Pop Girlies' Magnum Opi vs. Your Favorite Albums

[i sometimes sing live]

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Do your favorite albums by these artists are also considered to be their magnum opi? If you disagree with my picks, feel free to discuss, though none of these are my opinion but the general consensus I have picked up on as an avid consumer of pop-adjacent music. Without further ado, the list of magnum opi (in some cases, I have listed two, highlighting the most likely contender):

 

Adele - 21 (my favorite as well)

Björk - Homogenic (my favorite is Debut)

Beyoncé - Lemonade (my favorite is 4)

Britney Spears - Blackout / In the Zone / (my favorite is In the Zone)

Carly Rae Jepsen - E*MO*TION (can't pick one)

Christina Aguilera - Stripped (don't have one)

Janet Jackson - The Velvet Rope (don't have one)

Katy Perry - Teenage Dream (don't have one)

Lady Gaga - The Fame Monster / Born This Way / (my favorite is Born This Way)

Lana Del Rey - Norman F-cking Rockwell! (my favorite is Honeymoon)

Lorde - Melodrama (my favorite is Pure Heroine)

Madonna - Ray of Light / Like a Prayer / (my favorite is Music)

Mariah Carey - Butterfly (my favorite is Mariah Carey)

Taylor Swift - 1989 / Folklore / (my favorite is Red)

[i sometimes sing live]

Taylor's was tricky. 1989 was obviously the era, but Folklore was a reinvention and reinvigorated the GP's love for her. Meanwhile, Red is considered to be her best work by many and also contains All Too Well - her magnum opus song-wise.

[i sometimes sing live]

As for Madonna, Ray of Light is probably her magnum opus album-wise, whereas Like a Prayer - the song - is her magnum opus in that regard. It might actually be the best pop song of all time.

[Spicechinodiva]

Like a prayer,  literally everytime I saw her in concert,  that song she does it so right, the next to the last song usually. 

 

MDNA and Madame X hello..

The crowd goes wild, it's odd,cos when you think about what happened at the time..

 

With the video,which many people still don't know the big deal, the ku klux klan had the same imagery, only thing she did was use her privilege for the right thing and got the one accused of the ****** out of jail cos it was the right thing to do as she witnessed the crime happened. 

 

So everybody can't see the controversy,  plus like they said, it's not the first time they used catholic imagery, and Madonna herself was a catholic girl, from my conversations, the catholic era she grew up with was very dark and scary. So they knew what she was addressing.  

[mhally]

For me, Madonna’s magnus opus is definitely Confessions on a dance floor.  It I’m not mad at Like A Prayer, though, like at all. I think Erotica comes close too.

[JayTawndre]

1 hour ago, mhally said:

For me, Madonna’s magnus opus is definitely Confessions on a dance floor.  It I’m not mad at Like A Prayer, though, like at all. I think Erotica comes close too.

Agreed. Confessions is an iconic Pop record 

[Alieniated3]

TFM and BTW/ Chromatica- Gaga, TFM is perfection and my fav though

Madge- ROL and COADF. COADF is my fav tho. What a iconic and magical album

Katy- TD and Witness. Witness is actually a great album if you take some of the duds out

Rihanna- GGGB, Anti

Britney- Blackout, ITZ being my fav behind Glory (I do love BO too tho of course)

 

 

[Blackout2006]

Beyonce- I am...Sasha Fierce (magnum opus-Lemonade/Renaissance)

Rihanna- Rated R (magnum opus- ANTi)

Taylor Swift- Reputation (magnum opus- Folklore)

 

[Blackout2006]

17 hours ago, i sometimes sing live said:

Taylor's was tricky. 1989 was obviously the era, but Folklore was a reinvention and reinvigorated the GP's love for her. Meanwhile, Red is considered to be her best work by many and also contains All Too Well - her magnum opus song-wise.

Her magnum opus is Folklore, definitely. I don't think I'm being hyperbolic when I say that it literally saved her career from a downward trajectory because I remember the Reputation, Lover and Folklore eras vividly 

Reputation was seen as some colossal flop at the time (even though it performed exceptionally well) and Lover was just considered as a stronger decline in terms of success and quality. She had also come fresh from her hate train era so she was still being not treated seriously as an artist (ME! and YNTCD strengthened that narrative). Had Midnights come right after Lover, I don't think it would've been her biggest album since 1989.

Then the lockdown era started and she was able to figure that she needed something new to retain her success. With that came Folklore. That is when she started raking critical acclaim (not just in the 70s), public adoration and respect as an artist. Taylor was then able to see that her fans were missing the pop sound, so she used that as an opportunity to come out with Midnights and the rest is history.

I do think if it were not for the Folklore era, Red would be largely seen as her magnum opus. I can see the album having received more retrospective acclaim through the years sans BTD   

[Groundbreaking]

Adele - 21 (my favourite as well / 19)

Beyoncé - Lemonade (my favourite as well / Renaissance / self-titled)

Britney Spears - Blackout / In the Zone (my favourite is Blackout / In the Zone)

Charli XCX - Crash (my favourite as well)

Christina Aguilera - Stripped  (don't have one)

Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia (my favourite as well)

Katy Perry - Teenage Dream (don't have one)

Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway (my favourite as well / Meaning of Life / All I ever Wanted)

Lady Gaga - The Fame Monster (my favourite is TFM)

Lana Del Rey - Norman F-cking Rockwell! (my favourite is Ultraviolence / BTD / NFR)

Lorde - Melodrama (my favourite is Pure Heroine)

Micki Minach - Pink Friday (my favourite is The Pink Print)

P!nk - Funhouse / M!ssundaztood (my favourtie as well / Beautiful Trauma / I'm not Dead)

Taylor Swift - 1989 / Folklore (my favourite is Folklore / reputation / 1989)

[Isla]

Taylor Swift's magnum opus may be 1989 but Reputation always has my heart!

[Isla]

23 hours ago, i sometimes sing live said:

Taylor's was tricky. 1989 was obviously the era, but Folklore was a reinvention and reinvigorated the GP's love for her. Meanwhile, Red is considered to be her best work by many and also contains All Too Well - her magnum opus song-wise.

It's tough but I think 1989 might be her magnum opus in terms of both its critical and commercial success (Fearless and Red are closely behind). If we're only counting albums based on critical acclaim that would be Folklore. 

[i sometimes sing live]

8 hours ago, Alieniated3 said:

TFM and BTW/ Chromatica- Gaga, TFM is perfection and my fav though

Madge- ROL and COADF. COADF is my fav tho. What a iconic and magical album

Katy- TD and Witness. Witness is actually a great album if you take some of the duds out

Rihanna- GGGB, Anti

Britney- Blackout, ITZ being my fav behind Glory (I do love BO too tho of course)

IDK why I find The Fame Monster so boring. It might actually be my least favorite Gaga record. As for Katy, I don't really care for her music, but if I had to pick a favorite, I'd probably pick Witness too. It has some snoozers on it, but for the most part, it's actually a lot of fun. The biggest issue is the fact that there's nothing "purposeful pop" about it besides a few songs. The marketing campaign was much worse than the album itself.

[i sometimes sing live]

8 hours ago, Blackout2006 said:

Beyonce- I am...Sasha Fierce

Revoking your "Best Taste" title STAT.

[i sometimes sing live]

8 hours ago, Blackout2006 said:

Her magnum opus is Folklore, definitely. I don't think I'm being hyperbolic when I say that it literally saved her career from a downward trajectory because I remember the Reputation, Lover and Folklore eras vividly 

Reputation was seen as some colossal flop at the time (even though it performed exceptionally well) and Lover was just considered as a stronger decline in terms of success and quality. She had also come fresh from her hate train era so she was still being not treated seriously as an artist (ME! and YNTCD strengthened that narrative). Had Midnights come right after Lover, I don't think it would've been her biggest album since 1989.

Then the lockdown era started and she was able to figure that she needed something new to retain her success. With that came Folklore. That is when she started raking critical acclaim (not just in the 70s), public adoration and respect as an artist. Taylor was then able to see that her fans were missing the pop sound, so she used that as an opportunity to come out with Midnights and the rest is history.

I do think if it were not for the Folklore era, Red would be largely seen as her magnum opus. I can see the album having received more retrospective acclaim through the years sans BTD   

IDK - it's really tricky. 1989 was literally THE era of all eras (à la After Hours and Future Nostalgia to name recent examples), though. And is an album revitalizing an artist's career that important of a criterion magnum-opus-wise? I mean, The Emancipation of Mimi did that for Mariah, but Butterfly is her undisputed magnum opus. Though at the same time, Butterfly is probably a lot better than 1989, so I'm still undecided. Also, Red has already had its retrospective acclaim moment - its rerecording sits at a pretty 91 on Metacritic (compared to the 77 of the original), which is kind of insane.

[i sometimes sing live]

2 hours ago, Isla said:

Taylor Swift's magnum opus may be 1989 but Reputation always has my heart!

I feel so much nostalgia towards reputation, and I love how it's more so a love letter to Joe than anything else. There's only a handful of songs that actually live up to the title.

[i sometimes sing live]

6 hours ago, Groundbreaking said:

Adele - 21 (my favourite as well / 19)

Beyoncé - Lemonade (my favourite as well / Renaissance / self-titled)

Britney Spears - Blackout / In the Zone (my favourite is Blackout / In the Zone)

Charli XCX - Crash (my favourite as well)

Christina Aguilera - Stripped  (don't have one)

Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia (my favourite as well)

Katy Perry - Teenage Dream (don't have one)

Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway (my favourite as well / Meaning of Life / All I ever Wanted)

Lady Gaga - The Fame Monster (my favourite is TFM)

Lana Del Rey - Norman F-cking Rockwell! (my favourite is Ultraviolence / BTD / NFR)

Lorde - Melodrama (my favourite is Pure Heroine)

Micki Minach - Pink Friday (my favourite is The Pink Print)

P!nk - Funhouse / M!ssundaztood (my favourtie as well / Beautiful Trauma / I'm not Dead)

Taylor Swift - 1989 / Folklore (my favourite is Folklore / reputation / 1989)

I agree with all of these except for Crash. It was definitely her most commercially successful era since Sucker because that's literally what the point of the era was - to go out with a bang. But it also alienated a lot of fans who loved her for her hyperpop endeavors. Crash is a damn good pop record, which is what it set out to be, but it's nowhere near Pop 2 or How I'm Feeling Now, in my humble opinion.

[i sometimes sing live]

@Rik vs Exhale, thoughts on Janet and her magnum opus? It's crazy how many groundbreaking albums she's actually released (and in a row at that). In any other artist's discography, Control, Janet., and Rhythm Nation could be considered magnum opi, but I'm assuming The Velvet Rope is still that b-tch.

[rik]

10 minutes ago, i sometimes sing live said:

@Rik vs Exhale, thoughts on Janet and her magnum opus? It's crazy how many groundbreaking albums she's actually released (and in a row at that). In any other artist's discography, Control, Janet., and Rhythm Nation could be considered magnum opi, but I'm assuming The Velvet Rope is still that b-tch.

Velvet Rope was the most expensive contract offered to an artist prior to Mariah joining Virgin (this is pre-buy out of the contract). It is slickly produced and Empty is my all time favourite track. But you’re right that at large, from Control, to RN to Janet, these are considered her three classics. I have yet to fully explore All For You.

my favourite Janet album is Janet though  

[Isla]

56 minutes ago, i sometimes sing live said:

I feel so much nostalgia towards reputation, and I love how it's more so a love letter to Joe than anything else. There's only a handful of songs that actually live up to the title.

Reputation definitely sums up that period of time for Taylor - both about her reputation in society but also for her love for Joe, who probably helped her get through that period of time in the first place.