I never really tracked this album, but I did absolutely eat up Gang Bang. It was probably an underperformance for Madonna, but like, it was 30 years into her career, so…? Probably really good by those standards.

What was its peak on Billboard 200?

Cute artwork. Colourful artwork. 

13 minutes ago, vale9001 said:

for a 2012 album not great numbers. Not a disaster but it's not a success too. 

 

14 minutes ago, Hot Volcano said:

I just knew you were the one who made this thread

 

Ofc it flopped.

 

Week 1 - 359k

Current total after 11 years ~580k

 

For reference, European sales:

 

Prism - 1m

Self-Titled - 900k 

MDNA - 700k

ARTPOP - 600k 

7 minutes ago, Jjang said:

 

For reference, European sales:

 

Prism - 1m

Self-Titled - 900k 

MDNA - 700k

ARTPOP - 600k 

madonna has a biggest global fan base than all of them, especially when it was about buying albums. It's not shocking.

Overall it was a flop era with good sales at the very begginning, cause it was a follow up to a very huge album and a very successfull album.

 

Overall i think rebel heart (i guess it sold less than mdna) feels a most remembered era. 

Edited April 17, 20233 yr by vale9001

It certainly was - and it reminds me of the way everyone stopped using mediatraffic when his bias was exposed 

 

but as a certification enthusiast I always loved how interscope bought any cert possible to make it look a lot more global. 

Edited April 17, 20233 yr by Mr. Stratus

1 minute ago, Mr. Stratus said:

It certainly was - and it reminds me of the way everyone stopped using mediatraffic when his bias was exposed 

 

but as a certification enthusiast I always loved how interscope bought any cert possible to make it look a lot more global. 

what's the story? 

No, it wasn't a success either by her standards (the single choices were wrong other than GGW). It sold decently given the circumstances, same with RH and MX with their own context. 

11 minutes ago, vale9001 said:

madonna has a biggest global fan base than all of them, especially when it was about buying albums. It's not shocking.

Overall it was a flop era with good sales at the very begginning, cause it was a follow up to a very huge album and a very successfull album.

 

Overall i think rebel heart (i guess it sold less than mdna) feels a most remembered era. 

again - it sold 380k WW (not counting US) first week and 1.5m (not counting US) overall. So where does the remaining million come from if not the first week? 

 

It was also #12 best selling album of the year according to IFPI. Does this mean every year’s #12 album is a flop? 

 

 

I don’t disagree with you that it was mainly front loaded or that it was a big decline though. But if 30 years into her career were gonna hold her to such a standard then why not be equally as harsh on Pop stars flopping on the same level 5, or 10 years into theirs in their 20’s and 30’s? 

Edited April 17, 20233 yr by Jjang

After the Hard Candy fiasco (Started the downfall) and such a long gap i think it did great.
Rebel Heart had also potential for more but the leaks ruined the era. 
 

Edited April 17, 20233 yr by AvadaKedavra

3 minutes ago, AvadaKedavra said:

After the Hard Candy fiasco (Started the downfall) and such a long gap i think it did great.
Rebel Heart had also potential for more but the leaks ruined the era. 
 

Hard Candy was like the 10th biggest selling album of the year WW, 4 Minutes was one of the biggest hits of the year and S&S was the biggest female tour in history until today 

Madonna was still a current act the year she turned 50...

Nope. The Queen NEVER flops! 

I don't really know if it flopped, but I know the album gets criticised a lot but I just want to say that Girl Gone Wild, Gang Bang, GMAYL, Masterpiece and I ****** Up are all great songs.

17 minutes ago, Mr. Stratus said:

It certainly was - and it reminds me of the way everyone stopped using mediatraffic when his bias was exposed 

 

but as a certification enthusiast I always loved how interscope bought any cert possible to make it look a lot more global. 

MDNA - 23 certifications

Joanne - 9 certifications 

Rare - 6 certifications 

Familia - 1 certification 

 

Why couldn’t they buy more for those under- performing albums? 

39 minutes ago, Jjang said:

Actually, that's a 2017 figure so only 5 years after not 11 and it's based on pure sales. 

 

What happened to the rest of the world, where it debuted with 380k sales and sold 1.5m pure (2017 figure too)  or do those not count cause they don't fit your narrative? 

Are you implying it moved some units since 2017?

 

It debuted 380k WW, and 358k in the US? Make it make sense

No it’s a moderate success but Atrl calls that a flop 

25 minutes ago, Mr. Stratus said:

It certainly was - and it reminds me of the way everyone stopped using mediatraffic when his bias was exposed 

 

but as a certification enthusiast I always loved how interscope bought any cert possible to make it look a lot more global. 

This post makes no sense.

Are you saying the album didn't sell the units necessary to have those certifications?

 

If it did, then it earned them, lmao.

5 minutes ago, tiagol88 said:

Hard Candy was like the 10th biggest selling album of the year WW, 4 Minutes was one of the biggest hits of the year and S&S was the biggest female tour in history until today 

Madonna was still a current act the year she turned 50...

But the album was panned and it was the begginin of "shes not as talented as before"  
i actually i live for hard candy. The songs there are legit good. Back in 2008 i used to blast that album in the afternoon and have the best times of my life 
There's something really nice about the instrumentals there.  Theyre so chilll lol.

I also love MDNA. I dont think Madonna has a bad album. She has bad songs there and there but her albums also include so many mastepierces.
MDNA has some weak songs like Birthday song and Superstar but it has powerful songs like Falling Free,Love Spent,Gang Bang......

 

Just now, Hot Volcano said:

Are you implying it moved some units since 2017?

 

It debuted 380k WW, and 358k in the US? Make it make sense

US - 358k 

Elsewhere - 380k

 

total - 740k debut week 

 

What’s not clicking? 

Let me go stream Beautiful Killer, Love Spent and Masterpiece

It was frontloaded and had low sales for the time, the 20 certifications in random countries change nothing.

music was not good who cares if it flopped or not

1 minute ago, AvadaKedavra said:

But the album was panned and it was the begginin of "shes not as talented as before"  
i actually i live for hard candy. The songs there are legit good. Back in 2008 i used to blast that album in the afternoon and have the best times of my life 
There's something really nice about the instrumentals there.  Theyre so chilll lol.

I also love MDNA. I dont think Madonna has a bad album. She has bad songs there and there but her albums also include so many mastepierces.
MDNA has some weak songs like Birthday song and Superstar but it has powerful songs like Falling Free,Love Spent,Gang Bang......

 

I mean when you're the woman that did Like a Prayer, Ray of Light and just came from an era like Confessions on a Dancefloor, it was always hard to top that. I feel like if Hard Candy came out right after American Life, and had Beat Goes On as a single right after 4 Minutes and before Give It 2 Me it would've been better received and had better sales tbh.

 

But like, how do you top Confessions? That's not easy 

It's not a flop, actually it was her last sucessful era, it was an underperformance of course, but it was successful worldwide. A top 10 hit, a Golden Globe for Masterpiece, a successful tour, the Super Bowl performnace. The only thing that made it feel like a nose dive was the lackluster second single with that horrible music video that felt unispired in the middle of Gaga's dominance. Rebel Heart couldn't reach what MDNA did, Madame X neither

38 minutes ago, Jjang said:

 

For reference, European sales:

 

Prism - 1m

Self-Titled - 900k 

MDNA - 700k

ARTPOP - 600k 

Artpop is a flop too.

1 minute ago, tiagol88 said:

This post makes no sense.

Are you saying the album didn't sell the units necessary to have those certifications?

 

If it did, then it earned them, lmao.

I assumed they meant that many of its certifications come from territories where the units necessary for those certifications aren't very high compared to other countries and thus aren't particularly impressive, at least in that user's opinion. For example, it's certified Gold in Hungary and Portugal - but both those certifications are based on shipments, not actual sales, and they represent just 3,000 and 7,500 units respectively. Just looking at raw certifications doesn't really give much sense of holistic performance when the scale for a Gold cert ranges from 3k to 500k depending on the market in question.