Too soon? Too much?...
― azaera, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 00:52 (8 months ago) Permalink
"Heaven on Earth" and "Piece of Me" are stronger than TFM's offerings but TFM is shorter and has no real duds. Ugh.
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 00:53 (8 months ago) Permalink
out of control > in control
― canonical casual cordouroy (Eazy), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 01:31 (8 months ago) Permalink
otm
― azaera, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 01:37 (8 months ago) Permalink
at least in this case
― azaera, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 01:38 (8 months ago) Permalink
on the face of it this is hard but it's actually blackout easily, even at gaga's best there's still the occasional bit that grates (eg the diana reference). blackout is just a masterpiece
― lex pretend, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 07:19 (8 months ago) Permalink
I'd inclined to say that the highs on TFM are higher but Blackout is the better album.
This may, however, simply reflect the fact I hear the TFM singles more at parties etc. but I, like, actually listen to Blackout.
― Tim F, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 07:27 (8 months ago) Permalink
Blackout in every way. Lady Gaga has just never clicked with me, musically.
― Atomow dhe Kres? MY A VYNN, mar pleg! (White Chocolate Cheesecake), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 08:58 (8 months ago) Permalink
Blackout easily. ILX's early attitude to Gaga has always been the right one.
― Matt DC, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 09:22 (8 months ago) Permalink
"Bad Romance" and "Telephone" over everything else by miles and miles and miles
― syntax evasion (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 09:26 (8 months ago) Permalink
I really dislike the chorus of Bad Romance, it's got a kind of Uptown Girl naffness that I can't stand. Telephone is alright though.
― Matt DC, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 09:37 (8 months ago) Permalink
i pity the fool etc
― syntax evasion (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 09:38 (8 months ago) Permalink
i wd say it's melodramatic obviously but not really anything like "Uptown Girl"'s fixed chirpiness
― syntax evasion (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 09:39 (8 months ago) Permalink
i love melodrama more unreservedly than Britney's clipped robogroove era even tho i love that "you want a piece of meat" iciness too
― syntax evasion (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 09:41 (8 months ago) Permalink
Wait, what? Blackout is more melodramatic than a gang of teenage boys on Facebook!
― Atomow dhe Kres? MY A VYNN, mar pleg! (White Chocolate Cheesecake), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 09:42 (8 months ago) Permalink
drama's not the same as melodrama. now i want to invent metadrama.
― syntax evasion (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 09:45 (8 months ago) Permalink
I think Lady Gaga is more Metadrama than Melodrama, and I don't think I like Metadrama.
― Atomow dhe Kres? MY A VYNN, mar pleg! (White Chocolate Cheesecake), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 09:46 (8 months ago) Permalink
metadrama is the annoying video for "Telephone" maybe
― syntax evasion (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 09:48 (8 months ago) Permalink
anyway i've listened to nothing but morton feldman and stars of the lid all week, i shd probly not be thinking about this whole conundrum, ignore my vote
― syntax evasion (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 09:49 (8 months ago) Permalink
TFM by a minute whisker
― nashwan, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 10:07 (8 months ago) Permalink
i love blackout to death & have listened to it a zillion times, gotta vote for it on affection alone. but this is an interesting match-up. if we were comparing the singles off of each i might give it to TFM, but part of blackout's awesomeness is how consistently good it is from beginning to end.
― =life on the chesapeake= (reddening), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 10:45 (8 months ago) Permalink
eh -- "Gimme More" and "Why Should I Feel Sad" drag.
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 11:00 (8 months ago) Permalink
may be in the minority on this but i LOVE "why should i feel sad" -- talk about melodrama, with the whole endpiece of "it's time for me to move along" and "britney let's go."
― =life on the chesapeake= (reddening), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 11:11 (8 months ago) Permalink
"gimme more" was as ubiquitous house party-wise as the gaga singles in its time - though admittedly blackout doesn't translate as PARTY ANTHEM FUN as readily as gaga. though i'd disagree that she's naff, i think the gothicky monster imagery she plays with - and the fact that she takes herself SO seriously, never has anything other than a puh-puh-puh-poker face on - averts that quite easily
i mean obviously uptown girl, come on eileen and adam ant and that other stuff you refer to should burn in hell, obviously
― lex pretend, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 11:42 (8 months ago) Permalink
Would love to hear "Gimme More" more often at parties these days.
― Tim F, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 11:48 (8 months ago) Permalink
5 years on is a weird period in that it's not old enough to be hailed as a forgotten classic but not new enough to be in the first flush of enthusiasm
― lex pretend, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 11:53 (8 months ago) Permalink
If it comes down to minor songs then Blackout easily takes it, from the ridiculous Britney-less hook of Get Naked (I Got A Plan) to *wub* *wub* Freakshow *wub* *wub*
And that nine minutes Gavin Russom remix of Piece of Me stands as the soundscape of a crumbled pop empire.
― Popture, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 11:56 (8 months ago) Permalink
Gimme More is such a drifting drunken zombie of a song, it's the perfect opener for that album, but isn't exactly a big party record.
― Matt DC, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 12:01 (8 months ago) Permalink
some parties you end up as the drifting drunken zombie yourself
― lex pretend, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 12:05 (8 months ago) Permalink
― Matt DC, Wednesday, September 12, 2012 12:01 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
this statement seems internally contradictory.
xpost!
― Tim F, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 12:05 (8 months ago) Permalink
Then it's a song for 4.30am when everyone's discombobulated, it's not peak-time.
― Matt DC, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 12:17 (8 months ago) Permalink
That's when I'm imagining it being played, yeah...
― Tim F, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 12:19 (8 months ago) Permalink
Drifting Drunken Zombie is a perfect description of Blackout.
― canonical casual cordouroy (Eazy), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 14:46 (8 months ago) Permalink
idk it's a bit witch housey, no? too passive. britney's no wraith on this
― lex pretend, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 14:49 (8 months ago) Permalink
She prowls.
― Ham Lushbaugh (Eric H.), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 14:50 (8 months ago) Permalink
It's not really a case of being passive or active, more... being totally out of control.
― Matt DC, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 14:52 (8 months ago) Permalink
ok but drifting is a bit...slow. she's out of control but moving fast and also trying to dance
― lex pretend, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 14:53 (8 months ago) Permalink
This is Brit, no contest really, even though TFM has the best song of the bunch ("Bad Romance").
― heated debate over derpy hooves (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 14:53 (8 months ago) Permalink
still lol that on this album with britney in this state half a song title is "I got a plan"
― prolego, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 14:56 (8 months ago) Permalink
ime coked-out binge drinkers have many, many plans
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 12 September 2012 14:57 (8 months ago) Permalink
it's true
― syntax evasion (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 14:58 (8 months ago) Permalink
many plans, all at once
― lex pretend, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 15:03 (8 months ago) Permalink
Gimme More feels slow even though it isn't though. Some zombies can move pretty quickly I suppose.
― Matt DC, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 15:08 (8 months ago) Permalink
Got to be Britney.
― phuturephase, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 15:31 (8 months ago) Permalink
I really despise "Piece of Me"
― DARING PRINCESS (DJP), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 15:45 (8 months ago) Permalink
omygod
― syntax evasion (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 15:51 (8 months ago) Permalink
Not to make light of a young mother's complete emotional breakdown, but also... I think Brit's bald-headed rampage was the most shocking, subversive act any pop icon has done in decades. I feel that Gaga's persona addresses this sort of ugliness and tragedy, but Brit in 2007 was the real unvarnished thing. It's also difficult for me to see how Gaga's reign would've come about with Britney's collapse setting the stage.
Something that I think separates these two artists is that Britney could always be enjoyed (if you're into her brand of music) on an immediate surface level, no questions asked. Then this phase came along in her life... this album has many layers that one can read into the music if one so chooses. Gaga strives for this, and often succeeds, but I think her music often gets weighed down by all this intentional(/forced?) 'metadrama' that she stuffs into her work.
― azaera, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 15:54 (8 months ago) Permalink
It's also difficult for me to see how Gaga's reign would've come about WITHOUT Britney's collapse setting the stage.
― azaera, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 15:55 (8 months ago) Permalink
I've never gotten past my aversion to Britney, her frog croak is so gross. Anything I've liked by her has been in spite of her presence, not because of it.
― The Reverend, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 22:22 (8 months ago) Permalink
TFM is where i started to come around on gaga and has her best work on it but 'blackout' still wins this for me
― TOP FEMALE LAWYER & CARTOONIST FOR 2011: (donna rouge), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 22:34 (8 months ago) Permalink
I know it wouldn't stand a chance on this board, but I think The Fame seems more like a post-Blackout album to me, musically and lyrically.
The Fame Monster is an evolution over both of those IMO.
― LeRooLeRoo, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 23:51 (8 months ago) Permalink
I think Gaga gets a bit too much credit for being post everything, in large part because she simply hasn't been around that long. Yes, Britney's prime was in a very different (earlier) time, but I'd argue that many fans probably thought she went too far with Blackout. To my ears, nothing Gaga has done sounds as far out there as most of Blackout. I mean it's probably as black-hearted and alienated as The Knife's Silent Shout.
I doubt this is how it played out, but, I can almost see Gaga thinking, "Ok, Blackout may be a radical new way of showing us an ugly truth about celebrity, but it's a bit too morbid; I'm going to reign in the tragedy and psychosis and build on something more approachable and sustainable." So, I suppose you could say that her music is in some sense an evolution from Blackout. But I think Blackout is more revealing, more adventurous and innovative, and goes much further down the rabbit hole.
― azaera, Thursday, 13 September 2012 00:47 (8 months ago) Permalink
I guess what I meant is that Blackout vs The Fame seems like a better poll, although we already know which one would win.
― LeRooLeRoo, Thursday, 13 September 2012 06:15 (8 months ago) Permalink
this talk of "blackout"-era britney reminded me of my favorite artifact of that time period, this poll that legit appeared on the official britney spears website:
i still have "blackout" demo tracks in my itunes that i bundled into one album called "omg is like lindsay lohan like okay like"
― =life on the chesapeake= (reddening), Thursday, 13 September 2012 06:36 (8 months ago) Permalink
omg I forgot about "omg is like lindsay lohan okay like"
― lex pretend, Thursday, 13 September 2012 10:28 (8 months ago) Permalink
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Tuesday, 18 September 2012 00:01 (8 months ago) Permalink
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Wednesday, 19 September 2012 00:01 (8 months ago) Permalink