Before I get to my countdown of 2024’s albums by the women of pop, I had to give a nod to Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Espresso,’ surely destined to be the Song of the Summer even at this early date.
Carpenter’s sixth studio album, Short n’ Sweet, is coming this August. If ‘Espresso’ is any indication, it should be a fun one. Second single ‘Please Please Please’ is another pop confection (and features Carpenter’s boyfriend, actor Barry Keoghan, in its video).
The first half of this year has seen a deluge of new releases, particularly by the women currently dominating the popular music conversation. Over the next two weeks, I’ll offer quick takes on eight new releases by those artists — and because I like to rank things, I’ll do it in countdown fashion.
But first, I’ll address a couple of other new releases that don’t fit into the “New Albums by Women Who Rock” category.
The week The week of June 12, 2004, finds a lot of repeats atop the Billboard Hot 100 — songs I’ve either covered during Throwback Weekends or at some other point on the blog.
At #1 is Usher’s ‘Burn,’ followed by ‘I Don’t Wanna Know‘ by Mario Winans. Then comes Beyoncé with ‘Naughty Girl‘ and Usher again with ‘Yeah!‘
That brings us to #5, where alternative rock band Hoobastank sits with their biggest hit, ‘The Reason.’
Throwing back to the week of June 11, 1994, we find All-4-One atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘I Swear.’ As I noted a few weeks ago, this song spent 11 straight weeks at #1, making it one of the longest-running chart-toppers in history.
Holding the #2 spot is Madonna with the ballad ‘I’ll Remember,’ a soundtrack cut from the forgettable film With Honors (do you remember a movie about a Harvard student played by Brendan Fraser befriending a homeless man played by Joe Pesci? Neither do I.).
I’ve noted that 1995 was a big year for debut albums, so I’m closing out this edition of Decades with another notable first album. This one is interesting because it didn’t become a hit until two years after its release.
Jewel wrote most of the songs on Pieces of You as a teenager, busking her away across the country in search of a music career. She eventually drew the interest of record labels while playing in coffeehouses and signed a deal to record an album. Released when she was 21, the record failed to make a splash.
Meet Me In Montauk 