Was "pre-BTW Gaga" a product that we all fell in love with?

[No Angel 128]

Gaga doesn't like to be controlled, but her 'controlled' times brought the best material :/

 

Best way to explain it.

[FameHungry 146]

But creativity is never prefect or polished. Neither are our thoughts and ideas. I loved the BTW era because of this, she was bursting with concepts, ideas and though they weren't put into a neat little package, that doesn't mean it's not as good as something done neatly.

 

It also makes her work seem more raw. That's why she's really pushing the whole "give the artist more creative freedom" because when making music, that's very important. Her music will always be a product no matter what way she executes it.

[shaneybaby 450]

People telling other people on this forum they're wrong for liking BTW or ARTPOP more than TFM is absurd, its 100% opinion based and cannot be wrong. Don't be naive. 

 

I will say that my least favorite time for gaga was THE FAME. I did not like her at this time. I felt like she was some puppet and was trying to be this space girl thing and it just didn't work for me. I began to find her cool when she did the paparazzi performance at the end of the fame. She showed me she was a real artist and she said herself after that performance she realized the artist she wanted to be.

 

My favorite era was BTW. Best music for me and I was the most invested in it. I also loved TFM, mainly bad romance song/video as well as some of ARTPOP. Seashell girl and her iTunes performance of ARTPOP the song blew my mind. Amazing. 

 

I definitely think she has gained more and more control with each album, but ARTPOP was a rough time for her and was poorly promoted with the loss of her manager. 

[Hewkah 48]

Well,  some of us (like me) preferred Gaga from 2008 - 2011. For me it was her golden age. She was simply unstoppable. As it has been pointed out various times throughout the thread, Gaga had one of the best teams ever back in her early days. The promo was fantastic, the concepts were creative but not too pretentious - those were the days Gaga didn't try too hard. 

Gaga, now, has lost a lot of her mystery. Her performances and energy on stage aren't what they used to be, either. However, I am not for one second saying she doesn't work as hard as she used to - absolutely no way. She's still got that drive that we've seen time and time again, but the actual motivation of her mannerisms, singing, dancing, and 'vision' have faded. She no longer has to 'prove' herself, and so the performances sometimes lose that specific energy they once had. 

 

I am also going to be very bold and say that, musically, her older songs are much more superior than to anything she's brought out in the last three years. That's my opinion, and I am basing that off songs that are ear worms; the songs that caught our attention. Indeed, I believe when she's older, what she's going to be really remembered for is TFM. It's a work of art that I can only describe as perfect. Her debut was stunning, her follow up single made her an over night sensation - and the follow up of the Monster side -  giving us Bad Romance; came together oh so beautifully. 

It was the very fact Gaga peaked too early. She had one of the best debuts ever. For many people, the songs Just Dance, Poker Face, Paparazzi, Bad Romance, Telephone, and Alejandro, are what she'll be remembered for. What the future holds we aren't sure of, but I doubt she'll ever reach a level of fame and idolization that she did in her younger years - The Fame Monster years. 

[Dexxx 1,393]

You all have some good points. And I really don't know what she and her team did why in the past her works was so polished and more iconic, unlike now. I think this is really about her management because things don't work out when they are not well ORGANIZED and PLANNED. We saw how the past eras was well planned and executed compared to ARTPOP's era. And I cant deny that ARTPOP was also a good album and I can see how successful it is if only it was manage and executed well. I also see that because she dont want to be controlled, she did things on her own. And yes, she might be professional at some things but not all. Well, I dont know. I dont know whats running on Gaga's head why she's doing all of this.

Let's see what will happen on her future albums. If she'll ever surpassed what she did in the past. 

[HarryTheNight 35]

i get what you mean. she has all the amazing creative ideas but it helps to have people who know what they're doing in more specialised fields around you, which she has now rejected, leaving stuff to seem a little messy. I know where she is coming from though, being a creative myself it is very tempting to just try do it all yourself, because then you can say look what i did, i did EVERYTHING you see here, but it tends to be less polished then if you had accepted/sought out help from others.

Take Venus for example, its a really interesting catchy song that you can see she had some great ideas for, but I swear it would be 100000x better if she had some co-writing and a more powerful complex production from someone who isn't a beginner in production

[isaacanthony 142]

Honestly... What I really miss from her team is Nicola. That man knew how to style! I know he left his assistant to be her stylist but he is nothing compared to Nicola.

Also, I own the DVD for the Monster Ball... And I would love to see a performance like what she gave in that show. It was so raw and real. I remember going to the concert and feeling such inspiration from it and she really touched my heart. I don't think the BTW ball or ArtRave have given me that.

[XoXoJoanneGaga 629]

Well,  some of us (like me) preferred Gaga from 2008 - 2011. For me it was her golden age. She was simply unstoppable. As it has been pointed out various times throughout the thread, Gaga had one of the best teams ever back in her early days. The promo was fantastic, the concepts were creative but not too pretentious - those were the days Gaga didn't try too hard. 

Gaga, now, has lost a lot of her mystery. Her performances and energy on stage aren't what they used to be, either. However, I am not for one second saying she doesn't work as hard as she used to - absolutely no way. She's still got that drive that we've seen time and time again, but the actual motivation of her mannerisms, singing, dancing, and 'vision' have faded. She no longer has to 'prove' herself, and so the performances sometimes lose that specific energy they once had. 

 

I am also going to be very bold and say that, musically, her older songs are much more superior than to anything she's brought out in the last three years. That's my opinion, and I am basing that off songs that are ear worms; the songs that caught our attention. Indeed, I believe when she's older, what she's going to be really remembered for is TFM. It's a work of art that I can only describe as perfect. Her debut was stunning, her follow up single made her an over night sensation - and the follow up of the Monster side -  giving us Bad Romance; came together oh so beautifully. 

It was the very fact Gaga peaked too early. She had one of the best debuts ever. For many people, the songs Just Dance, Poker Face, Paparazzi, Bad Romance, Telephone, and Alejandro, are what she'll be remembered for. What the future holds we aren't sure of, but I doubt she'll ever reach a level of fame and idolization that she did in her younger years - The Fame Monster years. 

It's not bold at all to say her older music is better. That's the commonly held opinion amongst critics, casual fans, and many hardcore fans. As far as a pure pop artist, she did peak early, and I think it's clear at this point that she'll never make a dance-pop song as perfect and world-conquering as Bad Romance, Poker Face, or Just Dance again. If it was going to happen it would have happened on ARTPOP, that ship has sailed.

 

You're right that The Fame/Monster is what she'll be mainly remembered for, at least as a pure pop star. I think what's going to happen now is that she'll branch out musically and move into more mature genres. We can only hope that she executes her future work with the same level of perfectionism and professionalism that she used to.

 

I think most fans who boarded the ship during or after BTW don't realize just what a perfectionist she was during The Fame. That level of drive and creativity could never have been manufactured by a record label, it was all her. The difference was that she had the drive to be the best, and she had the perfect team and management whose goals lined up with hers and helped her excel to new heights.

 

This is a potentially amazing time to be a fan cause it seems like we might get perfectionist Gaga back next era, just with a more mature genre/sound that isn't dance-pop. If her and her new team can pull it off she can have a great comeback both commercially and artistically and really further her legacy.

[Dayum 240]

I would imagine that ARTPOP was the album she was the most 'controlled' for. She was clearly going in a different, bolder direction and was reigned in by management/Interscope. 

 

The idea that she was some sort of slave-product during the TF/M days is laughable. She was clearly very much in control of everything. The key differences back then were:

 

1) Her vision lined up with her management/label's vision

2) She had an incredible team that enhanced her work and creativity, and pushed her to heights she couldn't reach on her own

3) She was hungry, and put 110% into everything she did

 

Not sure how ARTPOP was going in a different, bolder direction.

 

Absolutely agree with your other points. She should do what she does best (I think that would be being the fun party girl with cool songs) and outsource other aspects of her entertainer career. She should focus on that. Something annoying is that she claims she does not need to prove to anyone that she can make another chart-topper but I don't understand why she needs to constantly prove she has a myriad myriad of musical skills or talents to display. She keeps stretching and stretching further I fear her core could not hold any longer. Maybe there is a little pride issue going on, refusing to accept the help of others.

 

I would say she is less determined than she was before. The drive to succeed is gone, in a sense a little lazy, or complacent could be a better word to describe it. A little control is good, it's just like getting input from other people. It doesn't always have to come from herself organically. We have to learn to respect other's ideas. Isn't that the world now? Championing diversity and equality in many fields? Because people have different opinions and ideas, we shouldn't be too arrogant to accept them.

 

We have to blame the DIY culture - you have to be able to pen your own music, produce your own song etc. Just BS. Sure it's good if you had the talent, but if you don't, don't be afraid to seek for help. Evolution - change is good when it goes in the right direction. Look at animals. Some evolve parts that are useless and some useful. We need more useful parts.

[bumblebee 2,528]

Well I am not sure about the whole "product thing", but Born This Way is clearly a turning point. 

 

Born This Way was the album where it all changed. After amazing records like The Fame and The Fame Monster she delivered a stunning peace of music, a beautiful album with unexpected sonic decisions, amazing lyrics and melodies. I think it was partly because she didn't try to re-do or outdo her previous works, but simply wanted to produce something of its own, unique and humble beauty. 

 

Despite having such amazing songs, it was the time when Gaga for some reason decided to distance herself from professional assistance in music videos. Given the fact that her visuals have always been very important in accompanying her songs it was a very risky move which didn't seem to pay off for many of her fans. Not to mention it was the time when the first conflicts started to erupt within her team.

 

I also remember that many fans fell disappointed in the Born This Way sales and blamed it for ending her streak of top ten singles within Billboard Hot 100, those discussions were literally everywhere on the forum. There was an idea among many fans that she should deliver something more modern with her next album, because Born This Way was deemed as too 80s. And I'm afraid that is why Gaga pursued for this electronic direction, decided to produce a "techno raver little sister of The Fame Monster", but ARTPOP, again, did not come as that modern for many of the fans. It's clearly her most electronic effort yet, but the best songs like Do What U Want, Gypsy and Dope are not very electronic (Applause is great though). 

 

But I suppose Gaga has new team around herself and seems like she has fixed the management issues, so I am looking forward to her new music! 

[MANiCURE 60]

"My name is Lady Gaga and this is my Haus"

 

[Tommy Monster 846]

Gaga doesn't like to be controlled, but her 'controlled' times brought the best material :/

this, so much :applause:

[No Angel 128]

Well,  some of us (like me) preferred Gaga from 2008 - 2011. For me it was her golden age. She was simply unstoppable. As it has been pointed out various times throughout the thread, Gaga had one of the best teams ever back in her early days. The promo was fantastic, the concepts were creative but not too pretentious - those were the days Gaga didn't try too hard. 

Gaga, now, has lost a lot of her mystery. Her performances and energy on stage aren't what they used to be, either. However, I am not for one second saying she doesn't work as hard as she used to - absolutely no way. She's still got that drive that we've seen time and time again, but the actual motivation of her mannerisms, singing, dancing, and 'vision' have faded. She no longer has to 'prove' herself, and so the performances sometimes lose that specific energy they once had. 

 

I am also going to be very bold and say that, musically, her older songs are much more superior than to anything she's brought out in the last three years. That's my opinion, and I am basing that off songs that are ear worms; the songs that caught our attention. Indeed, I believe when she's older, what she's going to be really remembered for is TFM. It's a work of art that I can only describe as perfect. Her debut was stunning, her follow up single made her an over night sensation - and the follow up of the Monster side -  giving us Bad Romance; came together oh so beautifully. 

It was the very fact Gaga peaked too early. She had one of the best debuts ever. For many people, the songs Just Dance, Poker Face, Paparazzi, Bad Romance, Telephone, and Alejandro, are what she'll be remembered for. What the future holds we aren't sure of, but I doubt she'll ever reach a level of fame and idolization that she did in her younger years - The Fame Monster years. 

 

 

All of this, especially the bolded. Right on the head. 2008-2011 was one hell of a time, honestly. I feel the same exact way. I'm not sure how she'll be able to rebound her way back up there but I hope it can happen. Though The Fame Monster is my favorite, Born This Way was the most exciting time to be a Gaga fan in my opinion. It was just an amazing year witnessing it all. 

[053Timo 1,682]

Her songs are great too nowadays and her voice is out of this world. But if you look at the What's Up cover at the artRAVE she looks like a MESS. The latex outfit during Paparazzi what she wears is not fitting well at all and her wig is almost falling.... I can't understand why she let these thinks happen!

[Neptune 156]

Well,  some of us (like me) preferred Gaga from 2008 - 2011. For me it was her golden age. She was simply unstoppable. As it has been pointed out various times throughout the thread, Gaga had one of the best teams ever back in her early days. The promo was fantastic, the concepts were creative but not too pretentious - those were the days Gaga didn't try too hard. 

Gaga, now, has lost a lot of her mystery. Her performances and energy on stage aren't what they used to be, either. However, I am not for one second saying she doesn't work as hard as she used to - absolutely no way. She's still got that drive that we've seen time and time again, but the actual motivation of her mannerisms, singing, dancing, and 'vision' have faded. She no longer has to 'prove' herself, and so the performances sometimes lose that specific energy they once had. 

 

 

I agree with you on this.