Flops are typically fan's favorites (just like monsters say BTW has 'impact'), so it's not unusual for Madonna stans to say the era is memorable. But Ainsworth pretty much summed up my thoughts on it.
Erotica did absolutely nothing for pop music. How can a forgotten era with mostly forgotten songs impact anything? Most pop stars were headed the sexual way before Erotica, and they had much bigger hits with impacting songs and videos. Erotica nearly killed Madonna's career, while Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and all the powerhouse/MOR singers + Janet were seeing success without the controversy. Pop would still be pretty much what it is today without Erotica.
Erotica did absolutely nothing for pop music. How can a forgotten era with mostly forgotten songs impact anything? Most pop stars were headed the sexual way before Erotica, and they had much bigger hits with impacting songs and videos. Erotica nearly killed Madonna's career, while Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and all the powerhouse/MOR singers + Janet were seeing success without the controversy. Pop would still be pretty much what it is today without Erotica.
You can't really say that Erotica wasn't innovative, though. If pop stars were already breaking out with a more obvious sexual image, Madonna wouldn't have received the severe backlash she did (not necessarily in terms of success, but just the reaction from the GP). It flopped for the sake of creativity. Whitney and Mariah have stayed with the same sound all of their career - nothing innovative in their discography.
You can't really say that Erotica wasn't innovative, though. If pop stars were already breaking out with a more obvious sexual image, Madonna wouldn't have received the severe backlash she did (not necessarily in terms of success, but just the reaction from the GP). It flopped for the sake of creativity. Whitney and Mariah have stayed with the same sound all of their career - nothing innovative in their discography.
