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Worst mainstream album titles?


StrawberryBlond

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StrawberryBlond

I said recently that the title and cover art of an album is probably the most important thing about your era. More even than the lead single. More even than promotion. You'll notice if you look up the titles of albums with bad titles and covers and how they fail to sell as well as the ones with good titles and covers. There are some exceptions, obviously, but they're rare. Bad album covers are frequently mentioned in online articles, but not so much the titles, so I decided to focus on that. Controversial album covers can sell (sometimes, the controversy of having to change the art for that very reason is what draws attention to them) but a bad album title can overshadow the entire era and make it impossible to get the ball rolling because no one can get past it. I decided to just talk about mainstream titles because there's a helluva lot of awful titles on the indie scenes for shock value, so I think that's a different thing. And in mainstream music, the idea is to appeal to everyone, so a bad album title is really inexcusable.

So, in no particular order, here's my opinion of the worst mainstream album titles ever made (you'll notice the way they fall after the first two is the same way as some entries from an NME article about this very subject and that's because it is!)...

Nicole Scherzinger - Big Fat Lie

Tove Lo - Lady Wood

R. Kelly - Chocolate Factory (released a year after his sex scandal), Black Panties

Beyonce - B'Day (for those who don't see it, it's pronounced like 'bidet').

Will Smith - Big Willie Style, Willenium

Charlotte Church - Tissues And Issues (as NME said, it reminds you of a teenage boy's bedroom)

Limp Bizkit - Chocolate Starfish And The Hotdog Flavoured Water

Elton John - Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy

Mariah Carey - Me. I Am Mariah...The Elusive Chanteuse

Paul McCartney - Kisses On The Bottom

 

Apart from the former R Kelly album, Beyonce's, Will's, Limp Bizkit's and Elton's, none of these albums had any massive success. So, do you think there's something in this theory of a bad album title being the ultimate decider in if your album will sell or not? List your worst offenders here. And remember, this is purely about the album title, not its cover or its contents.

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sweet spot

I don't know the worst, but I think Ellie Goulding's album titles are always good - specially Halcyon and Delirium.

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JustAnotherDay

I think the album cover is the MOST important part in people discovering your music. A bland album cover won't attract people to it when they see it on itunes/in the store. A title is important but it doesn't matter if someone doesn't pick up your album in the first place.

was NickARTPOP
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I think every Mariah Carey album has a cringey name, specially "Emancipation of Mimi"

If you see me posting like crazy, I'm either bored or procrastinating.
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DeleteMyAccount

I thought B'Day was successful. And I don't get the pronunciation. 

Believe - JB is kind of bland

 

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26 minutes ago, StrawberryBlond said:

Mariah Carey - Me. I Am Mariah...The Elusive Chanteuse

This title made me actually laugh  :sharon: I mean cmon girl 

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"Jezus iz a biskweeeet!" [Kenya Michaels]
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LaLuna

inb4 someone says Joanne :ladyhaha:

Unless the "Gaga is indie now" jokes are still relevant :interestinga:

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Crystalline

Joanne and ARTPOP, sorry 'bout it :ladyhaha: 

But definitely all of Meghan's album titles, that new Fifth Harmony album, MDNA (:madge:), and lots more I'm sure I'm not thinking of.

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Definitely the majority of Mariah's discography :rip:

"The Emancipation of Mimi",  "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel" and "Me. I am Mariah... The Elusive Chanteuse" etc

They sound like the fake/rumored song titles we all came up with before Joanne :emma:

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