Filed under: Pop Music, Pop/Rock Music | Tags: 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, Alasis Morissette, Avril Lavigne, Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Don't Tell Me, Eragon, Faith Hill, Garth Brooks, Girlfriend, Kelly Clarkson, Kenny Chesney, Let Go, Madonna, My Happy Ending, Pop/Punk, Pop/Rock, Post-Grunge, Reba McEntire, Teen Pop, The Best Damn Thing, Under My Skin
Back in 2002, when I was about 10, I noticed my 23 year old sister had bought the album Let Go by (the then new) Avril Lavigne. Soon after I got a copy of it for myself (I know what a lame little brother, huh?) After giving it one listen I fell in love with pop/rock and the new mature teen pop that was replacing bubblegum pop artists like Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys.
2004 came around and Lavigne was back at it again with her 
sophomore album Under My Skin. While the album didn’t sell as much as her debut, it produced the two hits, the first ”Don’t Tell Me” and the second, the smash hit “My Happy Ending”. The album, in it’s musical right, was darker than the first, with songs showing a darker yet mature side Avril as she dealt with more grown-up subjects. With that said it was still firmly rooted in pop/rock which made it a successful, a little more evolved follow-up to Let Go. In the years that followed Lavigne had been one of my favorite pop/rock female artists, with Kelly Clarkson soon taking her lead.
Then around late 
2006, Lavigne released the hit single “Keep Holding On” for the movie Eragon. The song was a bit of departure from the music she had on her previous albums, with less rock influence on it and more power pop elements, which worked well for the song. Early 2007, Avril’s official first single off her third album The Best Damn Thing, ”Girlfriend” hits radio and becomes one of her biggest career hits. I thought the song was a great rush of pop-punk, but from there on I knew that her new album would be a departure from what we’d seen before. After it was released I didn’t know whether to love it or hate it.
So what’s the point of me blabbering on about this? Well I’ll tell ya! Soon after I began looking at many more artists and how they’re styles have changed from album to album. While some artists have barely changed their musical stylings(Garth Brooks, Kenny Chesney, and for the most part Reba McEntire), using the “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it” formula; Many artists have changed their styles multiple times(Madonna, Faith Hill, Alanis Morissette) to either stay-up with new trends or to keep things different and more fresh.
So my question to everyone; Who are some artists who have made changes in their music, for the worse or better?
Filed under: Country Music, Suggest A Hit | Tags: 2002, CMA's, Cry, Faith Hill, Suggest A Hit, When The Lights Go Down
Suggest A Hit, will be an new ongoing series on the site. Everyone’s had a song that they wish would’ve gone to radio or could’ve been a bigger hit. So, here’s your chance to share a song that wasn’t as big of a hit as you would’ve liked or a song that hasn’t been released yet and you would think it would be.
My suggestion for this round will be Faith Hill’s “When The Lights Go Down” off of her 2002 album Cry. The song only peaked at Number 26 on the US Country charts and it was one of her best songs off of the album and should’ve been one of her singature ballads. Below is Faith’s famous performance at the 2002 CMA’s:
So, what do you think would’ve or could make a hit single?
