The Lady Gaga Thread

[Toups]

Over 7 millon hits in 2 days!! Wow! The music video certainly isn't dead.

[Sylph]

LMAO! I knew that would sound as if I'm a crotchety old neighbour.

I love trash music. I love cr*p Timbaland, Timberlake, Ke$ha, Britney... and the whole armada of others who make ringtone music, R&B drivel, "infernal music"... I really have no problem with any 'genre' or 'style' (except metal, that's just horror).

This was just me talking about Madonna. One particular case. Where I believe that trend-setting and trend-following is something she needs to leave in the past.

Enya?! Are you serious?

Goodness no!

And if such album existed, I wouldn't ask for another.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Madonna's entire career was based of of taking underground trends and bringing them to the mainstream. But unlike Gaga, Madonna has a more captivating personality and brashness, she was fierce and backed a lot of her image up.

It's partly the image thing where Gaga fails miserably at, and where Madonna succeeded earlier on with. Compare the way Madonna presented herself in interviews and the way she promoted herself earlier on in her career to Gaga, there's just something, as that hack MAB said, that "popped" about Madonna. Gaga by contrast doesn't have that much personality or spunk.She's pretty much dead weight in her interviews and self-promotion.

[Sylph]

'Cause she's a Virgo ascendant.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Tell that to the record companies who don't spend much on music video promotion anymore.

If you look at the albums that are selling these days, and the recording industry is SUFFERING, very little is invested into music videos for these artists. They just aren't profitable anymore, hence why Gaga had to use all the product placement to pay for this video.

[EricMontreal22]

My fave from ROL was actually Power of Goodbye, video wise even if it's a complete hommage/rip off to the Joan Crawford movie, Humoresque--it's just shot SOOO beautifully. But actually I prefered all the ROL videos (even the UK only Substitue for Love) over Ray of Light's--but I know that video still made more of an impact.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I don't get the big deal about the Frozen video, it's nice and the cinematography is great, but she has better.

As Eric and I discussed a few months ago, David Fincher really directed some of her best videos. In fact, I would say her best video work was with him.

[EricMontreal22]

Although by the 90s Madonna's interviews became a real chore to sit through--I think I have a bunch on tape (yes I was obsessed) from Ray of Light where she tries to be deep and they're just ENDLESS--this was before the British accent but they do remind me of Gaga interviews where she says pseudo "deep" things in a quiet monotone voice with little excitement.

[Sylph]

Where did you see me call those tracks melodic and calling for more such tracks?

Which is what I'm saying. Another Ray of Light, but not a Ray of Light 2.0. Meaning something "mature" and "soulful" and not "urban" as in Candy, but not the 90s production/sound of Ray.

[EricMontreal22]

I wish she'd do one final video with him. LOL. He really really wanted to do Evita but wasn't a big enough name to get the rights--I think Parker's Evita is a decent film, but Fincher's would have been more interesting anyway. (The man has said repeatedly how much he likes musicals but wants to do a dark one--and he's amazing at filming dance--even in non Madonna videos like Abdul's Cold Hearted Snake video with its Fosse's All That Jazz hommage).

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I LOVED the Drowned World/Substitute For Love video too.

You, know, I heard Madonna HATED how The Power of Goodbye turned out. She thought she looked too pretty for the video and it was more like a hair commercial, she wanted to look more miserable.

Though, Matthew Rolston directed it, and he was of course a renown fashion photographer and did a lot of commercial work.

I loved that video too, though.

[EricMontreal22]

Sheesh you Nowhere, but you didn't offer suggestions so I was drawing straws. Most critics would call the songs on Something to Remember among her most melodic stuff

[Sylph]

Precisely. She chased trends. Underground ones. However, she explored them all, pretty much, and now there isn't much underground she can do. At least not something which would fit her.

Edited March 13, 2010 by Sylph

[EricMontreal22]

Great! most of my Madonan friends seem to find the Drowned World video boring--but yeah I really love it.

I guess there's some truth to Madonna's comment about Power of Goodbye's video, yet... I dunno, I think that's kinda the vibe--that it is utterly gorgeous in a sorta meancholy way (if that makes any sense). And as you say--don'thire a fashion photographer then

[Toups]

You know, you guys could create a Madonna thread.