Thomas P 18,479 Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 I'm a child of Hannah Montana. It was airing while I was at the perfect age, so I truly grew up with Miley more than any other artist on this planet. Since I was 5, she has been one that has always held a place in my heart. That being said, this means I have seriously been watching all of her career moves since she started, and it has been a chaotic roller coaster. I'm going to start with Bangerz, because that is when the Disney machine was officially done controlling her career. The era had the kind of success that does not lend itself well to longevity. We Can't Stop was huge, bolstering off of a controversial video and pretty decent mass appeal (it sounds like 2013-Rihanna song, so it was bound for success). It held on for even longer because of the VMAs which catapulted her into being the biggest and most talked about thing in the world for a little while. She smartly followed it up with Wrecking Ball, a song that is very appealing to the masses, but with a video that was insanely controversial, keeping her new image the hottest thing to talk about. The thing about 2013 was that it was the year where Lorde took off. Think pieces were being released about how this 16 year old New Zealand singer was taking over the world with music that veered completely off of the pop sounds of extravagance bolstered by artists like Miley, Rihanna and Gaga. When Royals was at its peak, Wrecking Ball was similarly riding high, but about to fall off. Immediately after Wrecking Ball's reign had completed itself, the Bangerz era was kind of dead. People were watching this new artist (who people like Bowie were calling the future of music), and were kind of over the whole "Miley breaks free of Hannah" thing, as that narrative had essentially run its course. Adore You flopped pretty hard, the tour did not do nearly as well as it could have had she maintained the success she had from June-November of 2013, and people didn't really care anymore about the shocking things she did because, like I said, they were the kinds of things that don't lend themselves well to longevity. Dead Petz honestly just sealed the deal. I know a lot of fans love it, but I think it's pretty rough. It had literally no chance in attaining any success, and it only served to alienate her from the GP. Younger Now similarly wasn't a strong album, and Miley was saying some dumb things about hip hop (a culture she benefitted off of for success), and rightfully getting in hot water for it. The EP really didn't have much chance at all of being a commercial hit, which sucks cause it was really good. Plastic Hearts didn't flop in my opinion. Internationally, Midnight Sky was a massive hit, the album faired pretty well commercially, and it received pretty solid reviews. What the era showed me though is that Miley doesn't care for that kind of success, and it doesn't really matter whether she has it or not. The thing with Miley Cyrus is, yes she isn't producing hits like she was a few years ago, but she is still a household name. Everyone recognizes her voice, most people have an opinion on her, etc. She is far from being irrelevant, she just made some career moves that isolated her from a pure commercial stand point, but that isn't really a necessary way to measure success anyways. I’m a simple guy to please, if you like Melodrama, we chill. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
i Love the Lady 165 Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 Honestly I liked her Bangerz era because it seemed like she was doing what she wanted and didn't give a f**k. With She is Coming and Plastic Hearts, although the music is very good, she came across as cocky and over-valuing herself/relying on old career peaks to prove she's relevant. I do like Miley, I just enjoy her music now more than her as a person, where as before I was into both her catalog and her as a personality. edit: basically once it starts to feel gimmicky, people run Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aphasic 4,033 Posted May 10, 2021 Author Share Posted May 10, 2021 After reading some of your comments and reflecting on why and how Miley Cyrus is so underrated I came to this conclusion: Miley's persona and personal life choices like openly discussing her use of drugs, her sexuality, her love life, all of that became bigger than her music and sadly no matter how much she works and much effort and talent she puts on her records it will not be enough, because her music is now being subjected to critical and perhaps subjective opinions based not on her talent but derived from a place of judgement of her personal life. She's in a very similar position to how Gaga was during and after ARTPOP but Gaga's wonderful team came up with a legendary almost mythical plan that brought her career back to life (of course not that her career was dead dead but you get my drift). Miley really really needs to rebrand herself or maybe she just doesn't want to and doesn't care. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonsterofFame 1,785 Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 Honestly, I think Miley is underrated because she is not putting out the kind of music that her fans want to hear. She built her career on POP music -- not trippy alternative rock (Dead Petz), country (Younger Now), or rock (Plastic Hearts). Gaga has done the same but her performances, touring, and outstanding superstardom made us fans that will appreciate anything she does. Miley never attained that level of stardom or fanbase. Midnight Sky got me pumped for PH, but when the album dropped I was so disappointed because I thought it would be filled with pop-rock jams like the lead single. I finally listened to it entirely last week and its a GREAT album, but it's just not my style to want to play over and over again. And so my interest with this era is done. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotLikeMexico 5,174 Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 I dunno. For me personally and with people I talked to, she doesn’t seem genuinely. She comes off as too try hard to be edgy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Fudge 8,635 Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 Child stars definitely have a harder time transitioning out of their original ‘clean’ public perception. Hers was a bit more radical than most, which doesn’t help the cause. Been a cuff touple, a puff bupple, a tough couple of years. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrawberryBlond 14,832 Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 It's really only in America that she's been struggling recently. I was shocked to find nothing from Plastic Hearts went top ten there and that her last top ten was Malibu all the way back in 2017. In the meantime, she had big hits overseas with Nothing Breaks Like A Heart and Midnight Sky and while Prisoner wasn't the big hit it was aiming to be, it did a lot better in foreign markets. Even Don't Call Me Angel went decently top ten worldwide. So, it's by no means a worldwide issue for her. But that aside, Miley made a major misstep by putting out Dead Petz. Not only was it overwhelmingly anti-commercial and experimental but it was a completely free album, so we had no way of telling how successful it even was. She didn't promote it properly and so it was like the the era didn't really exist for the public. Meaning that, when she eventually put out Younger Now in 2017, it was like she'd taken a 4 year break from Bangerz, in the public's eyes. And a break that long can be the death knell for a popstar (just ask Christina Aguilera). People who liked the crazy stuff she did on Bangerz found what she did with Younger Now to be boring and insincere. And Miley didn't help this by flipping out when critics gave it middling reviews and it didn't chart or sell overly well. She made a big deal of saying there would be no tour for it and ended the whole era after just 2 singles. So it seemed to solidify the fact that she went down this country route as she thought it would be lucrative but dropped it like a hot potato when it proved otherwise. Then she took over 3 years to come out with the follow-up, Plastic Hearts, in which time, she was largely absent from the public eye. It's these long breaks that are doing her in above all else. You have to realise, though, that Miley's probably never maintained the same fanbase for long. I don't buy it that the majority of people who bought Bangerz were the same fans she'd had since her Hannah Montana days, they'd grown up and moved on. It was mostly young adults who were into Bangerz and were liking it for the fact it was kitsch above all else. I think that's definitely the reason anyone went to the tour, just to see the craziness played out in front of them. You'll notice that the tour had 78 dates and made $62 million. Gaga had the Artrave at the same time, which had 79 dates yet pulled in $83 million. That tells you a lot about how much people were actually invested as Miley had two massive #1's with Bangerz, Gaga had none with AP, yet she had more touring power. Then when Younger Now brought in dramatically lesser numbers and interest, I think it was a sign that her fanbase was always going to be chopping and changing. I know my views on her music have been all over the place. Maybe she just doesn't have a ride or die fanbase that's here for every album and her music sales are largely fuelled by the GP? Just a thought. When Malibu was so successful, I wondered if, against all the odds, Miley wasn't just a flash in the pan and was going to be like one of those legends who keep on coming back no matter how many times people say their career is over. I took it back when she immediately went downhill afterwards but with her recent resurgence, I don't know. Whatever, people know her name, people know her songs, she won't be forgotten. She's making a lot more bank than a lot of artists out there and for an ex-child star, is doing much better than most. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 I just realised. How can one ever be over when one actually has enough money to do whatever one wants till the end ? She just won everything, and is simply doing things. It's more than a success. Charts and fame mean absolutely nothing if you have ever made the music you wanted to make. Spoiler here to disrupt capitalism till the end of time Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JusKeepBreathin 19,311 Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 Because of that messy ass MTV performance. "Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." -Martin Luther King Jr. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aphasic 4,033 Posted May 10, 2021 Author Share Posted May 10, 2021 5 hours ago, Thomas P said: I'm a child of Hannah Montana. It was airing while I was at the perfect age, so I truly grew up with Miley more than any other artist on this planet. Since I was 5, she has been one that has always held a place in my heart. That being said, this means I have seriously been watching all of her career moves since she started, and it has been a chaotic roller coaster. I'm going to start with Bangerz, because that is when the Disney machine was officially done controlling her career. The era had the kind of success that does not lend itself well to longevity. We Can't Stop was huge, bolstering off of a controversial video and pretty decent mass appeal (it sounds like 2013-Rihanna song, so it was bound for success). It held on for even longer because of the VMAs which catapulted her into being the biggest and most talked about thing in the world for a little while. She smartly followed it up with Wrecking Ball, a song that is very appealing to the masses, but with a video that was insanely controversial, keeping her new image the hottest thing to talk about. The thing about 2013 was that it was the year where Lorde took off. Think pieces were being released about how this 16 year old New Zealand singer was taking over the world with music that veered completely off of the pop sounds of extravagance bolstered by artists like Miley, Rihanna and Gaga. When Royals was at its peak, Wrecking Ball was similarly riding high, but about to fall off. Immediately after Wrecking Ball's reign had completed itself, the Bangerz era was kind of dead. People were watching this new artist (who people like Bowie were calling the future of music), and were kind of over the whole "Miley breaks free of Hannah" thing, as that narrative had essentially run its course. Adore You flopped pretty hard, the tour did not do nearly as well as it could have had she maintained the success she had from June-November of 2013, and people didn't really care anymore about the shocking things she did because, like I said, they were the kinds of things that don't lend themselves well to longevity. Dead Petz honestly just sealed the deal. I know a lot of fans love it, but I think it's pretty rough. It had literally no chance in attaining any success, and it only served to alienate her from the GP. Younger Now similarly wasn't a strong album, and Miley was saying some dumb things about hip hop (a culture she benefitted off of for success), and rightfully getting in hot water for it. The EP really didn't have much chance at all of being a commercial hit, which sucks cause it was really good. Plastic Hearts didn't flop in my opinion. Internationally, Midnight Sky was a massive hit, the album faired pretty well commercially, and it received pretty solid reviews. What the era showed me though is that Miley doesn't care for that kind of success, and it doesn't really matter whether she has it or not. The thing with Miley Cyrus is, yes she isn't producing hits like she was a few years ago, but she is still a household name. Everyone recognizes her voice, most people have an opinion on her, etc. She is far from being irrelevant, she just made some career moves that isolated her from a pure commercial stand point, but that isn't really a necessary way to measure success anyways. This! It's really amazing how even though her "success" has been somehow limited or lackluster, she is still a huge name in the music and entertainment industry. No #1s, not much buzz about her music and yet she's still very relevant. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aphasic 4,033 Posted May 10, 2021 Author Share Posted May 10, 2021 1 hour ago, JusKeepBreathin said: Because of that messy ass MTV performance. You think? I thought about it but the awards were in Agust of 2013 and on September Wrecking Ball went to Nº 1 and then after months it even dethroned Royals by Lorde going back to Nº 1 again. She's in a very weird position but I think she doesn't care much about numbers, I kinda want to believe that she's truly an honest artist trying to evolve and continuing to break her mold. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronk 14,762 Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 Miley is now #10 on the BB Hot 100. I live outside the space time continuum. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas P 18,479 Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 4 minutes ago, Ronk said: Miley is now #10 on the BB Hot 100. It sucks it’s that song, but i’m happy she is getting some added recognition I’m a simple guy to please, if you like Melodrama, we chill. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aphasic 4,033 Posted May 10, 2021 Author Share Posted May 10, 2021 5 minutes ago, Ronk said: Miley is now #10 on the BB Hot 100. Omg! I literally just saw the chart and didn't notice! Congrats to her and Kid LAROI! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aphasic 4,033 Posted May 10, 2021 Author Share Posted May 10, 2021 4 minutes ago, Thomas P said: It sucks it’s that song, but i’m happy she is getting some added recognition They did good on SNL Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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