The Lady Gaga Thread

[EricMontreal22]

Depends what you mean by success--X was seen as a slow seller, but it ended upbeing in the top 10 UK albums that year (and top 5 in Australia). But she's getting to be a bit like Madonna--her tours sell out instantly (of course I'm not discussing N America where she's still a cult oddity really), and she ended up touring the X show endlessly it sold so well. Still I'm excited to hear her album with Stuart Price, out pretty soon (it was a smart decision to go with just one producer as her albums as of late have all suffered from too many producers).

And I do agree with her--and Madonna about sticking now more or less at what they're good at.

[EricMontreal22]

I loved loved Love Profusion and some of the mellower tracks on there--Easy Ride with its gorgeous strings, etc. Ilike American Life even if it has even more than the usual amountof cringe inducing lyrics for me--alot of it is very very good, I tend to prefer the quieter moments on it. Her work with Mirwais though (who seemed so fresh on Music) was prob past its peak already. My only comments about it was that it was prob her least successful or remembered recent album--and I was really disappointed that she actually backed down from controversy and allowed the lead single to be banned (and then filmed that el cheapo "drag queen" one--I honestly think this was the moment she lost interest in trying to do interesting videos)

HAHA Actually I think the best dance music (prob cuz I love that Euro Disco sound) uses a mix of synths and beats with real instruments--particularly strings. It just adds such a great layer to things--in the 80s ALL live instruments fell out of favour in dance music--(compare Moroder's major work in the 70s like Last Dance and Mac Arthur Park to Flashdance in the 80s for an obvious example) and I think that sound got boring fast, as much as I love a lot of 80s synth pop. SO I'm with you there...

Ugh when she pulls out that guitar on tour The thing is she'llnever be a great guitarist, and she STILL seems aawkward with it--she moves so much in her concerts, then she gets the guitar and is static. But yeah she does seem to be more over it.

Wasn't he involved in the movie musical she was writing? The one that somehow Devil Wouldn't Recognize You came from apparently? Leonard is a good example of someone who is ace with Madonna and very meh with everyone else (which does show she has some creative pull, something people often doubt)--

Yeah, I love that aspect even if I can't quite mix the high glam Gaga we got in Paparazzi (which I prefered) with this "American Prison Chic" one Well apparently her next big single is the ABBA/Ace of Bass hommage Alejandro (I guess Speechless isn't getting a video?) so... I expect maybe it'll show her having fled to some latin country Shame, I wanted Dance in the Dark.

Edited March 14, 2010 by EricMontreal22

[EricMontreal22]

The thing where I do give Gaga credit (and I already mentioned I hate her interviews) is that she was clever enough to do mainstream appealing music that is aware and self knowing of its camp. There was an allmusic.com review by that Madonna fanboy Stephen Thomas Erlywine that summed up what I mean (though I think he gives her a bit too much credit, this is true on a level):

"The times were crying out for a pop star like Lady GaGa — a self-styled, self-made shooting star, one who mocked the tabloid digital age while still wanting to wallow in it — and one who's smart enough to pull it all off, too. That self-awareness and satire were absent in the pop of the new millennium, where even the best of the lot operated only on one level, which may be why Lady GaGa turned into such a sensation in 2009: everybody was thirsty for music like this, music for and about their lives, both real and virtual. To a certain extent, the reaction to The Fame may have been a little too enthusiastic [...]Like the marvelous Madge, Lady GaGa ushers the underground into the mainstream — chiefly, a dose of diluted Peaches delivered via a burbling cauldron of electro-disco — by taming it just enough so it’s given the form of pop yet remains titillating. Sure, GaGa sings of disco sticks, bluffin’ with her muffin, and rough sex, but her provocation doesn’t derive solely from her words: this is music that sounds thickly sexy with its stainless steel synths and dark disco rhythms (something sorely lacking from American radio)[...]but none of this meta text would work if the songs didn’t click, functioning simultaneously as glorious pop trash and a wicked parody of it. "

Again I think that gives her a bit too much credit, but there's a lot of truth there (of course, already she's unleashed a sea of sub Gagas)

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Do you mean it peaked in the top 10? It did peak at #4. I have the list of the best selling albums in the UK in 2008, and X isn't in the top 10. In fact is was the #100 best selling album of the year in 2008 in the UK.

2008 UK Best Selling Albums

1 Rockferry - Duffy * 1,684,944

2 The Circus - Take That * 1,446,135

3 Only by the Night - Kings of Leon * 1,181,641

4 Spirit - Leona Lewis * 1,108,369

5 Viva la Vida or Death and all his Friends - Coldplay 1,089,000

6 Good Girl Gone Bad - Rihanna 819,000

7 Day & Age - The Killers 693,000

8 Out of Control - Girls Aloud * 591,786

9 Funhouse - Pink * 587,983

10 Scouting for Girls - Scouting for Girls 575,000

The 2007 List:

01. Amy Winehouse, Back to Black

02. Leona Lewis, Spirit

03. Mika: Life in Cartoon Motion

04. Take That, Beautiful World

05. Westlife, Back Home

06. Eagles, Long Road Out of Eden

07. Kaiser Chiefs, Yours Truly Angry Mob

08. Arctic Monkeys, Favourite Worst Nightmares

09. Timbaland, Shock Value

10. Rihanna: Good Girl Gone Bad

I think Stuart Price is a pretty unimaginative producer. His still is soo 2004-2005. But I am excited to see how well his work with Kylie turns out.

At their age, they better be.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I don't think he has writing credit on Devil, but he did recently score her latest documentary about Malawi, so they're still friends at least.

Yes, Patrick has always been best with Madonna. I think during Hard Candy, she stopped trying to get the best out of her collaborators, and just went with the flow, which turned out disastrous.

Edited March 14, 2010 by Y&RWorldTurner

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Gaga's starting to remind of Mariah Carey's delusionalness and that "lost little girl thing." It seems like Carey, she can't stop pointing out how many #1 singles she has in North America, and she wants to claim she has 6 US #1's, when she only has 2. The rest were #1's in the Dance/Club airplay chart, a chart where not surprisingly Madonna still dominated and has a whopping 40 #1 singles on. In other words, a pretty useless chart. And let's not forget Gaga's pet name for her fans - "The Little Monsters." which is similar to how Carey labeled her fans "The Lambs."

I think she started off that way in 2008/early 2009, but by the latter part of 2009, it seemed like she got lost in her own hype and became the exact thing she spoke out against and parodied.

Edited March 14, 2010 by Y&RWorldTurner

[Adam]

I am gonna back you up on this one. It was different and I felt very timely. Confessions blew it out of the water though for me. That's why Hard Candy was such a let down for me.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

The thing about the American Life album to me was that it didn't know what it wanted to be. Was it supposed to be a commentary on then current political situations? Was it supposed to be a commentary about Madonna's personal life and her battle with fame? Was it supposed to be a fun dance-pop album? Was it supposed to showcase her then profound interest in acoustic guitar-driven music? What the hell was that album supposed to be? There's a few standouts on the album, but as an overall album, it just doesn't work for me. It just doesn't flow well.

It seemed to be an introspective effort, but when you compare it to her critically acclaimed darlings, Like A Prayer and Ray of Light, which are her most introspective and humanly raw efforts, it doesn't stack up either.

Confessions was a great return to Madonna's dance roots, and showed she was still capable of putting out a cohesive and inspsired effort. But it will be very dated production-wise in a few years, if it isn't already. That's the thing about doing dance music, it constantly evolves and things get dated fast, even if the music itself is still very good.

Edited March 14, 2010 by Y&RWorldTurner

[Sylph]

I thought you didn't like Confessions, that it was too "Euro" for you.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Huh? I love Euro cheese.

Most of the stuff I listen to comes from Europe.

Confessions was a solid effort, but as I said before, as with any dance effort, it was surely be dated as hell in a few years, even if the music on itself is still good. Confessions was an artistic return to from for her at the time, but I wouldn't call it my favourite Madonna album.

Though, I think a lot of Stuart Price's work and remixes since then have sucked ass. I think he's highly unimaginative.

Edited March 14, 2010 by Y&RWorldTurner

[Sylph]

I could've SWORN you said it was bad Euro suckage. Or something like that, but in different terms.

[Cat]

Gaga... I have a hard time completely warming to her. While I admire her sartorial choices, sometimes I wish she'd stop acting like she's this walking art installation. It's dance music, girl, not a political manifesto.

Also, I grew up on dance maestros like Armand Van Helden, so it's hard for me to embrace the Gaga stuff as this brave new world of music. Has she never heard of Swedish dance pop?

Maybe I just don't get her. Sigh. That makes me feel old. I don't want to stereotype but practically every gay man I know thinks she is the bee's knees. I pretty much trust their judgment on all things fab and poppy, so what am I missing here? Why can't I shake this "Emperor's New Clothes" feeling -- like in a few years time, most everybody who loved Lady G will be hiding their head in shame? I want to be a lover, not a hater!

That said, this is her most accessible video to date because she actually looks like she's letting the audience in on the joke. Beyoncé sounds better here than on a few of her recent albums (I mean, on "Irreplaceable, she is singing off-key, right?). And she LOOKS amazing. That whole video is funtastic.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I get that feeling too, that she'll be another Cyndi Lauper (who I love, btw), that will have one or two hit albums, and then her popularity goes downhill fast. Her mainstream popularity will die out fast, but she'll become somewhat of a gay-exclusive artist and her popularity with the gay community will remain, like Cyndi Lauper.

I can't help but think Gaga is just a fluke. But it remains to seen if she can reinvent herself and how her next real album will fare. That's the thing about pop music sometimes, you're in one day, and you could be out the next.

Edited March 15, 2010 by Y&RWorldTurner

[Sylph]

How can you be old if you grew up on Armand Van Helden?

[Cat]

Well... more like getting into my early 20s. I was an innocent college grad, and then somebody brought me to a club. "You Don't Really Know Me" (followed by "Professional Widow") was playing on the sound system. And out of nowhere I found my rhythm. LOL.