link
This literally has me in tears right now at my desk:
incidentally, the main impact of this whole discussion for me is having "Bad Medicine" stuck in my head, also i am convinced that Bon Jovi's best hits are the ones where I can mis-hear some element of the chorus as being about Batman, as in "Your love is like Batman is in" and of course "Shot through the heart, and you're to blame / You can't run...from Bat-Man."― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, August 7, 2012 3:01 PM (48 minutes ago)
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, August 7, 2012 3:01 PM (48 minutes ago)
― alpine static, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 22:58 (eleven years ago) link
Snoop Doggy Dogg- The Doggfather
― late adopter, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 23:02 (eleven years ago) link
i think my gripe was just 'fan projects an arc onto artist that does the same thing the same way over and over with mildly varying results' so kinda the opposite of this thread ha (xpost)
― some dude, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 23:02 (eleven years ago) link
Storm Front belongs in this conversation but I gotta say I've heard "I Go To Extremes" more often in the last twenty years than "We Didn't Start The Fire." It's like no one cares about the latter after teachers exhausted our patience about its educational worth.
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 23:04 (eleven years ago) link
many xposts
The other thing Van Hagar's "Right Now" is remembered for:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c_ZRzC2SZM
― Jeremy Spencer Slid in Class Today (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 23:05 (eleven years ago) link
and Crystal Gravy!
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 23:06 (eleven years ago) link
re: "I Go To Extremes," you guys... may be right... wonder if this is regional or something, I really have probably heard "I Go To Extremes" a half-dozen times in my whole life, and a couple of those were me seeking it out to go "how does that song go again?"
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 7 August 2012 23:12 (eleven years ago) link
Incredibly brilliant thread.
Kinks - Lola v Powerman and the Money-go-round
Also (tangential to this thread), recently the AV Club ran a piece about 'dead zones', i.e. artists having a period that was at the time regarded as shithouse but actually wasn't. So very otm.
― undermikey: bidness (Autumn Almanac), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 23:15 (eleven years ago) link
(forgive bad english, sick)
speaking of, too bad Bad English doesn't apply
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 23:22 (eleven years ago) link
I loaded "I Go to Extremes" on Youtube. I've never heard this before in my life.
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 23:28 (eleven years ago) link
#3 in Canada!
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 23:29 (eleven years ago) link
Admittedly, it does seem like the sort of thing I might have heard in a store or dentist's office without paying attention.
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 7 August 2012 23:31 (eleven years ago) link
back to alterna-land:
Sonic Youth- Dirty. Came on the heels of critical fave Daydream Nation and major label debut Goo--got biggest push of their career, was their biggest seller, but I doubt people rate it as highly as their previous albums now, and the stuff that came immediately after definitely felt past-prime.
― Listen to this, dad (President Keyes), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 00:58 (eleven years ago) link
I bet Modern Rock has a lot of these. Chocolate Starfish? Creed probably has one.
― Listen to this, dad (President Keyes), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 00:59 (eleven years ago) link
The concept doesn't really work for bands that are more cultish in the first place. Besides, in my anecdotal experience, Dirty is a favourite among people my age who aren't SY devotees or indie nerds.
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 01:02 (eleven years ago) link
that's crazy
― Listen to this, dad (President Keyes), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 01:06 (eleven years ago) link
'huge artist' releasing 'huge event album' is a pretty rare thing tbh, especially lately
sonic youth were not huge by any means
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 01:17 (eleven years ago) link
New Jerseys are my bread + butter.
Some more traits of NJs:
- It's a double album or follows a double album (Clash wouldn't count because of Combat Rock. Also, I was 10 when Mellon Collie came out and I know for sure that's not a NJ. I still hear all of the singles more than one should for a NJ)
- One or more of the follow-up singles has some sort of gimmick/promotional angle to it (like the music video is tied-in to a contest/MTV movie or something)
Britney's Oops! sold less and the hits weren't as big, but I don't think it counts. It came out early 2000 (right when Teen Pop as a whole cultural thing hit critical mass with No Strings Attached) -- The genre's wave was so huge that it feels like part of the Baby era.
The first teen pop certified NJ that comes to mind is Backstreet Boys - Black & Blue. That was destined for NJ status as soon as one of BSB said it would break NSYNC's sales record.
Green Day at this point might have two NJs - Insomniac (debatable because some ppl saw it as a rush job when it came out) and 21CBD
― I Occasionally Post on ILX (2x5), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 01:20 (eleven years ago) link
yeah Backstreet and Green Day picks otm
― some dude, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 01:27 (eleven years ago) link
Blink 182's Take Off Your Pants & Jacket
Modest Mouse's "Good News For People Who Love Bad News" really feels like this for me in the non-stadium filling band category.
― joygoat, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 01:27 (eleven years ago) link
that was their big platinum breakthrough, though! the one after that would make way more sense. i heard "Dashboard" on the radio TWICE last week, which was really odd considering how quickly it disappeared after it was initially a hit.
― some dude, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 01:32 (eleven years ago) link
Diamonds and PearlsTrue ColorsThe Fat of the LandSupposed Former Infatuation Junkie
― cock chirea, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 01:38 (eleven years ago) link
I somehow believe that Echo & The Bunnymen's self-titled belongs here, but despite the wall-to-wall airplay of "Lips Like Sugar" on KROQ out here I'm not sure the sales really qualify it for NJ status.
― Elvis Telecom, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 01:39 (eleven years ago) link
The Fat of the Land is a good inclusion, though in that case the momentum it coasted on was from its own (by that point quite old) early singles.
To me The Chemical Bros' Surrender feels a bit like a New Jersey album but it's still very highly rated by lots of people, so maybe not.
― Tim F, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 01:45 (eleven years ago) link
I want to say The Cranberries' To The Faithful Departed, but (for example) even though it went 2x platinum in the US that was down from a 7x platinum performance for their second album, so it looks like most people realised straightaway that the shine had come off.
― Tim F, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 01:48 (eleven years ago) link
50 Cent - The Massacre
Anybody heard any singles from this record lately? Interscope pushed (and shoved) it through one of the earliest examples of the preplanned rerelease to 5x Platinum, and it spawned four top 10 singles, but far as I can remember no one ever loved it even when it was new.
― mobs of burly teen christgaus (thewufs), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 01:51 (eleven years ago) link
The Massacre is otm
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 02:37 (eleven years ago) link
The Caution HorsesBang!Go Bang!Internationalists
― Earth, Wind & Fire & Alabama (Eazy), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 03:11 (eleven years ago) link