Missy Elliott on sophomore albums: “If u play safe you will be BOXED in“

[LaLuna 12,732]

I agree. Look at P!nk. She did a complete 180 with her sophomore album and it paid off big time. 

[phantasmas 10,482]

and when all else fails, co-opt some urban sounds to really sound fresh 

[Bling 31,333]

3 hours ago, holy scheisse said:

i wonder what people think of lorde... melodrama was a bit different than pure heroin, but it still maintained that familiar "lorde-ness" if you will.... then she drops solar power, completely different from the first 2 albums, and fans were like wtf is this scheisse... its not lorde enough!

Idk what other people think but I love Lorde's discography. It's the perfect representation of maturity and growth as an artist. I've so enjoyed experiencing her journey over the years 

[Bling 31,333]

1 hour ago, LaLuna said:

I agree. Look at P!nk. She did a complete 180 with her sophomore album and it paid off big time. 

SUCH an icon! Who knew(.MP4) that she would stick around all this time. Vocals and talent go a long way!

[jeremiahsaint1000 487]

5 hours ago, holy scheisse said:

I think Kesha played it safe and suffered for it 

 

I think dua lipa obviously did not play it safe and helped usher in a new mainstream sound 

actually the opposite 

she played it safe to get a bigger fanbase 

her older music was less catchy and less pop than FN

be the one, hotter than hell and those older songs are much less radio friendly than her sophomore album

[nATAH 48,651]

TFM was a total 180 from TF: money, glamour, plastic surgery vs death, addiction, sexual deviance

and then BTW was a huge political moment that changed attitudes towards LGBTQ+ people forever

[LaLuna 12,732]

5 minutes ago, WheresMy911Alice said:

SUCH an icon! Who knew(.MP4) that she would stick around all this time. Vocals and talent go a long way!

Right? I don't really listen to her music anymore but she's definitely one of the most talented female artists out there. 

[Bling 31,333]

15 minutes ago, LaLuna said:

Right? I don't really listen to her music anymore but she's definitely one of the most talented female artists out there. 

Sometimes her stuff feels, samey. But each album definitely has more gems than filler, and she also has great production 

[Ziggy 11,760]

4 hours ago, holy scheisse said:

i feel like because TFM is considered her sophomore project, for a while she really did get boxed into the redone sound. all the old school fans (like me) bitched for years abotu how we miss redone ga/darkga whatever lolol 

 

and so true with the song structure. Poker face --> bad romance --> judas --> venus

 

i think she finally broke that though ever since she chose to get out of her box with c2c/joanne

Yeah I mean the fact that people have been like “oh such and such is the bad romance of the album” and stuff like that says it all hahaha she even consciously acknowledged it by saying “you don’t wanna rest on your laurels, but you gotta count your stripes” with regards to Judas. Like girl this is your 3rd album hahahaha so she def got boxed in for a while and I think that’s why she worked less with redone as he was less versatile than, say, DJWS

[Ziggy 11,760]

23 minutes ago, NATAH said:

TFM was a total 180 from TF: money, glamour, plastic surgery vs death, addiction, sexual deviance

and then BTW was a huge political moment that changed attitudes towards LGBTQ+ people forever

It wasn’t really a 180 at all lmao musically it was a bit more mature and gothic*, but I wouldn’t say it was that different musically. *aesthetically* it was quite different though. All her albums tend to be

and BTW did not change attitudes, it rode a wave just before it crested lol she did contribute to said wave but I was old enough during BTW to remember the political era around the album. It felt less groundbreaking and more inevitable but forward-looking. It was bolder than other girls like Katy Perry and P!nk but by no means did it change attitudes and I say this as someone who loves the album a lot.

[Ziggy 11,760]

4 hours ago, holy scheisse said:

i wonder what people think of lorde... melodrama was a bit different than pure heroin, but it still maintained that familiar "lorde-ness" if you will.... then she drops solar power, completely different from the first 2 albums, and fans were like wtf is this scheisse... its not lorde enough!

I think the issue was that and also that even those okay with a new sound found said new one thinner or less innovative than her prior ones. I’d agree with that. I like solar power a lot actually but it’s definitely not very sonically innovative for pop in the way her first two albums are. It’s not safe, but it doesn’t really move the needle or present a new musical palette to pop as Lorde was known to do. I think she was just slightly out of step as the late 90s, 2000s wave she was hitting was different than the one that really peaked with Olivia rodrigo.

there was a LOT of pressure on SP to be another gamechanger. I honestly don’t think she’d have been able to have lived up to 5 years of hype with any album

[2School4Cool 6,434]

Whenever I think of brilliantly done sophomore albums, I think of P!nk, Ed Sheeran, and Bruno Mars. Whether you’re personally a fan of any of these, they’re perfect examples of artists who absolutely nailed their sophomore album.

P!nk had M!ssundaztood, which broke the mold of her debut sound and showed people that she’ll always do what she wants and what’s true to her.

Ed had X which walked a perfect balance between the acoustic sound of his debut album while still managing to push his previous boundaries with songs like Sing, Don’t, Bloodstream, etc.  which were totally unexpected from him.

Bruno had Unorthodox Jukebox which featured so many different genres, proving to people that he was capable of so many different things. It proved that you never know exactly what you’re going to get with each new release.

I think Missy’s advice is 100% accurate. 

[2School4Cool 6,434]

42 minutes ago, WheresMy911Alice said:

SUCH an icon! Who knew(.MP4) that she would stick around all this time. Vocals and talent go a long way!

Forever one of my favorite artists and humans 

[ProdigyARTPOP 3,909]

26 minutes ago, Ziggy said:

It wasn’t really a 180 at all lmao musically it was a bit more mature and gothic*, but I wouldn’t say it was that different musically. *aesthetically* it was quite different though. All her albums tend to be

and BTW did not change attitudes, it rode a wave just before it crested lol she did contribute to said wave but I was old enough during BTW to remember the political era around the album. It felt less groundbreaking and more inevitable but forward-looking. It was bolder than other girls like Katy Perry and P!nk but by no means did it change attitudes and I say this as someone who loves the album a lot.

I’d have to disagree with you and say that it feels like younmust have been experiencing completely different eras than the rest of us then, because I completely agree with the users comment, TFM was a complete 180 from the The Fame in terms of its style & musical substance. Bad Romance had an enormous and anthemic flair to it & the Rah Rah’s alone made it completely different than anything on the Fame,

 and in terms of BTW, the political landscape at the time was so afraid of uttering LGBT+ friendly lyrics, everyone was being metaphorical and skirting around the subject while Gaga took the bullets for everyone and explicitud mentioned the world she wished to help usher in, not to mention that Born This Way was actually the goth rock opera you’re saying TFM is. 

[howsAnnie 411]

11 minutes ago, Ziggy said:

and BTW did not change attitudes, it rode a wave just before it crested lol she did contribute to said wave but I was old enough during BTW to remember the political era around the album. It felt less groundbreaking and more inevitable but forward-looking. It was bolder than other girls like Katy Perry and P!nk but by no means did it change attitudes and I say this as someone who loves the album a lot.

I really don't think so. I think her contributions regarding mainstream LGBTQ+ acceptance and equality at the time cannot be overestimated and it's visible in both, the album and her political statements around its release. The whole debate around Don't ask don't tell directly preceded BTW back then and Gaga was very much involved, so she was already perceived as having a cause. I remember that some time after it dropped, Obama referred to her as 'your leader' speaking to some human rights activists at an anti-bullying event (because prior to that he sat down with Gaga and she had a chat with him about those issues). And she incorporated these themes in a very clever way in many songs on BTW, I'd say it's that and the religious imagery that's defining for the album. Other pop girls did it because Gaga did it.

I just remembered how she brought soldiers who were also part of the LGBTQ+ community to the Grammy Awards where she announced the album title (because of DADT). She really was the spearhead of this whole movement back then.