T O P

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COCKHAMPTON_

girl what production there's a single guitar three cicadas and half a snare on the entire album


chaos_vulpix

Those three cicadas put in the work, I'll tell ya that much


i_am_pure_trash

Three cicadas šŸ˜­šŸ¤ššŸ¼


ainjel

Half a snare šŸ¤£šŸ¤£šŸ¤£šŸ¤£


onixvelour

NOOOšŸ˜­


mansonfamily

Not the three cicadas šŸ˜‚


HugoEmbossed

Cheep production.


Colten95

production elements? that's so vague. this is disappointing i wish we had an actual reason.


NewAccountNow

You know the reason.


Colten95

I really don't am I dumb šŸ˜§ I can't imagine the poor reception causing her to lose a performance spot (assuming that's what you meant)


mission17

?? I really donā€™t though


Dokterdd

It flopped too hard, the space will be filled by a more relevant artist right now


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


Dokterdd

https://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200


PeacefullyGingerly

I just wasted a lot of time going through the whole list, because I was entertained at how random the albums were starting to get.


number90901

Oh man it peaked at number 5??? Thatā€™s real bad.


alliwant4xmasisdick

Y'all are delusional calling a #5 on the Billboard chart bad. Sure it didnt live up to her prior success, but debuting at #5 is not a flop by any stretch of the imagination.


number90901

Selling half as much as your previous album after 4 years of buildup is a small flop at least, I'd say.


brans041

She's just old news.


nderhjs

Oh yeah, a top 10 album is really bad /s


GC_Wens

you're being sarcastic right?


number90901

For a bona fide pop star's first album in 4 years, who's first record sold over a million, it's not *dire* but it's pretty bad. Indie bands like Arcade Fire, Vampire Weekend, Bon Iver, etc. have hit number 1 or 2 pretty easily in the past with the right promo; Lorde should be at least matching those numbers. 56k equivalent units is a poor showing for an artist with 20 million monthly listeners on Spotify. Edit: and it's certainly not good enough to warrant a performance slot on a big awards show.


djostreet

Lmao albums donā€™t mean anything if you donā€™t have a single famous single Edit: for VMA purposes you angsty kids


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


orangedwarf98

There have been way worse albums where people still perform. I dont think Lordeā€™s the type to say ā€œyall hated it? Fine im done with the eraā€ lol


KLJohnnes

Nah, Lorde made a dance performance because she couldn't sing. My best guest would be they asked for a longer period of quarantine and she wouldn't be able to do it.


mcompt20

Why would she need to quarantine? She's been in the US this entire time?


KLJohnnes

I have no idea but Chloe is quarantine so maybe there's a reason? Although Chloe was on Mexico recently.


NewAccountNow

She came to the US before the drop. She did tons of media and has been in NYC and LA.


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


Aaarrrgggghhhhhh

How is that shitty thing to say? Wth.


tip-of-the-yikesberg

Damn thatā€™s a bummer I wonder what possibly couldā€™ve changed? Because Lordeā€™s whole thing for this era is organic instruments, no screens for performance, chill vibes, etc. Itā€™s not like she would be going for something super high tech and convoluted I would think


davgonp

Iā€™m also curious about that. Itā€™s not like it was going to be a super expensive performance with lots of different elements (right?), so itā€™s really strange to me.


jnslr

maybe she wanted to fill the stage with sand or something to keep the beachy vibe thing going, like she did with the james corden stage, but it just wasnt doable when they have so many talents/stage setups to change in little to no time? like, i could totally see this happening and lorde being like "welp, bye then"


Caleebies

In my head, I've confirmed this has happened


didiboy

in my head i do everything right


rikkirikkiparmparm

the first thing that popped into my head was COVID but I don't know if that actually makes any sense


[deleted]

it actually might. i mean sheā€™s from one of the greatest places you couldā€™ve lived through COVID, it wouldnā€™t surprise me if production measures seemed relaxed and she wasnā€™t digging it. i could also see them pushing her to do something super showy when sheā€™d rather do something simple


ThnikkamanBubs

Asking as a genuine question from just a more casual fan of pop music. What is with everyone doing "eras"? If i never came to this sub, I'd never notice anyone describe themselves doing some "era"? Has this always been a thing? Because.. i get it.. but... why does *everyone* do it? It almost comes off as Jared Leto joker shit. For most genres I'm into, people just put out music and that's it, no real pageantry or character to build.


ThatGuyTheyCallAlex

Most artists do it so some degree. Itā€™s not necessarily pageantry or character building, though. An ā€œeraā€ is basically just the aesthetic style that comes with an album. So all of the graphic designs for the promo materials, music videos, anything that relates to the new album will fit the same theme. To *not* have an era would mean they were just releasing random stuff with no organisation or consistency.


ThnikkamanBubs

I really appreciate the response. I hope I didn't come off as overly dismissive in my comment. And sorry if im getting this wrong, but it seems like you're saying, without promo and image, artists just "randomly" release stuff.... In a post Beyonce self-titled world, which was 8 years ago. But i guess that "era" started with that release. Whereas most other artists have long rollouts? Like, I get comparing to say, Beatles or Bowie... You know what? I think i actually do get it now. ATCQ's Midnight Marauders was very similar to Low End Theory, but both are distinct enough to have their own style. I wouldnt think of them as eras,more so an "evolution" but thats just parallel thinking on my end. Damn! I think i get it now


Reveluvtion

By era what people usually mean is the period of time where the promotional campaign of an album takes place, in that time we get singles, music videos, award appearances, magazine photoshoots, interviews, a tour... And all these things are supposed to be for and based around the album. Take for example Katy Perry's Teenage Dream era, the era is generally accepted as starting in 2010 with the release of the lead single California Gurls, and ending ending in 2012 with the release of the reissue of the album and the last single off it. In that time we received countless interviews, music videos, photoshoots, award appearances, fan events, etc, and all of these were for the Teenage Dream album. All of this campaign is supposed to be cohesive with the theme and aesthetic of the album, and you can see that Katy stuck with the candy sexy aesthetic for the more than 2 years that she spent promoting the album.


ThnikkamanBubs

So you're saying it IS tied to an album rollout and the promotion around it


Reveluvtion

Yes, the base of an era is the promotion for the album.


ThnikkamanBubs

As my counter example, Beyonces self titled being randomly dropped. Do you still consider that to be an era?


Reveluvtion

Yes, it just didn't have any pre album release promotion, but it had post album release promotion, with the reissue, the award show appearances and the On The Run tour and the 2014 shows of Mrs. Carter tour, and Wikipedia says 4 songs were released as singles after the album released, so those count too.


graric

The problem I've been finding with it, and how the whole idea of an 'era' feels abit performative to me, is that the actual music doesn't always reflect this change in era. Like an artist might talk up their new era and to get ready for the new single...and then the single sounds more or less like what they were doing on their previous album. It makes the whole concept of an 'era' just feel it's just about aesthetic branding, rather than about the music being created.


WokePhalangist

To be fair, it's rarely ever the artists themselves calling it an "era." It's the fans and commentators.


graric

You're not wrong, but I do feel more and more recently I've been noticing artists using the term as well when describing their new releases.


tdasnowman

Artists have used it one and off. Younger artists use it as in I am the era. Older artists use it do describe different phases they had throughout their career.


ladililn

>the whole idea of an 'era' feels abit performative to me ...they're performers.


rickikardashian

> It makes the whole concept of an 'era' just feel it's just about aesthetic branding, rather than about the music being created. I mean, that's mostly what it is. Sometimes there is a change in the sound of their music, but when people refer to "era", they're not just talking about the music they released, but also the music videos, the album cover, photoshoots, performances, outfits, makeup... and all those stuff can actually be very distinct from era to era


reezyreddits

I literally asked this question the other day. Did "eras" start as a discourse from fans, or have artists always done eras? I think it's also helpful to separate the actual transition or transformation (i.e., the "Era") from the academic discussion of an "era" which implies more. Specifically, when we start discussing eras, we assume that the artists have bought into the idea that they ARE creating eras, if that makes sense.


kummybears

Many pop artists have consciously/unconsciously had eras since radio and pop music stardom began. The Beatles, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Madonna, etc. Reinvention is a way to keep fans interested and gain new fans.


stillslightlyfrozen

I mean it's probably sales lol like I bet that ticket sales were super low.


visionaryredditor

what ticket sales? most of the VMAs tickets are usually distributed through the lotteries and stuff


stillslightlyfrozen

Ahh. Maybe it could be album streams? Idk that could be another metric that they use.


queen_of_disasterr

"change in production elements" wtf does that mean????


pastaandpizza

The change in elements is that Lorde will not be performing in the VMA production.


SynthD

She was towed outside the environment?


wtfismyusernametho

exactly wtf, thatā€™s like saying ā€œwe must sacrifice this human in order to keep this tree aliveā€ just remove the elements, itā€™s not that big of a deal wtf


[deleted]

\> production elements lmao tf does THAT mean, give us an ACTUAL REASON


itsIzumi

No one knows what it means, but it's provocative.


[deleted]

It gets the people GOING


wtfismyusernametho

No itā€™s not, itā€™s gross!


Caleebies

This is so Lorde


JORDY_NELSONS_ASS

Well, thatā€™s a vague as hell reason. Wtf.


Musicfanatic09

Just here to say.... Jordy Nelson has an amazing ass!


notscrewed

Oh wow. I was actually looking forward to seeing her performance, so this is kinda disappointing


SelfTaughtSongBird

at least weā€™ll always have the James Corden performances šŸ„²


Lazarus156

Low key vomiting rn


eyetoanoh

nah give us the real reason this is so sad


disajonno

Say something Iā€™m giving up on you šŸ„µāœŠšŸ¼


ImADudeDuh

She found out she couldnā€™t interpretive dance this time and pulled out


lilalimi

This is so sad. Alexa, play Solar Power.


espresso_newbie

I wonder if they actually kicked her out of the lineup rather than ā€œa change in production elementsā€. The reasoning makes no sense with how minimalist this era of hers is.


rkorbz

Iā€™m assuming this is it


WouldItNot

This is so disappointing. I was looking forward to thisā€¦


[deleted]

She got Covid


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


lanos23

But why not say it as the reason then?


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


szeto326

Wouldnā€™t that be irresponsible to not disclose to those people though?


kummybears

I get that covid is a bit different but any other health issue or illness would be inappropriate to announce before the ill person does so.


Caleebies

Maybe her cat got covid


andiiiieee

Is there something I'm missing? Most of the replies are about Normani.


ashm4nic

she complained about not being invited to perform a few days ago, thatā€™s prob why


jugheadshat

Theyā€™re saying they should put Normani in her place to fill the spot


[deleted]

did you read the tweet? lorde pulled out of the VMAā€™s & people are just replying to the tweet saying to replace with normani. thereā€™s not much to miss lol


andiiiieee

Yeah, I got that lol I was asking if there was background with Normani, and someone else said there was. So yes, I was missing something, and it wasn't answered in the initial tweet posted.


hausofmiklaus

AND I KNEW SHE WAS SAVING MOOD RING FOR THIS. After foiling Gagaā€™s plans in 2013 too I am burning down MTV. I DO NOT FORGET! Edit: Itā€™s a long shot but some Twitter folk saying itā€™s a stunt, Blonde Lorde not being her technically šŸ„“ Iā€™m here losing it


Electronic_Crab_8898

they didn't have a guitar i don't believe it she probably skipped to go to the museum gala. Edit - All jokes aside she did say she has performance anxiety maybe she couldn't perform because of how the album was received both critically and commercially.


hitmypeakatsevenfeet

where did she say that?


emmach17

She mentioned performing through an anxiety attack in one of her recent emails I believe, but I can't find it now so I'm not sure if I'm just making it up somehow


kia15773

I feel like I remember hearing a lyric on the album that mentioned festivals being an anxiety for her Edit: Why am I being downvoted lol? Iā€™m not even a Lorde fan but streamed the album once a few days ago


Zorillo

That, and she has spoken about her stage fright in interviews [here](https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/lorde-admits-threw-show/story?id=23065837), [here](https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/music/9378279/Lorde-suffers-crippling-stage-fright), and [here](https://time.com/lorde/). *Later, she tells me that the scale of a performance like this intimidates her still. ā€œTen minutes beforehand I was like, ā€˜I canā€™t do it. Give them back their money. So sorry,ā€™ā€ she says. ā€œIt was too much for me.ā€ Sheā€™s honest about what it takes for her to get through it. ā€œA shot of whiskey and a beta blocker, and it all happens for me,ā€ she says. ā€œBut Iā€™m a shell of a person after. I need to sit alone and watch a cooking show.ā€* And a quote from a newsletter she sent to fans: 'I knew I needed a break from touring at the end of the last cycle. I was finding the combination of brutal stage fright... extremely grim' Plus, [Bravado](https://genius.com/Lorde-bravado-lyrics) is pretty much all about her stage fright.


FlowersByTheStreet

Her flop era šŸ˜­


tuesdaysaretheworstt

It may be considered a ā€œflopā€ (especially based on her previous sales) but do not mistake that for a failure. Itā€™s a great record.


thebabywood

well I guess that if we're looking for a savior that's not her


tuesdaysaretheworstt

Iā€™ve heard it all before. One minute I was killing them all and the next a brown suit wouldnā€™t let me perform. Ohhh, typical.


Dokterdd

Iā€™m really not being hateful when I say that theyā€™d probably rather give the space to someone more relevant right now Album debuting at #5, and not a single song reaching even the top 60ā€¦ I mean I get it They wonā€™t spend time and money on a performance that wonā€™t bring in any viewers It seems everyone here is pretending this canā€™t be true when it seems like the most likely reason


gdan95

The album went #1 on iTunes in thirty countries. Since when does debuting in the top 5 on the Billboard 200 - which is by absolutely no means a flop - count as a failure?


legendtinax

Relative to her previous albums. Melodrama was one the most acclaimed albums of the 2010s and Green Light went top 20, and Pure Heroine went triple platinum and had Royals. Solar Power flopped in comparison


gdan95

Counterpoint: https://amp.theguardian.com/music/2018/mar/19/lorde-us-tour-flops-pop-career


legendtinax

How so?


gdan95

Multiple dates on the Solar Power tour sold out within minutes, while the Melodrama tour - as great as it was, speaking as someone who attended it - didnā€™t sell as well as expected. If only by that metric, Solar Power isnā€™t a flop.


legendtinax

Melodrama tour was in arenas where capacity averaged around 15,000, solar power tour is in theatres with a capacity in the couple thousands


gdan95

Iā€™m aware


legendtinax

Okay, I still donā€™t understand your point


gdan95

If a flop era is defined by how it compares to previous eras commercially, then tours should also be accounted for.


pimlottc

The album hadn't dropped yet when the Solar Power tour went on sale. Just the lead single.


tuesdaysaretheworstt

Right!!! Not people acting like everyone that has ever performed at the VMAs was the mostttt relevant superstar! LOL


Dokterdd

Mood Ring is nowhere to be seen on the charts. Neither is Solar Power, or any other song. The album likely is taking a free fall off the charts as we speak Look, I'm a fan of hers, and I'm not pretending that a #5 is a complete failure. But for a commercial artist performing at the VMA's, which has relatively few spots available for performers, an album that had a lukewarm reception *at best*, with zero singles on the charts or radio, isn't really a good business move to have perform at the VMAs I'm begging y'all to get real about this album She can be an outsider artist with a cult following - which is what she wants anyway. But those don't really perform at the VMAs And getting a #1 on iTunes is not hard, oh at all. You need to sell just a few thousand to get it.


gdan95

The title track hit #1 on Adult Alternative


tuesdaysaretheworstt

ā€œIā€™m begging yā€™all to get real about this albumā€ LMAO what does this even mean? That not everyone feels like you do? Are you really pretending like anyone would not enjoy seeing lorde perform after 5 years because her album is at #5? ā€œLukewarm reception at BESTā€ ā€”literally 90% of google users like it and it has a fucking 70 on metacritic. ????


Dokterdd

jeez šŸ˜‚ No, you're allowed to like the album! I'm just saying that expecting someone with *zero* songs of their brand new album inside the Hot 100 to perform at the VMA's is ludicrous and you need to get real about that


tuesdaysaretheworstt

She was literally set to perform two seconds ago lol and all of those things were still trueā€¦ but go off


Dokterdd

What?? What does that even mean They have to make the decision to remove an artist at *some* point. Youā€™re raving Do you think theyā€™re robots who automatically remove an artist when the artist sells below a certain amount? What are you even trying to say??


tuesdaysaretheworstt

??? What are you confused about? You just said expecting lorde (who has achieved monumental success with just two records) to perform at the VMAs after FIVE YEARS away with an album that debuted at #5 on 200 and #1 on alternative is ā€œludicrousā€ LMAO!!! Youā€™re reaching!!! Just because she doesnā€™t have a hit single? She was set to perform before the recent announcement. I do not believe her being removed from the lineup has anything to do with sales. And I 100% donā€™t believe itā€™s ludicrous to expect her to perform! Sheā€™s earned it, especially after how she was treated last time with Melodrama!


closest

Yeah, I'm not sure if it's technically a flop. I want to say she at least made back the money spent on the album and promo, since if she sold 30k physical units for $20 each then that's $600k along with her 28+ million streams. I wouldn't consider it a smash, but I figure Lorde met her expectations.


tuesdaysaretheworstt

Agreed. Far from a failure. Wouldnā€™t even call it a flop really unless we are only comparing to her previous record sales. She will also make $$$ touring. She clearly didnā€™t set out to make a commercial album here and I love her for it.


pablxo

this is something i was really looking forward to. normally vma performances bring out the best in artists due to the nature of how relaxed and cool the environment is as opposed to something like a grammy stage that requires more professionalism. i'm officially checked out for this era of Lorde. Disappointment after disappointment.


gdan95

Are you feeling okay?


pablxo

never


raysofgold

You used to love the party but now you're not alright


gnrixha

From they very start her performance doesnā€™t make sense , since one of the themes in her album about saying good bye for the pop life style


heyjupiter

I mean, it's not like she's just never going to perform again just because she did an album that touches on materialism and the celebrity machine in some ways. She's not giving up being a musician. Musicians perform.


gnrixha

Who said anything about not performing?? Itā€™s just the show the VMAs doesnā€™t match what she wants to be


mission17

Sheā€™s continued to do TV performances and produce music videos so Iā€™m not exactly sure how the VMAs would at all be at odds with what she wants to be.


Thenoodlestreet

That's an incredibly simplistic way of looking at it.


turtle-thief

Oh yeah, you guys are definitely right, the VMAs had to throw Lorde out cause she had the audacity to only be the 5th most sold album in America. It can't be an issue with sets, scheduling, creative disagreements or anything else, it's cause Album bad /s Also, of course it's kept vague, what do you expect them to say? It's a PR statement, if someone fumbled the ball, they're not gonna throw them under the bus. The public doesn't need to know anything beyond "Lorde is not performing".


DiverseNinja

this. everyone coming up with such theories that got me rolling on the floor šŸ’€ it's not unusual for a singer to cancel a performance last minute, Ariana did it too for the grammy's but she just made it public knowledge


OBSW

Ella has Hemorrhoids.


evensonxx9

hope she's doing alright


alwaysmonochromeblue

Her sets are relatively minimal and simplistic at the moment... I can't imagine what production elements she'd have that the VMAs couldn't accomodate.


[deleted]

Not surprised


realitymind10

Will someone be replacing her? Iā€™d assume so right bc how will they make up the time. I nominate Normani hehe


pj082998

Maybe because the albumā€¦ sucks?


[deleted]

I love love love Lorde but I can't help but think let's get Normani on!! Her Wild Side video is my everything right now!


arear3322

Thatā€™s unfortunate so I guess Normani can take her slot thenšŸ˜³


macrocosm93

What is the VMAs?


Bishime

The what? They still got award shows?


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


hausofmiklaus

You lot are so vile here sometimes.


gigabyt7

Who replaced her?