Radio Ga Ga 5,671 Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 WARNING: Long read, but please read it if you have the time, it's worth it: A lot of people say that the reason why ARTPOP was not well received by the GP is because its music is not very radio friendly, or because the philosophy and message of the album is too obscure. However, if you look at each individual song on the album, they are pretty radio friendly, in fact even more radio friendly than the songs on Born This Way or The Fame Monster. And when people say that the message of ARTPOP is too obscure, they tend to forget that most of the GP didn’t even know what the message of The Fame is, or understand the meaning of weird titles like “The Edge Of Gloryâ€, but those songs still became really popular. So I think both are not the real reason why the ARTPOP wasn’t well received. In order to study “failuresâ€, we should first look at successes and compare them. When Lady Gaga first came out in 2008, it was her catchy music like “Just Dance†and “Poker Face†that made her popular, just like how many other pop stars become famous (Ke$ha with Tik Tok, Britney with Baby One More Time, you name it). But many artists really struggle to keep the fame alive for long, because they tend to become irrelevant whenever they get too overexposed. Lady Gaga though, was smart. She utilized shocking values to grab the GP’s attention, because when pop stars do crazy stuff, the media talks about it like crazy because it grabs people’s attention and creates controversies (Look at Miley Cyrus with her We Can’t Stop, VMA performance, and Wrecking Ball). During The Fame Monster Era, Lady Gaga released three pretty shocking videos that really grabbed the GP’s attention, one of which went viral because of its uniqueness and catchiness (Bad Romance). She also had pretty shocking costumes and performances like the meat dress, AMA 2010 (the one with breaking glass), and pretty much everything she does. This was the main reason why she was so relevant and popular at that time. Because of all the fame she collected during The Fame and The Fame Monster, and with the major support from the LGBT community, Born This Way went through pretty well at first, and was still pretty well received by the GP, because it showed a more original and dark side of Gaga, which was interesting to the GP at first (I guess it was at that time considered shocking to see Gaga, a pretty insane figure, being so calm while playing The Edge of Glory on piano). There was still some shocking value with the entire Joe thing during You and I, but there was pretty much no shocking value at all with Marry the Night. Yes, the music video was 13 minutes long, and yes it was the fifth single, but that cannot explain why the single flopped on chart. It was all about the lack of shocking value. The performance at the Grammy’s with the skeleton outfit isn’t really that shocking, ‘cause Gaga has done that already with Born This Way, and the video, the outfits, and the theme just doesn’t create any controversies within the media and the GP. Gaga did not learn from her mistakes she made with MTN. She came back with Applause after her surgery. Yes, it was pretty experimental and it did perform well, but for a lead single, it really should have done better. Again, it’s the problem of the lack of shocking value. There was nothing shocking and controversial about the VMA performance of Applause. The video wasn’t really shocking or controversial either; neither are the outfits. What Gaga really should have done was to release an experimental song, and do something during the VMA’s that would shock people. Now look at ARTPOP’s tracklist: "Aura" "Venus" "G.U.Y." "Sexxx Dreams" "Jewels N' Drugs" "MANiCURE" "Do What U Want" "ARTPOP" "Swine" "Donatella" "Fashion!" "Mary Jane Holland" "Dope" "Gypsy" "Applause" Immediately, we can take out everything except for Aura, Swine, and maybe Applause, in terms of experimental factor. Applause couldn’t create controversies with its performances, so we can cross that one out. Now it’s Aura and Swine. Aura is extremely radio unfriendly, with obscure lyrics that are not very GP friendly. It could do well, but too risky, so that’s eliminated. Now look at Swine, it has a pretty straightforward message that people can relate to, because everyone has people that they don’t like, and it’s also a pretty catchy EDM. Now imagine an epic viral video with Swine, the shocking fashion it would create, and imagine if the SXSW or the ITunes festival performance with the vomiting paint was done during the VMA’s instead of it being Applause, just imagine how much controversies and attention Gaga would get!! Swine as the lead single would have slayed everyone! So my ARTPOP era: 1. Swine 2. Applause (Promo Singles: Venus/G.U.Y, Gypsy/G.U.Y) 3. Aura (with more shocking performances and fashion) 4. DWUW (Just send it to radio, have one or two performances, then go on tour) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seeka 12,372 Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 The longest thread ever to support Swine as a single. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElfyAss 0 Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 The longest thread ever to support Swine as a single. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlet Witch 1,477 Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 No, its just that EDM is dated and no one is here for those anymore Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJHolland 12,725 Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Maybe because "shock value" has become synonymous with Miley Cyrus who was become synonymous with trashy.... So now when anyone does something unconventional, they get jumped on for being cheap and attention-hungry, especially females.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neptune 156 Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 The real problem now is: how can you keep giving the audience that shocking value when you're stuck to what people expect from you? Gaga won't be able to shock people with costumes anymore. She can get an article or two about that, but if she had another meat dress moment people would be like "here she comes again with the crazy costumes". That formula is gone. Then came Miley, and the new way to shock people was acting slutty. And, excuse me, but I really don't want Gaga going that way. It's like the public is still saturated of those 3 Gaga years. New people need to come in the pop scene, change it, so that she can still gives us what she does best and be successful. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slayer 9,227 Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Overall I disagree that ARTPOP as an album didn't have as many shocking moments. Aura, Jewels N' Drugs, DWUW, Swine, Dope and ARTPOP were all departures in sound. I remember listening to these songs for the first time and being taken aback by how different they were. I didn't have this with any of her other albums. On the other hand, I do agree that ARTPOP as an era lacked the "big" moments that make Lady Gaga who she is. I love judas SO MUCH but I canʹt look like a copycat of JLO!!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brizoda 3,733 Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 that's not rue No, its just that EDM is dated and no one is here for those anymore that's not true look at sSummer - calvin harris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luc 4,775 Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Not Swine that's not a good single choice. Perhaps if it was more like the SwineFest version with 'Swii-ii-ii-ii-iine' (the catchiest and best part) being in the song much more, and perhaps if the vocals were redone so it's understandable. I actually think that the main issue this era is the bad decisions made, and the lack of promotion. - Applause should NOT have been rush released - Applause should have been promoted more everywhere - DWUW should not have been an R. Kelly collaboration, instead it should've been a solo track or a collab with a different R&B star (excluding Chris Brown) - DWUW should have been promoted better WW - The third single should have been launched in January, not April - DOPE shouldn't have been a promotional single - the iTunes festival should've included max. 2 album tracks, and been more past hits - Gaga should've went for an actual style this era. But instead, she chose to have a different style every week, with only one consistent look. Usually that isn't the case with Gaga eras. - the App shouldn't have happened or should have already been completed by then - Gaga should've had a better manager from the beginning of the era to avoid things like Angela Cheng rumors being seen as real. But let's leave the past behind, there's so many mistakes. Let's wait for the next era. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radio Ga Ga 5,671 Posted June 15, 2014 Author Share Posted June 15, 2014 No, its just that EDM is dated and no one is here for those anymore But stuff like Selfie, Turn Down For What, Calvin Harris and Avicii stuff did alright Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slayer 9,227 Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Not Swine that's not a good single choice. Perhaps if it was more like the SwineFest version with 'Swii-ii-ii-ii-iine' (the catchiest and best part) being in the song much more, and perhaps if the vocals were redone so it's understandable. I actually think that the main issue this era is the bad decisions made, and the lack of promotion. - Applause should NOT have been rush released - Applause should have been promoted more everywhere - DWUW should not have been an R. Kelly collaboration, instead it should've been a solo track or a collab with a different R&B star (excluding Chris Brown) - DWUW should have been promoted better WW - The third single should have been launched in January, not April - DOPE shouldn't have been a promotional single - the iTunes festival should've included max. 2 album tracks, and been more past hits - Gaga should've went for an actual style this era. But instead, she chose to have a different style every week, with only one consistent look. Usually that isn't the case with Gaga eras. - the App shouldn't have happened or should have already been completed by then - Gaga should've had a better manager from the beginning of the era to avoid things like Angela Cheng rumors being seen as real. But let's leave the past behind, there's so many mistakes. Let's wait for the next era. The iTunes fest was the best thing to come out of this era IMO. Hearing songs live for the first time was one of the best experiences I've had as a fan. I love judas SO MUCH but I canʹt look like a copycat of JLO!!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmyJudas 209 Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 If Gaga gives us an album she loves with her passion, the radio isn't the most important thing for me. Most of us care about it but no one of us wants just a catchy radio friendly album. It's not all about charts and spins. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benji 20,113 Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Applause's debut performance was meant to be extremely shocking but MTV didn't allow her to do it, that really dampened the whole era. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tove Lo 2,481 Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Reading all of that wasn't worth it. I mean come on, SWINE as single? hop on that **** like a maniac Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
idldte 2 Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 Or maybe it just didn't do as well because the music isn't as good as it used to be? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Featured Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.