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6->''"At first, I didn't even want to play it for the guys. I thought that Metallica could only be the four of us. These are songs about destroying things, head banging, bleeding for the crowd, whatever it is, as long as it wasn't about chicks and fast cars, even though that's what we liked. The song was about a girlfriend at the time. It turned out to be a pretty big song."''
7-->-- '''James Hetfield''', lead singer of Music/{{Metallica}}, about [[Music/MetallicaAlbum "Nothing Else Matters"]]
8
9Sometimes, a musician has a huge hit with a song that is at odds to their usual style. For some reason, this happens very often with hard rock/metal bands who hit it big with a [[SurprisinglyGentleSong slow ballad]]. Or alternatively a hardcore rapper/rap group with a crossover party anthem. For bands with a very niche appeal, the Black Sheep Hit is usually one of the songs "mainstream" enough to [[RadioFriendliness receive play on the radio stations]].
10
11While having a hit is something most bands strive for, this type of hit can develop into a millstone around their neck because they only wanted to play rock (or metal, or whatever), and now they will [[TypeCasting forever be associated]] with this song. Often results in CreatorBacklash.
12
13While such tracks may well be the one hit of the OneHitWonder, it need not be -- a band with other well-known tracks may still have a Black Sheep Hit if the general public mostly thinks of the misfit song when they hear the band's name. If someone does not like the hit song, they may have no desire to check out the band's other works -- and, when finally exposed to it, might be pleasantly surprised to discover that they ''do'' like the other songs. Conversely, those who ''do'' like the hit song may feel disappointed upon finding out that the rest of the band's songs sound quite different.
14
15A Black Sheep Hit will be a result of a CreatorsOddball for many musicians. Often related to ChartDisplacement.
16----
17!!Example subpages:
18
19[[index]]
20* BlackSheepHit/{{Music}}
21[[/index]]
22
23!!Other examples:
24
25[[foldercontrol]]
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27[[folder:Comic Books]]
28* Creator/AlanMoore considers ''ComicBook/TheKillingJoke'' to be this. It's one of his most famous and influential comics, but he has stated repeatedly that he considers it one of the worst works he did for Creator/DCComics, [[MagnumOpusDissonance let alone overall]]. Nevertheless, ''The Killing Joke'' would end up becoming a prominent element within the ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' franchise and mythos, most notably establishing one of the more popular and adhered to backstories for ComicBook/TheJoker. He was even consulted by Creator/TimBurton for ''Film/Batman1989'' thanks to the comic's influence on that film. However, Moore is more fond of ''Franchise/{{Superman}}''; he wrote considerably more for the character during his tenure at DC, including ''ComicBook/ForTheManWhoHasEverything'', ''ComicBook/TheJungleLine'', and ''ComicBook/WhateverHappenedToTheManOfTomorrow'', as well as creating or writing multiple SupermanSubstitute characters (ComicBook/{{Supreme}}, ComicBook/{{Miracleman}}, Thunderman, ComicBook/TomStrong to a degree). Paradoxically, while these stories are still beloved by fans of that character, they're ultimately treated as stand-alone tales or pastiches and have comparatively little influence on the latter character's story and setting. Moore's view on ''Batman'', meanwhile, has been summarized by him as "for Christ’s sake, it’s a guy dressed as a bat."
29[[/folder]]
30
31[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
32* Creator/DavidFincher sees ''Film/TheSocialNetwork'' as this and is amazed that this became his most commercially and critically successful film, when it's so different from his other films, and what he's interested in:
33--> '''Fincher''': "It’s a little glib to be a film. Let’s hope we strove to get at something interesting, but [[Film/TheSocialNetwork Social Network]] is [[ItsNotSupposedToWinOscars not earth-shattering]]. Film/{{Zodiac|2007}} was about murders that changed America. After the Zodiac killings in California, the Summer of Love was over...No one died during the creation of Facebook. By my estimation, [[FirstWorldProblems the person who made out the worst in the creation of Facebook still made more than 30 million dollars]]...And besides, on Social Network, [[MagnumOpusDissonance I didn’t really agree with the critics’ praise]]. It interested me that Social Network was about friendships that dissolved through this thing that promised friendships, but I didn’t think we were ripping the lid off anything. The movie is true to a time and a kind of person, but I was never trying to turn a mirror on a generation."
34* Creator/MartinScorsese considers ''Film/TheDeparted'' to be one for him. For one thing it's set in contemporary America which he rarely tackles (he prefers HistoricalFiction and period films and his last "contemporary" film before this was ''Bringing Out The Dead''), secondly it deals with a milieu and city (Irish Mob and Boston) entirely different from his common territory (New York and the Italian Mob), and likewise deals largely with the police force and corruption (whereas he prefers dealing with VillainProtagonist), in addition to having many shoot-outs and action scenes. In terms of narrative, Scorsese noted in his speech at the Oscars that, "It's the first film of mine with a plot" and noted many times that ItsNotSupposedToWinOscars and that he was surprised that it won.
35* More like Black Sheep CultClassic, but the Franchise/{{Tron}} franchise seems to be this for Creator/{{Disney}}. Produced in 1982, when the studio was on the ropes and desperate to try ''anything'', a live-action sci-fi film with heavy-duty religious themes and enough graphic violence to power a [[VideoGame/TronTwoPointOh first person shooter]] is definitely not what anyone expected out of The Mouse. It made back its budget, and became VindicatedByHistory for its contributions to CGI, making it possibly the most enduring product to come out of the Disney Dark Age.
36[[/folder]]
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38[[folder:Literature]]
39* Creator/ChrisVanAllsburg is best known as the author and illustrator of ''Literature/{{Jumanji}}'' and ''Literature/ThePolarExpress'' (both adapted into [[TheFilmOfTheBook successful films]]), which are quite a bit LighterAndSofter than his other works. For most of his career, Van Allsburg was known for his distinctly moody and evocative black-and-white illustrations (''The Polar Express'' is one of his few works with color illustrations), for his [[BlackComedy dark and playful sense of humor]], and for tackling subject matter that can be [[DefangedHorrors fairly scary by the standards of children's literature]]. Case in point: ''The Widow's Broom'' is a [[GothicLiterature gothic]]-influenced story about a woman who inherits a [[WickedWitch witch]]'s enchanted broom, ''The Garden of Abdul Gasazi'' is a rather creepy tale about a boy who stumbles into a retired magician's garden, and ''The Mysteries of Harris Burdick'' is a collection of enigmatic illustrations paired with story prompts (some of which are clearly horror-themed). By contrast, ''Jumanji'' is a fairly lighthearted adventure story with a very simple premise, and ''The Polar Express'' is a sweet and sentimental story about a boy who travels to the North Pole to meet {{Santa Claus}}.
40* Most of the output of Creator/WalterScott is set in his native Scotland during the 17th and 18th centuries. His most famous novel, however, is ''Literature/{{Ivanhoe}}'', which is set in northern England in mediaeval times.
41* Creator/JDSalinger is best known nowadays as the author of ''Literature/TheCatcherInTheRye'', his only full-length novel; he was predominantly known for writing short stories throughout most of his lifetime. Thanks to ''The Catcher in the Rye'', which was one of the first successful English novels to feature an in-depth character study of an adolescent protagonist, much of his legacy also stems from his influence on {{young adult literature}} (even though [[PeripheryDemographic he probably didn't write the book with actual teenagers in mind]]). Other than in that book, though, he didn't really explore the topic of adolescence much (if at all) in his fiction.
42* Creator/RayBradbury's most famous and widely read work is ''Literature/Fahrenheit451'', a fairly grim and serious {{dystopia}}n science-fiction novel about the dangers of censorship. Notably, it's one of his few full-length novels; he was predominantly a short story writer, with many of his longer works (e.g. ''Literature/TheMartianChronicles'', ''Literature/DandelionWine'', ''From the Dust Returned'', etc.) being "[[PatchworkStory fix-ups]]" composed of previously published stories strung together. More glaringly, its dark tone, urban setting, and strong political themes differ pretty strongly from the majority of his other works, which were more frequently characterized by their whimsical and Romantic tone (even his {{horror}} stories have a rather playful element), their exploration of personal and emotional themes, and their pastoral Midwestern setting [[WriteWhatYouKnow inspired by his childhood in Waukegan]].
43* W. W. Jacobs's most famous story is ''Literature/TheMonkeysPaw'', the one and only horror story by a guy who mostly wrote about sailors.
44[[/folder]]
45
46[[folder:Theatre]]
47* Music/StephenSondheim was known for writing songs with complex music and dense lyrics with intricate rhymes, which even highly experienced singers often find very difficult to sing. One of the few exceptions is in ''Theatre/ALittleNightMusic'', one of the [[LighterAndSofter lightest]] musicals from the later years of his career (which is really saying something, as it's basically ''Adultery: The Musical''), where he wrote a song intended for the non-singer Glynis Johns. To make up for Johns' lack of singing experience, he kept the melody and lyrics markedly simple, resulting in a minimalistic (but very evocative) song where her character laments her disappointment at the state of her life using short and simple phrases. The result was "Send in the Clowns", Sondheim's only mainstream pop hit--which went on to be covered by numerous popular artists (most notably Judy Collins and Music/FrankSinatra), and eventually became a {{jazz}} standard.
48[[/folder]]
49
50[[folder:Video Games]]
51* In-universe, ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'''s supplementary materials suggest that the band Midnight Riders had a single #1 hit in their long career as a biker-fueled southern rock band: a slow piano ballad called "This Man Loves You", played by [[NobodyLovesTheBassist their long-suffering "provisional temporary band member" of a bassist]] and originally released as a B-side. The band refuses to play the song live.
52[[/folder]]
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55[[folder:Web Original]]
56* Music/KenAshcorp's now-defunct Website/YouTube alt ''foreverpandering'' had a few videos of him ranting about terrible gaming channels. A popular series of his was just called "iJustine", where he took the piss out of iJustine's playthrough of ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}''. The people who found these videos on his channel also found videos about other gaming channels that he thought were bad, such as LetsPlay/ElectricalBeast and [=MinecraftChick=], so naturally people assumed that he uploaded videos like that regularly. They subscribed, only to find him uploading song covers and making rants about things that aren't gaming channels. He never made another gaming channel rant again.
57** ''foreverpandering'' as a whole was temporarily this to Ken in mid-2012, certain videos, including the aforementioned [=iJustine=] rants, receiving higher viewership than the music he made on his main channel. This is usually brought up as the primary reason he decided to permanently delete it in late 2012, as he repeatedly stated [[ArtistDisillusionment he was tired of creating content that he didn't feel much attachment to]].
58* Parodied in a sketch by Man Carrying Thing called "why is this every youtuber's highest viewed video." The sketch follows an interview with a historian named Dave with an infomative Website/YouTube channel that is overshadowed by a video he made earlier in his career called "PLANKTON FARTS & DIES (real)." He seems dissappointed but resigned when his interviewer asks him how he feels knowing that this one video will likely be his legacy, refusing to answer the question.
59* Creator/RoosterTeeth bills itself as a "Comedy Gaming Community," and most of its shows revolve around some form of that. ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'', however, is an original {{Animesque}} action show with no ties to any games (other than its own spinoffs) and a dramatic storyline that becomes [[DarkerAndEdgier darker and less comedic]] over time. It's one of RT's two biggest hits (up there with ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue''), to the point where it's receiving a big-screen theatrical release.
60* Vinny of WebVideo/{{Vinesauce}} does a wide variety of gaming-related streams, including traditional playthroughs of well-known games, peaks at obscure and often bizarre free games from the Internet, and reactions to new game trailers. His most famous videos, however, are his game corruption videos. This is despite him admitting that the sheer unpredictability of corruptions, while the source of their appeal, also makes it extremely hard to sift anything interesting out of them. Hence the dearth of such streams despite heavy viewer demand.
61* 99% of [[https://www.youtube.com/user/xFL1PPYx xFL1PPYx]]'s videos are guides and speculations pertaining to the ''VideoGame/SaintsRow'' series, that is except for the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_7Y9o3UAUw Top 10 Worst Game Breaking Bugs]], which is a list of games in general that have nothing to do with ''Saints Row''. It was his first video to reach a million views, and became his most viewed video on the website by far. Naturally, he made a second video of glitches he deemed to not make the first, but not out of obligation -- he actually enjoys the subject.
62* The vast majority of Website/BrantSteele's simulators are based on reality shows such as ''Series/{{Survivor}}'' and ''Series/BigBrother'', yet their most popular simulator and the one that receives the most website traffic is their ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' simulator.
63* WebVideo/SuperEyepatchWolf is a well-known lover of Japanese culture who predominantly does video essays about manga and anime. Funnily enough, though, his most popular creation is a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqFNbCcyFkk video essay]] about ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', which has almost '''twice''' as many views as his most popular video essay about a manga series.[[note]] That would be his [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVYzc2Xpup0 video]] on ''Manga/BloodOnTheTracks'', if you're curious.[[/note]]
64* WebVideo/CGPGrey predominately does educational videos about obscure and/or arcane topics that most people don't know about, but his big {{breakout hit}} (which is largely responsible for his fame) is the simple explanatory video [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNu8XDBSn10 "The Difference between the United Kingdom, Great Britain and England Explained"]], which covers a relatively simple topic that's just frequently misunderstood. He's also pretty well-known for his [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxgsxaFWWHQ two-part video]] on the mythology of ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', which is notable for being his only video about a work of fiction.
65* Creator/BobChipman has expressed bewilderment several times that his [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFD2293oGvA 2015 review]] of ''Film/{{Pixels}}''--an absolutely ''scathing'' [[ClusterFBomb profanity-laced rant]] about the film's many shortcomings--became his most widely viewed video, and one of his only creations ever to go viral. As he's noted: many people first discovered him because of that review, and were subsequently disappointed to learn that it was very different from his usual critical style. For the most part, Chipman is known for his nuanced and cerebral takes on popular culture, generally ''avoiding'' the image of a hot-tempered CausticCritic. He made a rare exception for ''Pixels'' because he felt that the film was '''''just that bad'''''.
66* Despite self-admittedly hating drama, WebVideo/ToddInTheShadows's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6_LW1PkmnY I Fact-Checked The Worst Video Essayist On YouTube]]", which catalogues James Somerton's frequent factual errors, done almost completely absent from his usual comedic tone of reviewing pop music throughout the years, has quickly become his second most popular video of all time, only behind "The Top Ten Worst Hit Songs of 2020". He's ruefully admitted that, despite disliking drama, it turns out he's good at it.
67[[/folder]]

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