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What's the 'Best' selling FLOP album ever!


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Old 15-03-2013, 17:14
HandsClean
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I register a flop album as comparing it to a previous release standard set by a group or artist. There is no such thing a flop debut album because they have nothing to compare it to. Taking that into account surely Alanis Morissette's Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie wins hands down.

After Jagged Little Pills massive success the follow up started with a massive campaign, high airplay worldwide for single 'Thank You' and incredible debut sales around the world, especially in the US. However sales slumped, the album stormed out of the charts quickly in every territory which resulted in a decline of 70+% in sales, a string of flop/ uncharted singles, a massive part of her fan base alienated due to a new musical direction, limited media attention afterwards and overall lack of interest in her at all despite this release being one of her best releases and my personal favorite.

For a normal album the 9,000,000 it did sell would be a brilliant feat but coming from the success of Jagged Little Pill which has sold 33,000,000 worldwide and continues to sell 2,000+ weekly in the US and is labeled one of the best albums of the 90's and probably of all time. Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie is arguably one of the biggest flops of the last 20 years despite it's decent sales.


What's do you think is potentially the best selling album that could or is labeled a 'flop' release.
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Old 15-03-2013, 19:28
MeddlingMonkey
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From user name only I think most of the forum could tell what your post was going to be about before they even open the thread.

I am kind of 50/50 on it. Most people can see that it was not technically a flop.

I see where you are coming from and totally accept your point, but I am not sure how many people saw it as a flop outside the hardcore fans and some music mags. Most of the music media didn't start the backlash until way after URS.

HABL. Now there is a flop in the real sense. But again, pretty much her own fault through not giving a shit about it after the first single.
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Old 15-03-2013, 19:37
HandsClean
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From user name only I think most of the forum could tell what your post was going to be about before they even open the thread.

I am kind of 50/50 on it. Most people can see that it was not technically a flop.

I see where you are coming from and totally accept your point, but I am not sure how many people saw it as a flop outside the hardcore fans and some music mags. Most of the music media didn't start the backlash until way after URS.

HABL. Now there is a flop in the real sense. But again, pretty much her own fault through not giving a shit about it after the first single.
HABL isn't really a flop though her last album barely sold 600,000 and estimations say HABL has reached like 400,000 worldwide. I would say that's pretty good considering.
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Old 15-03-2013, 19:41
MeddlingMonkey
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HABL isn't really a flop though her last album barely sold 600,000 and estimations say HABL has reached like 400,000 worldwide. I would say that's pretty good considering.
No, it really isn't.

I adore her and have supported her since 95, but you would have to be very disillusioned to believe HABL was anything but a flop. In the sense you are talking about in this thread.

It split the fans, it sold very badly and it died within months.

I love it, I have 12 different editions of the frigging thing, but it has not sold very well. I accept your point about FOE, that didn't set the world alight either.

But she doesn't seem to care and is pretty happy.

On the other side of it, Souleye will consider his CD to have sold well with a tenth of those sales, which will have a huge contribution from Alanis fans wanting the 3 duet tracks.
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Old 15-03-2013, 19:41
Rooftopcowboy
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Michael Jackson's BAD is seem as a flop by some, as it sold far less than Thriller, but it is still one of the best selling albums ever, and generated so many hits.

MJ's Invincible got a lot of criticism and again is seen as a flop, but i'm sure it still sold over 10million, which is a figure most artists dream of.
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Old 15-03-2013, 20:02
Makson
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Adele's next album will be deemed a "flop" if she fails to shift at least 20 million units
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Old 15-03-2013, 20:10
O.Michel
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Madonna's 'Erotica'. Obviously far from the sales of 'LAV', 'TB' and most importantly 'LAP', but still a decent success. Too bad that it seems to be remembered as part of her underperforming period alongside with 'Bedtime Stories'.
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Old 15-03-2013, 20:19
MeddlingMonkey
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Adele's next album will be deemed a "flop" if she fails to shift at least 20 million units
Yep, it will. Same as Alanis, Gaga, anyone who the press build up and have some success. Nothing more fun for that lot than ripping them back down.
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Old 15-03-2013, 21:16
Soupietwist
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'Tusk' maybe?
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Old 15-03-2013, 22:48
boysforpele
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flop


a defintiion is required

it is:
a. a heavy underperformance based on critical appraisal or expected/predicted sales
and/or
b. below 20% of previous album or album average sales for an artist
and/or
c. a negative equity (despite heavy promotion, music videos, advertisments - the sales of singles/albums or tours for era lead to a 20% of previous or average era`s for an artist)
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Old 15-03-2013, 23:49
bryemycaz
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Lots of big names from the 70s normally had a couple of albums that did not chart in their back catalogue. As it was sometimes the 3rd 4th or 5th album that broke them.

However the fans of these bands often claim that the first two albums by these groups are just as good or better than the breakthrough album.

Some of these albums have gone gold and still sell well today even though they never charted on the UK album charts.
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Old 15-03-2013, 23:59
Lewnaticc
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It depends on the artist. Born This Way could be considered a flop as it failed to match the success of even The Fame Monster.
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Old 16-03-2013, 00:43
rfonzo
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Madonna's 'Erotica'. Obviously far from the sales of 'LAV', 'TB' and most importantly 'LAP', but still a decent success. Too bad that it seems to be remembered as part of her underperforming period alongside with 'Bedtime Stories'.
I was going to mention Madonna's work in the early to mid nineties, post Vogue. It had some good singles like 'Rain' but she did gain that much critical or commercial success and other artists like Mariah Carey were beginning to become more prominent. I would also mention American Pie and American Life after the successful Ray of Light.
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Old 16-03-2013, 01:18
ashtray88
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WTF...

Well surely if someone's debut under performs from the record labels expectations then their album has flopped(e.g. Tulisa)? However, I think this whole comparison thing is stupid. For example, Adele's third album is very unlikely to match the success of her second. So even if it goes platinum and outsells many other albums, it's still going to be labelled a "flop" isn't it? I find that rather pathetic TBH.

Edit: Oh crap, I see all my points have already been made. But I'm still going to leave my post here in protest as I just find this whole thing very annoying.
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Old 16-03-2013, 06:53
little-monster
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Michael Jackson's BAD is seem as a flop by some, as it sold far less than Thriller, but it is still one of the best selling albums ever, and generated so many hits.

MJ's Invincible got a lot of criticism and again is seen as a flop, but i'm sure it still sold over 10million, which is a figure most artists dream of.
Invicible is regarded as a flop because the label spent a ridiculous amount of it. Apparently they spent 25 million on the whole project and none of it was ever made back. I don't know if that is true.
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Old 16-03-2013, 08:09
Revolution 909
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I hate the word flop.

It's unfair to gauge a successful album as a failure simply because it underperformed compared to it's predecessor, especially if that predecessor is an album like Adele's 21, which had unusually high sales figures.

People can't expect exponential growth in an area such as album sales. labelling a relatively successful album a flop is unfair and gives an inaccurate image of how an artist is doing.

For example, you'd swear by posters on here constantly saying that Lady Gaga's Born This Way was "flop flop flOP FLOP FLOOOPPPP!" that it had completely bombed and that her career was in dire straits. But it was still in the Top 10 best selling albums of 2011 in both the UK and worldwide.
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Old 16-03-2013, 10:48
Hav_mor91
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I hate the word flop.

It's unfair to gauge a successful album as a failure simply because it underperformed compared to it's predecessor, especially if that predecessor is an album like Adele's 21, which had unusually high sales figures.

People can't expect exponential growth in an area such as album sales. labelling a relatively successful album a flop is unfair and gives an inaccurate image of how an artist is doing.

For example, you'd swear by posters on here constantly saying that Lady Gaga's Born This Way was "flop flop flOP FLOP FLOOOPPPP!" that it had completely bombed and that her career was in dire straits. But it was still in the Top 10 best selling albums of 2011 in both the UK and worldwide.
You summed it up nicely BTW didn't flop it simply underperformed in comparison to her previous efforts and the immense hype surrounding it as is the case with most of these flop albums simply a case of under performing. Unless of course it comes in at 33 and bombs out soon after that is a flop
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Old 16-03-2013, 10:55
mr muggles
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MEGA FLOP!
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Old 16-03-2013, 11:10
Zeb Atlas
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HABL. Now there is a flop in the real sense. But again, pretty much her own fault through not giving a shit about it after the first single.
Erm, which album is HABL?

Wouldn't Leona's Echo qualify for this thread?
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Old 16-03-2013, 11:30
Hav_mor91
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Erm, which album is HABL?

Wouldn't Leona's Echo qualify for this thread?
And HABL is Havoc And Bright Lights her last album

Yes i would say so Echo flopped everywhere except the UK which also saw a huge decline in sales no matte rhow much her fans argue against it
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Old 16-03-2013, 11:36
toanythingtaboo
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I hate the word flop.

It's unfair to gauge a successful album as a failure simply because it underperformed compared to it's predecessor, especially if that predecessor is an album like Adele's 21, which had unusually high sales figures.

People can't expect exponential growth in an area such as album sales. labelling a relatively successful album a flop is unfair and gives an inaccurate image of how an artist is doing.

For example, you'd swear by posters on here constantly saying that Lady Gaga's Born This Way was "flop flop flOP FLOP FLOOOPPPP!" that it had completely bombed and that her career was in dire straits. But it was still in the Top 10 best selling albums of 2011 in both the UK and worldwide.
"Flop" is easily the most misused word on music forums. I'm not sure whether it's because people simply don't understand the meaning of the word, or whether they believe and regurgitate from the misinformed...or if it's just wishful thinking.

In terms of Born This Way, it appears that folk online have repeated that it was a flop enough that they've warped reality and now people genuinely believe it.
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Old 16-03-2013, 11:40
Zeb Atlas
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And HABL is Havoc And Bright Lights her last album
Thanks. I loved SFAJ but that was because it was messy, harsh and quite challenging at times. Loved the agressive sound of Baba, Sympathetic Character, Can't Not and Joining U.

It feels like she mellowed herself out after that album and became less interesting although I did give up on her after Under Rug Swept.
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Old 16-03-2013, 11:44
Hav_mor91
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Thanks. I loved SFAJ but that was because it was messy, harsh and quite challenging at times. Loved the agressive sound of Baba, Sympathetic Character, Can't Not and Joining U.

It feels like she mellowed herself out after that album and became less interesting although I did give up on her after Under Rug Swept.
Same her SFIJ really showed her as an artist she could have easily done JLP 2 but she decided against it and it's a shame more didn't get behind it
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Old 16-03-2013, 11:44
Rooftopcowboy
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Invicible is regarded as a flop because the label spent a ridiculous amount of it. Apparently they spent 25 million on the whole project and none of it was ever made back. I don't know if that is true.
Not sure who or what I believe about the Invincible project, on one hand you have Sony claiming they spent millions on the album and that Michael Jackson was reluctant to promote it. Its also become clearer since his death that Michael was doped-out for most of his latter years, so you can understand Sony becoming frustrated.

On the other hand you have Michael Jackson putting forward the view that Sony wanted it to be a flop so that they could push him to bankrupt and gain control of his song catalogue (which has the rights to the Beatles songs and many others, and is a massive money spinner)

All in all, I don't think the album is as bad as people claim, it has some decent songs...but suffers from being over-produced (in a style that now sounds dated) and has too many slow songs and ballads, when it is really the fast-paced songs that Michael Jackson is best remembered for.
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Old 16-03-2013, 20:42
gavin shipman
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Born this Way was nowhere near a flop.

But she made some bad decisions with the album.

Sheisse should definitely have been released but she released You and I which was a terrible choice of single then she released Marry the Night too late.
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