Bitter Aging Twink Posted Tuesday at 09:50 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 09:50 PM At first glance, Lorde and Dua Lipa's 3rd studio albums might not have much in common, but if you really think about it, there are actually quite a few commonalities between these two records that are hard to ignore. Both albums came after blockbuster, critically-acclaimed and fan-adored sophomore albums (Future Nostalgia and Melodrama). Both albums feature themes of sunny optimism and were crafted to be played poolside during summertime. Both albums were not as critically-acclaimed as their predecessors, and they also divided fans. And finally, both albums are consistently brought up as examples of "flops" on ATRL and stan twitter. With all that in mind, which of these 3rd studio albums do you think was more disappointing, and why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lana Banana Posted Tuesday at 09:53 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 09:53 PM (edited) Edit: Oh it said album. The new Katy Perry one. Edited Tuesday at 11:29 PM by Lana Banana 6 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post pisuke Posted Tuesday at 09:56 PM Popular Post Share Posted Tuesday at 09:56 PM Both are great albums. The only disappointing thing is that they deserve to be more successful. 16 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
no_better Posted Tuesday at 09:57 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 09:57 PM I do think Radical Optimism disappointed me more because singles hinted toward a completely different sound/vibe, Solar Power was never ambiguous about what it's going to be 7 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunbathinganimal Posted Tuesday at 09:57 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 09:57 PM Solar Power wasn't disappointing K bye for now, Sunshine. <3 1 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatyPrismSpirit Posted Tuesday at 10:01 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 10:01 PM Radical Optimism is literally a good album. It was not disappointing. The only thing about it that was disappointing was the lack of commercial performance. And maybe the lack of actual psychedelic undertones in the album. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katamari Posted Tuesday at 10:01 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 10:01 PM Mood ring alone clears the other one tbh 5 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conquxror Posted Tuesday at 10:04 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 10:04 PM Kinda off topic but isn't it funny how both of these albums were criticized for the opposite reason? Like, Solar Power was criticized because Lorde didn't follow the formula of her previous releases, while Radical Optimism was criticized for doing exactly that. 7 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fa77ot Posted Tuesday at 10:05 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 10:05 PM Dua, sweetie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
State of Grace. Posted Tuesday at 10:07 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 10:07 PM Both are geniunely good albums to me. They were just unlucky because they were follow-ups to two masterpieces so expectations were higher than the roof. But I was more "disappointed" in Radical Optimism I guess because I have always dreamed of a Kevin Parker-produced pop girl album and expected more psychedelia, or even more songs in the vein of Houdini. 12 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bartender Posted Tuesday at 10:08 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 10:08 PM I feel like common themes aside, Solar Power was an unexpected shift from Melodrama's sound and Radical Optimism was heavily teased and not just with the singles but Dua's descriptions aswell. They'll both age great though I actually love them both for what they ended up to be 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
formlessminutiae Posted Tuesday at 10:15 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 10:15 PM I swear the creation of Artpop birthed some kind of illusory plague over pop stars and one of their albums. This is literally Sweetener/SolarPower/RO/Artpop/etc. albums SO polarizing no one can decide if they are good or not. Personally, both are smashes 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bielneira Posted Tuesday at 10:22 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 10:22 PM I understand people saying that Solar Power is disappointing, but it's their own fault to expect Lorde to just recycle her Melodrama sound. I mean, we're talking about Lorde, she'd never do that. I voted for Radical Optimism because the single are COMPLETELY different from the rest of the album, sound and concept-wise. I felt blind-sided. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kayseri Mantisi Posted Tuesday at 10:23 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 10:23 PM username checks out. Solar Power wasn't disappointing for Lorde stans, at all. It's a masterpiece and it's extremely unique. Maybe it was disappointing for Melodrama stans, but that's a whole different thing. All three of her albums sound different from each other and now the fourth masterpiece is coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mezik Posted Tuesday at 10:25 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 10:25 PM 'Solar Power' is enjoyable. 'Radical Optimism' I don't listen to anything but the first three songs we got. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rino Posted Tuesday at 10:26 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 10:26 PM Solar Power cause I was expecting another masterpiece from Lorde, but it was just meh. Dua is a cute girl but I was never that invested in her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erreur2 La Nature Posted Tuesday at 10:27 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 10:27 PM I can't take seriously people who pretend that RO is a bad album Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trent W Posted Tuesday at 10:33 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 10:33 PM (edited) RO is a good album Let's stop pretending a flop = bad. I don't remember much of Solar Power if Im honest Edited Tuesday at 10:33 PM by Trent W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CherryBay Posted Tuesday at 10:34 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 10:34 PM I wasn't expecting much after Dis with her new songs and roll out Melodrama was a let down 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gatito Posted Tuesday at 10:35 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 10:35 PM (edited) even when solar power was kinda tone deaf and underwhelming is still much better than the medioce snoozefest that was radical floptimism 21 minutes ago, formlessminutiae said: I swear the creation of Artpop birthed some kind of illusory plague over pop stars and one of their albums. This is literally Sweetener/SolarPower/RO/Artpop/etc. albums SO polarizing no one can decide if they are good or not. Personally, both are smashes now wait a minute, sweetener literally won best vocal pop album and was critically praised as a turning point in ariana's career. just because some atrl twinks didn't get it at first doesn't mean we should compare it to those critical and commercial failures Edited Tuesday at 10:40 PM by gatito Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West Coast Posted Tuesday at 10:46 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 10:46 PM solar power, at least radical optimism has some bops 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tylerbv Posted Tuesday at 10:51 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 10:51 PM Solar Power is a good album, it just isn't a 10 like her other two works. Radical Optimism is boring and uninspired. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeAg Posted Tuesday at 10:54 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 10:54 PM both rather disappointing but I return to Mood Ring on the regular and I really like California and Fallen Fruit too ummm I like the singles and Whatcha Doing from Radical Optimism but I don't really ever get the desire to return to them much nowadays? so for now I'll say that Radical Optimism was more disappointing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
On The Bound Posted Tuesday at 10:54 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 10:54 PM 49 minutes ago, conquxror said: Kinda off topic but isn't it funny how both of these albums were criticized for the opposite reason? Like, Solar Power was criticized because Lorde didn't follow the formula of her previous releases, while Radical Optimism was criticized for doing exactly that. I was just gonna say this !! OT: def RO, some SP songs are aging like wine for me (Cali, man w axe, OF) 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfonso12 Posted Tuesday at 10:57 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 10:57 PM Solar Power, cause the downgrade was huge. I always thought Future Nostalgia was overrated so I wasn't expecting much from Radical Optimism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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