Lady Gaga - ARTPOP [2012]

I hope that because the video features multiple songs from the album, that it's her way of washing herself clean of this whole album and that she's starting writing and recording for her next album.

I think that's already confirmed.

Probably in the minority here in that I'd say I enjoyed ARTPOP more than BTW, though I don't really think much of either album.

If she'd done the singles differently and gone "G.U.Y." then "Do What You What (feat. Christina)" then "Sexx Dreams" i feel like opinions on the album would be v different

what, worse? i feel like she pretty much did the best she could single-wise with what was on the album. "applause" is silly but in terms of catchiness and hooks one of the only stand-outs; "do what u want" was stymied by forces beyond its control. (the xtina version, no.) "g.u.y." is a pretty unremarkable song. "venus" remains appalling.

video seems like it's something her hardcore fans will love but not really much reason for anyone else to be interested. most overtly cheesily camp thing she's done? the sun god, jeez.

imo she should have done something with "swine" was is legit bizarre. completely uncommercial and abrasive but it's not like the more radio-friendly stuff was succeeding for her and her overall narrative desperately needs a dose of reinforcing whatever "genuine weirdo" elements remain rather than the flimsy, slightly embarrassing wizard of oz x sunset boulevard reductive thing she has going on.

*which was

i think a lot of people are very tired of "weirdo" gaga tho. releasing something as ugly as "swine" would have only alienated casual fans even further.

xtina version of dwuw is a hideous grunt off but until we get, like, miguel or something doing the second verse it's the most palatable version available

venus is bad, yeah. todd terje started his pitchfork paris set with a rework of it, was pretty LOL

anyway, i like the video. dance sequences in g.u.y are cute. although the real housewife playing the cello basically gave me an aneurysm.

people are tired of "weirdo" gaga because it's not actually very weird or clever, it's constantly telling but barely showing. i mean to an extent artpop is unsalvageable because of that, but "swine" could conceivably be an opportunity to just be obtuse and bizarre for real. yeah it's ugly and abrasive but even if it's not a success per se, that kind of thing can work for you in other ways. and it's more dignified than scrabbling around for radio hooks in an attempt to get a "hit".

what gaga hasn't worked out is how to present a project in such a way that a conversation about mere sales feels redundant (yeezus, blackout).

at this point her best single bet was probably "aura" like 6 months ago (lyrics or not)

the songs i really wanted to be singles were "Fashion!" and "Sexxx Dreams" or hell, in the wake of "Dark Horse" it probably would've been a good idea to release "Jewels N Drugs." but i agree that doing something really dark or strange with a video for a song like "Swine" might've been cool -- a couple days before this video came out of nowhere I noted on Twitter that it'd been 7 months since the "Applause" video and, in light of the shelved "Do What U Want" video, was the only video that one of the pre-eminent music video artists of our time had released for an album called ARTPOP.

I've come to appreciate Venus and it's total ridiculousness.

Still think "Gypsy" should be released as a single.
Apart from "Jewels and Drugs" and "Dope" I don't see what's so terrible about this album. The production is loud and she probably screams a bit too much, which makes it all a difficult listen at first, but the songs are there.

I wouldn't even say it's terrible. I just can't find a reason why I'd choose to listen to Artpop at any given moment over The Fame/Monster or Born This Way.

"swine" as a single would've been cool but none of those kinds of tracks from BTW got released as singles -- the "weirdest" was Judas which was like fourth-weirdest at best

yeah i didn't mean it should be a single per se but if any pop artist could do additional videos for non-singles the way rappers do it'd be Gaga

In retrospect, Judas was such a strange moment in her popstar career: her weirdest single to date, with a religion-baiting title, supported by a video where she portrays Jesus, Mary Magdalene and the 12 apostles as a modern day biker gang, released on Easter weekend. It predictably bombed as a single, but I can appreciate the sheer "no fucks given" attitude right at the height of her pop culture dominance there.

was "judas" that weird though? in light of "born this way" iirc it just seemed like some further madonna-biting. i like "judas" because it's catchy and sounds banging but it really suffers from having pretensions to meaningfulness and deep themes that it can't back up, the lyrics are just nonsense about nothing and not in the least controversial

in a way "Judas" was a 'safe' choice -- it was the only BTW single produced by RedOne and was the one that hewed closest to the "Bad Romance"/"Poker Face" formula. it just happened not to work.

judas wasn't weird at all but compared to edge of glory or you and i it was clearly the least conservative single from the run

'conservative' in terms of playing to classic rock values with Clarence Clemons and Mutt Lange but in terms of getting her bread buttered by pop radio they were somewhat risky

although i kinda wish BTW had succeeded more in baiting the establishment -- would've loved to see Gaga and Bruce do a Clarence tribute duet at the Grammys

Yeah after many complained about "Born This Way" (the song)'s new direction, "Judas" was supposed to give people a more familiar Lady Gaga. It backfired by being way too similar to "Bad Romance" which you can practically sing over and trying to be too weird, which turned a lot of people off.
After it flopped it was difficult even for "Edge Of Glory" to pick up the pieces, especially with that rushed video. I think they should've just stood behind that new sound and released EOG as the 2nd single.

"born this way" was a new direction? people weren't complaining that it was a departure (it wasn't!), they were complaining that it had dumb lyrics and was a straight madonna lift.

"the edge of glory" (and "yoü and i") weren't gaga's usual sound but they were def in the vein of stuff she'd hinted at doing before, like "speechless" - i always thought that was a direction she could mine profitably, but she hasn't quite made it work for her yet

I always thought she should've released a radio edit of "Speechless" as a single with a video made of images of her on the road on her Monster Ball Tour like they used to do in the 80's :-)
She was so huge at that time I'm sure it would've been a hit.

also, it's a bloody good song (with...good lyrics! i know gaga's always had her clunkers lyrically but listening back it's really apparent how much she's fallen off in that area)

considering how much she tours and how she still seems to sell tickets she prob is overdue for a video w/ concert footage. she hasn't done a live DVD or anything has she?

There's a DVD of her live concert at Madison Square Garden back when she was touring for The Fame Monster, but Born This Way's tour got cancelled before she could film a live dvd for it.

well, they did 98 dates of the tour and canceled less than 20 shows for her hip injury. maybe they were planning to take a camera crew on the last leg or something, though.

Skimming back over the thread, this is maybe the third or fourth time that the discussion has mostly been about Born This Way, its singles campaign, and Gaga in crisis. I never did give Artpop more than a couple spins to sink in, after halfheartedly trying to really 'get' BTW over the course of like, a year. This thread's launching of the New Jersey Wars seems increasingly on-point, sad to say.

haha yeah i was gonna say we're definitely going around in circles w/ this thread

She's probably mining this thread at this very moment for material for her next SNL appearance.

Would be cool if she did a New Jersey tribute album.

Maybe it's just in comparison to the embarrassing Venus but G.U.Y. sounds pretty decent in the video.

I also agree Swine was awesome and it seems like a big waste if it's not used as some kind of single. Maybe a remix or mashup?

although i kinda wish BTW had succeeded more in baiting the establishment -- would've loved to see Gaga and Bruce do a Clarence tribute duet at the Grammys

― some dude, Monday, March 24, 2014 11:35 AM Bookmark

this totally should have happened!

haha I started this thread and still haven't listened to this album

sexxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx dreams chorus

that's all.

Yeesh. (NSFW.)

http://www.tmz.com/2014/06/19/lady-gaga-music-video-sexual-assault-do-what-u-want/?adid=hero1

D:

When Softcore Homages Go Horribly Wrong

also like... what timing for this snippet to leak just as people are getting even more up in arms over the predatory hackword of terry richardson

hackwork

if the rumours about that DWUW video are true, then that TMZ clip doesn't go close to the worst stuff in it

"when i agreed to make a video making fun of sexual assault i didn't realize that my collaborators were guilty of sexual assault" oh ok

That's the weird thing. It's not like the revelations about either of them were really news to anyone, let alone anyone in the music / fashion industries. What kind of reaction was she expecting and how can her judgement have been so terribly wrong in the first place?

Wait, isn't this a case of a popstar receiving good advice and then electing to follow it? I mean, how many times have we gone through the 'shouldn't someone have told them that was offensive?' Or 'Why didn't they listen?' I'd rather hold her to her last judgement, not her initial one.

yeah obv the initial idea was terrible on every level and i guess at least she recognised that and didn't go through with it anyway for the clicks? hard to take someone to task for something they DIDN'T release.

the putative theme of the video makes it more ~shocking but the actual problem isn't a complex theme clumsily handled, it's megastars continuing to work with known predators no matter what the actual content produced is like, so, like, beyoncé working with richardson on an actually released product is more problematic to me i think, even if that video is very innocent (and artistically better)

it's funny to me because the whole idea was clearly to be provocative and controversial, from writing the song to putting R. on it to having Richardson do the video (Gaga says she didn't know about the allegations against TR but even so his work is known for being sexual and 'edgy'). obviously it's possible to go down that road without going this far -- i still think the song itself is pretty brilliant -- but it definitely feels like Gaga knew exactly what she was doing and can't go oh, sorry, didn't mean to offend.

It's virtually impossible for anyone with a tangential interest in fashion to have not heard the allegations against Richardson. Nobody as embedded in the culture as Gaga could have avoided them for several years, not be aware of why he has been dropped by so many high-profile clients, not know why UK fashion magazines refuse to work with him, etc. Pleading bad judgement rather than ignorance would be better.

i get the impression that a lot of people in show business 'know' about how Richardson operates and just don't think it's that big a deal and maybe the people who have complained aren't ready for how the fashion industry works or something. i mean, the guy still has tons of huge clients, the pushback on a major scale has been relatively recent.