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Subject: Sappy AC pop ballads went away circa 2002.

Written By: BayAreaNostalgist1981 on 07/25/14 at 3:46 am

I've thought about and lamented this for a long time, but if you think about it, there were sappy love songs for so long, yet this suddenly stopped after ones like "Hero" (Enrique Iglacias), "There You'll Be" (Faith Hill) and "I Knew I Loved You" (Savage Garden) around 2001/2002. Maybe early 2003 at the very latest. That's over a decade ago now, what do you think caused them to go away and still haven't really returned.

Yes there've been love songs since, but none of those super sentimental, slick produced adult contemporary ones. It's usually something slow all the way through (i.e. "Let Her Go") or soulful ("When I Was Your Man"). The ONLY recent one at all might count is "Listen To Your Heart" and that was a Roxette cover!

Subject: Re: Sappy AC pop ballads went away circa 2002.

Written By: Philip Eno on 07/25/14 at 3:51 am

"Hero" by Enrique Iglacias is not sappy at all, the song topped many charts in the US including the Billboard adult contemporary chart for fifteen weeks, and after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, the song was one of the few songs chosen by radio DJs in New York to be remixed with audio from police, firefighters, civilians at Ground Zero and politicians commenting on the attacks.

Subject: Re: Sappy AC pop ballads went away circa 2002.

Written By: BayAreaNostalgist1981 on 07/25/14 at 4:01 am


"Hero" by Enrique Iglacias is not sappy at all, the song topped many charts in the US including the Billboard adult contemporary chart for fifteen weeks, and after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, the song was one of the few songs chosen by radio DJs in New York to be remixed with audio from police, firefighters, civilians at Ground Zero and politicians commenting on the attacks.


Sorry, perhaps you misunderstood what I meant. Yeah Hero worked well for a 9/11 tribute, but it came out earlier in the year (it sure sounds like he was singing it to a girl he wanted to be with) and it's an emotional ballad nonetheless...

And the early 2000s was the last era those types of songs were popular. Regardless of what the subject is about, I'm talking more about the SOUND. :)

Subject: Re: Sappy AC pop ballads went away circa 2002.

Written By: nintieskid999 on 07/27/14 at 2:39 am


Sorry, perhaps you misunderstood what I meant. Yeah Hero worked well for a 9/11 tribute, but it came out earlier in the year (it sure sounds like he was singing it to a girl he wanted to be with) and it's an emotional ballad nonetheless...

And the early 2000s was the last era those types of songs were popular. Regardless of what the subject is about, I'm talking more about the SOUND. :)


I miss those types of songs too. 2000 and 2001 were the last years they were prevalent. It's as if it's too "uncool" to make a love song. I blame a lot of rap culture. The misogyny and looking at women as "hos" instead of people to have relationship mentality has been there throughout the last decade.

Subject: Re: Sappy AC pop ballads went away circa 2002.

Written By: 80sfan on 07/27/14 at 3:19 am

I guess rap and hip hop culture took over by then and it was looked at as 'uncool'. That's unfortunate because most of the songs from 2002 until now aren't as well respected as before 2002.

Subject: Re: Sappy AC pop ballads went away circa 2002.

Written By: Visor765 on 07/27/14 at 9:19 am

Not adult contemporary, but pop ballads have been coming back for a few years. Some examples include Rihanna's "Stay", A Great Big World's " Say Something", Miley Cyrus's "Wrecking Ball" (ew), and Christina Perri's "Jar of Hearts", "A Thousand Years",  and " Human". There are more, but I can't think of any. AC Pop love ballads went away for a reason: They were boring.

Seriously, All ballads from 1997-2001 sound exactly the same. There were only a few that actually stood out and sounded inspired. Talk about manufactured. The only ballads I actually like from that era were Christina Aguilera's "I Turn to You" and Savage Garden's "Truly Madly Deeply".

Subject: Re: Sappy AC pop ballads went away circa 2002.

Written By: nintieskid999 on 07/27/14 at 6:34 pm


Not adult contemporary, but pop ballads have been coming back for a few years. Some examples include Rihanna's "Stay", A Great Big World's " Say Something", Miley Cyrus's "Wrecking Ball" (ew), and Christina Perri's "Jar of Hearts", "A Thousand Years",  and " Human". There are more, but I can't think of any. AC Pop love ballads went away for a reason: They were boring.

Seriously, All ballads from 1997-2001 sound exactly the same. There were only a few that actually stood out and sounded inspired. Talk about manufactured. The only ballads I actually like from that era were Christina Aguilera's "I Turn to You" and Savage Garden's "Truly Madly Deeply".


The 1997-2001 ballads sound more emotional. Wrecking ball doesn't make me feel anything genuine like this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzTNsFcbdmI

Subject: Re: Sappy AC pop ballads went away circa 2002.

Written By: BayAreaNostalgist1981 on 07/27/14 at 11:11 pm


Not adult contemporary, but pop ballads have been coming back for a few years. Some examples include Rihanna's "Stay", A Great Big World's " Say Something", Miley Cyrus's "Wrecking Ball" (ew), and Christina Perri's "Jar of Hearts", "A Thousand Years",  and " Human". There are more, but I can't think of any. AC Pop love ballads went away for a reason: They were boring.

Seriously, All ballads from 1997-2001 sound exactly the same. There were only a few that actually stood out and sounded inspired. Talk about manufactured. The only ballads I actually like from that era were Christina Aguilera's "I Turn to You" and Savage Garden's "Truly Madly Deeply".


Nah, sorry gotta disagree...THOSE kind of slow songs are boring. :D It has the same tempo and sound all the way through.

Sure the sappy ones are a bit cheesy, but they have a good melody and there's more emotion in them. Maybe I'm just biased since I heard so many of them as a kid (i.e. 80s and early to mid 90s) but I like melodic slow songs. Some of my 80s favorites (just for a comparison point) are:

Can't Fight This Feeling- REO Speedwagon
Human Nature- MJ
Drive- The Cars
I Wanna Know What Love Is- Foreigner
Stuck On You- Lionel Richie
Live To Tell- Madonna
Mandolin Rain- Bruce Hornsby
Joanna- Kool and The Gang
Don't Dream Its Over- Crowded House
Against All Odds- Phil Collins
The Flame- Cheap Trick
Piano in the Dark- Brenda Russell
Sailing- Christopher Cross
How Can I Fall- Breathe
Foolish Heart- Steve Perry
True- Spandau Ballet

The first half of the 90s had tons of good ones too, like Jon Secada.

Subject: Re: Sappy AC pop ballads went away circa 2002.

Written By: Visor765 on 07/27/14 at 11:33 pm


The 1997-2001 ballads sound more emotional. Wrecking ball doesn't make me feel anything genuine like this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzTNsFcbdmI


I also really liked the Backstreet Boys' "Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely". However, it was songs like pretty much anything from Boys II Men and Savage Garden's " I Knew I Loved You" that killed the genre. There were still plenty of ballads after 2001. These were interesting and were more varied in production and that made them stand out more. Here's my list:

Ashanti - Foolish (2002)
Kelly Clarkson - A Moment Like This (2002)
Xtina - Beautiful (2002)
3 Doors Down - Here Without You (2003)
Beyonce - Me, Myself, and I (2003)
Christina Aguilera - The Voice Within (2003)
Usher - Burn (2004)
Usher - My Boo (feat. Alicia Keys) (2004)
Hoobastank - The Reason (2004)
Daniel Powter - Bad Day (2005)
James Blunt - You're Beautiful (2005)
Gwen Stefani - Cool (2005)
Kelly Clarkson - Because of You (2005)
Lifehouse - You and Me (2005)
Rihanna - Unfaithful (2006)
Christina Aguilera - Hurt (2006)
Beyonce - Irreplaceable (2006)
Alicia Keys - No One (2007)
OneRepublic - Apologize (2007)

I'll probably add more later, but you get what I mean. I don't like "Wrecking Ball" either, but I really like "Human" from Christina Perri.

Subject: Re: Sappy AC pop ballads went away circa 2002.

Written By: bchris02 on 07/28/14 at 11:04 am


I've thought about and lamented this for a long time, but if you think about it, there were sappy love songs for so long, yet this suddenly stopped after ones like "Hero" (Enrique Iglacias), "There You'll Be" (Faith Hill) and "I Knew I Loved You" (Savage Garden) around 2001/2002. Maybe early 2003 at the very latest. That's over a decade ago now, what do you think caused them to go away and still haven't really returned.

Yes there've been love songs since, but none of those super sentimental, slick produced adult contemporary ones. It's usually something slow all the way through (i.e. "Let Her Go") or soulful ("When I Was Your Man"). The ONLY recent one at all might count is "Listen To Your Heart" and that was a Roxette cover!


Daniel Beddingfield - If You're Not The One is the last one I remember that was huge.

A lot of the love songs of the latter '00s were either not sappy or had more of an emo tone.

Subject: Re: Sappy AC pop ballads went away circa 2002.

Written By: XYkid on 07/30/14 at 6:58 pm

Adult Contemporary is mostly a dead genre at this point. It seems like 90% of music that comes out nowadays is aimed at preteen and teenage girls. Over the past few years, I've noticed more and more soft pop stations having similar playlists to the stations that play music aimed at a younger crowd. Music may have more of a variety now, but only a select few of it actually receives some form of airplay outlet outside of the internet.

Subject: Re: Sappy AC pop ballads went away circa 2002.

Written By: MarkMc1990 on 07/30/14 at 7:26 pm


Daniel Beddingfield - If You're Not The One is the last one I remember that was huge.

A lot of the love songs of the latter '00s were either not sappy or had more of an emo tone.


Ahhhh I had this melody stuck in my head recently but didn't know any of the words so I couldn't look it up! Thanks!

Subject: Re: Sappy AC pop ballads went away circa 2002.

Written By: bchris02 on 07/31/14 at 8:44 am


Adult Contemporary is mostly a dead genre at this point. It seems like 90% of music that comes out nowadays is aimed at preteen and teenage girls. Over the past few years, I've noticed more and more soft pop stations having similar playlists to the stations that play music aimed at a younger crowd. Music may have more of a variety now, but only a select few of it actually receives some form of airplay outlet outside of the internet.


True.  The "Lite rock" stations that were popular throughout the '90s and '00s, with core artists like Celine Dion, Steve Perry/Journey, George Michael, Richard Marx, Rod Stewart, Hall and Oates, etc, etc started to disappear around 2010.  Today AC sounds like Hot AC used to.

Subject: Re: Sappy AC pop ballads went away circa 2002.

Written By: BayAreaNostalgist1981 on 07/31/14 at 6:52 pm


Ahhhh I had this melody stuck in my head recently but didn't know any of the words so I couldn't look it up! Thanks!


I remember that one now too! Funny how nobody remembers him since he was totally eclipsed in popularity by his sister Natasha. :)

Subject: Re: Sappy AC pop ballads went away circa 2002.

Written By: BayAreaNostalgist1981 on 07/31/14 at 6:57 pm


True.  The "Lite rock" stations that were popular throughout the '90s and '00s, with core artists like Celine Dion, Steve Perry/Journey, George Michael, Richard Marx, Rod Stewart, Hall and Oates, etc, etc started to disappear around 2010.  Today AC sounds like Hot AC used to.


Ironic how 2010s music isn't heavy/edgy/rebellious OR mellow and soft either!! It's like noisy and rhythmic, but rhythmic dance and pop with a hip hop flavor.

And yeah, I think a Hot AC/hits station of the 80s/90s/earlier 00s is equal to an AC station now, plus songs from today thrown in. Plus most mainstream music is aimed at young people (tweens & young teens like 9-15) and females.

Subject: Re: Sappy AC pop ballads went away circa 2002.

Written By: Jquar on 07/31/14 at 8:54 pm

Ballads nowadays are still sappy, but they're definitely a special kind of boring.

Just right now on the pop charts you've got "Stay With Me" by Sam Smith and "All of Me" by John Legend. Both are kind of drowsy songs IMO. These types of piano driven ballads seem to be getting bigger the last few years.

Subject: Re: Sappy AC pop ballads went away circa 2002.

Written By: MarkMc1990 on 08/24/14 at 4:28 pm

I don't know if this is quite in the same category as the OP was describing, but here's a sappy power ballad that was popular in 2006-07

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiSfTyrvJlg

"Lips of an Angel" peaked at #3 in the U.S. and made the year-end hot 100 for both 2006 and 2007 (30th and 46th respectively)

Subject: Re: Sappy AC pop ballads went away circa 2002.

Written By: bchris02 on 08/26/14 at 2:45 pm


I don't know if this is quite in the same category as the OP was describing, but here's a sappy power ballad that was popular in 2006-07

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiSfTyrvJlg

"Lips of an Angel" peaked at #3 in the U.S. and made the year-end hot 100 for both 2006 and 2007 (30th and 46th respectively)


Yeah it's definitely not in the same category.  Hinder actually has more of a watered-down post-grunge sound than the sound of the soft-rock ballads popular from the early 1980s through 2003ish.

Subject: Re: Sappy AC pop ballads went away circa 2002.

Written By: Slim95 on 08/29/14 at 1:20 am

Probably the only thing I like about music today is that it's "safe". It isn't corny and cheesy like back in the early 00's and it isn't aggressive and edgy like in the mid 00's either. It's just safe and bland. No big complex characteristics, just catchy electronic beats.

Subject: Re: Sappy AC pop ballads went away circa 2002.

Written By: nintieskid999 on 08/29/14 at 2:23 am


Probably the only thing I like about music today is that it's "safe". It isn't corny and cheesy like back in the early 00's and it isn't aggressive and edgy like in the mid 00's either. It's just safe and bland. No big complex characteristics, just catchy electronic beats.


I like edgy and aggressive music. I think there was more in the early 00s than in the mid 00s btw. I remember because I was a teenager then.

Subject: Re: Sappy AC pop ballads went away circa 2002.

Written By: bchris02 on 09/05/14 at 2:44 pm


I like edgy and aggressive music. I think there was more in the early 00s than in the mid 00s btw. I remember because I was a teenager then.


I agree.  The late '90s and early '00s were the peak of edgy, aggressive music, both on the rock and rap side of the spectrum.  By the mid '00s, Eminem wasn't near as offensive as he was on his first two albums.  You no longer had shock rock like Marilyn Manson and the ilk.  Everything that was popular in the late '90s had become watered down and commercial.  I am sure you had edgy indie stuff in the mid '00s, but it wasn't near as popular as it was in the late '90s.

Subject: Re: Sappy AC pop ballads went away circa 2002.

Written By: Visor765 on 09/05/14 at 4:18 pm


I like edgy and aggressive music. I think there was more in the early 00s than in the mid 00s btw. I remember because I was a teenager then.


I agree.  The late '90s and early '00s were the peak of edgy, aggressive music, both on the rock and rap side of the spectrum.  By the mid '00s, Eminem wasn't near as offensive as he was on his first two albums.  You no longer had shock rock like Marilyn Manson and the ilk.  Everything that was popular in the late '90s had become watered down and commercial.  I am sure you had edgy indie stuff in the mid '00s, but it wasn't near as popular as it was in the late '90s.

I think the mid 2000s had aggressive music. Musically, I mean. I'm not so sure about lyrically. I'm not really familiar with alot of mid 2000s music. Music production didn't really go "soft" until about 2008-ish and as of right now music has more or less settled on that formula.

Subject: Re: Sappy AC pop ballads went away circa 2002.

Written By: BayAreaNostalgist1981 on 09/05/14 at 11:54 pm


I agree.  The late '90s and early '00s were the peak of edgy, aggressive music, both on the rock and rap side of the spectrum.  By the mid '00s, Eminem wasn't near as offensive as he was on his first two albums.  You no longer had shock rock like Marilyn Manson and the ilk.  Everything that was popular in the late '90s had become watered down and commercial.  I am sure you had edgy indie stuff in the mid '00s, but it wasn't near as popular as it was in the late '90s.


Yeah, speaking of Manson, while the Columbine shootings might've started a backlash against him and that kind of shock rock, it seems like that kind of music went away by 2001 (maybe even before 9/11). That's a good point about Eminem too, it seems like his shock value kinda went away after the 8 Mile era around 2003.

Subject: Re: Sappy AC pop ballads went away circa 2002.

Written By: tv on 09/27/14 at 10:28 am


I guess rap and hip hop culture took over by then and it was looked at as 'uncool'. That's unfortunate because most of the songs from 2002 until now aren't as well respected as before 2002.
In 2003 50 Cents "Get Rich Or Die Tryin" album came out so maybe that had something to do with the ballad genre dying. There was a change in the music scene when the "Get Rich Or Die Tryin" album hit in the spring of 2003.

Subject: Re: Sappy AC pop ballads went away circa 2002.

Written By: winteriscoming on 10/05/14 at 2:07 pm

There were some ballads later on like Bleeding Love, but they were a bit more R&B oriented. Actually "Chasing Cars" could probably qualify as a cheesy ballad, though it's a bit more twee than AC.

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