Lady Gaga needs her own thread

gaga ruelz

i heard bad romance this morning and it hit me how 80s it is, but not in the typical gaga 80s way, in like a new order way or something. i don't know, i'm bad with labels. there ya have it.

sometimes, i sound so smart.

anyway here's my random story: back when she was someone that only dance radio DJs had heard of she was doing concerts for high school radio stations (although to be fair this was a Billboard radio station so it's big time as HS stations go) and I saw her do a set. This was before she had any budget and I think before she really had committed to the character of "Lady Gaga"; she wasn't wearing pants but her face was unobstructed so who knows where she was at that point. I wish I remembered more about her set, but I do remember a few songs that I loved I'm pretty sure didn't make the cut of her first album...I couldn't even hum them if I tried but if I heard them I'd recognize them. One of them was very dancey but the others were ballads that would likely be out of place on either album without some significant remix efforts. I caught up with her during the meet & greet and I remarked about the dichotomy between Lady Gaga who sang about disco sticks and bluffin muffins and the real Stefani (sp) Germanotta (double sp) who sang these soulful almost straight-forward literal bluesy jams and she said something about how she loved the interplay between her personalities and etc so I'm interested in seeing how/if she's going to carry that over to her next "phase". I can't see her doing the same thing with the same look and the same kind of (albeit quite wonderful) song when she moves past The Fame era. But from what I remember, minus all the affect she is rather excellent so I'm looking forward to it.

did you see her adam's apple?

I always failed that episode of Maury so I might not even have spotted it, however that leotard did not leave much room for anything extra so I'll have to go with verdict: female

gaga ruelz

it's interesting, this love for gaga on ilx. i didn't think there was much love at first, but now there seems to be a lot!

i kind of pick and choose songs from her.

got into just dance a little while ago, and i hated on it at first!

i think she's just kind of reached that plateau of hugeness where there's instantly a little more interest or regard given to whether she's good than a year ago when she was just someone with a hit song -- i dunno, there's nothing about her voice or her songs or her sound that grabs me personally.

"paparazzi" and "bad romance" are also arguably her best songs, so that might explain the uptick in popularity on this board

"Alejandro" reminds me a bit of Ace Of Base. Actually, everything she does always reminds me a bit of something else. She's (trying to be?)the biggest melting pot of everything that existed in pop music for the last 25 years.

Jordan is correct.

I agree.

Alejandro = Ace of Base redux. I still think most of her music is strictly for tacky queers, but her acoustic sets are her only redeeming quality and deserve their own album.

I don't understand the "biggest melting pot" thing...sure there are a couple different things going on in her music at once, but that can be said of virtually everything else on the pop charts.

"tacky queers"... wow :|

I'm a queer, if that helps.

helps explain why you're tacky enough to like Lady Gaga?

wow, you're a GENIUS...who obviously can't read.

so like my aptitude is mainly in math or something?

remember that you also speak 5+ languages

and also fluent in talking shit....don't forget that.

If Gaga makes tacky queer music then I think it's impressive that she's managed to impact the mainstream charts as she has.  All social implications aside it's certainly unusual, considering that hip-hop/rnb have dominated the charts for so much of the decade.  Is this a harbinger of things to come?

(I know she has been called rnb but personally I file her squarely under pop)

All I needed to know about the popularity of "Bad Romance": the emo-loving anti-pop/anti-life recruitment editor at the newspaper has been humming the chorus all day, and sheepishly apologizing each time.

I fucking love her videos, and thought her MTV Awards performance was fantastic, but not one of her songs has been worth a crap yet. "Paparazzi" comes closest to being good, but even that falls flat for me. The melodies and choruses just aren't strong enough, and they're musically very ordinary. They have to be worthy of the videos, and so far they're not.

if u think theres no 'tacky queer music' in mainstream r&b youre kidding yourself

finally gave in and listened to 'bad romance'. she's still a regrettable being but it's easily the best song i've heard from her. faint praise, but it's a decent song

i'd love to know who in mainstream r&b makes "music strictly for tacky queers" so i can buy their album

ne-yo?

when I think of rnb for tacky queers I think of something like Boom Boom Pow, except better.

It's hardly new or surprising that she's as successful as she is...even among the TACKY QUEERS. She wrote for Britney and obviously can write annoyingly catchy, disposable pop, but it's still pretty impressive how we're talking about her in the context of competing with hip hop/r&b....or rather, you are. I loathed even hearing people say "GaGa" up until I saw her acoustic performance of Poker Face, which was beyond entertaining. I think she's purely a spectacle at this point, with the potential to be more later. It's like, I'm reluctant to give her ANY credit, but you can't deny the obvious "Gaga Effect" that's taken place in music since her arrival. For better or for worse, she is going to be referenced for a while.

i think what annoys (annoyed? havent decided if im indifferent yet) is that it came across as so obviously trying hard to be exactly that.

Ne-Yo? Queer, certainly. Tacky...isn't that sort of the opposite of how he tries to code? His music's all buttoned-up class most of the time.

I won't deny that GaGa plays to the cheap seats and the trashiest common denominator, but there are enough redeeming qualities buried underneath all the bullshit that my attempts to write off or ignore her altogether have been unsustainable. What bothers me most about her at this point is that she has a half-decent idea of a commentary on the state of music, fame and celebrity in the 21st century, as well as raw musical chops (plays a decent piano, has a decent voice, knows her way around a hook or two) but somehow manages to (either through lack of effort or lack of experience) only release half-assed product most of the time. Like...the videos and the music and the performance art are all strike as if they were made by someone who had a really brilliant idea once but doesn't quite remember what it was.

i wasn't serious about ne-yo

boo!

im just thinking mostly of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dZqghXe5FY

so obviously trying hard to be exactly that

OTM. There's something I find very grating about music or art or whatever that seems to be calculatedly designed to appeal not to me as a person, but instead as a demographic. Like women who insist that they "love the gays", there's an air about it all that makes (made?) me want to run for the hills.

So...um. At this point I guess I love the idea of her and hate the reality of her. Or grudgingly tolerate it.

I'm not trying to position her as some sort of rnb/hip hop conquerer, her producers and collabs and overall sound certainly make it an undeniable aspect of her career and that's how she's managed to be so successful, by straddling the genres and capturing as many music demographics as possible. I think Just Dance with the Akon and Colby O'Donis (?) guest spots was very strategic in that regard. But she has veered away from that since. She has managed to use that opening to take some things to the top of the chart that aren't typical of what's commonly been reigning, and as you said she's going to be referenced for a while, and nobody loves to reference hit songs like wannabe hit songwriters.

lol @ this being yet another gaga analysis thread

I'm genuinely surprised by the resistance and negativity. She's only occasionally GREAT (Pokerface, duh), but is generally at least decent and, it seems to me, deserves a lot of credit for authoring her own music and image in a field usually attaches "stars" as decoration to other people's work. Plus she's kinda subversive, in a dumb/funny garishly contrived way that's both grating and perversely appealing. I can't say I LOVE her, cuz the material's way too uneven so far, but I'm more than willing to give her the benefit of the doubt for a while.

Why all the hate?

because ppl give her backhanded compliments like "subversive, but i dont really like most of her songs"

lol @ this being yet another gaga analysis thread

― hoos-kingofthedrugs (deej), Thursday, November 12, 2009 8:15 PM (30 seconds ago) Bookmark

how could it not?

I like her Queen-sounding ballads, but I want to LOVE them.. I think if she perfected her songwriting further she could nail these.

because ppl give her backhanded compliments like "subversive, but i dont really like most of her songs"

― hoos-kingofthedrugs (deej), Thursday, November 12, 2009 8:16 PM (40 seconds ago) Bookmark

Are you saying that people (like me) who are intrigued by her image/style and maybe like a couple songs are the reason that other people get all irritated by her? I'm not sure I understand...

I can't say I LOVE her, cuz the material's way too uneven so far, but I'm more than willing to give her the benefit of the doubt for a while.

I think it's a combination of this with the out and out pretension displayed from the outset? When first presented with GaGa, a hitherto unknown pop artist who dresses fairly garishly, rambles on about Andy Warhol and how her project is a deconstruction of fame, but whose music does nothing to follow through on her stated goals, gut reaction is to write her off as the celebrity equivalent of an undergrad student babbling about post-modernism to sound intelligent. It was all a bit too calculated to feel genuine, a bit too 'quirky' for its own good.

i dont think anyone here is saying they 'hate' her really tho

is it like totally lame and old-fashioned to ask that someone make some decent songs before they get credit for having a persona or whatever?

the gaga songs i've heard are boring, hookless, rote pop exercises. they are so dour and un-fun.

http://1.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ks4tqt7qLJ1qzeu42o1_400.jpg

It's a question of - what is she: musicians or performance artist? And she scans initially and presents herself as a pop star (i.e. musician first and foremost). So while the image and so forth might be interesting, the central part of the package (the music) is sometimes good but never great.

I had Fame Monster on repeat all weekend. So much better than The Fame. I think I like it more than Born This Way too. BTW is v patchy for me.

Dance in The Dark KILLS.

When is she going to have a new song? Kind of depressing to see Rihanna and Katy Perry pump out track after track while LG had zero charting singles in 2012.

Wow, fun coincidence, I just broke these albums out again last night to introduce my lady acquaintance to the album cuts. Fame Monster still sounds great the entire way through.

I'm happy to see her taking a little time though to be honest - as I've said elsewhere (maybe in this thread) I feel like most of BTW's issues stem from just being generally underwritten between all the touring and appearances and costumes and shows and everything. Which were a key part of the Imperial Gaga Experience, but meant a loss in the details on record. IMHO!

katy perry hasn't really pumped out any tracks though? everything has been essentially album leftovers. (but judging by the leaks of late I am perfectly fine with her not releasing any new songs at the moment)

well skip was contrasting with "LG had zero charting singles in 2012" -- KP had three song in the top 10 in '12

songS

yes, that's true, looking at her discography KP has milked the Teenage Dream sessions for for all they're worth. For the listener who's only exposed to the tracks from radio play, though, that's less important, and doesn't alleviate the ubiquity of it all...KP hasn't had a song miss the top 3 since 2009 - eight consecutive top 3's starting with California Gurls, including five consecutive #1's. Gaga hasn't had a top 3 since May 2011 (Edge of Glory).

taking a little time
she's been on tour for the last year

I think she'll get things done quicker now that she's cancelled her tour to recover from muscle problems or whatever.

gaga's tendency to do most of her touring, especially in the US, between album cycles when no singles are out, is odd

yeah she's really kinda evaporated from pop culture, it's weird

what, more than any other artist who's between albums and hasn't put out new material in 1.5 years?

this assumption that pop stars have to be in the headlines or active at all times is odd, and it's impt to remember, quite recent, and the unrelenting ubiquity of rihanna is still the exception not the rule

really read gaga's last rites if she drops a single/album and then no one cares

I think in her case her constant touring and apparent off-cycle touring is a practical compromise. She's truly a global star, so she has to constantly tour to meet demand. Someone like Rihanna seems to be doing the same thing, down to recording on the road (which Gaga did for "Born This Way"). I'm sort of intrigued that Taylor Swift isn't touring until summer. That's a long time from now, and I know she's about to release her third single, but none of them so far seem strong or ubiquitous enough to carry her all the way to July. Lex will have an opinion on that, I'm sure.

is that a zing or something? i don't really.

It was only 5% zing, but I am genuinely curious if you think the Swift "Red" train is traveling fast enough to carry her to mid summer.

imo you need to get over your odd concern with the levels of enthusiasm people display in the taylor swift threads. oh no, people being excited about an artist, how awful.

really not into fans/critics talking like record label executives and poring over sales figures and whatnot just to declare that x or y has "flopped", though it's pretty obvious this is swift's most commercially successful era to date, which isn't necessarily good news, as it means she's wheeling "22" out as the next single :(

why does everyone hate 22, it's so joyous.

I don't have any concern whatsoever, Lex. I was simply impressed that she was touring football arenas (capacity: 65,000 or so), which is enough of an anomaly these days that I was wondering if she could fill it. Straight curiosity. Swift will do just fine with or without my support.

The only enthusiasm I've made fun of on the Swift thread is the squeeeee!-like levels of over-enthusiasm, imo. Which isn't even necessarily unwarranted, just easy to make fun of.

i don't think it really matters if a really huge artist tours late in the album cycle -- if anything it matters more when tickets go onsale, in terms of whether they're trying for a quick sellout, or if they want to sell tickets quickly enough that nobody considers moving it to a smaller venue. the Gaga thing is unique just because she only seems to be in America in off-cycles, seemed to be off the road or out of the country the entire time Born This Way was actually selling and spinning off hits.

I did think that was weird, but I think it's be because she simply can't tour behind the album all the time, everywhere. She was touring the US right before it came out; when I last saw her, she encored with "Born This Way," which was then all over the place. That was indeed about a year and a half ago, to the month. But she's been touring non-stop ever since. Looking at her setlist, the US dates would have still gotten a "Born This Way"-heavy show. It's weird to be at the end of a tour cycle for an album, but I suppose that's how everyone else feels most of the time!

this assumption that pop stars have to be in the headlines or active at all times is odd, and it's impt to remember, quite recent, and the unrelenting ubiquity of rihanna is still the exception not the rule

This is not a recent assumption at all. Michael Jackson sang lead on a single, either solo or with the Jackson 5, every year between 1969 and 1975, then did it again between 1991 and 1997. Madonna released at least one single every year between 1982 and 1994. Prince released at least one single every year from 1976 to 2001. The Beatles released a single every year that they were together as a band. Celine Dion released at least one single every year from 1981 through 2008. etc etc etc

Lady Gaga reveals that she was raped by a record producer when she was 19

Ugh. That's awful.

So...somehow I missed that she put out an album of duets with Tony Bennett, and it did pretty well? Huh. It sounds okay.

Dissed by Sondheim!
http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Stephen-Sondheim-Calls-Lady-Gagas-SOUND-OF-MUSIC-Oscars-Performance-a-Travesty-20150313

daaammm

http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/28/entertainment/cnnphotos-before-she-was-gaga/?iid=ob_homepage_deskrecommended_pool&iref=obnetwork

New single "Perfect Illusion" out in September
http://www.ew.com/article/2016/08/17/lady-gaga-perfect-illusion

will co-star in Bradley Cooper's new version of A Star Is Born :o

as Norman Maine

She will do this year's Super Bowl halftime show.

A Star Is Born
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6V0-_2tIfew

Cooper directed it(!)

Doesn't look like my kind of movie, but hope it's good / does well...

zzzzzzzzz

I'm sure Coop's A STAR IS BORN will revive interest in her catalog. My rankings.