Source link : https://las-vegas-news.com/9-albums-from-the-2000s-that-sold-poorly-at-first-and-later-gained-followings/
Sales numbers in the first few weeks can make an album look like a failure. Over the years, plenty of records from the 2000s have shown that first impressions don’t always last. Some were dropped by labels, some were misunderstood, and some simply arrived at the wrong moment.
The nine albums below all started quietly or disappointed expectations. Each one found a bigger audience later, through word of mouth, film and television placements, touring, or critics changing their minds. Where exact figures are fuzzy, the details stay general.
Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)
Wilco’s label, Reprise, rejected the finished album in 2001 and parted ways with the band. The group then streamed the record on its own website. Nonesuch, a sister label under the same corporate parent, later picked it up and released it in 2002.
The saga drew attention that no marketing budget could have bought. The album became the band’s highest charting release in the United States at the time, and it’s now regularly named among the best albums of the decade. It’s an odd case where the early rejection ended up helping the legend.
The Postal Service, Give Up (2003)
This was a side project between Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and Jimmy Tamborello, working largely by mailing files back and forth. Sub Pop released it in early 2003, and expectations for it…
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Author : Matthias Binder
Publish date : 2026-10-06 11:13:00
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