Ok so I was thinking with the major success of Adele and Bruno Mars recently, are ballads finally making a comeback this year...or will they?

 

'Someone Like You', 'Just the Way You Are' and 'Grenade' have all been number one, 'Make You Feel My Love' and 'Fast Car' have both become far more succesful than they were originally due to X Factor and BGT and there are probably other examples out there.

 

And then on the flipside, the electro-pop craze that sort of started in 2009, apparently led by GaGa, is dying out. Ke$ha, Britney and even GaGa herself haven't been as popular as they once were.

 

So are people going back to, some could say, "real music" instead of this electro-pop trend or is this wishful thinking on my part? :P

Edited May 2, 201114 yr by SceneofSIXCrimes

I think there is just some good ballads out just now. Don't Hold Your Breath was number 1 for example, and I would say that was an eletro pop ballad. I think Someone Like You just has a special appeal, as do all of Adele's songs.

Possibly but i think music goes in cycles. For the past 2/3 years everything has been electro-pop but then the chart becomes saturated and everything sounds the same so people go searching for something different.

JTWYA and MYFML were 2010, not 2011.

 

And I don't think ballads are 'coming back', Someone Like You was just a rare massive selling one.

I disagree.

 

Kesha is nearing the end of her ERA plus she is as successful as ever in the US and down under. Her success over here and other places has been quite modest

 

Lady gaga, it's early days

 

Britney is doing ok. Britney will never been as big as she was when she was innocent teenage dancing in the school girl outfit she has since become the icon for. Plus Britney is one of the last artists to come into the electro dance genre so people might think she is copying other artists to cash in on the success.

 

Ballads however do seem to be making a comeback.

 

While i am bored of this electro pop phase, i don't think it's dying out just yet.

In saying that, Blow flopped amazingly, and it wasn't even from a big selling album :cry:.

Edited May 2, 201114 yr by starryeyed

I think there is just some good ballads out just now. Don't Hold Your Breath was number 1 for example, and I would say that was an eletro pop ballad. I think Someone Like You just has a special appeal, as do all of Adele's songs.

 

Don't Hold You Breath is a ballad, you're eniterly correct.

 

However, a lot of people here will refuse to call it a ballad because you can dance to it.

 

There's actually been loads of ballads in the charts the past couple of years. A lot of them, as you said, are both electropop and ballads.

 

Another example of a massive-selling electropop ballad in the past few years is Fight For This Love actually. Although that might be more synth-pop than electropop, but yeah. :lol:

 

There's also been The Climb, Love the Way You Lie, Meet Me Halfway, When We Collide, which have sold bucketloads. But again, they're sung by X Factor artists or have rapping in or whatever, so they won't be considered ballads, even though they are in terms of their lyrics, chord progressions, instrumentals, etc.

Edited May 2, 201114 yr by Eric_Blob

Maybe electropop is on the wane, but the majority of chart music is still club-orientated and the focus on bands has been lost in the singles chart in favour of an emphasis on songs. There's probably less "brand loyalty" than ever, that only really seems to exist to a great degree on the album chart.

Plus Britney is one of the last artists to come into the electro dance genre so people might think she is copying other artists to cash in on the success.

 

Not really, In The Zone (2003) is an electro/pop/dance album (Toxic, Early Mornin', Breathe On Me, Touch of My Hand..), then Blackout again dance/electro/pop album (Radar, Piece Of Me, Freakshow..) Circus (Womanizer, If U Seek Amy, Unusual You..) So she definitely is not ''one of the last''....

 

 

About ballads, in last 2-3 years we had some amazing ballads (Shontelle - Impossible, PCD - I Hate This Part, now Adele, Bruno..) but that definitely is not a come back... dance/pop songs are still on top.. When those pop girls starts to release some ballads then ballads will come back as big genre...

Maybe electropop is on the wane, but the majority of chart music is still club-orientated and the focus on bands has been lost in the singles chart in favour of an emphasis on songs. There's probably less "brand loyalty" than ever, that only really seems to exist to a great degree on the album chart.

 

Yeah, I agree with this. It explains a lot about the charts at the moment.

 

It was clear the charts were heading this way though. Travel back to late 2008, where the two most popular pop songs were Hot N Cold and Disturbia, for example. The way those songs exploded in popularity like that, we probably could've predicted those genres (electropop, dance pop, etc.) would be massive in the following years. Although I never thought about it like that at the time.

Not really, In The Zone (2003) is an electro/pop/dance album (Toxic, Early Mornin', Breathe On Me, Touch of My Hand..), then Blackout again dance/electro/pop album (Radar, Piece Of Me, Freakshow..) Circus (Womanizer, If U Seek Amy, Unusual You..) So she definitely is not ''one of the last''....

About ballads, in last 2-3 years we had some amazing ballads (Shontelle - Impossible, PCD - I Hate This Part, now Adele, Bruno..) but that definitely is not a come back... dance/pop songs are still on top.. When those pop girls starts to release some ballads then ballads will come back as big genre...

 

True

 

But she is still one of the last

 

In the zone was released 8 years ago. At a time where that genre wasn't big and it did well for her. Now she comes into a time where it is all the rage and she is the last to come into it.

 

She may of done it years ago, but she is very much the last to go into it now.

Maybe I should have asked "do you think ballads WILL make a comeback this year?" :P

 

Leona is making a comeback with a different sound but I'm sure there will still be quite a few ballads on the album, Beyonce is back this year and she never jumps on trends and then there is Kelly Clarkson.

 

True

 

But she is still one of the last

 

In the zone was released 8 years ago. At a time where that genre wasn't big and it did well for her. Now she comes into a time where it is all the rage and she is the last to come into it.

 

She may of done it years ago, but she is very much the last to go into it now.

 

I don't think that makes any sense. If she began using electro-pop in 2003, then she's not the last to use it if she's constantly used it ever since 2003.

Edited May 2, 201114 yr by SceneofSIXCrimes

I don't think she has used it constantly. Blackout is more back to her Pop genre. Circus has small uses of it but i personally don't think she has used it fully since In The Zone.

I don't think she has used it constantly. Blackout is more back to her Pop genre. Circus has small uses of it but i personally don't think she has used it fully since In The Zone.

 

I love how I'm supporting Britney in this argument and you're not despite the fact I can't stand her musically while she's in your signature. :lol:

 

Anyway, I'd say 'Gimme More', 'Piece of Me', 'Break the Ice', 'Womanizer', 'If U Seek Amy' and 'Radar' are all electro-pop songs.

Quick! Someone phone Tone Damli and tell her to make a video for I Love You or No Way Out and release it here ASAP

in other words Britney should have gone with something different and not use electro-pop again since she was experimenting with it from 2003...Imagine if her album was full of songs ala How I Roll :wub: that would have been a real masterpiece and far ahead from the time as was ITZ or Blackout.

I love how I'm supporting Britney in this argument and you're not despite the fact I can't stand her musically while she's in your signature. :lol:

 

Anyway, I'd say 'Gimme More', 'Piece of Me', 'Break the Ice', 'Womanizer', 'If U Seek Amy' and 'Radar' are all electro-pop songs.

 

That is more pure pop than electro pop.

 

Anyway, this thread is turning into Britney

 

:offtopic:

Edited May 2, 201114 yr by Addy! Fatale

ballads never went, their just quite hit or miss in this chart climate, SLY was a full on ballad, that got to number 1, but that was due to the huge hype surrounding her at the time and well, we all knew the reasons behind MYFML and FC's success, I think ballads with a slightly higher tempo (eg. Don't Hold Your Breath, Just The Way you Are) are more likely to do better, plus if the artist is big, then a ballad from them would still sell

Edited May 2, 201114 yr by chart wizard

Don't Hold You Breath is a ballad, you're eniterly correct.

 

However, a lot of people here will refuse to call it a ballad because you can dance to it.

 

There's actually been loads of ballads in the charts the past couple of years. A lot of them, as you said, are both electropop and ballads.

 

Another example of a massive-selling electropop ballad in the past few years is Fight For This Love actually. Although that might be more synth-pop than electropop, but yeah. :lol:

 

There's also been The Climb, Love the Way You Lie, Meet Me Halfway, When We Collide, which have sold bucketloads. But again, they're sung by X Factor artists or have rapping in or whatever, so they won't be considered ballads, even though they are in terms of their lyrics, chord progressions, instrumentals, etc.

 

I agree about FFTL, and the other songs you mentioned.

 

I think people are thinking more along the lines of power ballads.

I agree about FFTL, and the other songs you mentioned.

 

I think people are thinking more along the lines of power ballads.

 

Yeah, I assume (and hope) so anyway. :lol: