What the heck is wrong with pop stars...
 

I'm saying this because for a few months, pop music has been masked behind "the so called personal concept".
Let's exemplify:
Madonna - MDNA - 2012 (okay, I don't know if it's a good example)
Britney - Britney Jean - Nov. 2013
Beyonce - Beyonce - dec. 2013
Shakira - Shakira - march 2014

..........I do not think that it's a bad thing to try to make more personal music (I don't know if they succeded though ) but the album titles are gettin' on my nerves...:thud:dead2

The only one missing is Ayu....can you imagine ..new arbum "Ayumi Hamasaki"..out 2014...:tipsy

lol I didn't know about Shakira's Shakira

And Demi, and Avril Lavigne, and so on... It's a trend, basically... The trend is releasing personal, back to basics, career reviewing (if the career is long enough) albums and concerts. Ayu, Hikki, Namie, Milene Farmer, Ivete Sangalo, Jay Z, Miley Cyrus and probably more I can't think of are doing the same thing... A "personal" album with a more stripped and throwback sound that sometimes that sometimes makes reference to the artist past works and concerts based on hits and iconic performances/outfits/aesthetics. :)

Gaga tried doing that (VMA), but she is not around long enough...

how is Miley's Bangerz back to basics and a review of her career? Bangerz is noithing like she had ever done.. but I agree with most of what you say. it is a trend.

I agree :yes but they can be more creative with the titles..
Hmm..about Miley..I don't think that she has a very long carrer as to release a "personal" album. She said that Bangerz was like a new start for her music. As for Ayu, a lot of her albums are personal but at a whole superior level than Brit's music for example. for example LOVE again is a throwback album but Party Queen and Love songs are by far more personal albums.

Think about it. Most of the artists you listed have been around for a long time. So I guess it makes sense to finally release something with just their name and call it "back to my roots" "re-visiting the past" "new me" and whatnot.

This is actually pretty common in the CPOP industry where even newbies have the same name album. Though it's purpose at times is just to capture the attention of the public to get to know the new star.

Miley's isn't a throwback, but the album is mostly about her personal life... The themes aren't that far from Britney Jean or MDNA...

God, I can totally see that coming, LOL!
(And I think it'd be kind of awesome. Yeah.)

I have a problem with this kind of titles.
I hate not being able to refer to an album with a DAMN NAME. Like, "Yeah, that era was awesome, you know, the one with this song, and that one, etc."
But it's just a issue of mine! XD
Britney Jean was nice, though, 'cause it's not "Britney Spears", the name she's usually known for. I find the title very cute (the songs were the problem).

I would not get mad if Ayu's new album would be call "Ayumi Hamasaki". After all is her 15th album so it would be special to have that name :).

And I remember back when I started to listen to music in 2003-2005 many artist did the same. It has always been like that so. . . e.e.

Self-titled albums are lazy.

Self titled albums are typically because the artist feels that it encompasses them the closest from all their prior discography. IT really says who they are as a person, etc. At least that is what artst's that DO this say in interviews. Its like when Aaliyah released.. 'Aaliyah' I believe she said it was her most mature album, an album that she felt represented her taste and likes in the lyrical content, the musical sound, etc etc.

I think some times like in Aaliyah's case, doing a self titled album WORKS well and is amazing while other times it falls flat (Britney Spears - Britney Jean; not that I've heard the full album, but sales were dismal and from my understanding it wasn't well received by many critics and some fans?)

As for Ayumi, I don't think she'll EVER need to do a self titled album. She's already hinted at using the self titled album/single names by using A and H.

Nice observation. I think it's stupid. I have all of those and will probably get the Shakira one. I also have AVRIL LAVIGNE - AVRIL LAVIGNE.
hmmm really dumb. I don't care if it's for personal reasons. MDNA was a little more acceptable though because it at least has some word imagery...