| |
Celeb News: John Legend, Rihanna, Bruno Mars, etc should thank Adele
Member Since: 3/8/2012
Posts: 39,015
|
John Legend, Rihanna, Bruno Mars, etc should thank Adele
Quote:
Arguably, Legend can thank a lady who hasn’t been on the radio herself in over a year: Adele—and specifically her unlikely 2011 smash “Someone Like You,” the second of three No. 1 hits from her colossus 21. When it reached the top in the fall of 2011, “Someone” became the first piano-and-vocal-only No. 1 hit in the history of the Hot 100. (That may sound surprising, given the sorts of songs that were hits a half-century ago, but pop radio fans have long preferred songs with a beat.)
“Someone Like You” found a new lane for balladry on the superhighway that is contemporary radio. Rather than compete with up-tempo pop on its own high-gloss terms, ballads would demand listeners’ attention by going bleaker. Since Adele’s game-changer, other pop acts have succeeded in replicating its bare-bones format. Bruno Mars, the genre-crossing pop star, scored a No. 1 hit a year ago with the drumless “When I Was Your Man,” and the equally adaptable Rihanna reached No. 3 with the downright ascetic “Stay.” Over the winter of 2014, indie-leaning hits by Passenger and A Great Big World made the Top Five, each one riding the New Stark wave. Legend’s “All of Me” fits squarely in this trend and, according to Billboard, is now the Hot 100’s third-ever piano-and-vocal-only chart-topper, after Adele’s and Mars’.
...
With almost exactly 10 years separating Legend’s first hit from his biggest one, it’s worth asking what’s different this time around. The post-Adele New Stark thing is a cultural wave Legend was lucky enough to ride, but the sappier lyrics of his new song probably helped as well.
|
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 9/1/2013
Posts: 1,648
|
these songs would've smashed anyway, i think... at some point.
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 3/15/2013
Posts: 25,228
|
The song of our generation (SLY) from the album of our generation (until 25 comes out), from the artist of our generation (Adele).
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 3/8/2012
Posts: 39,015
|
Quote:
Originally posted by gabeee.
these songs would've smashed anyway, i think... at some point.
|
I don't think you understood the point. They may have done well, but because of SLY they have done better.
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 3/15/2013
Posts: 25,228
|
Quote:
Originally posted by gabeee.
these songs would've smashed anyway, i think... at some point.
|
Most of these songs likely wouldn't have existed/been released as singles if it wasn't for SLY.
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 3/15/2013
Posts: 25,228
|
Oh, And Why Is Every Word Capitalized In The Title, Ichi?
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 3/8/2012
Posts: 39,015
|
Quote:
Originally posted by Mike91
Most of these songs likely wouldn't have existed/been released as singles if it wasn't for SLY.
|
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 3/8/2012
Posts: 39,015
|
Quote:
Originally posted by Mike91
Oh, And Why Is Every Word Capitalized In The Title, Ichi?
|
I thought it look pretty
|
|
|
|
ATRL Contributor
Member Since: 3/15/2013
Posts: 39,618
|
QUEEEEEEN 
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 1/1/2014
Posts: 8,803
|
SLY really changed pop music landscape #impact
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 3/2/2014
Posts: 2,800
|
Game changing chanteuse
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 11/16/2011
Posts: 11,544
|
A true trendsetter.
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 10/15/2010
Posts: 7,099
|
Take A Bow was before Someone Like You.
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 3/15/2013
Posts: 25,228
|
Quote:
Originally posted by RhnNec
Take A Bow was before Someone Like You.
|
You obviously don't get it. 
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 9/1/2013
Posts: 1,648
|
Quote:
Originally posted by Mike91
Most of these songs likely wouldn't have existed/been released as singles if it wasn't for SLY.
|
wouldn't have existed?  as if. most pop albums have always had a handful of ballads. now about their release, true, Adele helped a bit but people would've got bored of all the dance music that slayed prior to Adele so that's why in my opinion, at some point, a ballad would've eventually slayed.
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 3/8/2012
Posts: 39,015
|
Quote:
Originally posted by gabeee.
wouldn't have existed? as if. most pop albums have always had a handful of ballads. now about their release, true, Adele helped a bit but people would've got bored of all the dance music that slayed prior to Adele so that's why in my opinion, at some point, a ballad would've eventually slayed. |
Ok, but Adele was the one who did the slaying and opened the doors more for radios to play ballads. Don't try to take away her impact by saying it would have happened sooner or later because she is the one who did it and you can't change that
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 8/25/2011
Posts: 2,287
|
yes, because Rihanna's 2006 release "Unfaithful" - a piano driven ballad - or her 2008 release "Take A Bow" weren't big hits.
I do get the point the writer was making, but let's not act like the people listed haven't had hits in the same vein of the singles stated before adele even blew up.
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 2/2/2014
Posts: 13,171
|
 Beyoncé's 1+1 was performed before Someone Like You on American Idol tho and initial reception was good 
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 3/15/2013
Posts: 25,228
|
Quote:
Originally posted by gabeee.
wouldn't have existed? as if. most pop albums have always had a handful of ballads. now about their release, true, Adele helped a bit but people would've got bored of all the dance music that slayed prior to Adele so that's why in my opinion, at some point, a ballad would've eventually slayed. |
WIWYM, Stay, etc are almost exactly in the vein of SLY and were obviously written and chosen as singles to cash in on it's success.
It's not like anyone is complaining. It happens all the time. Why is it so hard for stans to admit that songs make impact and influence other artists? 
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 3/15/2013
Posts: 25,228
|
And no one is saying that Adele created ballads.
But you cannot deny she played a major role in why they're so successful again.
|
|
|
|
|
|
