The scene has fostered many break-out stars, with My Chemical Romance, Paramore, Panic! At the Disco and Fall Out Boy all leaving the Warped Tour world behind to become mainstream music icons.

Panic! and Fall Out Boy in particular have conquered the mainstream by adopting a pop-heavy formula for their material and rollouts. Chart hits such as “High Hopes” performed incredibly well because they were both palatable to a mass audience and had the kind of major label backing required to succeed on pop radio and streaming platforms. It helps when you’re willing to write songs for Disney movies, too.

There are many, though, who’ve tried and failed to replicate that success. “Going pop” is a phrase often attached to bands who attempt to better their fortunes by changing their sound, and while that is a veiled criticism that’s often unfairly leveled at scene bands, so too have several pop-punk, emo and even metalcore acts tried to heavily incorporate pop sounds into their music for a shot at stardom.

Here, we look back at eight bands who tried going pop and didn’t quite get it right, and in true Note To Scene style, we’ve included first week sales figures for the bands and records in question, where available.

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