Why the return of lady gaga matters

[yASSsss 35,510]

When the Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant used the term "imperial phase" in an early-00s interview, he did so in reference to the group's 1987/88 commercial peak. A period in which three of their four UK #1s hit the top spot - It's A Sin, Always On My Mind and Heart - it was, in the former pop critic's words, a time when he felt "we had the secret of contemporary pop music, that we knew what was required". And you'd be hard pushed to argue.

Lady Gaga is an artist who knows all about "imperial phases". For a glorious stretch beginning with debut single Just Dance and peaking roughly with the release of the Beyoncé featuringTelephone video just under two years later, she was the artist with all the momentum. Omnipotent in a way that fellow imperial phaser Eminem had been 10 years earlier, there was an overwhelming sense that she knew what she was doing: each release building on the previous.

Although 2013's ARTPOP would complete the trilogy of albums that we may now view as Lady Gaga Mark 1 - a five year run of increasingly elaborate music videos, performances and gimmicks - by the time of release there was a general and well documented mood of battening down the hatches. Singles were proposed and then scrapped, music videos failed to materialise and although the Christina Aguilera featuring Do What U Want single would be well received (UK #9), the die was cast: the imperial phase was over and suddenly fellow Pet Shop Boy Chris Lowe's description of the term - "It means you can do what you like, usually followed by disappearing up your backside!" - seemed only too pertinent.

The thing about imperial phases is that they rarely signal the beginning or the end of a career. The Pet Shop Boys didn't stop being brilliant post-Actually. Bruce Springsteen only got bigger in the years following his appearance on the covers of both Time and Newsweek in the same week. Madonna even went on to have another late-90s imperial phase (and then another halfway through the 00s).

Lady Gaga is no longer the artist in our mind's eye. And so what? Away from the noise and the baggage of previous years, we should be able to enjoy Perfect Illusion for what it is: a solid comeback with just enough room to establish what could well be the sound of a genuinely thrilling second act.

 

I didn't post the whole article due to GGD rules but you can read it here.it's an interesting read 

http://i-d.vice.com/en_gb/article/why-the-return-of-lady-gaga-matters?utm_source=idtwitter
 

[yASSsss 35,510]

I love the fact that Gaga is always compared to music industry's legends 

Spoiler

when will her contemporaries 

 

 

[Neight Shayde 7,925]

[Sakrai 4,759]

Lady Gaga is a living legend.

That said, I've always found it incredibly interesting how twisted the world of aspiration is. Everything is aspirational; we endlessly seek what we don't have. As Kundera puts it, "Life is Elsewhere"
Gaga's entire drive during the beginning of her career was to achieve FAME. That mysterious, unbearably attractive quality. Gaga knew NOTHING about fame. She had no idea what it meant, how it sits in your heart, how it affects you and those around you. And yet there she was, craving it more than anything, crafting an elaborate lie to reach that weird state of fame. She wanted to be famous more than anything else. And then she got what she wanted. She became famous, her dream came true, her deepest craving knocked on her door.

And now, years later, she confesses to the world that which we knew. "I had no idea what fame was", "Fame deeply affected me" "I felt terribly alone" "I feel like I can't connect with people".

Gaga fascinates me. 

[PassTheTime 1,448]

Phoenix Queen 

[13VictorC 1,102]

2 minutes ago, Rescued said:

Lady Gaga is a living legend.

That said, I've always found it incredibly interesting how twisted the world of aspiration is. Everything is aspirational; we endlessly seek what we don't have. As Kundera puts it, "Life is Elsewhere"
Gaga's entire drive during the beginning of her career was to achieve FAME. That mysterious, unbearably attractive quality. Gaga knew NOTHING about fame. She had no idea what it meant, how it sits in your heart, how it affects you and those around you. And yet there she was, craving it more than anything, crafting an elaborate lie to reach that weird state of fame. She wanted to be famous more than anything else. And then she got what she wanted. She became famous, her dream came true, her deepest craving knocked on her door.

And now, years later, she confesses to the world that which we knew. "I had no idea what fame was", "Fame deeply affected me" "I felt terribly alone" "I feel like I can't connect with people".

Gaga fascinates me. 

I miss that drive and insatiable craving in Gaga. Even though I love PI, I hope she finds that attitude again for LG6. 

[xeynuraf 191]

I think that those examples they throw in are from a different era, a different reality in the music bussiness. Pop acts are so disposable now with a shrinking shelf life that if gaga makes it to another imperial phase it will be a miracle.

I think that fans should be happy about the idea that gaga will not have the preassure to succeed like in the begginig. That hunger to be famous is over so is very possible that she will start doing music that she really loves and always intended to deliver.

The moment the fans start enjoying her musical journey intead of her chart sucess the fan wars will be over and you will enjoy her musical talents more than never before.

[Sakrai 4,759]

21 minutes ago, 13VictorC said:

I miss that drive and insatiable craving in Gaga. Even though I love PI, I hope she finds that attitude again for LG6. 

nnnnnn such a complicated issue...
I wouldn't say she doesn't have that drive anymore. Drive is essentially that energy that we channel into achieving specific goals. It's pretty obvious that she has lost the drive to become famous. That's clear. She already became as famous as you can possibly get in our society. For some time, like this article points out, Gaga was the most famous person on the planet. This means that she probably won't have that drive again. She won't be interested in fame again because she already had it, she learned a lot from it, and she let it go. 
I think she still has that drive; that...élan, if you will. She still has that thirst to achieve goals, but her objectives are different. She wants to achieve different things; things that have nothing to do with fame or celebrity culture. In a way, this means she grew. She's more mature now, she's not constrained by these superfluous ideas. She discovered how vapid and cruel fame can be, and she discovered higher goals, more noble and more important destinations. The attitude that she has now is the one from a person who is above fame. and very, VERY few people (certainly none of us) can look at the world from that perspective. She is a very rare thing.

Also, to anyone who has this idea of Gaga "reclaiming" the throne, I suggest you look at this interview of Oprah and JK Rowling. 

(It's only a short segment starting at 38:00) I think it has a lot to do with this topic and what could happen to Gaga if she can't let go of fame. Let's not ask her to waste the rest of her life trying to one-up her younger self. Let her walk, and be free.

[Red 97,983]

It matters cause Gaga is the owner of the world and everyone that resides in it should live for their queen

[Tommy Giovanni 46]

28 minutes ago, Rescued said:

nnnnnn such a complicated issue...
I wouldn't say she doesn't have that drive anymore. Drive is essentially that energy that we channel into achieving specific goals. It's pretty obvious that she has lost the drive to become famous. That's clear. She already became as famous as you can possibly get in our society. For some time, like this article points out, Gaga was the most famous person on the planet. This means that she probably won't have that drive again. She won't be interested in fame again because she already had it, she learned a lot from it, and she let it go. 
I think she still has that drive; that...élan, if you will. She still has that thirst to achieve goals, but her objectives are different. She wants to achieve different things; things that have nothing to do with fame or celebrity culture. In a way, this means she grew. She's more mature now, she's not constrained by these superfluous ideas. She discovered how vapid and cruel fame can be, and she discovered higher goals, more noble and more important destinations. The attitude that she has now is the one from a person who is above fame. and very, VERY few people (certainly none of us) can look at the world from that perspective. She is a very rare thing.

Also, to anyone who has this idea of Gaga "reclaiming" the throne, I suggest you look at this interview of Oprah and JK Rowling. 

(It's only a short segment starting at 38:00) I think it has a lot to do with this topic and what could happen to Gaga if she can't let go of fame. Let's not ask her to waste the rest of her life trying to one-up her younger self. Let her walk, and be free.

 

Thank you for sharing that interview. That was beautiful. 

[BlaqJezus 1,027]

This thread was and is a genuinely good read, with a stark and reasonable look at Gaga's continuing career. 

Her imperial phase is still a part of her treasured legacy, but it is time to start getting used to an artist who does what they like and isn't looking for fame in the same way she did. Maybe someday soon she will seek to devour the consciousness of the world again, but for now, I'm going to keep loving her beautiful music and the art she so wishes to express.

[Nemo 4,291]

"Trilogy of albums". It's four.

 

[13VictorC 1,102]

37 minutes ago, Rescued said:

nnnnnn such a complicated issue...
I wouldn't say she doesn't have that drive anymore. Drive is essentially that energy that we channel into achieving specific goals. It's pretty obvious that she has lost the drive to become famous. That's clear. She already became as famous as you can possibly get in our society. For some time, like this article points out, Gaga was the most famous person on the planet. This means that she probably won't have that drive again. She won't be interested in fame again because she already had it, she learned a lot from it, and she let it go. 
I think she still has that drive; that...élan, if you will. She still has that thirst to achieve goals, but her objectives are different. She wants to achieve different things; things that have nothing to do with fame or celebrity culture. In a way, this means she grew. She's more mature now, she's not constrained by these superfluous ideas. She discovered how vapid and cruel fame can be, and she discovered higher goals, more noble and more important destinations. The attitude that she has now is the one from a person who is above fame. and very, VERY few people (certainly none of us) can look at the world from that perspective. She is a very rare thing.

Also, to anyone who has this idea of Gaga "reclaiming" the throne, I suggest you look at this interview of Oprah and JK Rowling. 

(It's only a short segment starting at 38:00) I think it has a lot to do with this topic and what could happen to Gaga if she can't let go of fame. Let's not ask her to waste the rest of her life trying to one-up her younger self. Let her walk, and be free.

That interview is very insightful, and I understand that it may be dangerous to try to "outdo" oneself. That's why I don't want her to set a goal for a new Bad Romance.

When I say that I miss Gaga's persistent determination, I don't mean that it must be directed towards fame. In fact, I want Gaga to direct all of that hunger towards a new concept, because the resulting journey will be the gift in itself. Gaga has explained that through releasing a new album she's at the bottom once again, yet it seems like she feels comfortable there and has no desire to move up.

Gaga continues to be talented, mindful, and clever without a doubt, but is she still a fighter?