:(

It's such a massive shame because I genuinely think this is his most cohesive / strongest album to date :( they've managed to achieve what they wanted to in the US / Canada, but at the same time have completely lost the UK with this era.

It is indeed a shame. I guess this will just have to be his 'My December'/'Blackout' in the sense that it's performance is really undeserved as it's one of/is his finest album to date.

Do we know how it’s is meant to perform in the US on its second week?

Do we know how it’s is meant to perform in the US on its second week?

iirc I think it's set to fall to around #24

It is probably too soon to say this but 'Wonder' is probably one of the albums of 2020 for me. There's not a dud on it and there are some really epic moments. I'm glad to see it smashing in the US and Canada.

I mean he's making Camila's album performance look good.

 

I can't believe the performance of the album, I honeslty expected it to do quite well even if 'Wonder' and 'Monster' weren't huge hits, even though the latter went top 10.

It's certainly a shocking under-performance. It makes me wonder what has gone wrong in this market, because it's gone Top 10 in a lot of other markets (as well as the US and Canada #1s, he notably managed #2 in Australia and #8 in Germany).

 

It's a shame because I honestly think Wonder could be his strongest album to date. I really loved the vibe and cohesiveness of his previous album, but this one is more varied and I'd say his vocals are stronger than ever.

 

All I can think is that the two singles didn't connect well, or the promotion wasn't strong enough in the UK? Then there's possible superficial factors like people being put off by his relationship with Camila, or his new look? He's looking more grown up these days, he's shed the 'teen idol' image. Maybe he's not connecting with the public in that respect? Who knows...

It's purely down to Q4, imo. I genuinely think the sales he sold in the first week, would've been around the number he'd have done at any other time of the year (give or take a couple of k) He went up against a Q4 where the OAP faves are mainly thriving more than ever (it's a similar reason for Miley's performance, imo - and she has a HUGE hit on the back off her album)

 

It's a shame really, but I kinda had a bad feeling about the Q4 release and I think he should have held off to be the first big release of 2021 and got a number 1 album with his sales instead.

 

EDIT: It also doesn't help with the mess of his store! :lol: (So how many do we think they would have added? An extra 1k-2k?

Completely agree Jonjo, he should have just waited a little longer (an extra month with maybe a grat or two would have done no harm at all?) and released in January 2021.

 

I honestly have no idea now what the store would have added to sales if everything shipped on time - my order still hasn't dispatched because they're waiting on stock of one of the items from the supplier, but then there's orders without that that still haven't been dispatched either. It's all just a huge mess. :lol:

Climbs to #53 :cheeseblock:

:cheeseblock:

I came into this with pretty low expectations and was pleasantly surprised. I love 'Wonder' anyway but also really enjoyed 'Teach Me How To Love', '305' and 'Call My Friends'. Doesn't deserve the lack of success he's receiving this era but 'Monster' is quite literally the worst on the album so I think he's somewhat played himself on that front.

I wonder (haha) what's going on behind the scenes, if anything, because despite getting the #1 in the US/Canada the album has still subsequently gone into freefall there too and the singles are not really taking off either. I know Shawn himself has said he's stopped caring as much about commercial success but he's still a major pop star tied to a major label with major stakes and frankly too many outside interests invested in his success for them to just take this level of underperformance on the chin.

 

I'm not saying there's panic talks going on but.....something needs to happen to turn the era around a little. And I do wonder where a lot of the support from his last cycle as gone; and I wouldn't be surprised if it's down to things like the fact he's grown his hair out and is a bit less of the teen idol now. He gets constant hate tweets that do pretty big numbers about how boring people find him etc. He's definitely on the "and then we tear them down" stage of his career.

 

So, are they going to push a third single? Will we get a random re-issue in like 9 months time lead by a song that's much more commercial than Wonder or Monster? Or are they just going to take the slight L here and change direction for the next album? Interesting times.

I honestly find it baffling (and low-key disturbing if I'm honest) how much of an impact an artist changing their hairstyle has on how well their music performs? There was the same thought process with Katy Perry and the shorter hair. Are people really that shallow?

 

I'd hope that they have a song lined up for single #3 to maybe drive some extra sales and maybe close out the campaign, but I won't hold my breath. I wouldn't be surprised if we end up with a similar run like If I Can't Have You / Señorita coming later down the line, and then a gap between then and album #5.

I think it's down to the songs? Wonder is a great song but doesn't strike me as a major hit, and Monster's done okay (remember Christmas songs are distorting the field atm) but same goes, it's relying more on name power than anything. The album's performance seems indicative of both of those sadly.

'Monstbleurgh' is the worst on the album. The fact they thought that was single worthy just coz it had Bieber on it is laughable.

 

'Wonder' is a big song, but it feels very 3rd/4th single off the album to me/one of those that would randomly take off after being a promo single or something. I don't think it worked being the first single.

 

However, give us 'Teach Me How To Love' and I don't think it's too late to save the album/era. Then follow up with 'Higher'! Casuals love the uptempo pop bops of Shawn the most, I think!

It's frustrating coz this album is so much more interesting than the singles suggest it is! :(

 

'Teach Me How To Love', 'Higher', 'Wonder' and then 'Call My Friends' should have probably been the singles run, imo.

I hope this doesn't come across as shady but I am merely playing devil's advocate~ could some of the steam that he has lost recently be because of his relationship with Camilla? I don't follow celebrity culture too closely in terms of who is dating who, but these guys popped up frequently on my social media and nearly always it was a negative/cringy/annoying(:blush:) reason for them appearing.

 

Obviously it would work two ways - is Camilla seeing a similar dip in success (is she even releasing music, idek?).

 

Again, not necessarily my thoughts, because who he sees should not affect the music and success he achieves, but could the negative press that was around be a possible factor for him not being supported as fully this era? :thinking:

I hope this doesn't come across as shady but I am merely playing devil's advocate~ could some of the steam that he has lost recently be because of his relationship with Camilla? I don't follow celebrity culture too closely in terms of who is dating who, but these guys popped up frequently on my social media and nearly always it was a negative/cringy/annoying(:blush:) reason for them appearing.

 

Obviously it would work two ways - is Camilla seeing a similar dip in success (is she even releasing music, idek?).

 

Again, not necessarily my thoughts, because who he sees should not affect the music and success he achieves, but could the negative press that was around be a possible factor for him not being supported as fully this era? :thinking:

I've thought about this and I actually agree somewhat and yes, she's suffered a similar kinda dip. However, he isn't as problematic as she's seen to be (the racist past etc.. - unless I've missed something about Shawn? Idk) so I think he'll be able to bounce back from it fairly easily tbh.