base talk Whose discography has aged better: Britney's vs. Beyonce's?

[ericcartman]

Both these ladies have a large catalog dating back to the early 2000s..which catalog has aged better?

Edited November 2 by ericcartman

[Eternium]

Britney's by far, but that's not a shock as Britney's music was always more avant-garde than Beyoncé's.

[Illuminati]

I think people go back to Britney's old albums more. But that's not necessarily a bad thing for Beyonce, she's kinda been releasing her best albums after 4

[Gorjesspazze9]

Britney's. B-Day album tracks sound dated as hell. Even tho songs like get me bodied still slap. It screams 2006. In comparison Outrageous and the whole Britney self titled drums still sound fresh. Probably thanks to Pharrell & Darkchilds ear for mixing

[Odd]

beyonce easily

 

[Eternium]

1 minute ago, Gorjesspazze9 said:

Britney's. B-Day album tracks sound dated as hell. Even tho songs like get me bodied still slap. It screams 2006. In comparison Outrageous and the whole Britney self titled drums still sound fresh. Probably thanks to Pharrell & Darkchilds ear for mixing

B'Day being dated and still remaining her best album and work overall

 

She was able to keep it trendy (Irreplaceable, the Latin-pop collabs) while staying true to her defining-sound (Deja Vu) and adding in a ballad of extreme quality that stood the test of time (Listen). She was everything that IASF could never be.

[Beamon]

People still listen to Britney so I'mma go with Britney 

[Shelter]

Beyoncé's. Not many seems to listen to Britney's non singles. Both are better than most pop girls though 

 

 

[CBC]

Bey's best music is from her first 3 albums so yk the answer. also not someone using "britney" and "avant-garde" in the same sentence tho Im still cackling

[The7thStranger]

Overall, Beyoncé's.

 

Britney was always given this state-of-the-art and sound-of-the-times production that essentially rubberstapped many of her albums.

Edited November 2 by The7thStranger

[Devin]

both are about the same lol. 

[Erreur2 La Nature]

7 minutes ago, Beamon said:

People still listen to Britney so I'mma go with Britney 

Let's not start some unnecessary fan wars. I think Beyoncé's new material gets a lot of streams and don't doubt her old hits probably do too.

 

Probably biased but I'd go with Britney. I think there's no right answer to this question anyway, it depends who you're asking to. 

[Pepo]

28 minutes ago, Eternium said:

Britney's by far, but that's not a shock as Britney's music was always more avant-garde than Beyoncé's.

Like fave like stan.

 

OT: Be serious.

[ChooseyLover]

Yeah, I'd say about the same and I'd add Gaga too. All of them have material that followed trends but also material ahead of their time and overall people revisit their catalogues a lot. They debuted over 20 years ago so it's very impressive.

[Trent W]

I think Britney's for the sole reason that she's not active anymore and still go back to all albums

 

If we cut Beyonce's 00s albums I might give her the edge tho

 

Her discography after 4 is absolutely insane and arguably the best all time

 

Her first 3 albums are still good but they do drag her down overall 

Edited November 2 by Trent W

[Eternium]

5 minutes ago, CBC said:

Bey's best music is from her first 3 albums so yk the answer. also not someone using "britney" and "avant-garde" in the same sentence tho Im still cackling

Britney gave us Max Martin, Bloodshy & Avant and the origins of hyperpop and PC Music. I was a Beyonce stan until 2009, but she was never about being ahead of musical trends except when she got Rich Harrison on the line (Crazy In Love). Most of her music was heavily inspired by the trends of the time (Beautiful Liar, Irreplaceable, Halo, Single Ladies, etc.).

6 minutes ago, Shelter said:

Beyoncé's. Not many seems to listen to Britney's non singles. Both are better than most pop girls though 

 

 

Britney doesn't playlist many non-singles, but she has the most streamed non-single of the 2000s, does she not?

 

My Only Wish (This Year) - 326M (+49,271)

 

This random B-side from an unofficial compilation is so popular that her label eventually made it a promo single on its 20th anniversary and it's still performing amazingly-well for a song from 2000.  The 22nd most streamed song from that year is only at 519M.

4 minutes ago, The7thStranger said:

Overall, Beyoncé's.

 

Britney was always given this state-of-the-art and sound-of-the-times production that essentially rubberstapped many of her albums.

I see this on the opposite end. A lot of Beyoncé's instrumentals were so generic that that's what keeps them feeling like works I don't want to explore in 2024. If it wasn't for her amazing voice, I don't think I would have liked most of her music. 

[Donquizote]

Judging by Beyonce's horrible streaming stats, Britney easily

[prézli]

23 minutes ago, Eternium said:

B'Day being dated and still remaining her best album and work overall

 

She was able to keep it trendy (Irreplaceable, the Latin-pop collabs) while staying true to her defining-sound (Deja Vu) and adding in a ballad of extreme quality that stood the test of time (Listen). She was everything that IASF could never be.

THIS. B'Day is her best album. Period.

 

Britney's discography aged amazingly, especially In the Zone, Blackout and Glory, so Britney is the answer.

[The7thStranger]

2 minutes ago, Eternium said:

I see this on the opposite end. A lot of Beyoncé's instrumentals were so generic that that's what keeps them feeling like works I don't want to explore in 2024. If it wasn't for her amazing voice, I don't think I would have liked most of her music. 

She has her share of filler, no question. But Crazy in Love and Naughty Girl sound far fresher in 2024 than Baby One More Time or Crazy do.

[Eternium]

11 minutes ago, Pepo said:

Like fave like stan.

 

OT: Be serious.

Beyoncé's music has never been about experimenting or doing something ahead of the trends. She did country in 2024, house in 2022, afrobeats in 2019, trap in 2018, Latin music in 2007, etc. Her focus has always been on the performance quality and delivering an excellent vocal, and we appreciate that.

 

But what we're not going to do is act like …Baby One More Time, I'm A Slave 4 U, Toxic, Blackout and Femme Fatale (somehow) were not defining, impactful eras for our generation that set trends before they started.

[Yakult]

The idea that Beyoncé's instrumentals were generic is wild. Beyoncé picked weird asf instrumentals that often had little in the way of percussion to guide the melody (which she created with verses/vocal layering).

 

Beyoncé easily. Her music is rooted in black culture, and you can tell she does her research by the detail in her music.

 

In the Zone and Blackout are the only Britney albums I go back to. The first three are mostly filler and everything post-2007 ranges from alright to terrible.

[Eternium]

7 minutes ago, The7thStranger said:

She has her share of filler, no question. But Crazy in Love and Naughty Girl sound far fresher in 2024 than Baby One More Time or Crazy do.

That's a hard disagree, especially when comparing one of the most timeless songs ever (…Baby One More Time). I would argue that the singles from both DIL and BOMT all still sound fresh and listenable in 2024 except for the ballads, which are incredibly dated (FTBOMBH and MM&I). 
 

Being "dated" doesn't mean that a song sounds like it defines a certain time period. "Dated" means that a song is obsolete in the present because it no longer sounds good, despite sounding good in the certain time period it was released. A great example of a dated song would be "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke or "Dance Monkey" by Tones & I. 

[CBC]

13 minutes ago, Eternium said:

Britney gave us Max Martin, Bloodshy & Avant and the origins of hyperpop and PC Music. I was a Beyonce stan until 2009, but she was never about being ahead of musical trends except when she got Rich Harrison on the line (Crazy In Love). Most of her music was heavily inspired by the trends of the time (Beautiful Liar, Irreplaceable, Halo, Single Ladies, etc.).

 

ok now i understand better what you mean, I would use the word "trend-setter" then instead of avant-garde. I also agree with all you said about Bey. She's always been a trend-chaser, still is to this day lol. With that being said I still think Bey's music holds better because she always had good albums while Britney was more about big singles

[Popboi.]

Beyoncé's (except Sasha and DIL, but the singles knock). Blackout, ITZ and several of Britney's singles are still some fine wine though.

[Minto]

anyone could've dropped the middling efforts known as femme fatale, britney jean, bomt, circus or glory….most of britney's catalogue is 90% filler outside of the hot singles lol.

 

Edited November 2 by Minto