3 Iconic Pop Albums That Are Better if You Listen to Them All the Way Through

Pop music is typically focused on singles. Many other genres put a greater emphasis on album-making. Pop music is often accused of being surface-level or attention-grabbing for only a few moments at a time. The three iconic pop albums below refute that accusation. These albums are best heard from start to finish. This reveals their storylines, sonic direction, and overall concepts better than cherry-picking tracks. You won’t be able to get the full scope of these pop albums without taking your hand off the skip button.

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‘Lemonade’ — Beyoncé

Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” is pop storytelling at its finest. The iconic singer used this album as her personal diary, making peace with infidelity and celebrating culture. Beyoncé took a firm stance on this album, alienating some listeners. This wasn’t easygoing pop with endless radio appeal; it was a work of art that required digestion.

This album was made to be listened to as a whole body of work. While you can pick up each song individually, the listener loses the tracks’ scope when they don’t keep them in context. If Beyoncé’s accompanying visuals for this pop album weren’t enough to tell you how important the tracklisting is, one listen all the way through will make that readily apparent.

‘1989’ — Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift turned her back on country music in full with 1989. This was a completely new look and sound for Swift, shocking and delighting fans. The songs on this album may not flow into one another like Lemonade, but there is no mistaking a central storyline.

This album opens up with a rom-com, city-sweep kind of song, “Welcome To New York.” It instantly sets the scene for a cinematic pop album, telling the story of Swift’s entrance into adulthood. The rest of the tracklist follows suit, perfectly encapsulating a few years in the pop icon’s career.

‘Dawn FM’ — The Weeknd

The Weeknd’s Dawn FM is a concept record. It functions as a fictional 1980s synth-pop radio broadcast, borrowing sounds of that era. This album is haunting, danceable, and off-center. It wraps up several ideas into one, delivering a pop masterpiece.

This album, like a radio broadcast, is best listened to all the way through. If you skip around channels on the radio, you’ll miss some of the story. That’s the same effect picking and choosing songs on Dawn FM will produce.

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