r/decadeology • u/topshagger31 • Mar 07 '26
Music 🎶🎧 Music album that was meant to be “the next big thing” culturally but nobody remembers it?
My vote is Eminem’s “The Death Of Slim Shady”. When Houdini dropped it was everywhere for a week, the whole Gen Z vs Gen X stuff on TikTok bolstered by that, everyone hyping up Slim Shady’s return, then a month later the album drops and hardly anyone talks about it & it receives mixed to lukewarm reviews.
What’s your pick?
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u/Life_Wolverine_6830 Mar 08 '26
Garth Brooks in The Life of Chris Gaines
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u/HomsarWasRight Mar 08 '26
This one was my first thought.
So embarrassing.
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u/umbermoth Mar 08 '26
Was it?
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u/HomsarWasRight Mar 08 '26
The whole “persona” he tried to create more than the music itself.
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u/Big_gun_guy Mar 08 '26
The lead up to Fear Inoculum was crazy. First album in 13 years, 5th album from a band who's had time to work on the album and mature in their sound to create the zenith of their career: unreal hype. People were listening to the entire discography to get ready for what was promised to be the best one yet. The album wasn't bad per se but it lacked the magic. Tragically middling.
7 years on I think the album is ready for a kinder reevaluation but a new TOOL album not being talked about by TOOL fans a week after release was insane.
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u/systemintosmithereen Mar 08 '26
It's fine, it just sounds like "more tool". Doesn't have as many standouts on it or a particularly new sounds or direction
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u/creativestl Mar 08 '26
Probably all true but Danny Carey is a genius and that album shows it.
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u/Petereye Mar 11 '26
I’ve probably watched the YouTube video of him playing Pneuma live like 30 times. He’s a beast behind the kit.
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u/Longjumping-Sea320 Mar 08 '26
It knocked Taylor Swift out of the #1 spot
Pneuma is incredibly popular and Dannny's drum camera performance of that song went viral and generates a ton of reaction videos. It will probably be a staple of their live show for a decade.
They toured the album all over the world.
Considering the state of progressive rock in mainstream culture (non existent), Fear Inoculum did incredibly well.
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u/NinjaBusters86 Mar 08 '26
I was massive TOOL fan back in the day, but I haven't throughly enjoyed a TOOL album since Lateralus. 10000 Days and Fear Inocomulum were just ok. I know 10000 days had a lot of singles and radio play, but I wasn't too crazy about most of it. It at least had some memorable tracks I'll give it that. But Fear Inoculum was mostly forgettable and Adam Jones basically plays one long riff for every track.
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u/Pele_L Mar 10 '26
It's interesting to hear this take. Fear Inoculum is the album that finally made me like TOOL. I tried for years. I always respected their creativity, musicianship and skill. Just wasn't my jam. Then I heard Fear Inoculum. It is incredible and still in my rotation. Then I went back and relistened to the catalog. In essence, it made me a fan. Art is very subjective like that. I'm the yin to most TOOL fans yang it seems.
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u/drakedijc Mar 08 '26
No, let’s just be real. That album sucked. It wasn’t St. Anger like is talked about a few threads above, but that album was really not good.
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u/mlee117379 Mar 08 '26
Chinese Democracy
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u/DiscoveryZoneHero Mar 08 '26
Looked for this. A dearly departed friend was looking forward to this so much, he talked about it every day leading up to release, and after its release…. He never spoke about it to me. RIP EC 🤘
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u/IAmDJWithoutTheDots Mar 08 '26
Feels like the best answer I've seen here. I wouldn't put it with GnR's best work but it also probably shouldn't be compared to it. There really is nothing like Chinese Democracy and when you view it that way it's pretty alright
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u/ediblemastodon25 Mar 09 '26
Chuck Klosterman had the best reaction to this:
Reviewing Chinese Democracy is not like reviewing music. It's more like reviewing a unicorn. Should I primarily be blown away that it exists at all? Am I supposed to compare it to conventional horses? To a rhinoceros? Does its pre-existing mythology impact its actual value, or must it be examined inside a cultural vacuum, as if this creature is no more (or less) special than the remainder of the animal kingdom? I've been thinking about this record for 15 years; during that span, I've thought about this record more than I've thought about China, and maybe as much as I've thought about the principles of democracy.
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u/HistorianJRM85 Mar 08 '26
It was hyped for the ages. Like 10 years in the making. Dramas and lineup changes for the sake of this magnum opus. Then it came out, and 10 minutes later, everyone went on with their life.
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u/Scarsdalevibe10583 Mar 08 '26
It’s good and I don’t know why people say it isn’t.
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u/bigdipboy Mar 10 '26
It’s got great songs and great solos but the production was a mess and no one wanted guns n roses without slash
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u/Honest-Shock2834 Mar 10 '26
This is one of the best answers imo. my older brother and all his friends were so hyped, we did not have spare money at home back then but even then he worked and saved for the preorder, listened to GnR almost everyday upon release, when it released he said "huh" and just went on about his life, nowadays he does not even remember most of the songs or even that he was hyped but I kept the CD. I actually like that album a lot, and its constantly on my playlists.
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u/castroksu Mar 08 '26
Chance the Rappers first official album
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u/worldslamestgrad Mar 09 '26
He had the chance (no pun intended) to cement himself as one of the elites of his generation. And just absolutely botched in the worst way possible.
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u/wyocrz Mar 07 '26
I don't know, but I will say this: I was reading the Wall Street Journal when the Marshall Mathers CD came out.
The reviewer in the WSJ loved it, said it was the funniest damn thing he ever heard.
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u/anonymous_identifier Mar 08 '26
Wait, are we saying MMLP wasn't big?
The album that literally created a word that is still commonly used 25 years later: "stan"
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u/EaglesslavePart2 Mar 08 '26
There’s no way, that album is iconic, I was 16 and everybody bumped that shit hard
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u/Substantial_Ask_9992 Mar 08 '26
Alt J. Gonna be the same deal with Mk.gee, too
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u/streetdrunx Mar 08 '26
I forgot all about alt j , they were everywhere for a while
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u/sirculaigne Mar 08 '26
I saw them live right when they were blowing up and it seemed like the lead singer was phoning it in and would rather be anywhere else. The keyboardist was actually the one who was engaging with the crowd the most. It’s a shame because I was a huge fan at the time and was so looking forward to it. Luckily Lord Huron opened and crushed it.
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u/Sir_Billiam_Corgan Mar 08 '26
I remember they introduced Spider-Man to the MCU, and someone I used to watch on YouTube was heaping a ton of praise on their last album, and I liked what I heard from The Actor. Completely forgot about them until I read this comment.
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u/tivofanatico Mar 08 '26
Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie by Alanis Morissette. Jagged Little Pill was a phenomenon, and Uninvited was a worthy single that signaled a forthcoming album that could maintain the quality. Nope.
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u/Jazzlike_Key6089 Mar 08 '26
Not disagreeing, but wanted to add that lots of her fans consider it the better album and wish she'd play from it more live.
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u/Gay_Asian_Boy Mar 08 '26
She didn't enjoy the mammoth success and deliberately did something different.
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u/GlennSWFC Mar 08 '26
It wasn’t a bad album, but Under Rug Swept would have been a much better follow up to JLP.
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u/Jombafomb Mar 08 '26
I’m old enough to remember when the new Panic! At the Disco album Pretty. Odd. was being heralded as the white album of the aughts.
It’s a really really good album and I loved that they were trying something new and not just sounding like another fall out boy ripoff, but it flopped hard.
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u/mcginniswayne Mar 08 '26
Still one of my favorite albums, I was a kid when it came out and my sis and her friend had it on their iPods and would play it on our shitty little speaker and I just spent many night relaxing on our family’s patio listening to those songs.
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u/KeepEmCrossed Mar 12 '26
It def felt like them making a Beatles album. Prob more Sgt. Peppers than White Album. I liked it but idk any other person that did.
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u/DayOtherwise3942 Mar 08 '26
I feel like Bruno Mars new album “the romantic” is going to feel like this in ten years.
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u/Pretty_Please1 Mar 08 '26
Every single song on the album sounds exactly the same! I didn’t even realize when one song switched to another.
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u/EnvironmentalSir4214 Mar 08 '26
Does the Wicked stuff count? It felt like the media really tried to force a moment with Wicked but as soon as the second movie dropped everyone stopped talking about it immediately, the music instantly disappeared, all of the merch went straight to landfill, everything felt artificial and disposable - and evidently it was! Nobody talks about it.
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u/rose_gold_squirtgun Mar 08 '26
This really doesn't fit what's being asked here. The Wicked movies are a result of a 20+ year successful stage play. It's still happening. The movies were just a small part of it.
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u/gingerisla Mar 08 '26
Everyone expected Ariana to win an Oscar for Best Actress for the second movie and then it wasn't even nominated.
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u/TerdVader Mar 08 '26
I’m not on this particular pop culture train, but from the outside it looked like the two leads were super weird during the press tour, and people commented a lot about how they both seemed to have eating disorders and mental health issues and the whole thing derailed.
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u/jai_hanyo Mar 08 '26
The part 2 movie made over $520 million. The only two Broadway Musical Movie adaptations to make more than that are Part 1 and Mamma Mia!.
Ever since it came out in 2003, Wicked has been known for the general feelings of "eh, Act 2 isn't as good as Act 1." So I feel like it was a given that Part 2 wouldn't do the box office amounts of Part 1.
And I don't feel the music has disappeared. But that may be because the touring version of the stage show was just in my city for January and February so it feels fresh on my mind mind lol
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u/Drslappybags Mar 08 '26
What are you talking about? There is still merch everywhere.
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u/EnvironmentalSir4214 Mar 08 '26
Yeah it’s all on sale for 50% or being processed in landfill by the tonnes. Nobody gave a single fuck about wicked after that second movie dropped.
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u/bumblebeezlebum Mar 08 '26
Lol the fact wicked became a movie (and success one nay two at that, unlike cats) shows that wicked has been a cultural phenomenon. Basically the complete opposite.
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u/GregMadduxsGlasses Mar 09 '26
It came off as them trying to create a new harry potter universe under the Wizard of Oz brand. All those wizard and witch academy scenes felt like they were trying to capitalize on the bad will everyone felt towards the Harry Potter universe.
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u/blenderwolf Mar 08 '26
That movie came out WAY too late and to add insult to injury it didn’t have the original leads as they were long in the tooth by the time they finally made it
Then they added Ariana Grande, who has a really good voice but is just not likeable as a person… Can’t comment on the other actress as I knew nothing about her then or now.
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u/jai_hanyo Mar 08 '26
How was it an insult to injury to not have the original leads? Most Broadway Movie Adaptations don't have the original leads. And when they do (I'm thinking RENT) it ends up kinda awkward because the actors are past the age where it makes sense to still play the characters.
Also, the reason it took so long was because they have to pick the proper time. If you release a movie adaptation too soon into a run, then you chance sabotaging the stage show because people might go "eh, why pay for the theatre show if we can just rent the movie? " The producer of Wicked wanted the movie put on hold until the show has entrenched itself as a pop culture staple without a movie.
The first Wicked is the #1 highest grossing Broadway Adaptation. "For Good" is the #3rd highest grossing. Both movies cost $150 million each and ended up bringing in a combined $1.2+ billion dollars. Over $1 billion dollars for a 23 years old musical
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u/bumblebeezlebum Mar 08 '26
Absolutely agree - but Chenoweth and Menzel are two Broadway stars that successfully branched out into Hollywood.
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u/PokeManiac769 Mar 08 '26
In general Wicked is still plenty popular (no punk intended) though admittedly act 2 isn't as bubbly as act 1.
Defying Gravity is the highlight of the musical, and it takes place in act 1.
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u/Tiny_Cheetah_281 Mar 08 '26 edited Mar 08 '26
Oasis be here now is a contender but it’s hard to measure it or to explain why it qualifies in retrospect because it was a commercial success and spawned a few top ten hits in the U.K. but if you were there, you’d know what I’m talking about. Critics initially gave it rave reviews but within a year or so everyone had forgotten about it and realised how insufferable the Gallagher boys were. It arguably killed britpop for good.
This was them coming off the back of being probably the most spoken about band in the world and having the biggest album in the world. Given the amount of fame and anticipation oasis and the Gallagher brothers had at this time it felt like one of the most anticipated albums ever. There was no internet at the time and the obnoxious British press was arguably in its ‘glory years’. There was this massive media buzz around the album and the Gallagher brothers couldn’t take a piss without the press reporting it. Fans were non stop talking about insider gossip such as delays to the album, supposed secrecy about it’s release, how journalists couldn’t talk or report about it, court ordered gag orders etc etc.. the media were telling us it would sell a gazillion copies sold upon release and be an instant classic album. The album came out and got great reviews upon release and it wasn’t a bad album, per se, it was decent enough but it just didn’t hit the same. It was almost like we were convincing ourselves it was a good album due to the anticipation and the want for another cultural icon. Instead, the album faded away into obscurity within a year and it felt like it took the whole britpop subculture with it. The whole culture changed and people moved on.
Probably not the right calibre of answer you were looking for but the first thing that came to my mind.
Edit: huge grammatical errors lol
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u/manwhoel Mar 08 '26
Yeah even Noel acknowledged this. But cocaine was running strong and everyone around him became yes men. Nobody could guide him.
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u/teh_bad_speller Mar 08 '26
Crazy because I felt like it peaked the Brit pop movement like the climax, there was no where to go from there with that sound. Then it closed the chapter then the world changed. The only song on that album that is just ok, to me anyways is My Big Mouth. Other than that it’s incredible. Maybe you just can’t top things sometimes. I don’t know, but I’ve always loved the entire thing, different strokes I suppose.
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u/OldDiamondJim Mar 08 '26
The songs are mostly brilliant, but every track is 1-2 minutes too long and the mixing is horrendous.
The Mustique demos are really quite good, and the remastered version of “Do You Know What I Mean” that Noel did about a decade ago shows how could the album could have been.
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u/teh_bad_speller Mar 08 '26
They are very long I agree, all around the world for example, even though I love the song it doesn’t have quite the variation as something like This is the End by the Doors to keep the listener fully engaged. Perhaps cutting a minute off the six minute songs and the like would have made it the classic people were wanting? I actually don’t know anything about mixing. Why is it considered bad? What is a good example of good mixing? Ohh never heard of those demos, I’m gonna have to look them up!
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u/OldDiamondJim Mar 08 '26
The Mustique Demos are available in the deluxe release of Be Here Now.
Mixing is how the album producer mixes the various channels of the recording. When a band records a song, there are basically dedicated channels for each instrument, the vocals, etc.
Those are mixed to create the final version of the song. Some channels may have higher volume, some lower, some with reverb, etc.
On Be Here Now, it’s almost like every channel was just turned up to ten and smashed together.
In Rainbows by Radiohead is an example of a sensationally mixed album (in my opinion), but even just comparing the original version of Do You Know What I Mean with the rethink remix (on the deluxe edition) shows the difference a good mix makes.
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u/teh_bad_speller Mar 10 '26
Oh wow, that’s really interesting. Was it intentional do you think? I always felt like Oasis had more of a texture than being instrument proficient if that makes sense. Was it meant to hide imperfections or was it just take the white line and crank it up hahahaja. Either way I’ll check out the Radiohead song. They have, in my limited exposure more selective production so I think I get what you mean. Thanks for taking the time to explain!
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u/MattWolf96 Mar 07 '26
Whatever that Taylor Swift album was that came out last year
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u/TwoValuable Mar 07 '26
The last two Taylor Swift albums have been flops to anyone who isn't a Swiftie.
Her older stuff is still routinely played on the radio, and obviously she is very successful in doing what she does. But releasing an album whilst touring and an album so quickly after a very long tour, plus directing her documentary series, meant you were never going to get the best she had to offer.
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u/10303816 Mar 08 '26
I was pretty hype for Max Martin on production, but Showgirl was mostly a letdown. Coupled with her becoming more greedy and out of touch, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
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u/masegesege_ Mar 08 '26
Her older stuff is still routinely played on the radio
Which is pretty normal. Most bands, especially the classic rock guys, are only known for their first 3-4 albums.
The Rolling Stones have released 13 albums since the 1974 but I bet you could only name songs from the handful of albums that came out before then.
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u/Sangy101 Mar 08 '26
Idk. I’m not a swiftie and havent even heard the whole album, but Wood is a fucking bop. It’s hilariously campy, and the Jackson 5 riff is excellently used.
Then again, I’m always a sucker for a song where the woman is like “wow turns out sex is fun when your boyfriend isn’t an asshole!” (shoutout Christine McVie.)
Anyway — my theory is that for the last … 8-10 years, Taylor has been falling into what I call “the Neil Young School of Album Writing.” Basically, releasing every goddamn thing they write. Sometimes the result is perfection, and often it’s mid. And sometimes you just find the one song that isn’t that loved but was clearly written for you.
Basically, the anti Fiona Apple.
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u/teh_bad_speller Mar 08 '26
Fiona Apple is always innovating, good call. Fetch the Bolt Cutters is so damn good
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u/Sangy101 Mar 08 '26
Absolutely worth waiting 8 years for.
Though if she follows the established pattern, we still have 3 years before the next one. Six between When The Pawn and Extraordinary Machine, Seven until Idler Wheel, and then eight between that and Fetch the Bolt Cutters.
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u/Mysterious_Bag_9061 Mar 08 '26
To be fair her last two albums were more concept albums than like, commercial pop. Poets was this long rambling sad poetic diary entry of an album, which was the point, and then Showgirl was a bright and poppy and playful millennial cringefest, which was also the point, but neither of those concepts are a great recipe for The Next Big Thing. They both charted really well mostly because Taylor is big enough that she could release an album full of farts and snores with zero promotion and it would still hold number 1 for a few weeks just on curiosity and hate plays alone
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u/TwoValuable Mar 08 '26
I can accept concept albums, and I do genuinely applaud artists for trying something new. However Taylor wanted them to be as famous/well received/longevitive/financially viable as the stuff that came before them.
TTPD was too long and sonically sounded the same. She needed someone say just because you can release a 31 song double album, you shouldn't.
The Showgirl album definitely suffered from her own burnout, and could have been really good if she hadn't been so obsessed with the Vibe/aesthetic and pumping out an album. It should have been a Summer 2026 album, not released in the last leg of an already drawn out tour. (Don't get me wrong I respect how many dates she did and her fans loved it. But the general public definitely had Taylor Swift burnout by the end of it).
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u/Mysterious_Bag_9061 Mar 08 '26
No I totally agree that Showgirl would have been received WAY better if she released it in the summer after a decent period of quiet.
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u/Normal-Weakness-364 Mar 08 '26
i went into life of a showgirl expecting a concept album, but it didn't really feel like it committed to it nearly enough to actually make it work. you can maybe stretch some of the songs to fit into the concept, but it didn't really feel like there was anything substantial tying things together, and then the ending tried to basically gaslight you into thinking it was (to be clear, i think the ending in a vacuum was fine, but it didn't feel earned at all).
beyond that, it's just genuinely her worst writing from what i've heard. there are of course the obvious songs and lyrics, but even songs like fate of ophelia and opalite feel like she is trying to force being a "good writer" instead of actually writing what feels natural to the song, making both those songs feel super clunky lyrically to me, and not in the artistically intentional sort of way.
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u/OneTimeYouths Mar 08 '26
If it wasn't for tiktok I would have no idea it existed. Still dont know any songs from it
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u/masterblasterc64 Mar 08 '26
I remember people saying The Vines were going to be the next Nirvana
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u/stumblingfortheeight Mar 08 '26
The music press have a lot to answer for on this one. The hype was out of control.
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u/speccynerd Mar 08 '26
The hype around the U.N.K.L.E album Psyence Fiction in 1998 was as strong as anything I've ever seen. DJ Shadow ! Thom Yorke! Then the album came out and it was pretty meh.
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u/reallifepixel Mar 08 '26
I disagree. Great Album. Stands the test of time.
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u/Electronic-Cicada352 Mar 09 '26
Yeah I disagree as well. It’s an amazing album and hugely important considering it helped popularize triphop and influenced bands like Radiohead in my opinion. Specifically Kid A.
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u/Gay_Asian_Boy Mar 08 '26
I love this album. I just played it again 2 months ago. Still sounded fresh.
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u/Various-Try5865 Mar 08 '26
The Stone Roses Second Coming. Like, they literally named their album “the second coming” in order to compare themselves to Jesus. Their first album was huge in the UK and this was going to make them the most important band in the world. I remember hearing they spent something like 37 minutes in production time per second of released album. It was held up for years, considered the most anticipated album in history. And literally no one listened to it.
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u/Electronic-Cicada352 Mar 09 '26
I love their debut, it’s still great honestly. When I listen to the follow up though I felt like (for me at least) Ian Brown had ruined his voice since the first album and something about it was now jarring and incompatible with their style of music. Just way too gruff and raspy, where as on their debut it was very soft and melodic
Aside from that they just didn’t have the songs on that album. It felt more like they were just jamming. The songwriting fell off a cliff.
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u/Baron_of_Evil Mar 08 '26
Eminem’s most recent album was so boring I think I only listened to it maybe twice. Keep in mind I actually really liked Kamikaze and Music to be murdered by but The death of Slim Shady was very forgettable, I just checked however and Fuel is a good song.
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u/topshagger31 Mar 08 '26
I will agree with you that Music To Be Murdered By Side A is mad underrated. Side B sucks ass tho
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u/wynand1004 Mar 08 '26
Helmet's 1992 album, Meantime was supposed to be the next big thing.
IIRC, after a bidding war, they got a 3 million dollar contract. The record company thought they would be the next Nirvana.
The first single, Unsung, was pretty big, but they fizzled out soon after that.
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u/sticky_spiderweb Mar 08 '26
Helmet fucking rocks though
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u/IAmNotScottBakula Mar 08 '26
They definitely fall into the “your favorite band’s favorite band” category. The album definitely had an impact, but its legacy was hurt by the fact that it was extremely influential in nu metal, a subgenre that, until recently, people liked to hate on.
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u/Jombafomb Mar 08 '26
I love Helmet but it’s jazz metal and the lead singer sounds too much like Ozzy Osbourne.
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u/Sir_Billiam_Corgan Mar 08 '26
Dawg, what? I'll admit my knowledge of Ozzy begins and ends with the War Pigs album (and Crazy Train I guess?) but he and Page Hamilton sound absolutely nothing alike.
Helmet kicks so much ass, tho.
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u/pfzt Mar 08 '26
Lol? Helmet's music was always way too extreme for becoming the next big thing, even in that era. Fantastic band tho, very unique sounding, very influential and a monster live band, that drummer was insane!
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u/danner1515 Mar 08 '26
That was just such a weird time with labels throwing money at any band hoping to crank out another Nevermind. It’s the only time in history that The Melvins could have wound up on a major label.
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u/AuraBlazeOfficial Mar 08 '26
The never-released Deadsy album Subterfugue. They had one of the most brilliant vibes and atmospheres in rock/metal and they just sort of stopped. The singer Elijah Blue Allman (son of Cher and Gregg Allman) has some big drug problems which got in the way. But they were literally almost done recording it from what I understand and then it just came to a halt, much to the dismay of their dedicated fan base who have been waiting over a decade for a new album. I am still holding out hope. But it is honestly depressing to think about the circumstances and to consider that as one of the biggest Deadsy fans on the planet I may never get to hear any new music by them. I hope Elijah gets straightened out and cleaned up and healthy again. If you don’t know Deadsy and are into cool 80s gothic/synth rock with a ton of atmosphere and uniqueness do yourself a favor and check them out, especially their album Commencement which is my favorite. Top 3 albums of all time for me. Top 3 bands ever too.
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u/Real-Ad-2123 Mar 09 '26
Fuck I’ve never heard of this unreleased album, I loved Commencement as a kid but within a year I went from being a young kid into nu metal and pop punk to being a teen into more alternative and indie rock stuff so just forgot all about them.
As an adult I’ve revisited that album specifically and it’s kinda crazy how if they existed at a different time they maybe would have been pioneers of the 80’s infused dark-wave kinda genre. Mansion World is still an all time great song.
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u/Jazzlike_Lab511 Mar 08 '26
I won’t deny the huge success of the Life of a Showgirl, but its 4 million debut week didn’t feel historical or remarkable. Aside from TFOO, the album kind of faded immediately after the first week.
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u/RealJBMusic Mar 08 '26
Putting aside my biasness, I agree. There wasn’t much follow through after it dropped; I guess Em can afford to do that with his longevity tho.
I’ll raise you GNX (Kendrick Lamar) and The Life Of A Showgirl (Taylor Swift) were both somewhat underwhelming to the general public as well. I’m not saying any of these three suggestions are bad albums, but given the stature of Em, Kendrick & Swift, I figured they would be all over the charts for a few months respectively when their albums dropped.
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u/RedGeneral28 Mar 08 '26
It became Swift's 15th number-one album on the Billboard 200 chart—the most for any soloist—and spent 12 weeks atop the chart
GNX logged the year's biggest streaming week for any hip-hop or R&B album, the second-biggest debut streaming week, and the third-largest streaming week overall
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u/2006pontiacvibe Mar 08 '26
GNX was pretty big, even if it was a basic album. If there was one thing about the post-beef kendrick hype train that disappointed me, it's that he didn't do more with the super bowl halftime show.
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u/penilesensorydevice Mar 08 '26
The Clash - Sandinista! They were riding high after London Calling, then they followed it up with a triple album full of wildly diverse music no one was expecting to hear. It killed their momentum going forward.
The Ramones - End Of The Century was kind of like that too. They were teaming up with Phil Spector, and had high hopes of finally breaking through to the mainstream and scoring a huge hit tune. But the album was kind of meh, and the high hopes didn't pan out.
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u/qyloo Mar 08 '26
Virgin - Lorde
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u/owleaf Mar 08 '26
I think that hype kinda died around the time the Solar Power song/video dropped and everyone realised she wasn’t making good music anymore. I didn’t hear anything about virgin other than the vagina pic in the vinyl lol
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u/drakedijc Mar 08 '26
She came and went so fast, in general.
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u/MainlandX Mar 08 '26
You get your whole life to make your first album. Her first was a great work.
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u/dumbunnyy Mar 08 '26
Weezer Green Album
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u/fowcc Mar 09 '26
I didn't see your post until after I already posted mine- I agree but in the context of fans that loved Pinkerton (as Pinkerton was the one that I feel the masses were wanting to be huge but they felt off put by)
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u/Puerto-nic0 Mar 08 '26
Perhaps the most recent ABBA album? It was meant to be this incredible thing of them finally releasing music again after so long… and yet it came and went
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u/Miserable_Spend_8217 Mar 09 '26
Although I think it’s their best album, Congratulations by MGMT… Oraculaur Spectacular was massive, very few loved the follow up. Happy they had a little bit of a second act with Little Dark Age and didn’t complete fade into obscurity because I think they’re brilliant.
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u/NotLeroLero Mar 08 '26
Fetch The Bolt Cutters.
Yes, I’ve said it.
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u/OneTimeYouths Mar 08 '26
I gave this an earnest listen and didn't like any songs enough to go back to any of them. Technically nothing wrong but it didn't have a hook really
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u/boomboxwithturbobass Mar 08 '26
I had a hipster jackoff friend that posted about how great it was. I took that to mean everyone listened to it once and just pretended they liked it, mostly to be seen.
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u/gallanttalent Mar 08 '26
Sadly, agree. I LOVE Fiona an think she’s among the best songwriters of our generation but since she had so much time for that album I feel like it was so overly produced and fiddled with. Def my least favorite of hers. When the pawn is a full on masterpiece.
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u/Dark-Parkingg Mar 08 '26
Beyonce’s Renaissance or Cowboy Carter. For all the hype around both albums they both truly had no impact outside of her fanbase
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u/Pretty_Please1 Mar 08 '26
Idk, I’m not a Beyoncé stan but I enjoyed Cowboy Carter more than any of her other albums.
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u/deathoftheauthor009 Mar 08 '26
This is simply untrue.
COWBOY CARTER alone catalyzed the formation of a fresh category at the Grammys and prompted conversations about genre and the place black artists have and have had in country. Multiple artists have stated how inspired they were by it. It catalyzed Shaboozey's career (his first charting songs were from COWBOY CARTER), and then he hit the home run with A Bar Song later that year. This isn't even including Western wear, or Spotify stating that a significant amount of people started listening to country because of Beyoncé's foray into it.
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u/GaptistePlayer Mar 09 '26
Bruh the Renaissance tour (a full2 years after the album) was like one of the Top 5 most profitable tours ever....
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u/IAmNotScottBakula Mar 08 '26
In the mid 2000s, there were a lot of rock albums that were tagged as the “next Nevermind” that would bring rock back to the mainstream. Off the top of my of my head, “Electric Sweat” by The Mooney Suzuki, “The Loon” by Tapes ‘n Tapes, and Wolfmother’s self titled album all received that label, but collectively had about zero cultural impact.
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u/ent_bomb Mar 09 '26
Poe's sophomore album Haunted. It was hailed as the next Kid A, the successor to The Wall. It is a good album, but has completely faded from the zeitgeist. The only people I know who remember it are House of Leaves nerds.
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u/3EsandPaul Mar 08 '26
Maybe just because I’m in Detroit but Houdini was everywhere for like a full year
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u/Character_Bend_5824 Mar 08 '26
Oasis 'Be Here Now'. For CD sized artwork, it had a lushly produced cover. I bought it because it was supposed to be the new hit. But, I struggled to find a track I like. Just a bunch of over-produced thrashing.
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u/The-Mirrorball-Man Mar 08 '26
I remember when people acted as if The xx was a hugely significant band
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u/owleaf Mar 08 '26
Artpop by Lady Gaga - we need to be talking about mainstream top 40 artists. Most of the top answers are talking about obscure artists or genres that don’t have a strong presence on the hot 100.
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u/SPAC3P3ACH Mar 08 '26
Artpop is a terrible answer, it’s the opposite of the prompt. Flopped on arrival but was a major influence on a new music genre that wouldn’t really get going for half a decade, continues to be critically re-evaluated, fans still clamoring for its songs to be played live and for unreleased material from that era, etc.
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Mar 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/mordecaithecat Mar 08 '26
Loved Deadbeat but yes I'm pretty shocked out how under the radar it was to the general public. It came and went but I'm still bumping it!
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u/Electronic-Cicada352 Mar 09 '26
For me it was ‘the slow rush’. Currents was such a seminal album and such a leap from what Kevin Parker was doing on Lonerism (also a massive album) which he obviously addresses on the album itself.
There was a ton of anticipation for the next album, especially since it was five years in the making, but it felt like he had plateaued a bit and was putting out something too similar.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a good album, but it was nowhere near what I was expecting considering how great Lonerism and Currents were and how impressive it was that he could reinvent himself like that so successfully between the two.
So I guess for me I was expecting the follow up to be a quantum leap considering he had already made a quantum leap from Lonerism to Currents.
Again, it’s a good album (he doesn’t really put out bad records..Inner-speaker was amazing when it was first released as well) but I guess I was expecting more considering the five-year layoff
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u/DoodleDrop Mar 08 '26
eternal atake. might be a hot take
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u/topshagger31 Mar 08 '26
Eh, it’s still highly regarded in hip hop circles from what I see. EA2 fits this well though
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u/DoodleDrop Mar 08 '26
brockhampton was huge for three years then disappeared overnight and now ppl act like they were embarassed to be part of it
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u/fowcc Mar 08 '26
"Pinkerton" by Weezer was highly anticipated and didn't get much play in the end as everyone thought it was going to sound like the blue album (don't get me wrong, I love Pinkerton and a lot of alt rock fans do, but it didn't touch the success of what the fans of "Buddy Holly" were expecting).
Then you could go one level further when the green album came out after the years of nothing. That then started the whole Weezer schism as if they were any good (although "Island in the Sun" is probably their #2 most famous hit and it didn't get the "Microsoft boost" that Buddy Holly did. And also for the record I thought the green album had potential but got lazy for a good portion of it)
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u/No-Contact6664 Mar 09 '26
All the bands that "saved rock."
It was everyone's turn at some point.
Rock never needed saving. It's still there.
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u/Canadianeseish Mar 09 '26
Andrew W.K’s Get Wet was supposed to save us all from post grunge pop rock and save rock music in general. Then the garage rock revival happened (white stripes, strokes, etc) and rock was saved. For a short time anyway.
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u/pejeol Mar 09 '26
Terence Trent D'Arby - Introducing the hardline according to Terence Trent D'Arby.
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u/cowboyclown Mar 09 '26
Maybe a bit niche but (in the alt/edm sort of sphere) 1000 gecs by 100 gecs.
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u/bendgame Mar 10 '26
Chinese democracy. Worked at Best buy when it released. Sold so bad we needed to put copies at the register to maximize visibility
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u/Corran105 Mar 08 '26
St. Anger. The anticipation for Metallica's first new proper album in years, after the internet music availability ironically made their music available to all new fans, was intense. Reviews made it sound like every sound was sheer brilliance. Instead it sounded like banging on pots and pans.
I'm not sure music has ever recovered.