Lady Gaga - ARTPOP [2012]

Cutting a little too close to the bone there, Stef?

http://bryant3.bryant.edu/~cbutler3/Pop%20Tarts%20logo.jpg

Sugar frosted!

Couldn't find a BIGGER image? I guess 1416 x 958 will have to do.

it cannot seriously be called that

sounds like a third-tier Pet Shop Boys joke

i want her to not suck anymore

otm

i liked her last album tbh ::shrugs::

last album was garbage... just a huge misstep conceptually

There wasn't really any bad music on BTW, it was all a bit samey and there was just simply too much of it tho.

I still like most of BTW. Never liked "Judas" and still don't.

Btw > fm

ugh, no. but you would say that.

there'll always be kreayshawn

more like FARTPOOP

ahahahahahahaha at this title

she is so fucking obvious, dunno whether she thinks her fans are dumb or whether it is she who is dumb

it might still be good obv

BTW wasn't garbage, it had its moments, but it was overall a mess and a misstep and i can't really understand anyone who prefers it to fame monster, which is near-flawless

Oh my LOL this thing is actually in all caps too

DO YOU SEE

Really stoked for ART turning out to be 10 RedOne and Dr Luke clunkers.

oh she'll never work with Dr. Luke and has been working less and less w/ RedOne. clunkers, though, yes, probably.

Forget perfect – I don't think we can ever expect a near-perfect album from her.

interesting thing to post when nobody else has used the word "perfect" in the thread

I'm just making a comment!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUi54JTgL5s

BTW wasn't garbage, it had its moments, but it was overall a mess and a misstep and i can't really understand anyone who prefers it to fame monster, which is near-flawless

― lex pretend, Monday, August 6, 2012 5:29 AM (8 hours ago) Bookmark

yeah this is basically OTM

It was just a little too much, too soon.

The only song I like more now is "Marry The Night" but otherwise I still love about half of it.

Yeah, Marry The Night has turned into one of my favorites.

I still despise "Marry The Night"

really the only songs on that album I would ever actively choose to play are "Government Hooker" and "The Edge of Glory" (I wouldn't turn off "Born This Way", "Bloody Mary" or "You and I" if someone else played them)

imperfect metaphor but I'll be impressed if Gaga winds up more Madonna in career arc than Cyndi Lauper

you wouldn't reach over and turn off his iPod, in other words

xpost

well no, that would be rude

unless he was playing "Americano", then I would destroy the iPod to put it out of its misery

i tried hard to embrace born this way, but wasn't ever quite able to get there (despite my enthusing in the discussion thread). it's got tons of good ideas, but few of them really gel, and the sound of the thing is terribly off-putting. "highway unicorn" and "heavy metal lover" are the only songs i'm still happy to hear.

omigod I forgot about "Highway Unicorn"

imperfect metaphor but I'll be impressed if Gaga winds up more Madonna in career arc than Cyndi Lauper

― da croupier, Monday, August 6, 2012 2:29 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Does that mean that Fame Monster is her True Colors and the next one will be the one with "I Drove All Night"? Because, if so, then she's operating at a higher level than Lauper was.

(She needs a throwaway soundtrack single like "Goonies" though.)

goonies isn't throwaway

Oh wait, I guess Born This Way would've been the one with "I Drove All Night" (I should just google its real title). That being the case, she's way closer to Madonna's arc than Lauper's.

Perhaps throwaway was a poor word choice. Standalone, perhaps.

Perhaps.

As I said "imperfect metaphor" but i see her slipping into professionalism w/ wacky hair where someone like Ke$ha or Nicki Minaj seems to be doing a better job dishing out a ton of candy-pop and riling people just by being themselves.

every single off BTW is worse than any single off FM

& least when the same was true w/ justin it went in the service of his second album being undeniably better & more cohesive

BTW is certainly the only blockbuster pop album in recent memory whose album tracks I enjoyed more than the singles.

Man y'all are crazy; Fame/FM sounded so unexceptional and cookie-cutter (and also super repetitive) and BTW seemed like the first time she considered approaching something that might be on some planet "artistic" or "experimental" or some shit (even though it totally wasn't). Why does she refuse to make wacky music to fit her "wacky" persona?

i dunno, born this way is pretty arch

Isn't Kesha still at the album and ep stage? no second record from her yet, right?

i think cyndi lauper still has a p loyal following

She does. Now if only she'd record a proper album rather than collections of blues, showtunes and remakes of her old songs with trendy new artists, which is what she's been doing for the last decade-ish.

She made a pop album just a few years ago. It was terrible, but at least it wasn't any of those things you mentioned.

Born This Way is that weird case of an album that had four top-ten singles, including one number-one, and yet has somehow diminished the artist in some weird undefinable way. Like, after Fame Monster she was clearly a force of nature but after Born This Way she feels more like an ordinary musical act. And that's despite trying to seem as extraordinary as possible, keeping up the weirdness, etc. etc. I think it was just a little too soon - at least half the songs really could have benefited from a couple more rounds of work from everybody involved. (OTOH, maybe she just wanted to strike while the iron was hot - and who's to say that was the wrong call commercially?)

I have no real beef with any of the singles but the album material has never sunk its claws into me. Gonna give it another spin tonight, keep trying at it. I'm still a fan, still stoked about the new one (horrible title aside), but there was a point where I was really going out of my way to champion her and Born This Way kind of stalled that out.

yea Doctor Casino, jordan and lex all otm re BTW and FM

there are definitely moments on FM that changed me. like forever.

not sure what to say about artpop the title

That's a good insight, Doctor C. I don't agree with it at all though, mostly the part about Gaga being a force of nature. Forces of nature don't release to my ears so many crap singles.

really the only songs on that album I would ever actively choose to play are "Government Hooker" and "The Edge of Glory" (I wouldn't turn off "Born This Way", "Bloody Mary" or "You and I" if someone else played them)

This is pretty OTM, though I'd bump up all three of those "wouldn't turn off" songs to "would not skip past on my own iPod" in addition to maybe "Judas" and "Heavy Metal Lover."

In other words, I still like that album at least better than The Fame, fuiud.

yep

That's a good insight, Doctor C. I don't agree with it at all though, mostly the part about Gaga being a force of nature. Forces of nature don't release to my ears so many crap singles.

― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, August 6, 2012 7:47 PM Bookmark

YMMV I guess - - - I think this is a pretty damned solid run:

Just Dance
Poker Face
LoveGame
Paparazzi
Bad Romance
Telephone
Alejandro

I mean, the only one of those that I'd rank as sub-par is "LoveGame," but maybe it can get some bonus points for non-US "Eh, Eh" which I find very charming and hooky. Is there another pop act right now, working at her scale, with such a consistent string of singles straight out of the gate?

only like "Just Dance" and "Alejandro" from that sequence.

holy moly, well yeah in that case, definitely not your cup of tea!

Bad Romance --> Telephone is probably the best one-two of her career.

that run was undeniably huge chart-wise but i only really loved "Bad Romance" and liked "Alejandro," came around to a couple of the others after hating them initially. definitely prefer BTW's run of singles as inconsistent as it is, and enjoy BTW a lot as an album.

although Casino is definitely otm that BTW was too big to fail but managed to fail in the sense that it took the wind out of her sales, blew all that powerful momentum she'd had for a couple years.

Bad Romance --> Telephone is probably the best one-two of her career.

Yup.

took the wind out of her sales

typo or pun?

lol typo

I would like to read more about how BTW stopped her momentum or stripped her of lustre (not being sarcastic).

i mean it was the 2nd best selling album of '11 behind (WAY behind) Adele, but the fact that anyone could upstage her in her preordained year was pretty damning (xpost)

I mean, is there really a sense that BTW reduced her to an "ordinary musical act"? The album went double platinum and produced four consecutive top ten singles.

Not everyone here likes "Hair" and "Government Hooker" as much as I do but those are the kind of batshit moments I want from forces of nature, and both were the first time she convinced me she had it in her.

yeah but it was also concurrent with someone previously considered not on her level having 6 consecutive #1s (xpost)

or i guess 5 consecutive, 6 non-consecutive

oh she'll never work with Dr. Luke and has been working less and less w/ RedOne. clunkers, though, yes, probably.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

― Diary of a Whiney Kid: Dog Days (some dude), Monday, August 6, 2012 5:43 AM (13 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Can I get the underlined portion in writing?

seems like what made much of BTW ordinary was the production + lack of nuance in the songcraft. whereas those things made Edge Of Glory a success, they hindered a lot of the album.

well hey maybe you know something i don't, but iirc last year Luke signed a deal to work exclusively with Sony artists (which Gaga is not)

in a way i think BTW's performance was similar to Beyonce's B'Day -- came at a point when they seemed kind of unstoppable and there was a building expectation that they'd have a "Crazy In Love"/"Bad Romance" megahit out of the gate every time, negative reaction to "Deja Vu"/"Judas" not being that got a little over the top, album ended up with some chart-toppers and a healthy run of moderate hits anyway.

kind of surprised she didn't go with someone like 'artpop' for the LAST one since that was around the time she and kanye were buddying up and unsubtly putting themselves in the lineage of warhol

er someone = something

So it's the age-old "perception" problem. Do any of her fans think the success of Adele sullied Gaga's? While I'm sure both artists enjoy some overlap, I tend to think Gagas regard the Adele buyers with suspicion, kinda like Madonna vs. Mariah Carey in the nineties.

i don't think it's just Adele per se, so much as the sense that she's not even keeping pace with people she was considered way out of the league of like Katy and Rihanna

I mean, is there really a sense that BTW reduced her to an "ordinary musical act"? The album went double platinum and produced four consecutive top ten singles.

― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, August 6, 2012 8:23 PM Bookmark

Well, this is sort of what I was trying to get at - - that despite these really massive, imperial superstar sales, I feel like, on the ground, the sense that Gaga is super exciting and Where It's At has considerably diminished. Maybe I'm just hanging around the wrong people, but the general level of excitement and interest is lower. Plus, I'd say that at least some of the chart success was momentum-driven (plus steep discounts on release day for the album) - - feel like anything she'd put out at that moment would have debuted at #1. I actually have come to like BTW as a song, but I know a lot of people who thought it was kind of a loud and insistent bore.

Would also say that on Fame and Fame Monster there was this balancing act between persona and music, where the weirdness would show up around the edges of the lyrics but really be all over the place in the performances and public appearances. She definitely had a distinctive lyrical voice - "adult," unapologetic, embracing of trashiness without being cutesy and stupid, etc., etc., - but the themes of the songs were things lots of people could relate to. The apex is probably the "Bad Romance" -> "Telephone" one-two punch - - both kind of super weird songs but also exTREMely hooky and leaning on scenarios the audience can relate to: there are a lot of bad romance paperbooks on the shelf, after all, and "Telephone" is an everygirl story blown up to monster size by production, guest star, and video, as I think I was rambling about back on the general Gaga thread.

I feel like Born This Way mostly held the balance on the singles, although I think "Judas" is a bit too removed to really hit home for most people ("I'm just a holy fool?"). "Born This Way," of course, deliberately swings away from a mainstream-appeal scenario and goes for a queer pride thing, which I think is tremendously to Gaga's credit. But the album tracks sort of lose that thread, for me - "Scheisse," "Government Hooker," "Highway Unicorn" - - I appreciate their nutsiness, I'm a fan of batshit weird wrapped up in a pop kitchen sink, sure, great, but is that what the worldwide, millions-strong audience was looking for? I'm not sure. Basically this is a really long and not really that convincing way of saying that I think the singles stayed strong so the big sales kind of mask a sense that, by and large, it was received as a dud album. IMHO!

sorry, that's kind of full of holes - though i stand by the final takeaway

No, I can follow you. We just disagree. I was and am contemputous, for example, of "Born This Way" precisely because of the queer pride thing.

Also, stepping away from the music and just talking persona/star-text - - I argued on the main Gaga thread that a lot of her appeal as Big Pop Weirdo was that people admired/envied the amount of fun she seemed to get away with, with the crazy costumes and goofy interview answers and all that kind of thing. You wanted to be that bold; she made it very appealing. The Born This Way era, and I'm just spitballing, but she didn't necessarily make it seem as fun to be Gaga. The videos were bleaker, darker, Serious Artist Is Serious affairs, and the arch themes, personal symbolism, German impressions, and so on of the music contributed to a sense of "she's leaving us behind" - - - - maybe? Really have nothing with which to back this up. Just generally she seemed less vivid and colorfully and full of fun.

Did you think "Marry The Night" wasn't fun

i didn't, prob one of my 2 or 3 least fav songs on the album

"Marry the Night" grew on me, I'd put it in the top quartile, but the video was exhausting if I'm thinking of the right one. Not Fun. I think "You and I" is the only straight up, no shenanigans, swing-for-the-bleachers crossover attempt. Pretty sure it'll be the long-term catalogue seller from this set (besides Born This Way).

btw here's my previous remarks on gaga's "fun factor" if it adds anything:

I think the fandom for her is still more visceral than you suggest, for many people... if Swift is best friend, Gaga is platonic girl crush. People want to BE her because she's so COOL and gets away with doing strange and wonderful things that you are too shy and ordinary to do (until you go to college and join some burlesque troupe or whatever). The details of what those things are - the bewildering forest of her "aesthetic self-construction" - provide lots of interest and give you something to link to almost daily on Facebook ("Grammy dress! heart gaga").... but people think she's *awesome*, not just intellectually interesting, etc.

Besides, I mean, again setting aside star-texts just for the moment, look at the songs - "Eh, Eh" for example is almost completely lacking any arch-ness and irony, and the dress-up for the video is familiar imagery of hyper-Little-Italy-land, about as elaborate as Swift putting on nerd glasses. The narrative is a completely straightforward romantic situation - she had a nice romance going, met somebody else, is excited about this somebody else, and is still kinda bittersweet about having to say goodbye to the other person. That story is WELL-worn, lyrics aren't anything to write home about... but I'll go ahead and say that it feels more real and relatable to me than the Swift songs. The song didn't chart and this isn't the thread for it, but for me it's all in the title/hook - there's a lot of lived experience packed into those dismissive "Eh"s that just clicks with me. I've been there.

Or "Pokerface," which I dunno if this got run into the ground upthread, but this is a song about pretending to enjoy sex when it's kinda ehh and you'd rather be with someone else. (A woman, it turns out, but that's not heavily implied in the lyrics.) Not saying Swift has to write songs about fucking to get a "serious songwriter" pass - just that I think a lot of people who like this song like it because it's an experience they can very directly relate to. Plenty more may like it just because of the great chorus and the funny pu-pu-pu-poker face hook (that's where I got on board anyway) but the material is a TOTAL "real life" situation.

― Doctor Casino, Wednesday, February 3, 2010 11:31 AM Bookmark

I think Gaga's appeal at street level has very little to do with anybody thinking her 'art' is particularly sophisticated, but a lot to do with people admiring and envying the amount of FUN she seems to get away with having. It's a different kind of liberationary politics than a lot of people may be ready to get down with, and I'm open to the idea that it's also kind of vacuous and lacking in content or complexity, but I basically appreciate what she's doing.

― Doctor Casino, Wednesday, March 17, 2010 6:37 PM Bookmark

...and basically, I feel like Born This Way, beyond a couple of the singles, kind of was lacking in all of the above. I'm more than willing to hold out hope that the new album reverses this course - but I've worn this into the ground, sorry y'all.

I think Gaga's appeal at street level has very little to do with anybody thinking her 'art' is particularly sophisticated, but a lot to do with people admiring and envying the amount of FUN she seems to get away with having. It's a different kind of liberationary politics than a lot of people may be ready to get down with, and I'm open to the idea that it's also kind of vacuous and lacking in content or complexity, but I basically appreciate what she's doing.

Sure -- that's the appeal of good pop artists, which was why the sloganeering of "Born This Way" grossed me out.

That Gaga's been an uneven pop artist is beside the point, I suppose.

"Marry the Night" grew on me, I'd put it in the top quartile, but the video was exhausting if I'm thinking of the right one. Not Fun. I think "You and I" is the only straight up, no shenanigans, swing-for-the-bleachers crossover attempt. Pretty sure it'll be the long-term catalogue seller from this set (besides Born This Way).

― Doctor Casino, Monday, August 6, 2012 9:04 PM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark

oh man "You And I" was the biggest botch of them all, worst video AND nobody really likes the studio version as much as the live version. "Edge of Glory" will definitely always outsell it.

*ahem* i like the studio version much more than the live version. the sheen on "you and i" is magnificent whereas on too much of the rest of the album, it is drastically over-polished.

but the video is one of the worst i have ever seen.

The main mistake with the Born This Way era, was not releasing "Edge Of Glory" as the second single. It would have been so huge after "Born This Way" the single.
"Judas" was a bit too weird and too similar to "Bad Romance". It flopped and was the first time Gaga stumbled. So they rushed the release of "Edge" with a disapointing video that seemed like no effort went into making, that made Gaga's star dim a bit and the album lost momentum.

Yeah, "Edge of Glory" is probably the only one that will still be in the conversation 10 years from now. Except "Born This Way," which will be annoying the Alfred's of the world for the rest of their lives, no doubt.

Part of the problem with so blatantly aping an icon is that you zoom through their career trajectory before racking up the catalog. The self-serious "persona" play and Tony Bennett collaborations while promoting your SECOND album? It's like she skipped a decade and went straight from disco dolly to Dita.

"Marry the Night" grew on me, I'd put it in the top quartile, but the video was exhausting if I'm thinking of the right one.

It should have been all cars and fire and none of the other stuff.

SHARTPOP

the one thing i find interesting about BTW is how everyone agrees it's patchy, a mess etc, but everyone's favourites and least favourites are completely different - absolutely no consensus WHICH the stand-out tracks are.

don't think it harmed or diminished her reputation at all - maybe a sense of biting off more than she could chew, but a bloated over-ambitious misstep will actually shore up one's reputation in a way more than a generic playing-it-safe album, and the tropes she played with all pretty much enhanced the "gaga brand". and the music wasn't disastrous enough for it to be seen as an embarrassment at all, apart from arguably the title track. pop fans have a tendency to impart way too much significance to one album's quality or commercial performance. if SHARTPOP is another bloated misstep then we can talk.

it still boggles my mind that people like "Judas"

the one thing i find interesting about BTW is how everyone agrees it's patchy, a mess etc, but everyone's favourites and least favourites are completely different - absolutely no consensus WHICH the stand-out tracks are.

yeah this is definitely its saving grace. we never did poll its tracks after talking about doing so a bunch, did we?

it still boggles my mind that people like "Judas"

― keeping things contextual (DJP), Tuesday, August 7, 2012 10:00 AM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^^^

ha – I suspect that if we polled BTW all of us who consider the thing a mess and who have different allegiances may still fall behind "The Edge of Glory" or (eek) "Judas."

"The Edge of Glory" is IMO the best-formed, most recognizably consensus-capable song on the album. Most of the others are either too idiosyncratic or too much of a total rip-off of "Express Yourself"

i think there's some really good songs on there that are neither. but yes "Edge" is definitely the easy default.

it still boggles my mind that people like "Judas"

― keeping things contextual (DJP), Tuesday, August 7, 2012 10:00 AM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^^^

― Clarke B., Wednesday, August 8, 2012 12:12 AM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i like the way it sounds a bit like uptown girl, the 'like a prayer'esque faux religious iconography and solemnity (feels like going to church when you're four years old and don't understand but enjoy smelling incense and feeling strongly and purposefully spiritual), the contrast between the harsh caterwauling verses and the sticky sweet chorus, and the raptor doin the twist dance routine.

i kind of feel like i can hear exactly how "the edge of glory" could be GREAT but it doesn't quite get there, something a bit too self-conscious about how it goes for the EPIC jugular, so it winds up as a slightly unsatisfying good instead. "judas" isn't my fav but it's fun to listen to when you're drunk

it'd be an interesting poll to do, think i'd go for "scheiße"

yeah it's weird like, i always related Edge Of Glory to Don't Stop Believin, and i think it's really cool that this comparison could even be made, but Edge never reached the same level of impact for me

although intellectually i acknowledge it as a fucking amazing song

don't stop believin' is like the beatles and edge of glory is like rain: a tribute to the beatles

i didn't realize so many others found this album messy! now i feel less bad about not liking anything on it other than "edge"

there's no doubt that BTW diminished her.
from "bad romance" through the release of "judas," ppl were over-the-top evangelists.
after that, the public conversation cooled off even as she was having her big hits from the album.
almost seems like something was supposed to happen, that didn't end up happening... so, everybody adjusted their goalposts.

that said, most artists would kill to be as "diminished" as she's become!

Yeah, I'd co-sign that.

Conversation tends to ebb when it's third or fourth single time anyway. Plus, most critics had already written their 800-word exegeses on the album in May.

Agree that it usually does, but... conversation had only been building through the FM singles before BTW, it seemed to me.

i have a theory that every super popular artist has a "New Jersey" - like Bon Jovi's album New Jersey -- where it's still super popular and even more popular than the albums that preceded it but there's some sense that the gig is up.

^^^
that'd be a nice thread (if it doesn't already exist)!

I remember those 800-word New Yorker think pieces on Slippery When Wet.

you must have been a precocious child.

I think we're talking about a couple different things here though - - - critical "interest" is a different thing than the excitement of the kids in the street, y'know? And generally I've been talking about the latter with regard to a sense of Gaga's star declining. It's totally subjective and impressionistic but it just feels to me like people were less jazzed after the BTW era than before.

Anyway so - - - - do we know anything else about this new album? Some ridiculous-sounding tracklists have come and gone from Wiki, but they all seem fraudulent, which may or may not be a sad thing:

Tracklisting

"ARTPOP (A Really Tasty Plate Of Pasta)"
"Nothin' On But The Radio"
"Italian Girl From New York City"
"Marinara and Diamonds (In my tea cup)"
"Dinner At Joanne's"
"Weave Snatchin'"
"Nutella Queen"
"Sip That Tea (Bitch)"
"Dorothy! Dot! The Decay Is Coming!!!"
"Touchup Time"
"Italian from Italy"
"The 200th Betrayal"
"Changing Skies"
"Apple Pie"
"Medoner"
"Shut Down The Club (ft. Katy Perry, Kanye West, Beyonce and David Guetta)"
"Bye Bye BoomKack"
"Part Of Me in 3D"
"Almond Milk in Oprah's Tea"
"Girl Gone Gaga"
"DOROTHY!! WAKE UP!! DOT! THE DECAY IS ALMOST HERE!"
"Express Yourself"
"Little Medonsters"
"SmartPop"
"DOROTHY OMG! DOT!!! COME ON! Hurry UP! The Decay is ALMOST HERE!!!!!"
"LVU GAGA"
"DOROTHY DOT YOU LITTLE INSIDER, please GET UP! I CAN SEE THE DECAY!"
"Snippet"
"Leaked"
"Where Have You Been (Colby O'Donis)"
"Hot 100"
"Tanisha (Get The F*** Up)"
"Lolga (Laugh A Little)"
"Did You Know? (I'm Italian)"
"Stefani Germanottaphobe"
"Me & T (Private In Public)"
"Dancing With Mommy (ft. Cynthia G)"
"Run The Club (ft. LMFAO, Pitbull, Ryan Tedder and Travie McCoy)"
"Cominq 4 Carly Ray Jeepson"
"Call Me Maybe (ft. Luc Carl & Boomkack)"

"Express Yourself"
"Little Medonsters"
"Run The Club (ft. LMFAO, Pitbull, Ryan Tedder and Travie McCoy)"
"Cominq 4 Carly Ray Jeepson"
"Call Me Maybe (ft. Luc Carl & Boomkack)"

lol yeah no

would give "Nutella Queen" a go though. But "You and I" is my favorite BTW track so I may be out there on the margins.

btw dudes i was like a kid when New Jersey came out...but even me as just a fan, i kinda *wanted* to like New Jersey as much, and there was some sense that it was a "big deal" and i should like it and i bought the cassette but i think we all could sense it just wasn't *as good*...i'm not sure what critics thought but i bet they did, i didn't read reviews or have access to them.

so i wasn't talking critically.

but anyway like as time goes by you'll find that people going to gaga show would be way more jazzed about like "bad romance" than "edge of glory"...

like I'm trying to think of another example....Graduation is Kanye's New Jersey.....that's another example....

You're black, white, beige, POLLa descent: Lady Gaga - Born This Way (poll)

and people get on me about MY poll titles!

(j/k, i am curious to see how this one turns out...)

Graduation is Kanye's New Jersey.....that's another example....

I think it's a stronger case to say 808s was his New Jersey

i think of a band's New Jersey as their bigger but hollower victory lap album so def Graduation not 808s

"bigger" meaning bombast not necessarily sales

NJ had five top tens including two #1's and except for "Bad Medicine" they've all vanished from the face of the earth

fuck that noise "I'll Be There For You" will always be there for me

"Born To Be My Baby" and "Lay Your Hands On Me" are definitely arena filler though

all i remember about "living in sin" is that the video seemed risque when i last saw it in elementary school

omg I had completely blocked "Living In Sin" from my memory

parents got upset when "Living in Sin" showed two mulleted youths defying society and good fashion taste and I think MTV banned it from playing during daylight hours or something

seriously mad at all of you right now, gah

you are ruining my JAMC because all I can hear over "Catchfire" is the chorus to "Living In Sin"

To be a New Jersey:
- follow-up to a huge, (possibly) defining record
- has less and/or smaller hits than prev album - or - hits based more on momentum than appeal
- brings with it the feeling that the NEXT record (if there is one) will see the bottom fall out (relatively speaking)

Sound about right?

I'll go ahead and nominate 'Here's to Future Days.'

then I nominate Huey Lewis and the News' Fore!.

^^ SO otm

Did Around the World in a Day feel that way in '85?

Graduation is Kanye's New Jersey.....that's another example....

I think it's a stronger case to say 808s was his New Jersey

― keeping things contextual (DJP), Tuesday, August 7, 2012 11:50 AM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i think of a band's New Jersey as their bigger but hollower victory lap album so def Graduation not 808s

― da croupier, Tuesday, August 7, 2012 11:54 AM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

NJ had five top tens including two #1's and except for "Bad Medicine" they've all vanished from the face of the earth

― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, August 7, 2012 11:55 AM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^^yeah da croup gets it, and absolutely alfred's comment is totally what i meant, those songs won't last

i'm going to start a thread.

just so gaga fans don't feel like this thread got hijacked

Every huge artist has their "New Jersey" - a huge event album that ultimately feels a bit hollow & signals a career decline

Did Around the World in a Day feel that way in '85?

not to me; still doesn't

doesn't work for everybody - someone could say Monster or New Adventures for REM - it's actually pretty rare to have a follow-up to a hit album still be a sizable hit and THEN drop a turkey

and "turkey" isn't even necessarily the deal (808s sold fine)

it's just an album that survived mostly on zeitgeist and professionalism that in hindsight served as a stopgap before a major drop or left turn

i think of a band's New Jersey as their bigger but hollower victory lap album so def Graduation not 808s

― da croupier, Tuesday, August 7, 2012 9:54 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

"bigger" meaning bombast not necessarily sales

― da croupier, Tuesday, August 7, 2012 9:55 AM Bookmark

Graduation was way less bombastic than either of his first two albums tho.

dude Graduation was his big stadium rap move, "i want to write songs like u2" etc, it's all bombast!

ever notice how every ILM tread eventually comes around to talking about Kanye?

http://images.fastcompany.com/upload/andy-rooney-620-HATERS.jpg

Gaga's waning popularity...(?)

attributable to fur

macro proclamations on an artist's career based on one under-performing album are such a bad look

I figure if Katy Perry and Rihanna still haven't been yanked off the stage by a cane, Gaga has a few years left in her...

It's hard not to draw the Madonna comparisons in regard to that story. I remember at the time Madonna released the Sex book that the media tried to turn its back on her. And she was shunned for some time. Come to think of it, though, the general population's attitude toward her after that did permanently sour a bit. She was no longer given free rein of pop culture. And she fought hard to remain an icon through the 90s.

There do seem to be plenty of examples of pop artists losing their sheen because of one false move (or a successive series of small 'violations'), such as an underperforming album. I would agree with the author that the untouchable quality Gaga had a couple of years ago is gone, comparing this phase to the one MJ and Madonna experienced during the 90s. And I don't think it's just Furgate. Didn't it start with her drag performance at last year's VMAs? That was when I no longer believed in her invincibility as a pop persona.

One of the best - and most recent - examples of an artist overcoming this is Kanye. But being an annoying douchebag has been part of his persona for a while, and he rather brilliantly folds that into his lyrics to paint a fuller picture of who Kanye, the performer/celebrity, is. Madonna was rather successful at this as well (MJ and Prince, not so much). Another point the author makes that I probably agree with is that Gaga's musical output may not be unimpeachable enough for her to come out of this phase in one piece.

Sorry if this topic has been discussed to death (especially the Madonna comparisons); I just didn't have the time to read all of the Gaga threads.

wouldn't just sheer length of time be a factor? the sex/erotica period was actually madonna at her peak creatively, but she'd been at the forefront of popular culture for nearly a decade at that point, i guess there's always going to be an element of people getting bored or sick of someone always being there, along with their fans growing up and changing. it's still way way early in gaga's career by comparison.

and c'mon as tempting as all the madonna comparisons are, they don't mean she's going to follow madonna's career arc to the letter.

Did she even tour behind "Born This Way?"

she's STILL touring behind it, has been abroad for the last few months, and it was the 8th highest grossing tour of 2011

Huh. Well, she never toured the US behind it, did she? When I saw her last, she encored with "Born This Way," so the single was out, but she hasn't been back here since. I don't think?

this information is really easy to find out

The Born This Way Ball is the third concert tour by American recording artist Lady Gaga, in support of her second studio album Born This Way (2011). The tour will consist of approximately 110 shows in Asia, New Zealand, Australia, and later Europe in August 2012, followed by Latin America and South Africa towards the end of the year, and then North America beginning in January 2013.[1]

(the fame monster tour lasted pretty much up until the release of born this way in may 2011)

yeah i guess the last US dates were actually a few weeks before the album dropped, although multiple singles were out by then and the album had been pushed back a bit so i'd thought of those as in support of Born This Way. not touring the US at all after it dropped probably hurt the album's standing, too, but then she toured for like 2 and a half years straight for The Fame. (xpost)

The tour in 2011 was the Fame Monster Ball. The Born This Way Ball started in April 2012, which I think is why we haven't seen her as much recently. (x-post)

but then she toured for like 2 and a half years straight for The Fame.

when i went to the monster ball tour wikipedia page, scrolling down through the dates seemed to take about a week

girl works HARD

She does work hard. But for most purposes, then, no - she did not tour the US behind Born This Way. I imagine by January 2013 the hype machine will have shifted fully to the new album. I think that's kinda cool, actually. I liked the idea of artists so prolific their tours can't keep up with their output.

this sounds real

http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/72118191.html

damn that sounds like a smash

lady gaga trap ugh

cake like

I made it halfway.

yeah, about that

i think i approve

i'm only like 30% sure i have any idea what's going on tho

wow that's terrible

this sounds like it was made by a Real Housewife

otm, this shit sucks

Sounds like fucking around in the studio to me. Can't imagine this would be on the album.

cake. LIKE. lady. GAGA. cake. LIKE. lady. GAGA.

hahah this is pretty awesomely dopey y'all

yeah, basically

it's no worse than chief keef

burqa swag like lady gaga

psst hey guys don't tell anyone but i heard that apparently... donatella got them clothes

She is really accelerating through the Madonna career roadmap, huh

song sounds hot, at the very least it's going back to a hazy monster feel and tbh i don't hear much madonna in here

it's not that it's another "Born This Way"/"Express Yourself" situation, it's the whole "pop star does semi-embarrassing rap" thing a la "American Life"

ohh. well but gaga never shied away from embarrassing herself by rapping, and tbh i'd much much rather hear that than some more highway unicorn shit or whatever it was called

good kreayshawn leak

lmao

i'd much much rather hear that than some more highway unicorn shit or whatever it was called

There are reasonable limits to Born This Way hatred.

http://www.tetragrammatron.com/unicornturds.jpg

ew

Cocaine is a helluva drug.

jaykhsar

She held a contest for fans to write in their own original songs. This one was picked as the winner so she recorded it with him. It’s fan written, but it’s 100% her singing with him. It won’t be on ARTPOP.

#lady gaga #artpop #i fucking knew she wouldnt have wrote this

hahahahahahahahahahahahaha

lil b would win a lady gaga fan contest

So - Cake is getting a video? Unless this is clever fakery?

NSFW NSFW NSFW

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyYmKLOV7SY&feature=related

haven't heard this, but my dad called her Radio Gaga today

haha i made that same reference way back when on ILM, then it turned out she actually is named after Radio Ga Ga, oops

Actually, I think I posited that she could be a cross between "Radio Ga Ga" and "Lady Stardust," but that doesn't really change matters much.

Wait, is that song a collaboration between Lady Gaga and Kerri Kenney? Awesome.

lol that took a minute to sink in, respect

Well, maybe we need to update the year there in the title but finally

http://popdust.com/2013/07/12/lady-gaga-artpop-press-release-date-pre-order-app/

“reverse Warholian expedition"

lol

tentative Daft Punk album titles

xpost

I think in the year since I started this thread any possible excitement I had for a new Lady Gaga album has dissipated.

oh the break has probably made me want one a lot more! not that what we know so far isn't VERY silly

Single cover art for "Applause" to be released later tonight. So, that's something.

http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo54/Imdareaper/Emoticons/Clap.gif

markers with the scoop!

oh the break has probably made me want one a lot more! not that what we know so far isn't VERY silly

― lex pretend, Friday, 12 July 2013 18:54 (2 weeks ago) Bookmark

otm i am ready for this now

Agreed, much moreso than when this thread was started.

http://i.imgur.com/LAK1Czy.jpg

Yeah that's really nice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XicvSqPzYOo

ahahahahahahahahahaha

ok i think we're done here, lock thread

at least it's not heavy-handed

maybe just a little

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mDEHaMk2524/TyHV_S64FHI/AAAAAAAACpY/isGNpHkZ2Lg/s320/huge_hands_10_Reasons_Why_Big_Boobs_Suck_King_of_Fighters_Animation-s425x535-278909-535.jpg

‏@ladygaga 35m
Let's make 2013 a year where music/talent/artistry is more important than gossip/fanwars I respect all fanbases 4 their passion #BeTheChange

lol fanwars

were katy perry and gaga fans going at it or something?

the abramovic video was cool.

The Applause cover art immediately made me think of Visage. I wish she would just go full-on Blitz Kid and leave Madonna's carcass alone.

leaked

http://shininginthelight.tumblr.com/post/58066761500/applause

let's do this

OH YES

appreciate her serving up some "the fame" realness tbh

well, the snippet from the other day was definitely the 5 worst seconds of it, i'll say that much in its favor

so those verses were real?

oh dear

yes. but this isn't bad

better than the katy song i think

i like this a lot and i sort of find it weirdly endearing how she's actively getting worse at writing lyrics

her vocal schtick is just too much for me at this point

initial reaction = very good, potentially great, like great enough for its rubbish lyrics not to matter

i can't even understand the lyrics...her vocal affectations are getting in the way for me but that's been happening since BTW

haha i just spent a bit too long googling "lady gaga applause lyrics"

i actually like "cake like lady gaga" better. this has a big steamroller tune etc etc etc so i'm sure i won't hate it but it is definitely a bit of a regression to the fame

wtf is she doing on the verses, lol

song is great, lyrics are dumb I guess but I don't expect better from her really

This is just the kind of "steamroller tune" she needed.

argh i hate lady gaga's music

pretty good -- can't understand any of the lyrics which might be for the best

I've never heard her go this deep into a Cruella Deville voice. It works, but I wouldn't want more than one song of it.

I've been trying to figure out all day who she's channeling with that voice. So far I can only think of Peter Murphy? I like it, though, I think she get's it just right. Not so much bother about the lyrics as I am with the flow; 'Applause' is a word you should use in the middle of a verse, not a refrain.

'gets', 'bothered'

in cackling old queen voice did somebody say APPLAUSE?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71dRwNTN69I

i like 'applause' even with the awful lyrics. (she probably fired her editor when she got famous or something.) but 'scheisse' and 'judas' were two of my favorite non-'80s-rock tracks on btw

"poker face" has worse lyrics than this, but they're worse in two entirely separate ways

Oh hey! Another single where she stutters.

Applause-plause Applause-plause

I mean that stuttered hook is lodged in my head, so it's at least doing it's job.

ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm i think i need to listen to applause again but it sounded very abrasive when i heard it

woah

it's a little scary

lol "applause plause"

This is OK, not great. Aside from the bits of schticky vocal it sounds kinda generic viz the charts of the last couple years. I'd like it more as an album track. Maybe it'll grow on me though, as many of hers have.

Official TF Reax transplanted from Facebook: This is very very good! I like (a) the "jagged" beat, which conveys a certain air of "rock" muscularity that I will deign to call "butch" for this purpose; (b) the strident Siouxie and the Banshees quality to her vocals in the verses (secondary reference: Kate Bush circa The Dreaming going basso profundo) shading so expertly into a chorus whose windtunnel shouty indecipherability can but only facilitate a long shelflife on houseparty dancefloors. Agreed that this of the Madonna school of lyricism however if we must have tell-don't-show obviousness then explicitly setting out yr metaphysic seems like a relatively noble early 90s Madonna strategy: "Pop culture was in art now / art and pop culture in me."

Did they release this early because of the leak? I thought it was scheduled for the 19th, but it's on Spotify.

Apparently it's available on itunes worldwide already.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/aug/12/piracy-lady-gaga

In a not entirely surprising turn of events, Applause was rush-released this evening to radio stations and Apple's iTunes Store in the US, with other countries to follow. Gaga tweeted the news in characteristically bullish style as a "POP MUSIC EMERGENCY", blaming the leak on hackers.

The fan-led anti-piracy campaign was a turnaround from the usual nature of such leaks, where fans eagerly share the links, and labels – if they choose to respond – file a barrage of takedown notices to blogs and search engines.

Applause is the first single from Gaga's upcoming album ARTPOP, with a carefully-planned campaign to release the single on the same day that the album (and its spin-off app) will be available to pre-order.

Gaga herself seemed initially upset by news of the leak, tweeting "Lord, in HEAVEN WHY" and "YOU JUST COULDNT WAIT THIS IS TOO MUCH FOR ONE SATURDAY", before appearing to see the funny side and inviting fellow leakee Katy Perry to "grab some shovels and fuck up some hackers".

I don't think this is even worthy of being a Fame album track, tbh; everything about it screams half-assed and unfinished to me.

I can't find the link at the moment, but there's a Billboard article on how the rush-released Gaga and Katy Perry singles are expected to break the existing record for digital song sales. Leaks are a big promo opportunity...

The more I listen to "Applause" the less I like it. It has that same production stink that MDNA does

The opening staccato synth bit reminds me of Frogger. If it didn't have that little hoppity hop filter on it, it wouldn't bother me.

I do actually like the track, though. MUCH MUCH MUCH MORE than Katy Perry's.

Official TF Reax transplanted from Facebook: This is very very good! I like (a) the "jagged" beat, which conveys a certain air of "rock" muscularity that I will deign to call "butch" for this purpose; (b) the strident Siouxie and the Banshees quality to her vocals in the verses (secondary reference: Kate Bush circa The Dreaming going basso profundo) shading so expertly into a chorus whose windtunnel shouty indecipherability can but only facilitate a long shelflife on houseparty dancefloors. Agreed that this of the Madonna school of lyricism however if we must have tell-don't-show obviousness then explicitly setting out yr metaphysic seems like a relatively noble early 90s Madonna strategy: "Pop culture was in art now / art and pop culture in me."

― Tim F, Tuesday, 13 August 2013 17:48 (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

really don't see how this is similar to madonna lyrically? apart from her issuance of commands in the chorus which madonna has somewhat of a preference for but ehhh. even at her worst i don't think madge has ever been this clunky lyrically (and she's sunk to some pretty awful depths in the past 10 years).

the further gaga gets into her career the less i feel madonna works that well as her immediate reference point.

it's similar to Madonna in that it's the sonic palette from "Girl Gone Wild" over the beat from "Give Me All Your Luvin'"

I was responding to a comment saying that it was from the Madonna school of lyrics in that Gaga doesn't understand subtlety anymore.

And, uh, I think Madonna has been this clunky. 4 Minutes?

you don't even have to go back that far, I mean are ppl already at the "let's pretend MDNA never happened" stage?

It's not like I ever paid attention enough to remember which songs had the truly awful lyrics.

I'd half-disagree with saying this is "Give Me All Your Luvin" meets "Girls Gone Wild" if only b/c they don't feel close enough in a pretty crowded field but it's worth noting that the beat and sonic palette of those songs were their best points respectively.

I agree that those are the best parts of those songs but putting them together works for me about as well as saying "I love the pungency of asparagus and the sweetness of buttercream icing; what wonderful thing will I get if I put them together?"

just remembered "frankly if my name was benjamin, we wouldn't be in the mess we're in"

ok i admit defeat

you don't even have to go back that far, I mean are ppl already at the "let's pretend MDNA never happened" stage?

― OH MY GOD HE'S OOGLY (DJP), Tuesday, August 13, 2013 1:34 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

some of us were there before it was even released

haha touche

Not really hearing the Girl Gone Wild comparisons, especially since that song is Madonna sleepwalking through an otherwise faceless Benny Benassi "banger", so what does it even distinctly have that his other work doesn't? You could just as easily say it's got the sonic palette of like, Beautiful People probably.

or of "Judas"

I don't know if I want Gags to sound like Fred Schneider.

oh she'd never sound like she's having that much fun.

just checking: does she actually sing "some of us just like to read"? and "I overheard your theory"?

I mean, I know these lyrics are a mess, but wau

seems like there's a kind of instructive pairing here in Gaga going for depth/relevance/meta-something and wiping out and Katy Perry playing it safe by keeping it uber-cliché

this song also makes me think of "stronger" by kelly clarkson, and it suffers in the comparison

er sorry - that was meant to go in the katy perry thread

"I love the pungency of asparagus and the sweetness of buttercream icing; what wonderful thing will I get if I put them together?"

worst Madonna lyric ever

well yeah the song is what you'd get if gaga just pressed Enter periodically throughout one of her V Magazine columns

Doesn't Gaga realize that Madonna had like 20 plus hits before she made "funny" meta-electro and threatened an album of standards?

she's just got no discipline and went straight for Dita and Evita asap

i mean you can still make a good career of ersatz madonna lifts but she's so self-serious that it's not even fun

Hoping there's at least a couple of everything-and-kitchen-sink songs on the album...

Was Born This Way (album & song) not enough for you?

the more I think about it "some of us just like to read" is kinda lovable in its sheer awkward try-hard vibes

http://theliterarylollipop.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/reading_is_sexy.gif

Was Born This Way (album & song) not enough for you?

No! When that iconoclasm works (as it does on BTW), I love it - my only complaint about BTW now is that it's too long.

some (or many) of the lyrics are borderline terrible so i try really hard not to listen to them (tho yes, the reading one is likably silly). however the tune is quite something. overall i am pleased. seems weird to compare them but i guess since they had the same release date i will say it is certainly better than katy perry's offering.

Oh no it isn't, also KP has been known not to be some irritating selfobsessed artschool dick constantly wandering aimlessly naked and DAZED on DRUGS and THBEORY

I'll take an irritating selfobsessed artschool dick constantly wandering aimlessly naked and DAZED on DRUGS and THBEORY over KP any day of the week.

gaga's self-obsession annoys me sometimes (often) but really, for some reason this song sits pretty well with me

Fair enough, but I'll take not giving a fuck abt theory above reading but entirely failing to internalise theory any oldf time

It's not that Katy doesn't give a fuck about theory, it's that she hasn't found a way to turn it into a campy themed outfit...yet.

This is also a good example of knowing theory better than LG

Forgot this was a Gaga thread and read that as a particularly snippy sideswipe of ILX poster Local Garda, or maybe (in my morning haze) L0u1s Gagg3r.

worst porn name ever

OK, this "Applause" song is barely a song.

if she'd written "some of us just like to read theory" I would have nodded and said welcome to my life, bitch

Gay men are leery of men who read theory.

unless they get beery

and ask three-beer queries.

©

the verses seriously sound like Leoncie

HEY HEY YOU GUYS

GUYS

GUYS GUYS LISTEN YOU GUYS HEY

...art!

haha

the verses seriously sound like Leoncie

― dale cthulhu (Stevie D(eux)), Saturday, August 17, 2013 8:57 AM (21 minutes ago) Bookmark

omg

i like the pre-chorus part of this ("i live for the applause") a whole lot but the rest of it is kind of a mess. the chorus isn't bad per se but her songwriting is usually very clear and strong and this to me is just kind of chaotic and messy for no reason

i keep hearing Mannequin by Britney Spears in the chorus which i think is a good look, didn't really put this together until now

"give me the thing that i love, i'll turn the lights on" is the best bit

i like the whole chorus actually, the part quoted above being my favorite part

music video is kind of w/e

Song and video both seem like kind of a rush job. One of the other leaked tracks I've heard ("Aura") is a lot better.

Watching the video, I keep thinking that she almost looks like Macklemore at points.

wow "applause" is realllllly awkward

"Mannequin" OTM; what I thought of was "Womanizer." there's a part of lady gaga who will never stop being a writer for britney spears circa _Circus_ and it's why all her tangents still result in decent pop songs

yeah it has that hurled unleashed quality in the chorus, like it couldn't help itself

mannequin is about 100x better tho.

wait are "Womanizer" and "Applause" decent pop songs in this premise

"womanizer" is certainly the less-shitty of the circus tracks

well then

I like this but am really surprised at how indistinguishable all the vocals are in the chorus! I didn't even know recognize she was spelling out "Applause" until I watched the lyric video to find out.

OTM I think that's song's biggest problem. The chorus is really blurry and it takes a couple of listens before you can make out the melody and I couldn't figure out its lyrics without looking them up. I do like it now, but I don't understand why they made it so difficult to hear.

i actually think the blurriness is the song's strongest asset, the meld of the vocals and layers in the chorus actually achieves some of the "art" she so blatantly hammers into your head with the lyrics elsewhere

was listening to this last night with my bf and just cracked up at how funny it is. the verses (the opposite of blurry) sound like a hoax, like a little girl making up a song for a make believe broadway show

the video kind of draws more attn to the silly lyrics which has made it harder for me to like the song as much

I like that I started this thread and haven't even bothered to hear her single.

listen to it!

I stand here waiting for you to bang the gong
To crash the critic saying "is it right or is it wrong?"
If only fame had an I.V., baby could I bear
Being away from you, I found the vein, put it in here

I live for the applause, applause, applause
I live for the applause-plause
Live for the applause-plause
Live for the way that you cheer and scream for me
The applause, applause, applause

Give me that thing that I love (I'll turn the lights out)
Put your hands up, make 'em touch, touch (make it real loud)
Give me that thing that I love (I'll turn the lights out)
Put your hands up, make 'em touch, touch (make it real loud)

(A-P-P-L-A-U-S-E) Make it real loud
(A-P-P-L-A-U-S-E) Put your hands up, make 'em touch, touch
(A-P-P-L-A-U-S-E) Make it real loud
(A-P-P-L-A-U-S-E) Put your hands up, make 'em touch, touch

I've overheard your theory "nostalgia's for geeks"
I guess sir, if you say so, some of us just like to read
One second I'm a Koons, then suddenly the Koons is me
Pop culture was in art, now art's in pop culture in me

I live for the applause, applause, applause
I live for the applause-plause
Live for the applause-plause
Live for the way that you cheer and scream for me
The applause, applause, applause

Give me that thing that I love (I'll turn the lights out)
Put your hands up, make 'em touch, touch (make it real loud)
Give me that thing that I love (I'll turn the lights out)
Put your hands up, make 'em touch, touch (make it real loud)

(A-P-P-L-A-U-S-E) Make it real loud
(A-P-P-L-A-U-S-E) Put your hands up, make 'em touch, touch
(A-P-P-L-A-U-S-E) Make it real loud
(A-P-P-L-A-U-S-E) Put your hands up, make 'em touch, touch

koons did the single art

Naw. I kind of hate her now.

did she even do anything in the past year to make you change your mind?

I think it's me that's changed more than her.

Suddenly, the Koons is you.

fame monster is front-to-back classic but everything since has been shit

dammit I don't wanna think about these lyrics but now there they are, printed upthread and I'm sitting here puzzling over Lady Gaga's use of prepositions, like does she even understand the relationships implied and not implied by a simple little word such as "in"? imagine a venn diagram of the scaffolding of inclusion and containment implied by this song, with "me" as the largest class/category, which then contains "art", and then that contains "pop culture"- it goes without saying, but the grotesque egotistical sublime of these lyrics couldn't be more blatant and obnoxious. Then we've got the equation/synonymy shenanigans, I = Koons; Koons = I, and if I = me then it would follow that Koons, too, contains "art" and, by extension, "popular culture". I bet she's not an idiot but she sure sounds like one on this tune.

fame monster is front-to-back classic but everything since has been shit

otm

i actually prefer this new thing to any BTW single tho

uh, it's kunst, no?

Lyric video says Koons.

haha yeah, I just watched it. so funny

So any predictions where this will end chart-wise? I think her lowest right now is marry the night at #29. She didn't stutter on that one did she? -oh no wait, I think she did... ma, ma, ma, marry... lol mammary.

Anyhoo I predict this will end up between 5 and 9 depending on what else gets released around this quarter.

I think it'll debut in the top 5 in most countries off digital sales alone. What it does from there, though, may not be pretty.

Jeff Koons that is

How are people shocked by her sub-quality lyrics on Applause when Poker face sounded like a Mad TV skit? And BTW is a cluttered mess, but it has some of her best songs on it. Terrible single choices and people being turned off by her in your face 'activism' with that record is why it left a bad taste in people's mouths. Out of the 76 tracks that were associated with that album, more than half were actually pretty good.

How are people shocked by her sub-quality lyrics on Applause when Poker face sounded like a Mad TV skit?

very important question

Excessive album is excessive.

it will probably scrape the top 10 on the billboard charts this week

"How are people shocked by her sub-quality lyrics on Applause when Poker face sounded like a Mad TV skit? And BTW is a cluttered mess, but it has some of her best songs on it. Terrible single choices and people being turned off by her in your face 'activism' with that record is why it left a bad taste in people's mouths. Out of the 76 tracks that were associated with that album, more than half were actually pretty good."

OTM

Follow up question: How many of the singles will feature Lady Gaga stuttering the song's title? Here are the previous stats:

The Fame: Just Dance, Pokerface, Love Game, Paparazzi (4/4 = 100%)
The Fame Monster: Bad Romance, Alejandro, Telephone (3/3 = 100%)
Born This Way: Born this way, Judas, You and I, Edge of Glory, Marry the Night (4/5 = 80%)
Artpop: Applause - (1/1 = 100%)

I'm counting the stammering on 'you and i', 'edge of glory' and 'love game' as stuttering even though she actually completes the phrase on these 3 but she keeps fixated on repeating the same words (e.g. "you, you and I", "the edge, the edge, the edge...(∞)" "a love game, love game"). If we remove those the numbers would be;

The Fame: Just Dance, Pokerface, Love Game, Paparazzi (3/4 = 75%)
The Fame Monster: Bad Romance, Alejandro, Telephone (3/3 = 100%)
Born This Way: Born this way, Judas, You and I, Edge of Glory, Marry the Night (2/5 = 40%)
Artpop: Applause - (1/1 = 100%)

Looks like Applause has debuted at #6.

that breakdown was amazing, Moka, you need to publish a longer version of that somewhere

hey, I'm not that bored.

I would be happy to put it up on Freaky Trigger, Moka, crediting and linking to you of course!

Born This Way is a perfectly fine album brought down by overexposure, hype and her obnoxious behavior during the promotion of it.

The messy nature of BTW is what made it so compelling, to me at least. I spent all year trying to figure it out, and when I looked back, I discovered I'd spent more time with it than anything else in 2011.

The stuttering thing would make a good thread. I'm curious about the history of that. So many pop songs do it now, but not in that My Generation sense of stuttering the first syllable. There are a couple of threads about that. The thing of repeating an ending syllable seems like something different and newer that's influenced by doing a stutter effect on sampled vocals or on a turntable. Some songs like Umbrella almost remind me of the subtractive/additive trick on Bat Macumba by Os Mutantes, but I'm sure there are other clearer precedents.

BTW was first brought down by "Judas" being the 2nd single. I'm sure if "Edge Of Glory" had been released instead it would have gone to #1 and kept the momentum for the album going. Then she decided to release a really disapointing video for EOG and that pretty much killed the interest and goodwill people had left towards the project. (x-post)

i love "Edge" and i think it was rendered more palatable by following "Judas" but i somehow doubt that releasing it on the heels on "Born" would've really had a substantially different result. i love to play fantasy A&R but i've never been able to think up an alternate Born This Way singles campaign that i can believe would've had a far bigger commercial performance.

I think "Marry The Night" could have been an awesome single. Or maybe "Hair," but "Hair" was probably too close to "Edge."

I still like most of "Born This Way." If anything hurt it it's maybe that it came out right when she came off touring the US behind the last one - "Born This Way" was the final song of the encore when I last saw her - so perhaps people just couldn't or didn't want to keep up with her crazy pace? That hip injury came at just the right time for her to pivot (so to speak).

well, "Marry The Night" WAS a single, just her lowest charting one to date. it was actually going to be the album's lead single before she wrote "Born This Way," and while I'm not crazy about "BTW" I am glad that didn't happen. "Marry" and "Edge" have very similar choruses but i think "Edge" is so much better that it almost renders the other one irrelevant.

Wow, was it? I've literally never heard "Marry the Night" on the radio, whereas I still hear all her initial singles and "Edge." Not "Judas" or "Born This Way," though, come to think of it. But "Edge," yeah, pretty frequently.

yeah "Marry" was the campaign-ending 5th single, complete with boring 13-minute video. i wish she would've used that spot for one of the album's more overtly weird songs, she could've left us with a reminder that she's sometimes interesting instead of a failed last stab at radio.

"Hair" trimmed down a bit (haha) would've made a great single after EOG.
Although I like it, "Judas" is just too similar to "Bad Romance" and a bit too weird it put a lot of people off. It seems like they tried to play it safe by giving people a RedOne production but it failed.

If anything hurt it it's maybe that it came out right when she came off touring the US behind the last one

Her last single before that, "Alejandro", had been out for a long time. Sure she was touring, but radio was really waiting for some new material. I don't think I remember a new single as highly anticipated as "Born This Way" was. Way more than "Applause" or "Roar" were.

In fact I think this time she's been off the radio for too long and it's diminished her "power". Her last single dates back to 2011. That's something she forgot to pick up from Madonna who would always stay in the public eye during a tour or inbetween albums by having a soundtrack or one-off single.

Sure, but there was never a day before the release of "Born This Way" when every single one of her previous singles was not still in heavy rotation.

Bearing in mind how times have changed and the speed of the hypercycle, Madonna took 1988 and the first few months of 1989 off.

Marry The Night is one of my favorite tracks on BTW. I would've been happy with it as the lead single, and the part of the video when she's crawling around on the car at night with fire behind her—or whatever the specific imagery was—was cool.

I learned to enjoy it after my three-year-old niece imitated the dancing and her ground roll.

And it seemed really strange at the time. (x-post)

Yeah the video for "Marry The Night" is cool. Especially when it looks like she's going to get in a car with a 6 ft wide hat. I wish the song sounded more like "Flashdance" though.

Re: BTW singles, I listen to or am just in places to hear a fair amt of pop radio and barely remember hearing BTW itself or Judas

"Judas" had negligible airplay, only got to #15 on the Pop Songs chart (and "Marry The Night" got to #14)

it's interesting that she's expended so much time and energy touring all over the world that it feels like the kind of things that really make someone like her seem like a star, a constant barrage of singles and videos and a general pop culture presence, have been neglected.

Well, you can't do everything at the same time. But I basically agree with all of the above - goes back to my comments way upthread or on BTW thread (leading to New Jersey mania) that BTW despite its vastness left her a smaller star at the end of everything. I think what she needs to do more than anything is just focus on having a really, really good album full of singles that people like, hum, and relate to. A little too much of her output has been premised on assuming that she's the biggest star in the world and that she can trade on that, but I think she's burned through that capital. The last song she put out that I think made her any actual new fans was "Telephone" and that's now a whiiiiiile ago.

I dunno, I didn't really have much time for her until BTW in all its sprawl.

(Yeah, OK, "Telephone" was pretty great.)

tell me about it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vEStDd6HVY

Be still.

I think Born This Way the album was a great follow up to The Fame Monster and should have kept her way up there. But "Judas" was so badly received by radio they had to rush release "Edge Of Glory" like three weeks later and it kind of killed the pacing. The singles campain was over before the tour even started !
We'll see if ARTPOP can turn that around or if she'll become the Cyndi and Katy the Madonna (I hope not).

"marry the night" => => "edge of glory" => "government hooker" => "heavy metal lover" => "scheisse" => "you and I" => "electric chapel" if you need a #7

there is your revised singles cycle.

I still stand by Yoü and I as the monster sing that didn't quite have the support, though I'm sure I heard it more than Judas. The flipside should have been an even more countrified version, see if she could punch into that market (stranger things has happened altho one would have to avoid it being Lady Gaga As Stef Gaines) altho personally I love the weird hybrid that happens between her singing style and Mutt's pastiche of himself.

Er, monster single. Phone eating words.

as a casual listener to pop radio occasionally in the car "you and i" is the only btw single i've heard multiple times. never heard "judas" at all.

"the edge of glory" seemed to have the biggest pop culture/ubiquity impact of all the BTW singles. i think people are overplaying how bad that album was for her though, i don't think it lessened her ~importance~ or completely turned people off her - my impression is that most casual fans accept that she's inconsistent, and when she visibly overreaches it sort of actually tallies with her "weirdo" "artist" shtick.

We'll see if ARTPOP can turn that around or if she'll become the Cyndi and Katy the Madonna (I hope not).

the thing is NO ONE thinks katy perry is a pop star of ~cultural significance~ surely

She's more of her time (as opposed to a thing unto herself) so yeah, kinda. Agree v much w yr first post btw, BTW just kept her on an even keel which felt like a lesser than thing than it ws, given for a little while she seemed like one of the most impt things in the world

Don't know if Born This Way actually hurt her, but it was sort of received similarly to "The Fame Monster," not in terms of success but as sort of another EP. It just felt like it came too quickly, like throwing more kindling on a fire that's already going. Sure, it burns, but it burns fast and doesn't make the fire any hotter.

Beyonce is more mysterious to me, honestly. A tour before an album whose teaser singles/tastes got no traction?

The Fame Monster received better reviews and crowned a great year.

When the dust settles, how many other pop superstars will it be possible to say the absolute zenith of their influence was centered around an EP?

A tour before an album whose teaser singles/tastes got no traction?

we didn't EVEN get teaser singles sfkjak`bjaljfkj; WHY DON'T YOU JUST PUT THEM ON ITUNES BEY

hi i think katy perry is culturally significant btw

Let's go all the way with this. Until we die.

let's go all the way tonight
no regrets
just love

No

*digs out skin-tight jeans*

the skin-tight jeans are culturally significant symbolism, sorry if u disagree

no regrets Gaga
that was just another false alarm

Tough to remain facetious when I actually do think "Teenage Dream" is probably the best pop song of the last half dozen years.

thats the worst thing you could say about pop music in the last 6 years

Did I get your HEART. RAY. SING?

it's a great song, definitely up there

We'll see if ARTPOP can turn that around or if she'll become the Cyndi and Katy the Madonna (I hope not).

the thing is NO ONE thinks katy perry is a pop star of ~cultural significance~ surely

I think they do now, since that five #1 singles from one album thing. But I was talking about longevity rather than cultural significance.

If Katy's career has more legs than Gags', it's only because she's offers no surprises and her focus is on "hits", and not advancing any kind of musical/cultural discourse. That's acceptable to a lot of people. Gags has a habit of pretending to think, which turns a lot of the populace off, but it makes the spectacle that is her fame way more interesting to watch, imo. Gaga has always known she wasn't going to last at the top and the public would cannibalize her, judging from the theme of her albums/songs/performances. I just don't think she was prepared for the reality.

"Gaga has always known she wasn't going to last at the top"

She has been at or very near the top of the charts for five years now - so even if she believed that she would have been wrong. Despite substandard product and what appears like self sabotage with single release decisions on BTW she managed to have four top tens.

Nobody expects Gaga to release a bunch of perfectly primped Katy Perry tracks - but she doesn't need perfect tracks to have prolonged success. They need to be fun, catchy and a little weird.

Yeah she is still a huge star. Her new single just debuted at #6 and she is opening the VMA's this Sunday. Pretty much as big as it gets.

I think she rose to fame so quickly and so high, it was gonna be hard to live up to it no matter what. There used to be this sense of everyone really wanting to know what she was going to do next that seems a bit gone now.

Yeah, let me know when Gaga no longer sells out her huge venues and I'll confirm she's no longer a big star.

That was last year, silly pants. She wasn't able to fill arenas in Latin America for the BTW Ball and was kinda outright lying about how certain venues were sold out when they weren't even close. I remember there was this 2 for 1 deal she was having for tickets to her show that still didn't help with the lagging sales there. I don't think this particular case is indicative of her status as "big star", tbh.

I mean Rihanna has only very recently been able to pull off huge worldwide tours without needing heavy discounting of tickets and I don't think anyone would argue she hasn't been a huge star since at least 2008. Meanwhile Madonna is selling out huge venues but can't get the public at large to really enjoy music she's made after 2000. Clearly touring is a different beast.

No shit, Gaga had trouble selling out in Latin America?! You mean, South America? Mexico?

South America. Peru, Rio..

Wow, I just assumed folks down there would see anything, based on what rock bands draw in Brazil.

she's no Iron Maiden

There was even a Groupon deal for BTW Ball tickets in Brazil - something like 80% off.

whenever a major popstar (and sometimes even minor popstar!) posts anything on twitter, there is almost always someone replying with "Come To Brazil!"

If Katy's career has more legs than Gags', it's only because she's offers no surprises and her focus is on "hits", and not advancing any kind of musical/cultural discourse. That's acceptable to a lot of people. Gags has a habit of pretending to think, which turns a lot of the populace off, but it makes the spectacle that is her fame way more interesting to watch, imo. Gaga has always known she wasn't going to last at the top and the public would cannibalize her, judging from the theme of her albums/songs/performances. I just don't think she was prepared for the reality.

― Cousin Slappy, Thursday, 22 August 2013 20:09 (Yesterday) Permalink

o_O

the Lady Gaga is better than Katy bc she's more interesting argument is kind of hilarious given the title of Gaga's new album

No one was arguing that though.

Both of these women have their own appeal. If you find one more appealing than the other, then...congrats on having an opinion?

...? what. i don't really have an opinion. on this. but thanks for your pearls of wisdom cousin slappy.

I prefer to think of them as blue diamonds of brilliance, but thanks.

Don't get whether that means you like LG's title or think it's stupid tbh, surm

I mean I GUESS it means you think it's interesting, but it isn't very, so y'know

Think somewhere Gaga is kicking herself for not shooting sparks and whipped cream out her boobs first?

i think it's p clear i was saying that ARTPOP as a concept is as uninteresting as it gets

she could have called the album BEIGE

i think someone on the jukebox said she should've just called it COMMERCE

woulda been better tbh

i would have gotten excited about a gaga album called COMMERCE tbh

CAPITALISM

POP AND PUNISHMENT

Oh sorry, OK. Haven't read the whole thread. That^ would be a legitimately awesome title

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDv3wDIMAvc

lol

POPOPTICON

Lady Gaga Shreds

wtf did i just watch

that was Lada Gaga being punk

that shit sucked

I like the Blondie vibe of this one...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ohYyS2gNyE

okay some of the itunes festival songs sounded really good, particularly "manicure" and "sex dreams"

Yeah I was kind of resigned to being indifferent to most of the songs here after Applause, but I really liked a fair bit of what I heard. Very Pat Benatar in some spots. Also the lyrics are ridiculous in the right ways (aka Gaga lyrics circa The Fame/Monster instead of Born This Way).

yeah i feel like her increasingly flailing approach to singles doesn't necessarily reflect poorly on the album's chances of being good. Born This Way was easily better than the title track and "Judas" had people expecting.

she's hot and she's cold

I wonder if, if you spend so much of your life wearing little clothing, if it feels weird when you suddenly have to wear clothes. Like in "Fast Times," when Sean Penn walks into a restaurant, and then takes his shirt off? Just all topsy turvy? Does Gaga wake up in the morning, head to the dresser, then just say, eh, fuck it, and walk about in her undies all day?

people in their undies need to stop. in 10-20 years people will look back on this time and say 'hmm that was weird when everyone was in their undies all the time'

Gaga has spent most of her life clothed. New York winters are tough.

this lady is so ridic

i mean "ARTPOP", come on, I will never be able to get over that

Lady Gaga was born naked and she will die naked.

that's fine but she can wear clothes in between.

I can't tell if the title track literally saying "my artpop could mean anything" is a knowing nod to her own ridiculous or purely on accident.

really embarrassed by this album title tbqh

Hey you! Yeah, I'm talking to you, sassy girl. Need a little ahh in your step? Try this on for size: i-i-i-i-i-it's Pop! I-i-i-it tastes real good and makes you feel kind of funny, not here, not down there, but all up in this area.

gaga's arch voice always makes me think of nina hagen-ish new york shiz, like this (awesome) 80s band:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XB0rscfU9V8

Creames Fartpoop is embarrassed to be associated with this album title

ok, "Applause" is cool except for those lyrics in the second verse that make me cringe

yeah i may never get over that snippet of the 2nd verse itt being the first thing i heard of the song

kinda appresh that it feels a bit ~scaled down~

It isn't just the second verse -- it's how she sings those lyrics too.

indeed

i kind of like those lyrics but in a phantom of the paradise way, how fake pop stars in movies will have really on the nose lyrics about being pop stars

god I just envisioned a Paul Williams-Gaga song.

or The Apple. It's pretty The Apple.

http://www.popjustice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/artpopartwork-590x590.jpg

oops, here we go

http://www.popjustice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/artpopartwork-590x590.jpg

otm

Okay then. Still better than BTW.

PAINTINGS!!

famous paintings! art!

Did she just birth a Christmas tree ornament?

Kinda like the Moloko Bar meets "these are paintings coming at ya bleeeccch!"

bad attempt at Don Martin sound effect.

alternate artwork

http://i.imgur.com/1w1UrAU.jpg?1

lawl

http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/eb/08/0b6eb220dca03520360b5010.L.jpg

Sensing a cover connections thread ...

I'm on my phone, can someone else post Michael Sembello's The Lost Years

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61yQ456my5L.jpg

i almost feel lik the stupider all the promo is the better some of the songs will be though

otm the more obviously silly she is the less she annoys me

#truuu

michael sembello IS walter white

I don't hate it, it's better than some of the big names covers so far. At any rate it's her best album cover after fame monster, whatever that means.

Track list:

1. Aura
2. Venus
3. G.U.Y.
4. Sexx Dreams
5. Jewels N’ Drugs ft. T.I., Too $hort, and Twista
6. Manicure
7. Do What U Want ft. R. Kelly
8. Artpop
9. Swine
10. Donatella
11. Fashion
12. Mary Jane Holland
13. Dope
14. Gypsy
15. Applause

really hoping "jewels n drugs" picks up where "cake like lady gaga" left off

she did that one at the iTunes festival.

Applause as the closer is kind of LOL.

Yeah, she played it at itunes festival. T.I. uploaded a studio quality snippet featuring his whole verse (which opens the track):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgXAFPd1HsM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6qXX82I-Hs

hmmm

i know applause ends w/ "a-r-t-p-o-p" and i guess putting something applause-themed at the end makes sense but i like to imagine that it is in that position b/c it is almost an afterthought

She said as much, that it was the last song she had recorded before playing the album to her label and they went ahead and made it the lead single.

pop

art

romance

i like "aura", also i like that "applause" is the final track it's like it might as well not even exist

11. Fashion

Seems impossible she didn't already have a song called "Fashion". Maybe it's a Bowie cover.

She does already have a song called Fashion:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lGTKtqtXeE

fashion

http://ladygaga.wikia.com/wiki/Fashion_(song)

Second single is called 'Venus'.

venues

there's also "Black Jesus Amen Fashion" (technically it has a cross in it but I'm not going into character map to write a Lady Gaga song title" and "Fashion of His Love" from Born This Way, sooo

Oh yeah I remember the first "Fashion". It's a pretty good Fame-era song.

i like "aura", also i like that "applause" is the final track it's like it might as well not even exist

― J0rdan S., Thursday, October 10, 2013 5:31 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah feels very "Run The World (Girls)" non-bonus bonus track

But the question remains, will she stutter on her next singles?

From what I've heard so far Aura-a-a-a, Ma-ma-manicure and Swii-ii-ii-ne are all approved stammering single material.

aura.....................................................................................................

i have absolutely no idea how this makes me feel

i don't know if i want to laugh, cry, vomit

poop, pee

"Aura" is pretty rough but then i don't know if there's a worse way to hear a song for the first time than a lyric video slash movie trailer. Prince must be jealous he never thought of the "dance sex art pop tech" refrain lol.

Groban zing

http://24.media.tumblr.com/9bc879de04e88eda96bff34d37079060/tumblr_mustzxSHjq1qayo6xo1_500.jpg
http://31.media.tumblr.com/13d98971f8b7905911843f52f3a9ab08/tumblr_mustzxSHjq1qayo6xo2_500.jpg

http://cdn.rap-up.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/lady-gaga-do-what-u-want.jpg

https://soundcloud.com/jhonata-sims/do-what-u-want-feat-r-kelly

This is way better than what I was expecting.

that's sort of wonderful

aaaaand it's been pulled.

lol i got two plays out of it but daaamn

Do you guys close the tab and reopen it for every play or what? Works fine for me still.

Anyway:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3jzMyYgPQs

awes bros comeback single

love it

this rules

oh wow at this

YES

FINALLY

something

fuck

oh hey an actual legit banger! I suddenly have hope for this thing again.

it's almost as if born this way and "applause" weren't as bad as people said

As a fan of Born This Way and an appreciator (not necessarily liker) of "Applause," it seems clear to me that this is her best single in eons.

yeah i'm fine with both BTW and "applause" but this is that level of special that she hasn't reached on a single since...man, "telephone"

puts every other 80s-filtered amateur r&b chancer around to shame

for me i feel like...it's a different style, but the kind of lighters-in-the-air sincerity gaga aimed for, and perhaps hit a little too squarely on the nose, with "edge of glory" and "you & i", she's finally perfected here

And all it took was R. Kelly.

I got called away before it got to his part but not even the idea of "feat. R. Kelly" is dissuading me from this song after hearing the first minute

getting to his verse now and yes, this is no-qualifiers great

I love that his glory note is the word "fuck".

yeah kellz' verse is magnificent and so melodically rich but gaga sold it long before it got to him

it's VERY peak terius imo

how much do i love her just GIVING INTO a song for once!

I love that his glory note is the word "fuck".

― Johnny Fever, Monday, October 21, 2013 8:18 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

IKR!

xp that's something I'd never accuse her of not doing, like, at any point ever

"you can't stop my VOICE cuz you don't own my LIFE"

*hands song over to R Kelly*

beat reminds me of ciara's "overdose"

This is pretty good, and, yeah, it does evoke "Overdose."

She's good when her voice comfortably nestles into a midrange, a bit like Madonna singing "Angel."

as good as this is, i feel like "sex dreams" is gonna trump it

keep it to yourself, sailor

snippets of the title track and a song called "G.U.Y." for anyone who cares about snippets:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mr1tYeu2cGw

(what is even the point of a 12 second snippet?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCI97tZBtKQ

the "Applause" snippet so fully ruined me for the song that i'm not even clicking

nah it was a perfect distillation, everything else about the track is a lie

if you click on the "G.U.Y." snippet you get to hear her say "love love me / please retweet" in the first two seconds

never change, AV Club: http://www.avclub.com/articles/lady-gaga-and-r-kelly-made-a-song-together-and-its,104510/

http://i.dlisted.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/whatthefuckisthatshit.jpg

What even

it's a muff bro

ah the delicious weetabix chicken

it's a muff bro fro.

Reminds me of love game.

Do what you want what you want you want with my body.

she looks like a tree fungus/wood critter hybrid. I kind of love it.

there's no kind of about it

<3

http://i.dlisted.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/ladycacainwhite.jpg

w/e

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPC3nboKuOc

lol @ this

Gaga's vocals on do what u want are like ... exactly what i wanted this season

yup.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8WT2xvr29o

Good to see her quoting Sun Ra:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBspRZNnfI4

lol ummm i don't hate this shit

wait i'm not sure

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nP3ctBs3510

whoops

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nP3ctBs3510&feature=youtu.be

eh

notsomuch

*listens*

*side-eyes*

*returns to do what u want*

lol

yep

mmhm

It sounds like it's half-finished. Between this and that point on "Do What U Want" where Kells' voice drops out seemingly by accident... is the "art" part going to be a process piece on how making a pop album is super-intricate or something?

15 seconds in and I want to shake her

wow, "applause" is the first gaga song that I actually like. love, even.

it's gonna be a minute before i can look past the giant Sun Ra reference and judge how i feel about the song, that's just kind of awesome

haha i made it to the :22 mark of venus and decided today was not the day

I like the tribal drums during the "take me to your planet" part, but I think there are 5 or 6 songs on Born This Way that weren't released as singles that are better than "Venus".

xxp sun ra is credited as co-writer.

Gosh, this song isn't so hot. It's teetering precariously on the brink between camp and outright novelty/parody b-side goof.

we're talking about the person whose signature song is "Poker Face," right?

Exactly. She walks a fine line.

Anyway, you know how the word was that the last album was put together in porta studios after shows? It didn't sound it, but this stuff is totally slapdash. So, yeah:

I think there are 5 or 6 songs on Born This Way that weren't released as singles that are better than "Venus".

And at least as good as if not better than "Applause," too.

i wouldn't've been able to judge BTW off of the title track and "Judas" so i'm not really sweating anything right now, although my overall expectations are lower to begin with.

Her signature song now is totally "Bad Romance." C'mon.

thank god for that, because "Poker Face" is terrible

this song gets pretty idiotic but I like the first few lines/the "...Venus!" part

venus part was the only part i liked

I listened to it for the first time last night right after listening to rocky horror to get into a halloween mood and the "...Venus!" part just sounds like Dammit, Janet to me now. Agree that the rest of the song is garbage.

leaked.

This album is maybe more consistent than Born This Way but with less of the highs of that album.

i wouldn't've been able to judge BTW off of the title track and "Judas" so i'm not really sweating anything right now, although my overall expectations are lower to begin with.

― Ned Ratchet (some dude

^^^^ this

I'm glad she exists but most of her music has never done anything for me tbf

apparently everyone is going gaga (no pun intended) over "do what you want"? really not sure what's special about it.

There's a ludicrous amount of saw synth on this album, even by Gaga standards.

apparently everyone is going gaga (no pun intended) over "do what you want"? really not sure what's special about it.

It's just a really well put together song, and R. Kelly takes it over the top.

xp i mean...i think its p significant for assigning beaucoup agency and power to people who ID as submissives? i can't think of a big mainstream pop song to do so as overtly and explicitly as this song - maybe ever?

fwiw, "G.U.Y." also does that but without the greatness of an R. Kelly feature or the awkwardness of having post-piss-gate Kells sing about doing what he wants with your body on a song.

Also someone on twitter made the great observation that his part would work even better if he hadn't flipped the chorus around and had just maintained the submissive stance.

yeah agreed

Sun Ra as a reference!?

Nice try gaga but I'm not falling that easily.

And I doubt the vast percentage of your fan-base even knows who he is.

isn't that kinda the point? it's not "hey kids, i know how much you love Sun Ra!"

Now that I've listened to it twice this morning I'm surprsied: this is her blandest, most colorless albums. "Aura," "Venus," and "Artpop" do nothing with their titles and the hooks aren't there; even her singing lacks personality. The R. Kelly tune and "Fashion!" are the only ones I've liked.

http://i.imgur.com/sy48t7P.gif

lol who has windows still

seriously, jord

"artpop" is a strange choice as a keeper for this album

i haven't heard this album yet... is the title track really that good?

I really like the run from "Manicure" until "Donatella", and the title track is the highlight of that run (at least on my one listen through).

is the title track really that good?

no

one thing that i think isn't talked about enough with her is that her choice of collaborators has started to slide almost exclusively towards EDM artists whereas the fame monster (basically a perfect album) was mostly redone plus r&b-leaning pop producers (darkchild & teddy riley)

like i'm looking at the wikipedia page for artpop and apparently "aura" was co-written by infected mushroom?

girl

remember when I used to deny TFM was her best?

I recant.

i suppose that's an angle, but i never thought Fame Monster sounded any more R&B/'urban' than anything else she's done, and this album has R. Kelly and Too $hort on it xp

yeah i mean it's mostly that she stopped working with RedOne

like i love "clarity" and all but....

although it is interesting that back when pop radio was a nonstop dance party, she was one of the only big stars who could do piano ballads or classic rock homages and now that that stuff is more radio-friendly she seems to be focusing on dance beats more than ever.

haven't heard this album yet... is the title track really that good?

I like the live clip posted upthread quite a bit.

Also, why Rick Rubin on this? (listed as producer of "Dope)

there's not really any chart-topping album i would be surprised to see Rick Rubin credited on at this point, least of all this one

"like i'm looking at the wikipedia page for artpop and apparently "aura" was co-written by infected mushroom?"

zero knowledge of them but I would bet, oh, $1 that it's a sample

"She (Gaga) came into Zedd's studio, her producer, while he was working on our track", says I-zen. "It was one of its first demos she immediately fell in love with. Zedd called us saying "There's a problem. Lady Gaga wants your song."
We had some serious deliberation, we see ourselves as a band with a high artistic integrity and we avoid commercialization and doing cheap things such as Britney or Gaga. But suddenly there's a concrete offer on the table and saying "No" is a mistake, because it's a guaranteed lifelong pension. Each time the song is being played or sold, we get some pretty nice royalties. So we decided to give her the melody, as long as we are signed under our private names. We felt embarrassment for our fans. But she refused, she wanted "Infected Mushroom" to be credited. So, we decided to go for it thinking it won't make the cut or she'll eventually change her mind.

But she didn't. Do you like the result?

No. I think it's an artistic compromise. The song is too cheesy and commercialized. The way her vocals are over the melody is bad. But, what do I know about pop hits? we are honored that someone off Gaga's league found potential in our track and loved it.

new gaga and katy perry have been on in my house today and they both sound ... awful

only good things to come out of this so far are do what u want and katy's birthday song, which sound more cohesive together than any couplets on the albums themselves

I'm getting the fix Gaga would have given me from Sky Ferreira.

yea i need to look into that

M.I.A. + Sky >>>>> Katy + Gaga as far as anticipated late-in-the-year albums go.

"Dope" has a very drunk-karaoke feel to it, which is unnerving in a way.

"like i'm looking at the wikipedia page for artpop and apparently "aura" was co-written by infected mushroom?"

zero knowledge of them but I would bet, oh, $1 that it's a sample

― katherine, Sunday, November 3, 2013 2:37 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

pretty sure they produced the song

Our collaboration with Gaga will also expose us the an audience that haven't heard of us before. But when this new audience will come to our show expecting to hear similar songs to "Aura", they'll be disappointed.

The Infected Mushroom track "Still Love Trance" in question.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJFaNaiXuCA