So when Lady Gaga first came out with her song "Just Dance", my initial response was "Oh look another bleach blonde girl prancing around with no clothes on singing about getting drunk in clubs". I was not impressed.

She gradually grew on me over this past year & after watching her interview with Oprah I had a revelation - every song & perfomance she has done up until now has been one complete show.

Think about it - she starts off as this rather stereotypical pop singer, & as her fame increases she gradually gets more & more strange. This is not a coincidence, she is telling a story, "Lady Gaga", in essence, is a character she has created.

When you compare her Oprah interview with other intervies, you can see a real difference in personality. On Oprah she is being herself - a genuinly caring & suprisingly shy person, but on other interviews she's in character - acting like the bratty larger than life pop star that has been mentally affected by her stardom, acting really cooky.

Her 1st album is about how people rise to fame & her new album "The Fame Monster" is about the dark side of fame, the consiquences people face from it. Consider the song "Paparazzi" - in itself it's just a simple pop song but combined with her perfomance at the VMA's it is about the death of this character she has created due to the fame getting too much for her. I feel her entire career up until now has been one single statement about this celebrity culture the world is obsessed with. I think the death of Princess Diana & the mental breakdown of Britney Spears, to name a few, inspired this. The whole thing is a parody!

If this is true, she is an absolute creative genius. On the other hand, it could simply be that her record label wasn't comfertable with her starting out so strange & forced her to tone down the image & personality as to not overwhelm people right away.

What do you think?

MyNameIsCally said:

she's an amazing artist and is totally misunderstood
even for her charitable contributions.

maytelover18 said:

Well of course that goes without saying! If you want to see her at her best watch her acoustic radio perfomances on YouTube

I saw her back in 2008 she was the opening act for New Kids on the Block and I was watching her and not "getting" her as a artist at all. I couldn't wait for her to finish her set LOL,But last year I started giving her a chance when she release poker face and then when she release Paparazzi I became a fan . It's crazy how so many want to see her in concert and I already did and didn't pay her no mind But she cool , different(Not all that Original) But I like her,

I became a bigger fan after the oprah interview I will say lol
[Edited 1/17/10 14:27pm]

babybugz said:

But do you think everything up until now has been one piece of perfomance art, a statement about celebrity culture? Is Lady Gaga a self created fictional character, a parody? Or is it just me thinking too far into things lol

MyNameIsCally said:

No I just think she's crazy and make's catchy pop music

MyNameIsCally said:

there is a side of performance art with it, but i think creating a complete acharacter as if she is an actress existing in a movie in her mind might be a little further than she is taking it.

MyNameIsCally said:

I felt that way too.

And then when her next song got released I bought her cd that song was on and I was like so this is the chick that sang that song?

I love love lady gaga

I saw her on Oprah Friday and really loved her interview segment. She was so humble. I'm still not sold on her music, but she is a pretty good performer.

daPrettyman said:

Those Oprah interview youtube links you speak of are right here http://prince.org/msg/8/328169

MyNameIsCally said:

now that you think about it...that is pretty fucking brilliant. I can't wait to see what she pulls out of her hat this year

I think eventually she'll drop all the outrageous clothes and hairstyles and just release a solid vocal/piano/pop album as "herself".

Besides, I can't see her keeping this art-piece momentum more than 5 more years.

Se7en said:

I agree. It may not be anytime soon, but I can definitely see that.

My 63 year-old mother loves her. She has 'Bad Romance' as her mobile ringtone. She spent Saturday evening watching a full concert on some cable channel. She texts me whenever GaGa is on the telly. It's really odd.

GirlBrother said:

She has good taste

Up until this point, I only liked "Love Game." But, somehow "Bad Romance" totally sucked me in and tipped the scale in favor of The GaGa. lol To me, "Bad Romance" really captures something about her phenomenon, and is the best crafted song she's released, IMO. Plus, I love when artists name-check themselves..so very Bo Diddley. Gotta love a girl with her own chant:"GaGa ohh-lala..." That part of the song gives me life!! And the "ohhhhh oh oh caught in a bad romance" refrain is epic.

I think she's got the upper hand in a way. I mean, she's like the reverse of so many pop stars in that there's real talent hidden under spectacle. She can play it however she likes. Maybe she'll just keep reinventing characters or perhaps she'll just slowly tone it down and reveal who she really is. It'll be interesting to watch her develop.
[Edited 1/18/10 21:58pm]

I love and adore Lady GaGa <3 She is so much more than the average bratty Pop star. I cannot wait to see where she will be in 20 years.

She does nothing to me.

Here use of visuals / clothes / hairstyles (which appear VERY gimicky to me)cannot hide the fact her music is simply unoriginal, bland designer-pop.

To me, there is not much difference between a Lady Gaga song and a, lets say Rihanna or Britney single.
[Edited 1/19/10 10:28am]

Riverpoet31 said:

I sort of see your point but I think the main difference is that Gaga is very involved in writing her own music unlike Rihanna and Britney and plays piano.

Lady Gaga reminds me of Marily Manson in a way, they both put image above musical qualities.

Marilyon Manson did take some elements of Ministry and Nine inch Nails, and putting an image on top that should be 'shocking'. His problem was, that image was so 'see through' it was laughable, and his was music was such a rip-off he simply didnt have the qualities to sustain a convincing musical career.

Lady Gaga seems to think walking on crutches, and putting on black make up and micky mouse ears in her video's makes her 'different' / artistic. The fact is, its nothing more then a pose / a gimmick to SELL producer-pop.

So what if she can play piano or if she can really sing? To me the music she releases is totally plastic, detached and formualic sounding. Just some Britney with an arty-farty jacket on.

In 5 years the people will have forgotten about her.

Riverpoet31 said:

liking her or not is subjective, and more power to you...

but i would put money on her still being around 5 years from now.

She's a truly creative artist which is clearly lacking these days in the music industry.

When Lady Gaga first came out, I never really thought she would be mainstream. To me, "Just Dance" was good, but I thought it was way too poppy and clubbish for mainstream radio. I figured she'd just be one of those club artists that has hits for the dance floor but that's it.

So you can imagine how surprised I was that it became a major hit. When "Poker Face" came out, I figured "OK, there's no way". Nothing like it was really on the radio, and I really thought that "Just Dance" was just a fluke. I figured "Poker Face" would be a club hit, but nothing else. What happens? It's an even bigger hit. After that, I really started to pay attention.

With The Fame Monster, I think Lady Gaga topped her first effort. Almost every song on the CD is near perfect. The thing about her song's is that there's alot of melody. She knows how to write a damn good song. Plus, she's shown that you can have a big hit and not have to be derivative and like everyone else.

I think Lady Gaga is a major force. Not since Michael Jackson or Madonna has an artist known how to combine music, fashion, and celebrity so well. Think about it. The one that got closest to that was Britney Spears, but I don't think she had that true artistic respect that MJ had and that Madonna eventually earned. JT had great songs, but he never really had a standout image (though I am a big JT fan). And while Usher is a great singer, his songs are very bland and unoriginal (I only have a few songs of his that I consider "great").

So yea..I think Gaga's gonna be a major force and will be here for years to come.

I like her music. Bad Romance

Riverpoet31 said:

There is a huge difference, for starters she wrote a song for britney before she was even famous! She also wrote songs for the Pussycat dolls. Believe me, I'm the last person you'd expect to like Lady Gaga based on my music tastes, usually I can't stand female singers. But she is something special, yes her music is simple & yet it has so much power. That intro to Poker Face is filled with so much energy despite it being so simple. Personally I find her music to be very original & inspiring... check this out...

http://www.youtube.com/wa...UFSsbnmlw0

Her songs may be very simple now, but I think with each album she will get increasingly creative & write some very bizzare & original compositions
[Edited 1/20/10 7:30am]

Riverpoet31 said:

So I have to disagree with you on both counts here. Especially on the Marilyn Manson angle. Listen to Mechanical Animals and you'll hear there is PLENTY of substance to his music. Lyrically and musically that album, as well as Holy Wood, is incredible.
As far as Lady Gaga goes, she may not be god's gift to music, but she is talented both as a singer and a performer, and though her first album is somewhat hit-or-miss, the second one is great all the way through. Plus, you can't really call it "producer pop" when she has an active hand in its creation.

=0P

Hero0101 said:

If she had the songs from the fame monster on the fame it would have been a perfect debut for her

babybugz said:

I dont think so. Listen to The Fame...then listen to Monster...Vocally and lyrically, Monster is on another level! The songs on The Fame all connect to each other. I don't think it would have sounded quite right if the songs (from both albums) were merged. Some of her best work are the out-takes from The Fame session and songs before The Fame era.

ViintageJunkiie said:

She not that deep and I don't think it's much of a difference .Just better beats , better lyrics that's it. I play the fame monster more than the fame even though I enjoyed the singles from the fame. She add both it would have been a better album but I'm interested in her second LP if it's like the fame monster it should be good.
[Edited 1/20/10 18:34pm]

MyNameIsCally said:

Excellent analysis!!!

PERFORMANCE ARTIST Lady Gaga is totally a fictional character. Through parody, Gaga offers a critique of modern media and the nature of fame and celebrity.

I have not followed her career progression, as you have Cally, but it is quite clear that Gaga is now a total performance artist, especially evident as she calls her fans "monsters".

It seems that most people often overlook the layered meanings of modern performance artistry. People want to believe their fantasy understandings of star personalities are real, and most will refuse to betray their own ideas. Many simply cannot (or refuse to) look beyond what is immediately presented, missing out on most of the artistry. Much of what has been offered to the masses can be interpreted performance art parody.

Most here at PRINCE.ORG don't realize that Prince's entire career is an act of performance art. Prince has created many characters, such Morris Day and Vanity, in his art.