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The use of the word era


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Old 18-12-2011, 11:19
nikproffitt
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It may seem a small thing, but why are people using the wourd era to describe the release of a single album, e.g. the born this way era!. Is the world album or even period too hard for some people to spell?

I agree some artists do have different eras to their music, Madonna has had a few, as has Kylie. But an album is not an era!
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Old 18-12-2011, 11:56
Dizagaox
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Era doesn't just mean an album. It just means a period of time when an artist had a particular sound or image.

Sometimes it can be multiple albums (like how Ke$ha's still in her first era, despite two albums and a remix album) or just one (like Rihanna's red haired Loud era) or no albums (Justin Timberlake right now, or Christina's post-Bionic era).

It's a term coined by Billboard Magazine, so it's legit.
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Old 18-12-2011, 12:22
my name is joe
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it's crap aint it, it's marketing speak for "forget what you've heard before the future starts here'. Then it turns out to be the same old crap tweaked a bit

the phrase 'new album' would do
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Old 18-12-2011, 12:25
leosw4
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In the case of some artist's, the word 'error' would be more appropriate.
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Old 18-12-2011, 12:43
nikproffitt
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Era doesn't just mean an album. It just means a period of time when an artist had a particular sound or image.

Sometimes it can be multiple albums (like how Ke$ha's still in her first era, despite two albums and a remix album) or just one (like Rihanna's red haired Loud era) or no albums (Justin Timberlake right now, or Christina's post-Bionic era).

It's a term coined by Billboard Magazine, so it's legit.
Oh well if its from an American magazine it must be ok then!

The ones that are really annoying me are the Gaga fans who think a second album, with very little change is a new 'era'
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Old 18-12-2011, 13:02
DEADLY_17
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Majority of Fan bases use it. It just helps with each album and its not just about the albums its everything from start to finish.
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Old 18-12-2011, 13:07
ags_rule
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I think it's ridiculously overused. Like the OP says, people are using it to describe individual albums now, so Rihanna has had about 5 different 'eras', which is ludicrous.

An 'era', in my book, has to be a defined period of a time over which a band/artist followed a certain artistic direction before changing. So, taking Metallica as an example:

Kill' Em All/Ride The Lightning/Master of Puppets/And Justice For All: Thrash Era

Black Album/Load/Reload: Hard-Rock/Heavy-Metal Era

S&M/St. Anger: Experimental era

Death Magnetic/Beyond Magnetic/New Album: "Return to roots" era
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Old 18-12-2011, 13:30
Smudged
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Worst term ever. I cringe every time I see someone use it.
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Old 18-12-2011, 15:18
Microkorg
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Worst term ever. I cringe every time I see someone use it.
QFT
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Old 18-12-2011, 15:33
O.Michel
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The term describes the period before the album (announcements, hints etc), the lead single, the album's release, the album's chart run, all the singles and the videos, the promotion and the tour.I agree that the term might be a little to heavy since most artists do all the above in 1 year, but for some reason the word "period" just doesn't sound right, even though technically it would describe the exact same things
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Old 18-12-2011, 16:29
Dizagaox
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It's because of Wikipedia the term has become popular.

Wikipedia Guidelines prefer the term "era" over other similar meaning words.
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Old 18-12-2011, 16:44
Gigi4
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I think it is overused but it makes sense to apply it to certain artists who change the sound and/or their look a lot. There are other artists who always have the same sound and look over their whole career so they don't have eras.
I think an era can span more than one album. Sometimes an artist will have the same sound for a couple of albums, but then change to a different sound for the following albums.
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Old 18-12-2011, 16:54
little-monster
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I love the word era and i never used it before i joined DS
I don't see what the problem is really because some of use this era you don't agree with it

I don't really agree with members who use LOL or Hehe quite a bit but that's life and I plod on and live my life without losing sleep over a word.
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Old 18-12-2011, 17:13
TheChicagoBaron
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The term describes the period before the album (announcements, hints etc), the lead single, the album's release, the album's chart run, all the singles and the videos, the promotion and the tour.I agree that the term might be a little to heavy since most artists do all the above in 1 year, but for some reason the word "period" just doesn't sound right, even though technically it would describe the exact same things
This. I don't like using it all, but I do because most people understand it as the entire album campaign.
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Old 18-12-2011, 22:20
Multimedia81
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'era could be another word with a similar meaning to listener
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Old 18-12-2011, 22:52
shackfan
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It may seem a small thing, but why are people using the wourd era to describe the release of a single album, e.g. the born this way era!. Is the world album or even period too hard for some people to spell?

I agree some artists do have different eras to their music, Madonna has had a few, as has Kylie. But an album is not an era!
Oh thank Christ for that. I thought I was the only one. I read someone on here earlier refer to someones FIRST album in this way. It really bugs me.
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Old 18-12-2011, 22:53
gpk
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Worst term ever. I cringe every time I see someone use it.
me too. when i first joined the forum, its was my pet hate. although, as time went on, it kind of started to bother me less. there`s worse words being banded around here to be honest.
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Old 19-12-2011, 08:19
nikproffitt
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I have noticed that it tends to be Lady Gaga fans who use it most though..........
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Old 19-12-2011, 09:55
mushymanrob
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its not just 'era' .... theres 'icon', 'legend' to name but two more, heavily overstated terms.
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Old 19-12-2011, 10:52
Glawster2002
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its not just 'era' .... theres 'icon', 'legend' to name but two more, heavily overstated terms.
So would that be.....

1st Album = Era
2nd Album = Icon
3rd Album = Legend

And then Oblivion....... Which pretty much sums up most pop careers now.....
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Old 19-12-2011, 14:14
Sweet7
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I always just presumed an 'era' was a way of describing from single 1 through to a final single and tour of an album..that was the way I always saw it.
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Old 19-12-2011, 14:20
Josh Pinder
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I love the word Era when used correctly....not JUST an album....as a whole period of time.

Like Born This Way for example isnt an era yet....it is an album....when the album promo ends it will then be an era to refer to perhaps.

Whereas as a Doctor Who fanatic i use the Tom Baker era, Matt Smith current era, Russel T Davies Era etc depending.

Madonna - Debut Virgin Era, Tree Blue Era, Like A Prayer/Blonde Ambition Era, Erotica/girlie show Era, Ray Of Light/Drowned World Era, American Life/Re-invention Era, Confessions Era and Sticky & Sweet Era.....hers really ARE Eras.

I think it depends entirely on time frame, level of hype and mainstream attention, impact and length and spanse of promotion across it to qualify as an Era.
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Old 19-12-2011, 14:54
iseloid
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I love the word Era when used correctly....not JUST an album....as a whole period of time.

Like Born This Way for example isnt an era yet....it is an album....when the album promo ends it will then be an era to refer to perhaps.

Whereas as a Doctor Who fanatic i use the Tom Baker era, Matt Smith current era, Russel T Davies Era etc depending.

Madonna - Debut Virgin Era, Tree Blue Era, Like A Prayer/Blonde Ambition Era, Erotica/girlie show Era, Ray Of Light/Drowned World Era, American Life/Re-invention Era, Confessions Era and Sticky & Sweet Era.....hers really ARE Eras.

I think it depends entirely on time frame, level of hype and mainstream attention, impact and length and spanse of promotion across it to qualify as an Era.
era as you say is correct in the right context...i.e MJ with off the wall v thriller v bad. very different times, musically, lyrically and personally. so they were/are eras.
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Old 19-12-2011, 14:59
Josh Pinder
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era as you say is correct in the right context...i.e MJ with off the wall v thriller v bad. very different times, musically, lyrically and personally. so they were/are eras.
Most definitely....and thanks so much
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Old 19-12-2011, 15:05
iseloid
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Most definitely....and thanks so much
no worries...great minds think alike
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