Back in the 90s, and sometimes even now, Madonna's Erotica and Bedtime Stories albums are often labeled flop album. But when looking at the stats, are they really flops? Here's what each era accomplished.

 

Erotica

-Lead single debuted at #2 on the Radio Songs Chart, the highest debut ever. A record it still holds today

-Erotica debuted at #13 on the Hot 100, and peaked at #3. This was the 5th highest debut at that time and only had half of week worth of tracking

-The Erotica single was included in the sex book, which sold crazy amounts. This hindered sales of the single, which affected it's chart performance 

-The album debuted at #2, missing the top spot by less than 3,000 copies. It spent over a year on the BB200 and was certified 2x Platinum, despite all the controversy

-The second single, Deeper and Deeper, also peaked within the top 10 on the BB Hot 100

-The Sex book, which caused the album to suffer, sold 150,000 copies in it's first day alone in the United States for $50 a piece

-The Sex book sold 700,000 copies worldwide on it's first day, and 1.5 million in a few days

-The Girlie Show was the third highest grossing female tour in the 90s, with only 39 dates (in comparison, the second highest had 255 dates)

-The Girlie Show has the second highest concert attendance in Brazil with a crowd of 120,000 people, behind Tina Turner's Break Every Rule Tour

 

Bedtime Stories

-She had I'll Remember just a few months before the album was released, which peaked at #2 for four weeks and was one of the biggest hits of the year

-Secret peaked at #3 and made two Billboard Hot 100 year end charts

-The album initially underperformed in it's first few weeks, but ended up going 3x Platinum in the United States, surpassing sales of Erotica and I'm Breathless

-The second single, Take a Bow, spent 7 weeks at #1 on the Hot 100, her longest ever

-Although the title track underperformed in the United States, the single peaked at #4 on the UK Charts, higher than Take a Bow and Secret!

-Human Nature, Madonna's signature hit (in her mind), was also another top 10 hit on the UK Charts

 

Something to Remember

-This compilation was released just under a year after Bedtime Stories, which affected Bedtime's sales since both contained Take a Bow

-Lead single, You'll See, became Madonna's first single to debut inside the top 10

-This album ALSO went 3x platinum, giving Madonna two back to back 3x platinum albums within a year during her "flop" era in the United States

-Her label kind of screwed up the release of the future singles, but One More Chance was a nice UK hit, peaking at #11

 

She was so massive, even a relative downturn for her was still objectively a success.

Well, she was the most successful singer of that period

To be fair, the standards for "flops" have changed over time partly due to the decline in CD sales over the years. 

For instance, Artpop was the 9th best selling album in the world in 2013 despite dropping in November and widely being considered a "flop." 

 

One Direction named the world's No 1 bestselling artists | One Direction | The Guardian

 

Edited March 22, 20242 yr by Storm653

Well this is ATRL where Lover and Guts are both flop eras so I think it is just an ATRL issue

 

That said, being 2x and 3x platinum in the 90s isn't that high especially when you are one of the most famous and recognizable artists in the world.  

41 minutes ago, UseYourIllusion2002 said:

Erotica debuted at #13 on the Hot 100, and peaked at #3. This was the 5th highest debut at that time and only had half of week worth of tracking

she's so Beyonce coded

I've never heard anyone call Bedtime Stories a flop. That's a surprise to me. thought this thread was gonna be about her post-2008 albums out-peaking Justin's new album  

She's the supreme for a reason 

If an album flops but has quality, it will prevail in the long term. Thus explains Madonna. 

The Adele of her generation

 

Girlies wish they had something as big as their flop eras 

You left out so many flops

I always thought American Life & Madame X were also considered her "flop" eras

even MDNA was one of the top selling albums of that year in the US.  "masterpiece" is one of the biggest selling singles of all time in Russia

 

American Life was followed up by the Reinvention Tour.. I remember it selling out 2x 60k stadium dates in 20 minutes in most European countries.

Edited March 22, 20242 yr by wanderlust

3 hours ago, Iaintsorry said:

I always thought American Life & Madame X were also considered her "flop" eras

Sure no singles charted from Madame X, but at least it went #1 on the albums chart. It was a good tour too even with all the injuries.

Like someone else said... She's so successful even her underperformances would be peaks for other artists. Also, Madonna used to promote her work down because she believed in it. More often that not, if an artist performs the **** everywhere, you can get something to stick or at least be remembered. I.E Bey's 4 which was looked at as an underperformance and now has 2 cult classics and a couple other staple R&B hits