The Elephant in the Room (Or, Lady GaGa)

[Jamshyd]

Yes, leave it to BL's full-time fag to start a thread on madonna a couple of years ago (that was super-fail, may I add), and now a thread on Lady GaGa.

Actually, while I don't mind her, I am not that big of a fan either, but the fact that Facebook just told me that 7 of my friends (hint: at least 5 of which are YOU!) "like" Lady GaGa.

What's worse... my father is a huge fan!

It IS disturbing.

So... if a something like Lady GaGa has come to be accepted as "mainstream" and "pop", what does that say about music today?

I do give her props for actually doing something herself rather than being totally manufactured by a record label, and for bringing bold fashions to America. Some of her fans must have been seriously shocked because all they ever wore came from Walmart's discount bin...

 

[Jerry Atrick]

I've never heard any of her songs before, but then again, mainstream pop is a genre that I don't listen to.

That being said, my friend who's wife likes her told me that LGG is one of the 4 horsemen of the Apocalypse. Something like that has to be true

 

[Bardeaux]

I think its good that a real musician is the newest pop flavor of the week, rather than a pretty face who regurgitates pre-manufactured song and dance. But her music isnt anything extraordinary imo. I could easily see the same songs comming from Christina or Madonna.

 

[AmorRoark]

I haven't really listened to much of her but her music videos creep me out...

 

[Max Power]

I do give her props for actually doing something herself rather than being totally manufactured by a record label

she doesn't fall too far outta line. maybe her 'image' is different from the norm, but as far as what she provides musically . . . might as well be nSync.

 

[Jamshyd]

^ I disagree. She is definitely a very visual character, and I believe her videos make up 2/3ds of her talent (big or small). Lyrics are definitely not her forte. I think she does a good (albeit transparent) job at using motifs in her videos.

Amor: LOL I agree. She makes me think that Geiger left Paris to New York, stopping in Harajuku en route .

 

[Busty St Clare]

She is more image than substance but that is nothing new. In times of recession, music normally mimics excess to reflect the dreams of the population (see 1970's glam). As a business woman she rivals Madonna in the short term and a lot of money has been made from only a couple of albums.

I guess my real beef with her was her refusal to on a local live television show because they had a policy of not allowing lip syncing. She had a major hissy fit and refused even to go on to stage in front of thousands of fans. A real professional knows the show must go on and would have at least but her music first, rather than worrying about her outfit.

 

[Kenickie]

jam, you must mean ME.

because i'm a fan. a serious fan. like drop 200$ to get a ticket.
she designs all her clothes herself, and she actually has a beautiful voice that isn't showcased enough in her songs.( take this version of Pokerface) i also think telephone is the greatest music video of all time. no fucking lie.

i'm excited for her next two or three albums. shes terribly young (hello, just turned 24) and i cannot wait until she can really fucking do it. i mean, i wanna see the video for teeth be filled with insane amounts of bondage and female - male rape and sexual violence. i want songs about murder and cannibalism, god fucking damnit.

she's really metal, under there.

"I love the rumor that I have a penis. I'm fascinated by it. In fact, it makes me love my fans even more that this rumor is in the world because 17,000 of them come to an arena every night and they don't care if i'm a man, a woman, a hermaphrodite, gay, straight, transgendered, or transsexual. They don't care! They are there for the music and the freedom. This has been the greatest accomplishment of my life- to get young people to throw away what society has taught them is wrong. Gay culture is at the very essence of who I am and I will fight for women and for the gay community until I die."

Lady Gaga May 2010

i liked her better brunette, but she kept being mistaken for amy winehouse (??) so she went blonde.

you wanna tap it:

 

[theotherside]

Well she is a classical pianist correct? I do not enjoy her pop crap, but I do not enjoy any of the other it girls of this time period or any other. If she came out with a classical album then no one would know who she is....but she would get mad musical props. IMO at least she can actually play an instrument and play it very well. Better than say Miley Cyrus

 

[Kenickie]

lol!

Stripped of all of her outlandish accoutrements, Lady Gaga gets down to her bare essence in the pages of Vanity Fair.

She tells the magazine’s September issue, due to hit newsstands on Wednesday, that she keeps her creative mojo going by avoiding sex.

“I have this weird thing that if I sleep with someone, they’re going to take my creativity from me through my vagina,” says Gaga, who appears on the cover.

The 24-year-old pop star also admits that, yes, she was drunk during her infamous appearances at Citi Field (where she flipped off Met fans) and Yankee Stadium (where she crashed the clubhouse).

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/nude_looks_like_lady_0O7qhyfxyMA3ozNJHkwKSK#ixzz0vTo1tyl0

though i wouldn't say it that way, i kind of agree. when i'm celibate (like when i wasnt even masturbating during Lent), writing just pours out of me, and when i'm getting off nice and hard every night i can't even write about what i ate for dinner.

 

[axl blaze]

I like Lady Gaga. she gets the credit for writing most of her songs, so it is not a suit with a pen guiding her to her fortune. it always feels good to hate on musicians, but she is a one-woman hit song creating machine

 

[Kenickie]

lol

she's apparently broken the record for the most number 1 hits from a debut album, ever.

 

[His Name Is Frank]

I think she is very talented. Looking at her videos before she was famous, ( HERE ) you can't deny that. But then she turned herself into the visual equivalent of Marilyn Manson crossed with a drag queen and sings sell-out Madonna music.

She looks retarded. When she drops the goofy shit look and sings music that I care to listen to, I'll change my stance on her. Until then, nah.

 

[Jerry Atrick]

When she drops the goofy shit look and sings music that I care to listen to, I'll change my stance on her. Until then, nah.

I recently had this debate on another forum and this lady who's a music teacher defended her talent using words like "image" and "persona". I was like, "WTF does image and persona have to do with music?!"

 

[double ewe]

I recently had this debate on another forum and this lady who's a music teacher defended her talent using words like "image" and "persona". I was like, "WTF does image and persona have to do with music?!"

i know the purists and the snobs will have an easy time disagreeing with me, but i think persona and general style have a lot to do with how someone responds to music (especially pop). someone's art is a huge reflection of their personality, and so the information you have about their personality tends to influence how you perceive their music.

 

[Kenickie]

^^^ +1

 

[TheLoveBandit]

Would you care to hear YMCA sung by Wham? Or Lick It Up, by Rick Astley? Or Orinoco Flow, by Meatloaf? No. The 'image' and 'persona' of a musical artists general are part of the music the offer. Strictly speaking in terms of listenability, or quality, you'd be correct that hearing it over the radio does not present the 'image' or 'persona' all that well - but when it comes down to being a fan, even a casual one, a lot of what bonds you with a song is the overall experience conveyed with the music, which extends to the image and persona of the artist and other fans.

You don't see Goth fans at a concert for the Pet Shop Boys, even if they thought the 'music' was good. You don't walk past a construction site and catch a bunch of manly-men bopping around to Cindy Lauper. It doesn't fit.

 

[Jerry Atrick]

i know the purists and the snobs will have an easy time disagreeing with me, but i think persona and general style have a lot to do with how someone responds to music (especially pop). someone's art is a huge reflection of their personality, and so the information you have about their personality tends to influence how you perceive their music.

I had to LOL at your putting "purist" and "snob" in the same group, as if there was no difference But you are correct in aligning persona and style with pop, cuz we all know pop isn't about the music anyways.

Would you care to hear YMCA sung by Wham? Or Lick It Up, by Rick Astley? Or Orinoco Flow, by Meatloaf? No. The 'image' and 'persona' of a musical artists general are part of the music the offer. Strictly speaking in terms of listenability, or quality, you'd be correct that hearing it over the radio does not present the 'image' or 'persona' all that well - but when it comes down to being a fan, even a casual one, a lot of what bonds you with a song is the overall experience conveyed with the music, which extends to the image and persona of the artist and other fans.

You don't see Goth fans at a concert for the Pet Shop Boys, even if they thought the 'music' was good. You don't walk past a construction site and catch a bunch of manly-men bopping around to Cindy Lauper. It doesn't fit.

Go look up "music" in the dictionary. You're only reiterating what I'm trying to say anyways: a) image and persona have nothing to do with music, and b) mainstream pop isn't about the music either.

Sure a couple of them may prance around on stage holding instruments, but when someone spends more time getting dressed up than writing meaningful lyrics there is definitely something lacking.....substance.

 

[Kenickie]

what your saying is that classical pianists can only look like...classical pianists, not 24yr old girls?

music would be hella boring if no one cared about their "persona."
thank goodness no one making music seems to think like you.

 

[tribal girl]

I think she does a good (albeit transparent) job at using motifs in her videos.

That'll be the illuminati.

I kinda gave up giving a shit what does or doesn't make it into the charts when I was around 14 years old. If I had to give my opinion though, I would say she's nothing more than a third-rate Madonna. Her songs are OK, and do tend to get stuck in your head when you least expect it, but that's not really saying much. I think her image is much bigger than her music though, and she tries to use shock tactics to stick out in peoples minds. Except nothing really shocks me any more. Perhaps it's exciting for the younger generation, but it's nothing new or original to me.