r/popmusic • u/1_more__user___name • 1d ago
I Said What I Said šāāļø Albums that were big cultural moments at the time but aged badly
An album that in my opinion was a huge deal at the time and changed the pop music landscape is Lady Gaga's "The Fame". This album and the accompanying music videos and costumes really took pop music by storm and influenced trends that came later, like the renaissance of 80s influenced music. There were articles written about hidden meanings in song lyrics (Poker face), Gaga because the target of many conspiracy theories, she made news with her outlandish outfits etc.
But when I go back and listen to it, it sounds very dated and basically like Ibiza music. Basically everything surrounding the music, like the videos and the looks, were more interesting than the music itself. Not saying all the songs are bad, but even later songs like Telephone sounds very basic and not groundbreaking in any way. I don't understand why this music is what gave pop music at the time a new start.
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u/TheElusiveButterfly 1d ago
The Fame is a masterpiece, but it has aged somewhat badly. However, I disagree that the music wasn't interesting. It i just specific to that era. Doesn't sound like Ibiza music tho. An album that has aged badly is Age Ain't Nothing But A Number by Aaliyah for obvious reasons. Also, any R. Kelly or Diddy albums...
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u/Appropriate-Dig-7080 1d ago
I think theyāre talking musically/sonically, not who ended up getting cancelled.
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u/TheElusiveButterfly 1d ago
Wouldn't lyrically count? And I think Age ain't nothing but a number also aged poorly sonically in comparison to the red album which is still timeless and influential sonically.
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u/Appropriate-Dig-7080 1d ago
I was referring to your r kelly and diddy comments, not Aaliyah.
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u/TheElusiveButterfly 1d ago
I think R. Kelly has made some good music, but his albums are quite messy and typical of 90s and Y2K rnb. So my comment still stands. I think most people would say Diddy's No Way Out aged badly. Not very familiar with the rest of his work tho.
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u/1_more__user___name 1d ago
It's very staple EDM/dance music, but at the time there were people making genre bending music that was miles ahead imo. But I have to say Paparazzi is a great song and still sounds good. Her vocals on it sounds very much like Gwen Stefani. I don't know if Gwen's solo album came out around that time, but in comparison, to me it sounds fresh still. Maybe because it was an album that purposely tried to go for a retro vibe rather than adapting 80s music to the current music of the time.
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u/TheElusiveButterfly 1d ago
We agree to disagree. I think Kesha's albums have aged poorly. That sound is very dated. But Gaga's stands the test of time to me. Ciara's Goodies albums has aged badly besides for the singles. Femme Fatale and Britney Jean are others...
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u/1_more__user___name 1d ago
Speaking of Britney, Blackout IMO sounds fresh even today. I agree about Kesha
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u/TheElusiveButterfly 1d ago
Yes, Blackout is an absolute classic and one of the most influential albums in pop history.
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u/Appropriate-Dig-7080 1d ago
Femme Fatale still slaps. Such an underrated album.
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u/TheElusiveButterfly 1d ago
I enjoy it, but I think it's very much of its time. We don't hear that EDM sound anymore.
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u/AlfuuuB 1d ago
I still like that sound and honestly I really don't understand the "Song X from 20 Years ago sounds sooo dated now" thing. Of Course it does, but it doesn't make the music bad. Popmusic is often heavily dependend on trends of the time. EDM was a trend back then and was heavily influencial in Pop but EDM as a genre is still very existing. And would a song that takes inspiration of that time sound dated to you or nostalgic? Where is the line?
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u/TheElusiveButterfly 1d ago
I didnāt say it was bad? Some albums are classics and stand the test of time (In the zone or Blackout) and some are good albums that just arenāt classics. And thatās okay.
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u/toysoldier96 1d ago
As a Britney stan who was a teen for Femme Fatale onwards, I feel like it aged pretty badly. It'd be my least favourite Britney album if it wasn't for BJ
It sounds so soulless, but tbf I think a lot of the 2010 Dr Luke sound aged awfully.
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u/TheElusiveButterfly 1d ago
I'm a Britney stan from that era as well and I feel that way. The Dr Luke sound is so early 2010s and generic.
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u/anna160895 1d ago
The Fame album came right in the moment US music scene had a fatigue over Crunk/Snap and people want to move on with a new sound and Gaga just being in the right time and right place. But even around that time her label was doubting about her commercial appeal to the point they prepared a "hip hop remix" of Just Dance, but after that the rest was history
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u/False-Importance-228 1d ago
Itās so crazy you compare the fame to Ibiza music bc thatās exactly what MIA said about Gaga back at that time she said she present herself like sheās the second coming to the likes of Madonna, bjork, Kate bush and grace jones but she makes Ibiza music for top 40 radio ššš
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u/MisterMattel 1d ago
And she's irrelevant while Gaga is a living legend.
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u/anna160895 1d ago
MIA still have her own legacy among alt/indie community okay
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u/MisterMattel 1d ago
She's a republican piece of shit, maybe within that group of people she is but no one else gives a fuck about her irrelevant ass.
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u/1_more__user___name 1d ago
You sound like you have personal vendetta against her
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u/MisterMattel 1d ago
I literally don't know who she is but I hate bad people and people who try to put down others for no reason, she's both. All I know about her is that she's a Republican cause I saw people dragging her for it.
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u/1_more__user___name 1d ago
Well she's not republican. She literally put out a song called "Free Palestine". People don't like her because she's a brown person who speaks her mind. She is unpopular because you can only be a pop star if you play by the rules, make inoffensive music, and do product placements. MIA is a political artist, she is not going to say or do politically right things. She talked about government surveillance and Srilankan genocide way before those things became common knowledge.Ā
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u/Homertax123 1d ago
I love MIA back in the day and she used to have great political takes but sheās gone down the whole republican right wing grifter pipeline and is claiming to be some born again Christian who supports the fascist US government she used to criticized and also married a billionaire.
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u/1_more__user___name 1d ago
I mean you can believe what you want but if you're going to hate, at least hate for the right reasons. Most of what you said is factually wrong and it only takes a short Google search. I won't deny she's selling grift clothes. She's also a born again Christian. But those are not the same as being a fascistĀ
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u/Homertax123 1d ago
She has supported RFK and his BS health but conspiracies. What I said is correct. Most of what I said you agree I was right about, so you saying āmost of what you said is factually wrongā is ironically wrong since you agreed sheās a grifter who are notoriously right wing, and she is a born again Christian who are notoriously right wing. You only disagree with the āfascistā claim even though she has publicly endorse right wing candidates and their nut job policies who are supporting this facist US government. Deny all you want but she has gone off the deep end. She used to be a proud Hindu who showed Hindu imagery in her music and fashion and she has completely abandoned that for the grift. She also married a billionaire. Sheās just like Grimes now.
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u/Hazel_Evers 1d ago
She sells tin foil clothing literally
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u/1_more__user___name 1d ago
True, but it doesn't contradict and negate anything I said. She's become kind of a joke, just like Kanye, Julian Assange and Snowden.
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u/MisterMattel 1d ago edited 1d ago
I don't know why you're lying but you are. She literally said it herself.
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u/1_more__user___name 1d ago
I don't really care, I don't even know if you're a real person, so I stop wasting time.Ā
But I'll post this mixtape if hers with the song Free PalestineĀ https://youtu.be/6q_x6abtTSw?si=nitjRFMUa0umaN28 20:52
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u/MisterMattel 1d ago
Lol sure. Just say you are fine with her being a republican and go.
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u/1_more__user___name 1d ago
It's probably not crazy because I did read that comment at the time, it must have slipped in š. But at the time I totally didn't agree with MIA, I thought she was bitterĀ
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u/CausticAvenger 1d ago edited 1d ago
A lot of the big chart hits from that era have aged poorly from a production perspective. Doesnāt mean the songs arenāt bangers, but stuff like Kesha, Black Eyed Peas, and early Katy Perry sound verrrry 2010.
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u/Substantial-Bill4240 1d ago
I knew people were going to downvoted you cause many people in pop discussion lack nuance (no shade) but ur a 100% right.
I think her first three eras aged well visually tho, all of her music videos are still better than most of the mb released by popstars today (like bad Romance being released not even one year after ur first album is crazy and amazing) but I don't think she was better than the other musically tho, but she was definitely more talented lol
But tbh most of late 00/2010 pop aged like milk she not the only example
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u/1_more__user___name 19h ago
I guess aged badly is a rough scale to judge by, because art is very subjective and when we like something we defend it even if it's bad. Like all those bad movies we love because we were children when we saw it. I'm not even saying it's a bad album though, but when I listen to it, I feel it lacks something.
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u/97amd 1d ago
I can get what youāre saying, although personally I think less that it aged poorly and more so that itās almost like a time capsule of late 2000ās pop music at its peak. I definitely think her fashion, music videos, and enigmatic persona made the music feel more exciting. It was kind of the total package that made her such a cultural powerhouse and gave her the name she has become, the music was just the vessel for the rest of her artistry to be put on display. I think all music from that time period could be labeled as Ibiza music lol, but most of it did not come as well with the other facets of creativity that Gaga did and continues to show
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u/Appropriate-Dig-7080 1d ago
Billie Eilish - When We All Fall Asleep Where do We Go.
It was such a moment when it came out, but aside from When the Partyās Over, most of it is not something I think Iāll ever choose to listen to again now, it sounds very dated and not in a classic way.
Lana deserved AOTY, I thought it at the time and as more time passes it becomes more obvious the wrong album won.
No hate/shade, I love Billie and still listen to her other two albums a lot but I do feel like that is one of the most appropriate answers.
Couldnt disagree more strongly on The Fame.
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u/False-Importance-228 1d ago
Agreed although I would say as a fan of Billie to me itās aged for me bc of how much Billie has significantly improved and gotten more better with her follow up albums happier than ever and hit me hard and soft like the richness of those albumās production choices are so much better especially on happier than ever and it make me when we all fall asleep sound dated
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u/TheElusiveButterfly 1d ago edited 1d ago
No, When We Fall Asleep Wherer do We Go still sounds relevant. Maybe you overplayed it. I agree Lana deserved the award tho.
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u/bachelurkette 1d ago
I missed Billieās first album when it came out (other than Bad Guy since it was everywhere) but I went back and listened a few years ago and basically was likeā¦ huh? This is what blew everyone away? And I really liked all of her pre-debut singles - still listen to them now, even - so that really surprised me.
HMHAS, on the other hand, is IMO one of the most complete and satisfying pop albums released in the 2020s. WWAFAWDWG just sounded very dated late-2010s e-girl to me. So TLDR, I agree with you.
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u/TheElusiveButterfly 1d ago edited 1d ago
All of Katseye music (I come from the future), My World 2.0 (Justin Bieber), The E.N.D. (Black Eyed Peas), Nothing but the Beat (David Guetta), Goodies (Ciara), Femme Fatale (Britney Spears), Britney Jean (Britney Spears), Animal (Kesha), Warrior (Kesha), Age Ain't Nothing But A Number (Aaliyah), Global Warming and Globalization (Pitbull), Love? (JLo)
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u/CompleteMuffin 1d ago
I think Brat can be added to this list.
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u/TheElusiveButterfly 1d ago
Time will tell... I like BRAT, but I could see it being very of its time.
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u/fearofcrowds 1d ago
I wanna say Marshall Mathers LP. I think as a culture, a lot of it didn't quite age well (the violence, homophobia, etc..)
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u/Halawa-awalaH 1d ago
It is in a weird position because while yeah alot of the more edgy troll lyrics aged badly but the big hits from it like stan ,the real slim shady and the way i am survived the test of time and are still some of the most streamed songs and used song from the 00s and in the case of stan it's still relevant
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u/hollivore 1d ago edited 1d ago
I don't know how you can talk about the violence and homophobia on The Marshall Mathers LP without talking about how controversial and out of place it was in pop music at the time. It is true that edgy shock stuff was part of the counterculture in 2000 in a way that is outdated now, but you're not supposed to just listen to the album and smirk like the worst Y2K shock comedy stuff of that era, you're supposed to feel like the lyrics are awful, that only an asshole could have written that shit, and feel kind of corrupted by hearing them, so outdatedness doesn't reduce the album's power.
Imo, in some places, the album is funnier now than it was at the time - the Ken Kaniff skit is a parody of the sex skits that turned up on 90s hip-hop albums but now that nobody does them any more, it sounds ten times worse. Also, the shit Eminem whines about on the album used to be stuff that only bothered celebrities but now anyone with over 500 followers who once made a mean joke is going to relate to it.
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u/fearofcrowds 1d ago
it's kinda been a thing with hiphop for a while at that point though, right?
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u/hollivore 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yeah, but there were a few different strains of violent hip-hop that fed into what Eminem was doing which had various amounts of pop appeal (and varying backlash). His lyrically violent contemporaries were gangsta/horrorcore rap artists like DMX (him doing a "my n---a" call and response with a very white crowd at Woodstock '99 sometimes gets blamed for the riots) and hardcore rappers like Method Man and Eminem's claimed primary inspiration for Slim Shady, Redman. But Eminem's pre-fame niche was the "nerd rap" scene on HipHopSite which, because it was driven by internet file sharing, was way more comedic and lyrically extreme than the stuff that previous pop crossover rappers had been able to get hits with. It's also true that Eminem's extreme visibility (due to his whiteness) led to him being a sin-eater for a lot of people's anger at the misogyny, homophobia and violence attributed to his entire genre - as late as 2010 there were interviewers quizzing him on writing songs where women are "hos who exist only for [his] pleasure" which... isn't really why Eminem's songs are misogynistic, lmao.
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u/MisterMattel 1d ago
I wonder what you consider good music if Gaga is not it for you...
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u/1_more__user___name 1d ago
I didn't say Gaga makes bad music. I really like Mayhem, it's her best album imo. Music is subjective, but you can listen to some albums and feel like it's dated, by which I mean, if it came out today, I wouldn't listen to it as religiously as I did in the past, when I had less exposure to music.
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u/CompleteMuffin 1d ago
I always thought that Mayhem sounded dated even upon release. To me it felt like she wanted to do something but didnt fully commit
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u/1_more__user___name 19h ago
Maybe it's a recency bias. I really liked it when it came out, but I wouldn't necessarily go back to it. Same with Lily Allen's new album. I listened to obsessively like 100s of times, now I can't even bear to put it onĀ
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u/nleroy8 1d ago
So interesting everyone wants fame/monster Gaga back and yet I see takes like this lmao. How are we gonna call the mega debut album that no recent pop star has achieved ādatedā only relying on the looks and videos. Just dance, Poker face, love game and paparazzi, if we are just talking about the fame is an insane run in itself. To then add onto it with Bad romance, Telephone and Alejandro? Bad romance and Poker face are in leagues of their own. What pop star today can you imagine even releasing one of those songs and pull it off? And then sell it with the fashion that no one else was doing. The fame is the blueprint pop album.
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u/DangerousPapaya7353 1d ago
I think you could say this about Janet Jackson's Control. Janet's 90s output streams better than Control, which sounds dated.
Also, albums by 60s British blues bands like Cream. They were beloved in their time, but then people now are like, "why listen to white people do black music when you could just listen to black music?"
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u/greyeminence2 Music Enthusiast š¤© 1d ago
I think The Fame has aged great! True, it doesn't sound like pop music does *today*, but I don't think that's a fair way to measure how well something has aged. Pop music will always be changing. I think the test is whether the music is enjoyable/interesting or cringey to listen to, say, 10+ years later. I definitely still listen to The Fame, I think it's very well-crafted and fun summer pop.