Solar Power actually did, Lorde is always ahead of the curve

No. Stop using Poptism as an excuse

 

Taylor and Dua got bad reviews because they released bad albums, simple as that. Nobody said this same **** when Solar Power got panned or Positions got bad reviews

1989 did not start the wave if optimism. 
 

It was in fact one of the first albums to benefit from it. 

2 minutes ago, AxelFox said:

1989 did not start the wave if optimism. 
 

It was in fact one of the first albums to benefit from it. 

So what album started it then? Cos aside from Body Talk, all pop albums prior to 1989 always had lower reviews 

21 minutes ago, Timeless said:

So what album started it then? Cos aside from Body Talk, all pop albums prior to 1989 always had lower reviews 

Not one album in particular but a handful of pop artists pushing the boundaries of their work and artistry, showing that for the first time in a while the pop field can be taken seriously again. Body Talk is a good example, but so is The Fame Monster (who has higher scores than 1989) and a landmark moment imo is Beyonce's monumental release with ST. While not necessarily 'traditional pop' in sound, Beyonce the artist has historically been considered a pop mainstream act, grouped together with acts such as Birtney spears, christina, aguilera, justin timberlake, later on lady gaga, rihanna and so on. That 85 metacritic score was unheard of in the pop-sphere before it. It definitely opened some doors for how mainstream pop acts are received. 

 

I don't believe 1989 would've gotten the same reviews and scores had it been released a year prior in 2013, before ST. 

No

 

As for who started poptimism....I don't think it was any one album that did it alone, but 1989 and EMOTION feel like the two biggest factors.  Beyonce's self-titled also probably helped critics look at pop stars differently, even though the album wasn't that "Pop" leaning bar a few songs.

two albums just weren't received the way you wanted them to. nothing more, nothing less, yall

i don't think it's useful to say that poptimism started because pop got better. there have always been good pop records, they just didn't get taken very seriously because of critical biases twds rock.

 

poptimism starts as a movement within criticism to treat pop on a level playing field with other releases. that hasn't gone away as such, tho i would argue that it's often quite skin deep anyway: if yr stood on stage playing a guitar you'll always be taken more seriously by these clowns than someone doing solid choreo, esp with the newer pop girls and people outside alt pop type circles.

 

i think that dua is more a victim of over-expectation than anything, and taylor has just released one too many records produced by jack antonoff