Fourth single off the LP is the biggest hit

It happened in the UK with Human League's Dare.

It sort of happened with Blondie's Parallel Lines because if you put the UK & US singles together there were three distinct ones before "Heart of Glass" hit. Speaking of which, it dumbfounds me to think that a US record exec - or a committee of them - listened to Parallel Lines and out of all that brilliant material decided that "I'm Gonna Love You Too" was the single.

An earlier, related thread:
S/D: Great Fourth-Choice Singles Off Albums

Fergie's Big Girls Don't Cry ended up being her biggest single.

was Shania Twain's "You're Still The One" the fourth single?

Biggest hit off Hysteria (the album's only pop-chart #1 in U.S.) was "Love Bites" -- the fifth single; second biggest (#2) was the fourth, "Pour Some Sugar On Me"; third biggest (#3) was the sixth, "Armageddon It."

I'm not really surprised that Hysteria had seven singles, but I'd never have guessed that Pyromania did too.

was Shania Twain's "You're Still The One" the fourth single?

i'm pretty sure in every market and in every country there was a different single order....definitely not the typical coordinated effort.

Lightning Crashes: Live

Apparently it wasn't officially released as a single, but it was the 4th single from the record to hit radio, the third one, "shit towne" flopped.

Was always a shame. "Shit Towne" was the anthem for some high school friends and I during our angsty stuck in a tiny shit town in Central Illinois years.

'lenny' and 'alright' were the fourth and fifth singles from supergrass' i should coco lp, and the two biggest hits (#10 and #2 respectively)

the re-recorded version of 'babies' was in effect the fourth single from pulp's "his 'n' hers"

in the last two cases the album came out around the time of the third single

Everybody Hurts was the 4th single released from Automatic From The People.

nancy boy was the fourth single from the self titled placebo album (though technically the 'come home' single wasn't taken from the album as it was an earlier version)

i had to check wikipedia, and a bryan adams expert will have to confirm whether it was the biggest hit off the album, but "summer of '69" was the fourth single off of "reckless".

and wikipedia says "ironic" was jagged little pill's 3rd single but almost all other sources say it was the 4th.

"Cowboy" was the fourth single off Devil Without A Cause (after "Welcome 2 the Party," "I Am the Bullgod," "Bawitdaba") and the first one to hit the Hot 100, at #82; fifth single "Only God Knows Why" was the album's biggest hit, peaking at #19.

"Picture" was the fourth single off Cocky and was far and away that album's biggest hit, at #4.

"All Summer Long" in comparison, was only the third single off Rock N Roll Jesus. So maybe Atlantic Records' A&R is improving a little.

in the last two cases the album came out around the time of the third single

This is something to be careful about - I feel we should try to ignore the cases when a couple of singles recorded earlier are stuck onto the next LP. Thus, "Good Vibrations" is not really a single off of Smiley Smile though it was. Try to think of "LP" as one continuous recording project.

will have to confirm whether it was the biggest hit off the album, but "summer of '69" was the fourth single off of "reckless".

Not quite -- third single "Heaven" went #1, "Summer of '69" only #5.

you know what...silly canada's column was where the US's should be, please disregard that one.

DeLaSoul's "Buddy/The Magic Number" was.

'crucify' was the 4th (or even 5th, depending on which source you go by) single off tori amos' little earthquakes.

'say my name' was the 4th single in most territories (not the US) off destiny's child's the writing's on the wall (and globally the biggest single off the album).

I believe "Somewhere In My Heart" was the fourth single off Aztec Camera's "Love" album.

"Four Letter Word" was the fourth single from Kim Wilde's "Close" album. It may be that "You Came" was a bigger hit, but I would say they were roughly equals.

Garbage-"Stupid Girl" single #4 from the debut and their peak on the Hot 100 (#24, their only Top 40 entry)

I don't know the order of singles for Born In The USA, but I could see this happening with an album like that..

Chronologically "Ironic" was definitely Jagged Little Pill's 3rd video..

order of singles for Born In The USA

1. Dancing In The Dark (went to #2)
2. Cover Me (#7)
3. Born In the USA (#9)
4. Glory Days (#5)
5. I'm On Fire (#9)
6. My Hometown (#6)

Just learned that "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" was the fourth single from its parent album. None of the previous singles even reached the top 40.

ZZ Top: "Legs" was either the third or fifth single from Eliminator ("Got Me Under Pressure" and "TV Dinners" may have been earlier charting B-Sides, with the latter getting a video).

The UK chart placements for Bjork's singles from Debut are telling (I'm not counting the Play Dead single, which disrupts the trajectory slightly but also was not on the original version of the album):

- Human Behaviour - 36
- Venus as a Boy - 29
- Big Time Sensuality - 17
- Violently Happy - 13

Glyserine

My Heart Will Go On

"Paradise City" was the fourth single off Appetite and it was the highest charting song off the record (in Ireland)

"The Word Girl" by Scritti Politti was the fourth single from its parent album and was their highest charting hit in the UK.

"Perfect Way" was the fifth single and their biggest hit in the US.

(Was thrilled to hear the latter at the grocery store today.)

"Fly Away" was the 4th single from Lenny Kravitz's 5.

"Another One Bites the Dust" was the 4th single from Queen's The Game.

even more rare - "Nonsense" was the FIFTH single from Sabrina Carpenter's Emails I Can't Send.

"Man in the Mirror" was the fourth of Bad's *nine* singles(!)

And the first single - Bad? The Way You Make Me Feel? Smooth Criminal? Nope, it's I Just Can't Stop Loving You.

Smooth Criminal was single #7, felt like they'd just forgotten to put it out until then.

"Perfect Way" was the fifth single and their biggest hit in the US.

(Was thrilled to hear the latter at the grocery store today.)

The song that made me a fan when I heard it on Southern Cali radio in early '86! It gets such regular play at Minneapolis-area Lunds grocery stores to where I wonder if the titular Lund was also in a Derrida-indebted synth project in his post-collegiate years.

Reading y'all's explanations about order variations, pre-releases, radio vs video, and other categorical breakdowns is making me wonder what 5-part symposium it would require to determine the status of the Use Your Illusion I/II singles/hits

ok i'll try:

Knockin' On Heaven's Door - first song released, initially on Days of Thunder sdtk in June 1990, first song to chart

Civil War - second song released, initially on Nobody's Child benefit album in July 1990, second song to chart

"You Could Be Mine" - actual first single

"Don't Cry" - actual second single

"14 Years" - promo single that didn't chart

"Live and Let Die" - actual third single

"November Rain" - actual fourth UYI single and biggest hit from either album, ding ding ding we have a winner

"Pretty Tied Up" - promo single that charted a little in 1992

"Knockin' On Heaven's Door" - actual fifth single when re-released and charted again in 1992

"Yesterdays" - actual sixth single

"Garden of Eden," "The Garden," and "Dead Horse" - all had music videos that were premiered and aired repeatedly on MTV in 1993 without being promoted to radio or appearing on singles charts

"Civil War" - actual seventh single when re-released and charted again in 1993

"Estranged" - actual 8th single, video released in 1993 AFTER the release of the Spaghetti Incident and a couple SI singles, charted in 1994

speaking of MJ it still blows my mind that "The Girl is Mine" was the first single off Thriller. not just because the song sucks but because you'd think MJ wouldn't want the first single to be the one with arguably a bigger star on it.

"Thriller" itself was actually the 7th single

An odd but true answer to this is Jagged Little Pill.

1. "You Oughtta Know" UK #22, US DNC
2. "You Learn" UK #24, US #6
3. "Hand in My Pocket UK #26, US DNC
4. "Ironic" UK #11, US #4

"Angels"! The Life Thru a Lens singles are:

1. "Old Before I Die" UK #2, 13 weeks
2. "Lazy Days" UK #8, 9 weeks
3. "South of the Border" UK #14, 6 weeks, he's in danger of being dropped
4. "Angels" UK #4 but 68 weeks, career saved forever, Barlow in hiding
5. "Let Me Entertain You" UK #3, 14 weeks but by this point everyone's buying the album

"Viva Forever" is this in some countries (Australia, NZ, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland). I assumed it might have the edge in the UK but "Spice Up Your Life" has the overall highest sales.

The biggest seller from Take That's Beautiful World is "Rule the World" but it probably doesn't count as it was only on the reissued version.

An odd but true answer to this is _Jagged Little Pill_.

1. "You Oughtta Know" UK #22, US DNC
2. "You Learn" UK #24, US #6
3. "Hand in My Pocket UK #26, US DNC
4. "Ironic" UK #11, US #4

i feel like, as a record store owner at the time, the album was a hit after a few months, more so than the single chart showing?

Well, “Candle In The Wind” was the lowest charting (and 4th) single from GY!BR, but would win a Grammy in the 80s for a live version and then Diana died, and then…

Godspeed You! Brick Road

Goodbye Yellow! Black Emperor, say it next time you capture and release an indoor wasp

weirdly "Borderline" was Madonna's first top ten hit and it was the *fifth* single off her debut

"You Oughta Know" and "Hand In My Pocket" were both handicapped chart-wise in the states because they didn't get physical single releases like the other two (in fact, the version of the former that <did> land in the Hot 100 was the live at the Grammys recording issued as a flip to the "You Learn" single). Billboard changed the rules shortly thereafter.

That said, "Ironic" really felt at the time like an across the board smash in a way the prior three singles weren't: it was all over Alternative, Top 40, and Adult Contemporary radio simultaneously, and probably sold a lot of copies to people who weren't there for the other songs. It was the Alanis jam your mother could love.

well done up there, some dude.

"Cryin'", the fourth single, was the biggest hit off of Get a Grip.

Yeah, some dude - I bet that there are members of the '91/'92-era band who might not be as aware of this timeline as what you posted!

lol ty

"Garden of Eden," "The Garden," and "Dead Horse" - all had music videos that were premiered and aired repeatedly on MTV in 1993 without being promoted to radio or appearing on singles charts

Wait - why did Geffen agree to the band making 3 (!) videos for songs that were not promoted on radio? Especially since the band already completed what had to be the most expensve videos ever? That's wild as hell.

I find the whole process of single selection, and especially the radio-vs-video dichotomy, to be quite fascinating. On one of the 1996 or Live ("the aaaangellll opens up her eyeyeyeyeyeyeyeyeyes!") threads, there was discussion of why a comercially-succesful artist would release a left-turn single like "E-Bow the Letter" or "Who You Are", with one of y'all offering the clear explanation that labels assumed that early sales would be carried by momentum from the previous release, and if the sales numbers didn't meet expectations, then they hit radio/MTV with the more traditional singles.

I understand the logic behind that, but the whole 'different songs aimed at radio and MTV' only seems to make sense to me if the songs are different enough to cater to different taste publics. I remember being a kid in SoCal in the early '80s, and Donald Fagen's "I.G.Y." was all over the radio but not MTV, and "New Frontier" was on MTV but not radio, and how confused that made me. Granted, I didn't have ILX to explain the machinations behind such industry games.

to be fair, none of those 3 videos looked very expensive. "Garden of Eden" was one long shot, "The Garden" had Alice Cooper in it but was relatively low key, and "Dead Horse" (the only one that i think i saw a few on MTV a few times after the week it premiered) was made up of concert footage.

The 'fanbase-oriented not-that-commercial first single, aiming for some bigger exposure second single' plan was also used for Out of Time and Nevermind only to be derailed by breakout success of "LMR" and "SLTS". It worked more conventionally again for Automatic. The problem, if problem it be, of "E-Bow" and "Who You Are" (and "The 13th") on the other end of the altrock boom was a record business learning this model was kinda tempting fate all along.

In the UK, where this coincided with the rise of first-week sales peaks and early release to radio and other factors that mattered to big labels issuing singles (and Britpop wasn't going anywhere so soon etc etc), it was fine to carry on for ages yet.

"Garden of Eden" was a video single! Ditto U2's "Numb" around the same time.

as a record store owner in 1996 i can tell you with how much of a thud New Adventures in Hifi and No Code landed

Kinda like when Sting had ~67 tracks that feature the word "Heart" in the title on Nothing Like the Sun, it cracks me up that the first Use Your Illusion had songs titled "Garden of Eden" (which I remember MTV playing quite often) and "The Garden", both wth videos, however my MTV viewing must have been more sporadic than I recall, as I do not remember seeing either the non-Eden Garden or "Dead Horse" videos even once.

Wait - why did Geffen agree to the band making 3 (!) videos for songs that were not promoted on radio? Especially since the band already completed what had to be the most expensve videos ever? That's wild as hell.

Guns N Roses being like the 1st or 2nd biggest band in the world at the time probably helped them get away with doing whatever they wanted

speaking of MJ it still blows my mind that "The Girl is Mine" was the first single off Thriller. not just because the song sucks but because you'd think MJ wouldn't want the first single to be the one with arguably a bigger star on it.

Carefully eyeing the market by working with the world's biggest boomer star.

IIRC, wasn't "Rude Boy" the fourth single from Rianna's Rated R?

"Ain't It Fun" was the fourth single and biggest US hit (#10) on Paramore

"Another One Bites the Dust" was the 4th single from Queen's The Game.

― some dude, Tuesday, 6 January 2026 17:02 bookmarkflaglink

"The Show Must Go On" was the 4th single from Innuendo. although this is only the biggest hit by sales, not chart position. mind you the same is true of Another One Bites The Dust, in the UK anyway

Amazed that nobodys mentioned "Dont you want me?" The Human League.

Fourth single from "Dare"

lol it's in the OP

can't believe nobody's mentioned the insane clown posse

I was just looking up the Insane Clown Posse discography on Wikipedia lol

IIRC, wasn't "Rude Boy" the fourth single from Rianna's Rated R?

― Elvis Telecom, Wednesday, January 7, 2026 3:09 PM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

kinda sorta, "Wait Your Turn" was more like a promo single in America, but worth mentioning

Robbie Williams already mentioned with Angels being the biggest hit from his debut. He managed it again with the World Party cover, She's The One on I've Been Expecting You.

Another one that could possibly count here is Apple from Brat. I'm not sure what exactly counts as an official single these days vs a promo one, but it seemed like Von Dutch, Club Classics and 360 were the first singles before the album and then Apple got the big push after the album came out. It was definitely the biggest of those singles until the Billie Eilish duet from the remix album.

Was Levitating the actual fourth single from Future Nostalgia? I'm not sure if Hallucinate counts or was just pushed aside when Levitating took off.