poll Beyoncé's least successful album/era?

[trainsskyscrapers]

I'm going with Lemonade, simply because it remains the only career Beyonce studio album to date (other than her DC debut) that wasn't adequately-supported by at least 4 large singles.

 

I definitely think it would be her highest-streamed album had she continued the Tidal exclusive strategy but only released singles (upon radio release date) to Spotify and Apple Music. Formation would probably be at ~700M, with Sorry (~350M), Hold Up (~400M), and All Night (~150M) following suit. It is also wild to me that people are still going to bootleg YouTube pages and realizing "6 Inch" and "Don't Hurt Yourself" have standalone visuals. 

 

PYCM, Daddy Lessons, Freedom, and Forward should remain the only exclusives to the parent film.

[ScorpiosGroove]

48 minutes ago, Wewee said:

Renaissance 

wrong 

[Bears01]

Just now, wowsignal14 said:

the people saying 4 are delusional. yes it came after IASF and its singles did not have great peaks, but it has two of her most recognizable songs globally "love on top" and "run the world". it's actually neck in neck with self titled in EAS (~10m)

 

Lemonade as iconic as it is, is a non event outside of the anglosphere, its songs have terrible recurrent sales/streams. and none of the songs on it are hits. Formation had the potential but it was ruined by bey herself. 

You have to look at them in the eras they were released though…

 

4 was released when albums were still able to sell, and it’s the only album of hers (other than Renaissance but that’s to be expected) to not sell 2 million pure in the U.S. You can’t just say “oh it got good streams later on, therefore it’s a success!” It was an underperformance for its era. 
 

Lemonade was released when album sales were at the tail end of their relevancy, and it did great in that regard and was IFPI #1 best seller (though I agree, it’s failed to stand the test of time) 

[wowsignal14]

1 minute ago, Bears01 said:

You have to look at them in the eras they were released though…

 

4 was released when albums were still able to sell, and it’s the only album of hers (other than Renaissance but that’s to be expected) to not sell 2 million pure in the U.S. You can’t just say “oh it got good streams later on, therefore it’s a success!” It was an underperformance for its era. 
 

Lemonade was released when album sales were at the tail end of their relevancy, and it did great in that regard and was IFPI #1 best seller (though I agree, it’s failed to stand the test of time) 

the only reason lemonade sold that many pure copies is because it was not on streaming. if it had a normal release it would've debuted with lower sales than it did, and have a better longevity but ultimately reach the same figure it's at right now (roughly 6m) (maybe higher if formation turned out to be a big hit due to the better rollout but we can't know)

 

 

also. lemonade's success even then was concentrated in a few markets only. whereas it wasn't a significant release in many areas of the world such as asia or latin america. 

 

4 in contrast had two worldwide hits that were big upon release.

 

lemonade was a success among the people that already loved bey, 4 had legs with the broader GP. 

 

the "4 was a flop" narrative is very US centric and even then it's a 4×Platinum album there. Lemonade hasn't and won't ever reach the album units of 4 in any market. 

[Bears01]

1 minute ago, wowsignal14 said:

the only reason lemonade sold that many pure copies is because it was not on streaming. if it had a normal release it would've debuted with lower sales than it did, and have a better longevity but ultimately reach the same figure it's at right now (roughly 6m) (maybe higher if formation turned out to be a big hit due to the better rollout but we can't know)

 

 

also. lemonade's success even then was concentrated in a few markets only. whereas it wasn't a significant release in many areas of the world such as asia or latin america. 

 

4 in contrast had two worldwide hits that were big upon release.

 

lemonade was a success among the people that already loved bey, 4 had legs with the broader GP. 

 

the "4 was a flop" narrative is very US centric and even then it's a 4×Platinum album there. Lemonade hasn't and won't ever reach the album units of 4 in any market. 

I mean, that’s true, but all throughout 2016, Lemonade sold very well. It spent 18 weeks in the 10 of the BB200, and was an IFPI #1 global best seller. She was in a better position as a top artist in music during Lemonade than she was during 4, where basically everyone in that era (of Main girls) was doing better than her. 
 

She literally ranked higher on the IFPI top global artist than RIHANNA and that was when Rihanna had Anti and TIWCF pumping out smash after smash that whole year. 
 

I’m in agreement that during the rest of time, that position falls flat as Lemonade feels very forgotten and a legit afterthought to everyone who’s not in the Hive, but it shouldn’t be measured on “time” 

[GoodGuyGoneGhetto]

Commercially:

 

Lemonade

 

Culturally:

 

4

 

”Renaissance” has technically moved the least units compared to both the aforementioned, but it is a cultural behemoth and has still produced two hit singles (one of which was a U.S #1), including several other viral hits, along with a massive tour. 
 

Overall, as acclaimed as “Lemonade” was as an album, it remains the least visited Beyoncé album across every viable metric in 2023.

Edited September 9, 2023 by GoodGuyGoneGhetto

[Pepo]

48 minutes ago, wowsignal14 said:

the people saying 4 are delusional. yes it came after IASF and its singles did not have great peaks, but it has two of her most recognizable songs globally "love on top" and "run the world". it's actually neck in neck with self titled in EAS (~10m)

 

Lemonade as iconic as it is, is a non event outside of the anglosphere, its songs have terrible recurrent sales/streams. and none of the songs on it are hits. Formation had the potential but it was ruined by bey herself. 

Precisely. 

[kimberly]

1 hour ago, Bears01 said:

What, what? Sis, it’s spotify streams are terrible 

 

Even now when she’s touring, it’s struggling to pull 500,000 streams per day. 
 

The GP doesn’t care for useless arguments pertaining to it like “impact”. They just don’t care to listen to it 

I think least "memorable" isn't the right word for Lemonade. the geepee remembers all the cheating drama, Formation at Super Bowl, the Hold Up video, the Kimmy Schmidt episode, the Simpsons episode...

 

it's mostly because they held it from streaming for too long and people don't retroactively edit or make playlists with delayed releases like that. so it's still lacking streaming support. 

 

so least "revisited" or something would be a better way to put it.

[Mariya Takeuchi]

4lop

[Axelios]

Clearly Lemonade. It's both her most local album and with the least longevity.

[Movimento Perpétuo]

I think it's 4

[Bears01]

22 minutes ago, kimberly said:

I think least "memorable" isn't the right word for Lemonade. the geepee remembers all the cheating drama, Formation at Super Bowl, the Hold Up video, the Kimmy Schmidt episode, the Simpsons episode...

 

it's mostly because they held it from streaming for too long and people don't retroactively edit or make playlists with delayed releases like that. so it's still lacking streaming support. 

 

so least "revisited" or something would be a better way to put it.

Fair, but I just think when it comes to the music itself, it’s the most alienating among the GP and was truly the peak of “I miss the old Beyonce” among non fans. 
 

The only reason I voted for 4 above it is because she truly pulled off some great sales for the era in which it was released. But like many have said: to non hive, it’ll go down as her most forgotten album among the broader GP. 
 

Truth be told, I don’t even like it personally  4, ST, Renaissance>>>>>> that forgettable album 

[Keter]

2 hours ago, Bussea said:

4, sadly. It’s unfortunate bc it’s one of her best albums along with ST. Should’ve been I Am… Sasha’s Feces 

Yeah, 4 is my favorite of hers. IASF I guess was a smash era, but that whole album is weirdly sterile and just off imo. 4 had pure soul vibes. 

[Material Girl]

are we ignoring the gift and everything is love? those are the obvious answers

[Mystic Boy]

LEMONADE did moderate to mediocre outside the US so this one.

4 has great recurrent streams and is ranking those units.

But as of now,RENAISSANCE is naturally the one with the least units, We'll see in a few years how things will go.

[Dekkan]

4 is the easy choice and the first one that came to my mind, but when you think about it - it really is Lemonade.

[Bears01]

56 minutes ago, Material Girl said:

are we ignoring the gift and everything is love? those are the obvious answers

Beyonce isn’t on every song on The Gift, I know she marketed it and was the driving force, but it being a movie soundtrack album is kind of a cop out when talking as a full album.

 

And if we include EIL, then we have to include Destiny’s Child, because it’s not under her direct name. 
 

If we included an album where she’s on every song, then it’d be between EIL and destiny’s child debut 

[Material Girl]

4 minutes ago, Bears01 said:

Beyonce isn’t on every song on The Gift, I know she marketed it and was the driving force, but it being a movie soundtrack album is kind of a cop out when talking as a full album.

 

And if we include EIL, then we have to include Destiny’s Child, because it’s not under her direct name. 
 

If we included an album where she’s on every song, then it’d be between EIL and destiny’s child debut 

all these silly little qualifiers and rules just to sweep her flops under the rug

[Bears01]

Just now, Material Girl said:

all these silly little qualifiers and rules just to sweep her flops under the rug

No, those are flops and they go down for her as flops. Nobody said otherwise. 
 

I just said there’s certain metrics that should be met when discussing this specific topic. 
 

In your view, should we include her Live album too then? 

[Material Girl]

Just now, Bears01 said:

No, those are flops and they go down for her as flops. Nobody said otherwise. 
 

I just said there’s certain metrics that should be met when discussing this specific topic. 
 

In your view, should we include her Live album too then? 

no i wouldn't include homecoming, a live album is different than new studio recordings. but to me the gift and everything is love would count as her eras

 

especially the gift. it had a movie just like lemonade, an abc documentary to promote it, radio singles, etc. everything is love is a little trickier bc her and jay share the credit for it, but i would still consider it one of her albums like i'd consider watch the throne one of jay's. she just made a (bad) marketing decision to release it under 'the carters'

[Trent W]

I voted for 4

 

But after reading the thread it’s definitely Lemonade, I didn’t know the entire album couldn’t pull 500k daily

 

it was definitely an event in 2016 but it’s kind of really forgotten now

[Draper.]

Voted I Am... Sasha Fierce because I don't measure success by numbers and that's the only album in which the concept is not exceptionally executed. 

[Gladiator]

4, which is a shame because I think it is one of her top 3 albums (self titled -> 4 -> renaissance)

[Damien M]

"4".

[NickisRenaissance]

She's never had a least succesful era