Career Killing Albums

Today's topic is a little weird, so try to follow me along as I delve into it. 

Actually, I'll start with a little story: I was in Florida last week, and on the drive down there I played Alanis Morisette's "All I Really Want" in the car, much to the disdain of my dad. I changed it soon after and explained that I understood my dad's disliking of her, as her voice is pretty awkwardly used and her snarls can get in the way of her music. My Aunt Maria noted that while Alanis is not suited for everyone, there have been multiple female musicians trying to copy her since she exploded onto the mainstream in 1995. 

I thought about that for a second, and there were two big things I thought of: the first was yeah, everyone had tried to re-create "Jagged Little Pill" in some way or another since its release, since it was such a monumental smash. It sold 33 million copies and produced six successful singles that dominated the radio waves for the next three years. It wasn't a perfect album, but it was a phenomenon that transcended upon its arrival, and gave women everywhere the courage to stand up to their cheating boyfriends (while serving chicken soup for the soul to everyone else). Now here's the second thought I had: what happened to Alanis after "Jagged Little Pill" lost headway? Would the masses even realize that she's made five other albums since then (and she also made two before it, but only released them in Canada)? And what about all of her other singles like "Thank U", "Hands Clean", "Everything", and "Guardian"? Why didn't they receive the massive airplay her "Jagged Little Pill" singles did? Was it because they're not as good as her earlier work? Was the timing just all wrong? Alanis actually faded into the background after "Jagged" became successful, but why did she? 

The answer may surprise you. The reason why I titled this post "Career Killing Albums" is because of albums like "Jagged Little Pill". There are three types of career killers: 1) Those that are wildly successful and end up obscuring the artist entirely, 2) Those that are ok but not as good as an artist's previous work and make it hard for them to make a comeback, 3) Those that are poor, that make the artist seem like a passing fad and not a worthy investment anymore. "Jagged Little Pill", as you've already guessed, is a first category album. And those are the ones that suck the most, when a career defining album comes along and it takes the artist to new heights, but it's also a double-edged sword, meaning that one particular album is deemed so great by the public, they basically say the artist will never, ever be able to top it. Such is the case with Alanis and "Jagged", because her following albums were not bad, they weren't as anthemic, but they were still solid rock-pop records. Her next album, 1998's "Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie" sold a poultry fraction of what its predecessor did, and its follow up, 2002's "Under Rug Swept", sold even less. Alanis is a fine artist, and quality is not an indicator for her albums' lack of success...it's just that "Jagged Little Pill" is an album so formidable, no one, not even she, would've been able to re-create it.

Another example of a first category career killer is Usher's "Confessions". We all know that album as well, since it dominated the charts in 2004, spawned four worldwide chart-topping singles, and it sold 20 million copies globally. You couldn't go anywhere without hearing Usher, and he maintained his strong popularity well into 2005. There's little doubt that the reason why it was so successful is not only because it contained so many great singles, but because the public thought the album was an exclusive inside-look to Usher's much publicized relationship with Chilli from TLC. Usher has stated adamantly that the album was not about Chilli, but the public thought otherwise, and were intrigued because of it. Unfortunately, they weren't interested for much longer, as Usher married Tameka Foster and did not make any more music for another four years. Unfortunately, what struck Alanis soon hit Usher, as his next album "Here I Stand" arrived in 2008 and sold a quarter of what "Confessions" did. 2010's "Raymond vs. Raymond" sold even less, and 2012's "Looking 4 Myself" has sold less than a million copies. As far as singles go, each album only spawned one true hit, the rest were somewhat present in the mainstream, but were largely forgotten. It's kind of sad to see an artist so wildly successful as Usher struggle to sell even a couple copies of his albums or songs now.

But enough with first category albums, what about the second category ones? For this we will venture to Christina Aguilera, who had not one, but two career killing albums of the second category. The first was 2006's "Back to Basics", it wasn't bad by any means, and had a chunk of good songs, but its endless balladry and annoying over-singing (not to mention it was all inflated over two discs), made it near impossible to sit through beginning to end. Also, there's the obvious problem of making a neo-Motown and neo-Jazz record without a hint of a modern twist: it's not going to keep the ever-changing masses satisfied for very long. And unfortunately for us, Christina let the album run its course for a full four years, only releasing one modern single (2008's "Keeps Getting Better") in the middle of its run. It was a commercial stumble, as it sold a third of what "Stripped" did. But if that wasn't bad enough, its follow up was 2010's "Bionic", which was "Back to Basics"'s opposite. It contained mostly synth-pop, with some acoustic ballads thrown into the middle. It too wasn't a complete failure, but it seemed that Christina was losing steam, and this turned "Bionic" into a cold, faceless product that proved that if Christina's not over-singing, she's dull and uninspired. That's a pretty dangerous place to be, especially when you're trying to keep your career afloat. "Back to Basics" built a coffin, and "Bionic" nailed Christina to it. With "Bionic" selling less than 1 million copies, it would seem that there was nowhere to go but up. Actually, the opposite happened, Christina somehow found a way to sink further than six feet into the ground. This fact was proven when 2012's "Lotus" hit stores. It was a marked improvement over its predecessors and had some of her catchiest songs (including the monster record "Your Body"), but after the double whammy of "Back to Basics" and "Bionic", the public was over it; "Lotus" sold less than 500,000 copies and spawned two singles that failed to become hits. It's such a letdown too, as Christina started off red-hot and inescapable, but now has found herself below the nadir of her career.

Now time for those oh-so-great third category albums, the ones that made you think: "Come on, just throw in the towel already". For this one, we really have no choice but to look at Madonna. She is the best-selling female artist of all time and at one point could lift a finger and sell millions of records, while re-defining the mainstream and inspire legions of upcoming female artists. So what exactly happened to her? Her last album, "MDNA", is her worst-seller, and spawned one mild hit. She is publicized for her fashion choices more than her music nowadays. Where and when did she go wrong? She, along with Christina, was plagued by two career killers. The first one was the second category "American Life", which arrived in 2003. It's message was clear, it had purpose and ambition, but it was a musical cluster. Madonna's organic sentiments just didn't mesh with Mirwais Ahmadzai's house-heavy productions. And come on, was America really going to warm up to an album that called them out on their vapid lifestyles? It may have debuted at number one, but "American Life" was a flop, selling 4 million copies. Now, Madonna was able to revive her career (somewhat) with 2005's "Confessions on a Dance Floor" (which was by far her best release in the 2000s). It sold 12 million copies and produced her biggest hit "Hung Up". But once 2006 was half-way through, "Confessions" subsided and once again left Madonna back in obscurity. Obviously, she wasn't going to achieve the same success in the US after "American Life", but the rest of the world was more than welcome to a Madge comeback. 

But then came 2008. That's a year where all media (music, tv, and movies) hit rock-bottom, with everybody sinking to the crass, vulgar, and repugnant to sell themselves. Of all people to sell out that year, Madonna was probably the most painful casualty. She turned 50, but instead of growing up she sexed up, and created the overwrought (not to mention embarrassingly crude) "Hard Candy". That's a third category album of the highest degree (or lowest, depending on how you look at it). It was littered with songs that didn't do Madonna, Pharrell, Timbaland, or Justin Timberlake any justice to any of their careers. "Hard Candy" picked up where "American Life" left off, and it marked the beginning of the end for Madonna's once illustrious career. The mainstream wasn't buying her "I can still twerk at 50!" image, and "Hard Candy" sold a sliver more than "American Life" (4.5 million copies). Of all the artists to have their careers fall beneath their feet, Madonna is probably the biggest tragedy of them all. You see, a woman as influential and as innovative as her could have continued the trend she started on "Ray of Light" and to continually refine her music and image. Sadly, the siren call of fame proved too strong, even for her. 

Obviously, there are many more examples of career killing-albums, but you get the idea. You can never really tell when an artist will put out their worst (or absolute best) album, but even so, I can't help but wonder if it's solely the artist's fault. Maybe the mainstream is just too demanding, since it now takes alot of effort (or complete laziness) to get a song or album sold. Either way, when an artist who was at one time sooo successful, but is now fighting to be relevant comes along, you really can't help but feel a bit sorry for them.