2000: Year in Review Part 1
Written: Dec 11 '00 (Updated Dec 13 '00)
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Pros: None
Cons: TRL ruled charts and everything around it.
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| thevoid99's Full Review: Rock and Pop |
In 1999, the music was dominated by teen-pop acts and rap-metal bands. In 2000, not much has changed in the current era of MTV's TRL (Total Request Live). 2000 was a year where five of those TRL stars sold over a million copies in their first week of the album charts. The Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Eminem, and Limp Bizkit each sold over a million in their first week while 'Nsync broke the first sales week record by selling over two million copies of their album "No Strings Attached".
2000 was also a year of the war between artists and the internet service Napster over the rights of music copyright. It was also a year of past acts from the 90s suffering slumps and fallouts while older artists were coming back with albums and tours. It was also a year of bad award shows, controversial lyrics from current artists, embarrassing moments, and when style took over substance.
Part 1: TRL Rules Charts
Last year, TRL became a new show for showcasing new artists that had a certain style but didn't have any substance. In 2000, TRL was the top-rated show on MTV hosted by Carson Daly. It featured such stars as rap-metal acts like Papa Roach, Limp Bizkit, Korn, and the Deftones. It also featured the usual teen pop stars like Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Backstreet Boys, 'Nsync, Mandy Moore, Jessica Simpson, and 98 Degrees. TRL was also a star vehicle for Dr. Dre, Goo Goo Dolls, Puffy, Jennifer Lopez, Eminem, Ricky Martin, and more of today's stars.
For five of those acts, TRL helped them reach excessive sales over the million mark. 'Nsync was the first of those acts to beat the sales mark that Spring with their album "No Strings Attached". Not only did they break the Backstreet Boys record, they doubled the Boys original sales in its first week to 2.4 million copies. Weeks later, teen-pop princess Britney Spears and white rapper Eminem both released new albums that also broke the million mark and made the stars. Later in the fall, Limp Bizkit released their third album that sold a million copies and a month later, the Backstreet Boys broke a world record by selling five million records worldwide in their first but didn't sell as many as 'Nsync did.
For the year 2000, the rap-metal genre was led by Limp Bizkit and Kid Rock who brought the genre to the mainstream with new bands like Papa Roach, Linkin Park, and P.O.D. While the genre became big this year, the original rap-metal leaders Korn had started to feel that the genre was losing its touch. Some rock fans had felt that whereas the genre was revolutionary back in the mid-90s has now become nothing more than a trend that has become tiring. Korn's last album "Issues" sold well but some fans and Epinioners here felt that it's their worst effort. I'm also betting that the rap-metal genre is going well with Epinions.com community.
That is also the same for teen-pop. While teen-pop has scored on the charts and with the public, it didn't go well with critics and some parents. Teen-pop princesses like Britney Spears, Mandy Moore, Jessica Simpson, and Christina Aguilera all scored on the charts and used their sex appeal to help sell records. While Moore and Simpson didn't use their sexuality to help them sell records, Spears and Aguilera did. Spears used her sex appeal at the 2000 MTV Awards with a costume she wore that scared parents while Aguilera was starting to do the same thing with her clothes.
On the male side of the teen-pop world, boy groups like Backstreet Boys, 'Nsync, and 98 Degrees were scoring on the charts. The success however was met with a backlash from some artists including Kid Rock and Eminem. The boy group phenomenon also inspired a Spinal Tap-like parody on a fake group called 2gether.
Though teen-pop did rule the charts with their current stars. It did not go well with the two acts that started the whole revolution, Hanson and the Spice Girls. In 2000, Hanson released their sophomore effort "This Time Around" to good reviews from critics and at Epinions.com but didn't sell very well because the group was trying to make a more mature record which didn't go well with their fans. The Spice Girls meanwhile had a worse time than Hanson did. In 1998, Geri "Ginger Spice" Halliwell left the group and things for the Spice Girls haven't gone well since her departure. In 2000, the group released "Forever" which was a huge commercial failure in America and in the world. Most recently, there's been rumors that the group is breaking up.
TRL showed that they can help sell records with the current crop of stars. Other acts like Ricky Martin and the Offspring came out with albums that sold well. With the current sales of their stars, it looks like the TRL era will be staying for another year. Though 2000 may have been a big year for their stars, many artists from the past however were affected by the current era.
Recommended:
No
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thevoid99
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Member: Steven Flores
Location: Smyrna, Georgia
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