Entertainment
Lady Gaga's Artpop, Britney's Greatest Hits & More Albums Stifled by Love
Lady Gaga's Artpop has been getting universally panned by critics this week, but it's not all bad news for Mother Monster. She seems to be deeply in love with actor-slash-model boyfriend Taylor Kinney, an uncharacteristically adorable move for Gaga. And that got us thinking: has love caused Gaga to lose her edge, so to speak? Many musicians and pop stars have lost themselves to love only to create terrible albums, so she wouldn't be the first...
John Lennon "Sometime in New York City"
John Lennon is perhaps the most ubiquitous example of an artist's love life affecting their career. But for all the talk of Yoko Ono breaking up The Beatles (a myth which has since been debunked), Lennon created some of his greatest work solo, with Yoko by his side. Except on his first album with Ono, Sometime in New York City. Coming after Imagine, the album appalled critics and is considered the worst of Lennon's solo career.
Liz Phair, "Whitechocolatespaceegg"
Whitechocolatespaceegg was Phair's first album as a wife and mother. And while it was well received, it couldn't match up to Exile in Guyville or Whip-Smart. But more importantly, the album saw Phair's attention turn more to pop and her duties as a mother, both of which would contribute to the colossal failure of her eventual self-titled album.
Christina Aguilera, "Bionic"
After her marriage to Jordan Bratman, Aguilera would never see the sales numbers of an album like Stripped again. Fortunately, her newfound love fueled the ebullient, retro album Back to Basics, which critics loved. But once Aguilera retreated to her love nest for a hiatus, she lost much of her inspiration. She came back with Bionic, a derivative album that failed to showcase her biggest weapon: her powerhouse of a voice.
Whiz Khalifa, "Rolling Papers" and "O.N.I.F.C."
Khalifa become a doting husband and father to model Amber Rose has been heart-warming to watch. But since the rapper found love with Amber Rose, he seems to have been merely coasting on pop-rap and guest spots (even on a Maroon 5 song). And Khalifa knows it — he even went so far as to apologize for Rolling Papers to his fans on Tumblr. Unfortunately, his most recent release, O.N.I.F.C., wasn't much of an improvement.
Justin Timberlake, "The 20/20 Experience: 2 of 2"
Timberlake has finally found love with wife Jessica Biel, but as Justified show us, Timberlake's best work comes from heartbreak. After taking a long hiatus and falling in love with Biel, Timberlake made a comeback this year with The 20/20 Experience. Unfortunately, Timberlake was a little too exciting coming out of his hiatus, and separately release an entire second part of the album — a sequel that's been deemed unnecessary and disappointing by most critics.
Britney Spears, "Greatest Hits: My Prerogative"
After her marriage to Kevin Federline, Spears took a hiatus and released what could've been a stamp of death on her career: a greatest hits album. Talk about a lack of creativity. Only releasing four albums and then declaring them the greatest hits of your career is not a good sign for what lies ahead. Fortunately for us, the Spears-Federline relationship combusted gloriously and Spears went on to make more sugary sweet pop songs.
