Are there any mainstream pop albums that are consistently good?
Posted by LOUDspeaker on 21 May 2008 - 10:38am.
We all know never to buy pop albums because you only get two knock out great singles and ten bits of filler. Out of curiosity does anyone know of a pop album that is all killer, no filler?
The Beatles? Maybe, but is Dr Robert a good song, or is it just enjoyable because we've listened to the album so much that we've learned to love the duds?
The best I can come up with is Garbage, but as pop as they are, they're just as much a rock band.
Has anyone suffered through a Kylie/Girls Aloud/Christina Aguleria (sic) album? Are the album tracks any good?
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First Killers was erm a killer
Its about as good a pop album as I have bought in the last few years and originally thought second half was filler. I had a habit of listening to the first 6 songs on the way to work and never getting past them. A longer journey sorted me out.
Would suggest also the first Keane album is pop and no filler.
But both may not be pop enough.
Teenage Fanclub - Grand Prix
Maybe not a "pop" album as such, but I love each and every track on it.
Girls Aloud
their albums are corking. Seriously.
Agreed
I'd also suggest that the opening four tracks to Destiny's Child's Survivor are as good, if not better, than any other introduction to an album anywhere. It does goes downhill from there, mind.
And Thriller isn't bad.
I survived 'Survivor'
...but only just. A girl I used to work with would put it on in the office, and by golly, the second half is a taxer. Culminates, if I remember correctly, with a spoken word piece where the three Tiny's Children thank each other, God, the producer and so on for being so damn wonderful. The best argument (along with Be Here Now) for keeping ANY long-playing format to 45 minutes or less.
Seconded on Thriller. And Off the Wall has a cracking first side.
Indeed they are
Also - McFly's 1st album "Room On The 3rd Floor". One of Mrs H's favourites and therefore a regular in the car, and actually pretty good from start to finish.
However, I think you'll have to go a long way to beat "Super Trouper" by Abba or "Like A Prayer" by Madonna.
Dare!
I'd vote for the Human League's Dare album. Although there are a couple of tracks on there that possibly aren't as good as the rest....
How about Thriller or Purple Rain? Do they count as 'pop' albums?
My favourite 'pop' album though is Pulp's Intro album. Three singles and their b-sides compiled to make, in my mind, Pulp's best album. Not a duff track on it.
Grand Prix
God Yes. Poor Teenage Fanclub are seen as the also-rans of indie but what a consistently melodic and delicious back catalogue they have. The middle 8 of "I'll Make It Clear" once dragged me out of a depression. Musical prozac.
If by mainstream pop, you
If by mainstream pop, you mean pop music liked by teenagers (especially girls, who tend to be less inclined to show off how sophisticated they are by being "into" alternative/underground music) there are four albums that I remember being played at every teenage house party back when I was doing the rounds. Thriller, Dare, ABC's Lexicon Of Love and Friends by Shalamar. They're all great, from soup to nuts, and still sound great today, unlike the "alternative" music that you heard at the time at student parties.
I think as a general rule "mainstream" music stands the test of time a lot better than "underground" music does.
If by mainstream pop, you
If by mainstream pop, you mean pop music liked by teenagers (especially girls, who tend to be less inclined to show off how sophisticated they are by being "into" alternative/underground music) there are four albums that I remember being played at every teenage house party back when I was doing the rounds. Thriller, Dare, ABC's Lexicon Of Love and Friends by Shalamar. They're all great, from soup to nuts, and still sound great today, unlike the "alternative" music that you heard at the time at student parties.
I think as a general rule "mainstream" music stands the test of time a lot better than "underground" music does.
Christina Aguilera
I actually thought Christina Aguilera's "Stripped" was pretty good. I'd concur on Dare and Like a Prayer and also offer "Parallel Line" / Blondie - when I was growing up it was most definitely mainstream pop (although its probably classified as Classic Rock nowadays.....)
Ah Blondie!
Parallel Lines was the first album I owned. I was 9 or 10. It was most definitely a pop album at the time.
How about The Jam or The Police's albums? Weller and Sting were front cover of every music publication, number one in the charts, Top Of The Pops regulars. That's the sort of stuff that pretty much sums up a pop band isn't it?
Is this 'pop'?
Some dubious 'pop' bands up above, and here's another. The Undertones first album is start-to-finish perfect.
Fleetwood Mac's Rumours would be as popular if released for the first time now as it was in the 70s.
undertones
Agree with that but the Undertones' second album "More Songs About Chocolate And Girls" is even better! Also, I'd say that "Fleetwood Mac" is every bit the equal of "Rumours".
Another shout for Christine Aguilera
She can sing and now her record company (and she) don't have to feel they are competing against Britney and Pink etc etc, her material and production will and already does show maturities earlier unexpected. As I have said before, don't let me, Herbie Hancock and (now)Chrisf be the only ones to know. Many a current big name started life less ignominiously. Little Stevie Wonder, anyone? And don't tell me you saw his talent thru those first stirrings all those years ago, however retrospectively (and knowingly) good they sound now.
If you're looking for a pop album
Buy Now 69 or something.
Even better, make your own album with the following tracks.
I would challenge anyone to find fault in any of the following songs. You really would have to be a miserable sod.
Girls Aloud - Call The Shots/ No Good Advice/ Something Kinda Ooh/ Biology/ Some Kind of Miracle
Alesha Dixon - Knock Down
Sugababes - Push The Button/ About You Now
Alphabeat - Fascination
S Club 7 - You're My Number One
Amerie - One Thing/ Take Control/ Gotta Work
Beyonce - Crazy In Love
Remi Nicole - Rock and Roll (worst lyrics of all time though)
Samantha Mumba - Always Come Back To Your Love
Christina Milian - When You Look At Me
H20 - What's It Gonna Be
Jamelia - Superstar
Lady Sovereign - 9 to 5
Christina Aguilera - Ain't No Other Man/ Candyman
Alphabeat
There's a dance remix of the 'Fascination' song that's one of the most uplifting tunes I've heard in recent years. But the proper 'band' version (and the album) are suprisingly humdrum in comparison.
Christina's Aint No Other Man is a fantastic tune.
Not very 'Word'-like on this post are we?
Is it pop if it doesn't sell, or sells too much?
I never liked Push the Button by Sugababes, I just felt like something was missing in terms of melodic variation in the choruses. Maybe it's just me, but it seems to build up and then not do anything.
Not sure if it's technically pop because it didn't sell in bucketloads but I liked Ghosts by Siobhan Donaghy rather a lot. Also I had Dido's first album come up on album-shuffle recently and it wasn't bad either; I think at the time it probably suffered from over-exposure and a frankly ludicrous number of singles milked from it.
Dido
The general take on Dido (I think) is that if she only sold a few thousand copies then she would be an adored, hip and happening cult artist. But because she sold millions, she became a target for critics to be sniffy about. And then the endless radio airplay made everyone else hate her. I've never listened to her music, and I don't listen to the radio, so I have no opinion on her one way or the other.
I am...
A miserable sod. That list is complete rubbish from start to finish. If you really like them, may I direct you to Smash Hits...
Girls aloud
Friend of my brother who has a taste in music which is usually bang on is a huge fan of Girls Aloud, not at all embarassed about it. Even been to see them in concert a couple of times with his wife. I put my daughters best of album on my ipod to test it out, fair play there is some damn fine catchy pop on there. Let's put it this way, it gets played when a track comes up in shuffle, which cannot be said of some more (ahem) critically acclaimed artists.
Girls Aloud are brilliant
No two ways about it - nine of their songs are in my top 150 most played songs on my ipod.
Biology is like the writers showing off - how many hooks/ choruses can they put into one song?!
Steve, you've articulated it perfectly, "it gets played when a track comes up in shuffle".
"Biology" is prog-rock!
And "The Show" is just as good.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
I like that a lot
Biology
One of the best singles by anybody for a very very long time. Fantastic song!
Critics
would do well to focus on singles as much as albums then lots of singles-based acts who get overlooked could gain more recognition for their 'art' - perhaps?
Compilations
There is an argument that great 'pop' acts don't produce great albums, but instead are the best reason for the compilation album to exist. The Girls Aloud singles compilation that came out (last year?) is fantastic from start to finish. The Jam Snap! is one of my favourite compilations, alongside Complete Madness. Again, all killer no filler applies there.
And as for my old Motown Chartbuster albums; they are amongst my all time favourite albums of all time.
Maybe we've been brainwashed...
Would agree with most of the comments about Pop compilations. Aside from the already quoted Parallel Lines, Lexicon of Love and Dare (am I showing my vintage here?!), the one truly great pop album I know of that doesn't suffer from filler-syndrome is New Radical's 'Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too'.
OK - it may not be totally mainstream. And it has only the one hit single (but what a corker - the fabulous 'You Get What You Give', something The Edge once quoted as being the song he most wished he'd written). And it may be arguable whether it is pure pop. But that is as hook-laden, sing-along, punch-the-air, inane-smile-across-the-face pop as I know, and not a duff tune (well, maybe just the one) across the whole piece.
WELL, SINCE YOU ASKED...
"Stars" by Simply Red is rather enjoyable.
careful Mark...
you'll only encourage somebody to suggest 'But Seriously' by Phil Collins if you're not careful...
Must mention 'Til Tuesday
Aimee Mann's old band; the big hair; Aimee's hilarious dancing in the video to What About Love; the none-more-80s sheen of Rhett Davies's production; and the brilliant songs. I give you 'Til Tuesday's second album, Welcome Home. I never get tired of it.
I vaguely recall reading that it was Q's first ever 5-star album, back in the days when that meant something...
Agree
I bought that album on the strength of the very same Q review and have loved it ever since......
Power Pop
A much maligned genre, but throwing up some great pop, if not popular albums. Yachts Yachts, The Records Shades In Bed and anything by The Adventures. My personal favorite is Fingerprintz Distinguishing Marks, an album with ten singles on it. Honourable mentions go to A-ha and Kim Wildes Close and Love Moves, oh and Ellis Beggs and Howards Homelands featuring on time Kajagooster Nick Beggs.
I used to love Promised Land by the Adventures
...off to youtube to check them out now!
Yes! Pop is what it's all about surely?
Especially pop-rock such as: The Raspberries albums are excellent popwise - as are peak period Blondie, early Mud, early buzzcocks, the second Wham! album, the Grease soundtrack, maybe the first big star album, certainly a couple of TRex albums...
Home of the Hits
There was a time when anything on the Beserkely label was going to be fine: I particularly recall the Rubinoos single version of "I think we're alone now"
And Sire records likewise: even the Searchers were hip (again?) for a while in the late 70s, as my copy of Play for Today reminds me, albeit with way too much treble in the mix.
Big yays
to the Undertones, Buzzcocks, Mud and Teenage Fanclub. BVut what of Squeeze, Madness and Supergrass. Peerless populist pop
Power pop platters
In no particular order here are a number which have brought (and still continue to deliver) aural pleasure;
1. Scritti Politti - Cupid & Psyche 85
2. Michael Jackson - Off the Wall
3. Girls Aloud - Biology
4. Sugababes - Taller in Other Ways
5. Sugababes - Angels with Dirty Faces
6. Roxette - Joyride
7. Christina Aguleira - Stripped
8. Journey - Escape (although more rock/pop than straight pop)
9. George Michael - Faith
10. Madonna - Like a Prayer
11. Prince - Around the World in a Day (his most 'pop' release)
12. The Feeling - both albums
WARNING - Consuming all of the above in one sitting is likely to lead to a rocketing cholestrol level.
Off the top of my head
Busted - Busted
Crowded House - Woodface
The Feeling - Twelve Stops and Home
fountains of wayne...
...first album was bloody marvellous
Prince again
Does Prince's Sign O The Times fit the pop definition?
It's definitely "consistently good".
Teardrop Explodes
Kilimanjaro is a great pop album, written and recorded before Julian had indulged in too much acid and intra-band conflicts had yet to fully blossom.
The Thief of Bagdad, Bouncing Babies and Poppies In The Field are all killer tunes and there are more.
More Power to Pop!
I suppose it depends what you define as "pop". My definition tends to the broad and would, essentially, include anything with a tune. Because you can call Queen's A Night At The Opera "rock" if you like, but to me it's pure pop, through and through. Classify Stevie's Innervisions as "soul" if you will, but it's got pop hits on it and is stacked with goodness. Ooh, I could go on. Goldfrapp's Supernature. Dexys' Searching For The Young Soul Rebels. U2's The Joshua Tree.
I'm glad to see someone's mentioned The Feeling already, but I'd definitely put a shout in for those trail-blazing, yet rarely-mentioned pioneers of retro power pop - Jellyfish. Both albums, Bellybutton and Spilt Milk are fantastic.
Finally, if people want to be purist about this, Abba's Arrival gets a regular listen in this house. But I'll concede that it's for sentimental reasons and I'd be hard pushed to defend "Dum Dum Diddle", "That's Me" or "Why Did It Have To Be Me", despite the fact that I'll happily sing along with them.
Annie's debut album is
Annie's debut album is brilliant electronic pop, and a new one produced by Xenomania I believe is on the way. Girls Aloud are magnificent, loved Tangled Up (no ballads, yay!) and What Will The Neighbours Say is amazing apart from the two cover versions. How about Justin Timberlake's last album? I also have a soft spot for Britney and Sugababes' greatest hits and as for a total dark horse Rachel Stevens' Come And Get It was a commercial flop but well worth a shot.
Marshall fuggen Crenshaw!
Where is the love for the first & second Marshall Crenshaw LPs (the 2nd suffers somewhat from a typically bombastic Steve Lillywhite production, though fortunately the songs win)?
Someone mentioned The Rubinoos. Their first two LPs are powerpop nirvana.
The third and final Til Tuesday Lp (Everything's Different Now) is by far and away their best, the songs being mainly Aimee Mann/Jules Shear collaborations plus a vocal contribution from Elvis Costello on The Other End Of The Telescope. Seriously, if you're a fan of Aimee Mann and don't have this record, get your affairs in order.
Matthew Sweet's Girlfriend is also a sublime pop LP.
Finally, an Australian band from the late 70s/earl 80s that I doubt anybody here knows of, but well worthy, The Reels.
"Girlfriend" by Matthew Sweet
I have the "Girlfriend" album by Matthew Sweet. It's more a fey, rootsy indie-rock style of music, rather than proper straight ahead, down the line pop.
If you like "Girlfriend" by Matthew Sweet I recommend also buying Lloyd Cole and the Commotions "Rattlesnakes" album, and The Long Blondes "Someone To Drive You Home". I think they make a great conceptually coherent trilogy about young love and relationships. Put those three on random together and you would be forgiven for thinking it was a concept album.
Hand built by robots
Can I put a word in for a recent release? Newton Faulkner's 'Hand built by robots' seems to find itself on regular replay on my ipod. It's a quiet one, but insidious.
And an oldie but still a goodie is Roxy Music's 'Flesh and Blood'.
Faulkner/ Lemon Jelly
I was put off Newton Faulkner by:
1. White bloke with dreadlocks; what's that about? It gives a tramp look when combined with the facial hair.
2. He covered Teardrop by Massive Attack, and if you are going to do that then you should do something a bit more impressive with it.
3. The television advertising.
As I've not listened to the album it could well be fab despite all of the above.
Completely unrelated - does Lemon Jelly count as pop? If so, count me in.
POP
Notable popsters churning out the occasional belter amidst a few clunkers.
Ian Gomm
Umajets ( bits of Jelyfish)
Brad Jones
Cotton Mather and more recently Future Clouds and Radar
Starjets - hideous production from Status Quo bludgeon merchant
Parthenon Huxley - yes I know, but you know these Americans......
The Rooks
Wondermints
Dwight Twilley
of course the Records
But what about "rock"
Do "rock"/"album" artists actually manage a 100% success rate very often? The difference is that rock bands can fill their albums with "interesting"/"atmospheric" tracks. After a few plays, we accept such things as part of the warp and weft of the "overall feel of the album".
So, for instance, Dark Side of the Moon has some fairly pointless noodling with sequencers and anodyne synth breaks. And face it, how many people would have downloaded Radiohead's "Fitter, Happier..." if it were on iTunes as an Autechre B-Side?
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy "Fitter, Happier..." in just the sort of context I mentioned. But this is the kind of luxury that "pop" artists can't resort to. Not enough songs? Write/sing another one. And twelve strong songs is not easy for anyone to come up with.
Good point and I agree
We don't ask for endless melodic invention from rock but we do from pop. It has been said that U2 get heaps of acclaim for making a new record that sounds just like one they made twenty years ago. While the Pet Shop Boys would be crucified if they did the same. If you want a long lasting career give pop a swerve seems to be the moral of the story.
One of my favourite bands is prog-metal mentalists Tool. They don't do bad songs, instead they put pointless sound experiments on the albums to pad them out (like reciting a Mexican recipe in German over electronic sounds!?). On my iPod I remove them, just like I did with "Fitter, Happier".
"On The Run" on Dark Side is a dud track to me, but others consider it to be THE highlight. They claim it invented whole genres that came to fruition in the early 90's. So one man's dud is another man's masterpiece I guess.
So yes you're right, rock albums get an easy ride as they can do sonic doodles and soundscapes while pop bands have to make real songs for each track. Maybe instead they should cover famous rock songs to pad out their albums?
Skits = concept album?
Some pop artists do those irritating little skit things, particularly in rap and hip-hop - I think most people who bought Speakerboxxx / The Love Below by Outkast would have removed those pretty quickly. Sometimes there are also little atmospheric noises or bits of songs which come later and often these might even have Fitter Happier-esque computer voices.
Frankly, though, any of these are difficult to pull off without wandering into the realms of the concept album - even if the concept is not altogether clear.
Consistent, Melodic and Addictive
I would agree with the person above who mentioned the New Radicals album - absolutely stunning album, perfectly produced and untainted by the fact that they never did a follow-up!
As for now, well I can't get enough of the new Guillemots album, Red (which is actually fairly similar to New Radicals) - it's consistently exciting, melodic and completely addictive.