Elvis C is too mcuh a cultist to qualify but I'll be challopsy and say Armed Forces.
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 18:54 (eleven years ago) link
he made good even great albums but it was the first time his anger felt like schtick.
yeah with culty critic's picks you get into "here's where they started sucking and we didn't notice immediately" and "here's where we should have realized they'd never expand their audience" etc etc that rely far too much on taste
― da croupier, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 18:55 (eleven years ago) link
Armed Forces does kinda fit, because at that point he was starting to look like a major star, but his momentum was slowing even before the Ray Charcles debacle
― some dude, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 18:56 (eleven years ago) link
i really don't get the sense that people were like "well it's over for EC" when Get Happy! out
― da croupier, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 18:59 (eleven years ago) link
i mean we're dealing with serious serious hindsight here
― da croupier, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:00 (eleven years ago) link
AF was his commercial peak.
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:00 (eleven years ago) link
Does Spiceworld count?
― keeping things contextual (DJP), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:01 (eleven years ago) link
Yeah, do people really think Armed Forces feels a bit hollow or signals a decline? I'm not a big EC stan at all, but I think it's a great record, and stands up. xpost
― Ermahgerd Thomas (Dan Peterson), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:02 (eleven years ago) link
Spiceworld counts, I think.
― Doctor Casino, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:03 (eleven years ago) link
It's hard for me to hear AF these days without trying to forget the literally dozens of acerbic roots-rock records he's released since I started typing this sentence.
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:05 (eleven years ago) link
that's super, but there's no reason that's a New Jersey any more than Get Happy! which charted equally but sold less, and had about equally high charting singles in the UK that are slightly less well known afaik
― da croupier, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:06 (eleven years ago) link
I don't think Costello really works for this
― frogbs, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:07 (eleven years ago) link
yeah you gotta have a slippery when wet to hope to have a new jersey
― da croupier, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:10 (eleven years ago) link
seems clear that part of the thread's purpose is to deny the premise -- it seems clearly NOT to be the case that every huge artist has a New Jersey
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:10 (eleven years ago) link
more like people like to ignore the word "huge" or allow for liberal interpretations of it
― some dude, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:13 (eleven years ago) link
along those lines, I think you can make an argument for Actual Sounds + Voices as Meat Beat Manifesto's New Jersey
― keeping things contextual (DJP), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:15 (eleven years ago) link
also 13 Above The Night for My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult
Spiceworld otoh is an excellent choice
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:17 (eleven years ago) link
what about For Those About To Rock We Salute You? AC/DC's first #1 album.
― da croupier, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:21 (eleven years ago) link
yeah that's not bad
― Elrond Hubbard (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:24 (eleven years ago) link
though....Razor's Edge brought them back to a new popularity later on
yeah but you follow back in black with an album that goes to #1 for 3 weeks...only to never hit the US top ten again for a decade. You can have a comeback, but Salute was definitely a hollow album the label said LET'S GET IT UP for
― da croupier, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:26 (eleven years ago) link
i'm sold.
― Elrond Hubbard (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:27 (eleven years ago) link
i kinda feel like challopsing the fuck out of the thread and saying The White Album
has there ever been a more hollow album in hindsight, more of a blatant sign of a career decline than the white album? I think not.
― da croupier, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:30 (eleven years ago) link
the beatles broke up because clearly the world stopped caring
i admitted i was trolling!
― Elrond Hubbard (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:33 (eleven years ago) link
Goat's Head Soup maybe--except that it outsold Exile by quite a bit.
― Listen to this, dad (President Keyes), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:35 (eleven years ago) link
Doing really well sales-wise is one of the requirements of being a New Jersey.
― Doctor Casino, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:37 (eleven years ago) link
looking at their solo careers, John avoided the New Jersey by releasing a flat-out dud (Some Time In New York City) and not quite recovering until death and someone with a better sense of what it was like to live in a world with Wings can figure out when Paul's horseshit stopped being an "event". Based on stats I can see an argument for George's Living In The Material World (esp. since I've never even heard of the #1 hit "Give Me Love".
― da croupier, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:37 (eleven years ago) link
this would probably be Dead Man's Party for Oingo Boingo
― keeping things contextual (DJP), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:40 (eleven years ago) link
the problem with finding a New Jersey for the Stones is that I don't think they've ever admitted an album wasn't a huge event yet. I can see cases for Goats heads, Undercover and Voodoo Lounge though.
― da croupier, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:42 (eleven years ago) link
I think everyone is missing the obvious here, Bizaar/Bizzar by ICP
― frogbs, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:42 (eleven years ago) link
Jewel- Spirit
― Listen to this, dad (President Keyes), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:43 (eleven years ago) link
Re: For Those About To Rock, I worked in a record store when that was released. We pre-ordered a TON of them based on Back In Black's popularity, and still had huge piles of them sale priced for a year afterwards.
― Ermahgerd Thomas (Dan Peterson), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:43 (eleven years ago) link
lol yes xpost
― da croupier, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:44 (eleven years ago) link
actually "lol yes" to that anecdote too
it's crazy looking at sales in the '80s-'90s, times really have changed
naw, The Amazing Jeckel Brothers is the pick for ICP
― keeping things contextual (DJP), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:44 (eleven years ago) link
Rock and Roll Jesus for Kid Rock?
― keeping things contextual (DJP), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:46 (eleven years ago) link
actually it seems like he's had TWO (Cocky)
― keeping things contextual (DJP), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:47 (eleven years ago) link
For Elton, does either Caribou or Rock of the Westies qualify?
― Doctor Casino, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:47 (eleven years ago) link
the problem there is that Rock'n'Roll Jesus was actually a comeback album following what was assumed to be a career decline xpost
― da croupier, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:47 (eleven years ago) link
weren't this and The Great Milenko the big ones? From what I remember Jeckel Bros. was one of the best
― frogbs, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:48 (eleven years ago) link
oh shit i forgot about his self titled album, Cocky DEFINITELY counts
FOREVER
― da croupier, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:48 (eleven years ago) link
though actually Cocky got most of its sales late in the game thanks to the belated success of "Picture"...really Kid Rock may be too wily a scamp for this
― da croupier, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:49 (eleven years ago) link
Yes it was, which is the point; we're looking for a massive album that clearly telegraphs that the band was on a full tilt slide out of vogue and is retroactively embarrassing/terrible. Bizaar/Bizzar sold less than half of what Jeckel Brothers sold.
― keeping things contextual (DJP), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:51 (eleven years ago) link
It's actually kind of amazing - Cocky is definitely the New Jersey for fans of the "my name is KIIIIIIIIIIIIIID" kid rock but ground zero for the people who love his later bullshit.
― da croupier, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:53 (eleven years ago) link
actually the Jewel comparison tracks pretty closely:
both Slippery and Pieces of You went 12x platinum in the US
New Jersey went 7x and Spirit went 4x
I can't remember a single song from Spirit
― Listen to this, dad (President Keyes), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:54 (eleven years ago) link
you don't remember "Fat Boy"?
TS: "Pieces Of You" vs "Fat Boy"
― keeping things contextual (DJP), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 19:55 (eleven years ago) link