Last week Justin Timberlake got everyone excited by announcing he was returning to music.
Then the excitement died down really fast once people heard the first single from his new album. Suit and Tie has been described as a total snoozefest and even JT’s most die hard fans have been scratching their heads.
Is this the end of Timberlake’s run of hits? And more importantly, is a dud lead single a good predictor of a dud album to follow?
The OUTinPerth team discussed this in great detail over icey poles at lunchtime and the answer is general yes – dud lead single = dud album, but we could think of five exceptions. Albums that are better than their first single:
Michael Jackson – Bad
The first single of Jackson greatly anticipated follow up to his record breaking Thriller album was the ballad I Just Can’t Stop Loving You. The duet with Sediah Garrett, who was hardly a household name, was not what fans were aching for. Jackson has wanted to record the duet with Barbra Streisand or Whitney Houston but both singers turned him down, as did Aretha Franklin and ABBA’s Agnetha Faltskog.
Heaps of people snapped up the single on its release sending it to number one in the USA, but just five weeks later it had dropped out of the charts. Here in Australia it got to number 10 in the charts. The Bad album went on to be massive though and ended up having four more hit singles.
Shakespear’s Sister – Sacred Heart
Siobhan Fahey quit girl group Bananarama at the height of their success and returned a few months later as Shakespear’s Sister.
The first single from her debut album Sacred Heart was the double A side single Heroine / Break My Heart (You Really) and it was a total flop. The song failed to break the charts anywhere in the world.
Fahey got collaborator Marcella Detroit to join the project and released a follow single Your History as a duo. It was a massive hit and the album spawned two more singles.
The Bangles – Everything
The Bangles found breakthrough success with their second album, they had huge hits with the Prince penned Manic Monday, Walk Like An Egyptian and a cover of Jules Shear’s If She Knew What She Wants .
The first single off their follow up album was the psychedelic pop tune In Your Room. While the song was well received in the USA, here in Australia it only scraped in at 41 on the ARIA charts. People asked if The Bangles had lost their magic.
The albums second single Eternal Flame answered the question clearly, it was their biggest hit ever, the fourth biggest selling song in Australia of 1989, and made the album a best seller too.
Kylie Minogue – Impossible Princess
Kylie took a notable change in direction for her sixth album. Often referred to as her indie Kylie phase, the album’s lead single Some Kind of Bliss was penned with rockers The Manic Street Preachers. It was the first single of Minogue’s not to crack the top 20 in the UK – ending a run of 21 hit songs in a row. Here is Australia the song only got to number 20 in the charts.
The next single I Did It Again was a success though and the album sold well, and two more singles were released Breathe and Cowboy Style. In the UK though the lead track sealed the albums fate, the album sold poorly.
Whitney Houston – My Love Is Your Love
In 2008 it was eight years since Houston had released a full album, she had hits with songs from her films, but each soundtrack had just a few tracks. Expectations were high for her return. They got higher when it was announced that the first single would be a duet with Mariah Carey, When You Believe was recorded for the animated film The Prince of Egypt and included on the soundtrack, Houston’s album and Carey’s Number One’s.
The song had moderate success, but failed to live up to the hype. The rest of Houston’s album was a different affair, producing a heap of hits including Heartbreak Hotel, I’m Not Alright, But I’m OK and My Love Is Your Love.
