I don't understand this fanbase...

[Bloodyjack 794]

It's an inside joke within the fanbase and BR is just generally a piece of pop culture history and one of the best dance songs of all time

[wonderlanddynasty 715]

I guess that's because Bad Romance was such a masterpiece. No one expected the song to be that good (or even to be better than Poker Face). Not that I think Million Reasons was not a masterpiece, but back then people were still surprised about her changes and wanted the "old" Gaga back. Bad Romance had already been a familiar Gaga sound yk. 

[doppelganger 3,933]

MR is one of her best songs though. One of my fav for sure!

In retrospect i understood all the crying and hugging in the video (fibro) ... but i still didn't like it. it could have been so brilliant and impactful. I never meltdown over Gaga's choices and that was the one time!

[Drin Lon 7,875]

Besides delulus on ATRL, I feel like everyone really liked Million Reasons, but not the video obvi. The million performances thing is a meme and it's funny so it's alright 

But Bad Romance>>>

[JR Gg 12,985]

On 8/3/2018 at 7:23 AM, HermesGr said:

You forgot the ugly pink hat too.. 😂😂

Bitch now you've crossed the line.

That pink hat is iconic 

You can slander the whole Joanne era, but that pink hat is the probably the most prominent pop iconography of 2016 lol 

[REALITY 76,511]

On 8/2/2018 at 6:10 PM, SKANK said:

To me, Million Reasons and the song's roll out represent my only gripe with Joanne, the lack of imagination and innovation. It's a cliche song, with a cliche music video, promoted with cliche performances. Just because your record has country influences doesn't mean you have to present in cowgirl drag.

 

1

That is Gaga's way of doing things though: she is fully invested in whatever she's creating. One thing I notice about Gaga that I honestly don't know if people have noticed is that will fully invest herself in whatever in the environment she's in. When she's performing with/for Elton, she embodies Elton. When she performs with/for Tony, she fully embodies the jazz "aesthetic" and sound. Hell, even with the Super Bowl, she could have had a much more elaborate final costume, but she chose to wear football player shoulder pads because that was the event in which she was performing for. If the song has country influences, you know she's going to fully embody that. 

[Glamourpuss 29,062]

Million Reasons would have been better if it was arranged differently. The royal variety performance was stunningly beautiful. If that was the album version it would have done well. 

She did the same thing with Joanne the piano version if that was the version on the album it would be alot more appreciated. 

I think the problem with the ballads on Joanne if you can call them that is that they don't pack that heart hitting punch like the ASIB songs do. I mean I can listen to MR and appreciate the lyrics but it doesn't move me. It's just a very "meh" feeling. I've thought from the start that most of the Joanne album sounds like unfinished songs. Like if she'd spent a bit more time perfecting them they'd have the effect that she was trying to achieve. 

I love BR because there was nothing like it when it came out. I still get chills when it comes on because it takes me back to that magical time when she was touring the monster ball. BR is a modern classic and never gets old. 

[Patrick Garcia 312]

On 8/2/2018 at 7:45 PM, KatieJudasGaga4 said:

Please don't compare MR to Happy, to very different songs. MR is also a special song and doesn't song like any other song, and Bad Romance sampled another song..soo...

Which song did BR sample? 

[Guest Anisko]

Million reasons is a ****ing masterpiece and it's not basic or mainstream song 

But tbh the music video technically and artistically is not good at all ..

[Irrelevant 20,282]

Why did this thread get bumped

[SKANK 14,288]

15 hours ago, M Monstre said:

That is Gaga's way of doing things though: she is fully invested in whatever she's creating. One thing I notice about Gaga that I honestly don't know if people have noticed is that will fully invest herself in whatever in the environment she's in. When she's performing with/for Elton, she embodies Elton. When she performs with/for Tony, she fully embodies the jazz "aesthetic" and sound. Hell, even with the Super Bowl, she could have had a much more elaborate final costume, but she chose to wear football player shoulder pads because that was the event in which she was performing for. If the song has country influences, you know she's going to fully embody that. 

 

I think what you are calling "fully embodying" I would call superficial parroting. Rather than putting an interesting spin on the archetype of a cowgirl, she did a paint-by-numbers prototypical cowgirl. She didn't advance our cultures take on the cowgirl.

Similarly, when she does tributes, they often feel like draggy homages, rather than a performance showing how that performer inspired her own craft.

Without a creative director or someone who can help elevate her ideas, she can fall into community theater territory real quick.

The only time I think it's effective is when it's done in a tongue in cheek way. Like when she would dress as the person interviewing her.

 

[REALITY 76,511]

17 minutes ago, SKANK said:

I think what you are calling "fully embodying" I would call superficial parroting. Rather than putting an interesting spin on the archetype of a cowgirl, she did a paint-by-numbers prototypical cowgirl. She didn't advance our cultures take on the cowgirl.

Similarly, when she does tributes, they often feel like draggy homages, rather than a performance showing how that performer inspired her own craft.

Without a creative director or someone who can help elevate her ideas, she can fall into community theater territory real quick.

The only time I think it's effective is when it's done in a tongue in cheek way. Like when she would dress as the person interviewing her.

 

 

She's a "chameleon" in the music industry for a reason though. Now I'm not saying that you're not entitled to like her tribute performances or whatever, but to call them "draggy homages" is frankly an insult to her artistry. Her whole 'persona' and her whole life is based on other people (i.e. Bowie, Elton, Tony, etc.), and mimicking them. Hell, she right from the beginning mimicked Bowie's iconic lightning bolt. It's not like this is something new. That isn't to say that Gaga isn't original, because she absolutely is, but shes embodies people like them because she wants to pay respect to those people. 

About Joanne specifically, what more could she do with a cowgirl? What would you have her do that "advances our culture's take on a cowgirl?" She didn't need to perform some sort of abstract performance piece in order to convey a message. Joanne was a pop/country/rock/folk album and she embodied aspects of those genres. Again that is what makes her a chameleon. 

We can even see this in her everyday life—and in the little things she does. When she makes an album, she dresses appropriately with whoever she's working with. It's a subtle, probably subconscious thing she does, and that's because she loves to change and shapeshift into whatever and whoever. 

[SKANK 14,288]

1 hour ago, M Monstre said:

She's a "chameleon" in the music industry for a reason though. Now I'm not saying that you're not entitled to like her tribute performances or whatever, but to call them "draggy homages" is frankly an insult to her artistry. Her whole 'persona' and her whole life is based on other people (i.e. Bowie, Elton, Tony, etc.), and mimicking them. Hell, she right from the beginning mimicked Bowie's iconic lightning bolt. It's not like this is something new. That isn't to say that Gaga isn't original, because she absolutely is, but shes embodies people like them because she wants to pay respect to those people. 

About Joanne specifically, what more could she do with a cowgirl? What would you have her do that "advances our culture's take on a cowgirl?" She didn't need to perform some sort of abstract performance piece in order to convey a message. Joanne was a pop/country/rock/folk album and she embodied aspects of those genres. Again that is what makes her a chameleon. 

We can even see this in her everyday life—and in the little things she does. When she makes an album, she dresses appropriately with whoever she's working with. It's a subtle, probably subconscious thing she does, and that's because she loves to change and shapeshift into whatever and whoever. 

 

I think Gaga would dislike her career being summarized as a "whole life based on other people and mimicking them" as she much as she would dislike her tributes being called "draggy homages."  

If you are asking my opinion, when it comes to Joanne specifically, I would have preferred her not to pair the album with visuals that evoke Americana and Western themes. The music video for Million Reasons is a prime example of her just relishing in cliches. 

I want her to be a chameleon, and a shape-shifter, but in ways that are not entirely predicable. In ways that challenge our preconceived notions of genre and style.

[REALITY 76,511]

7 hours ago, SKANK said:

I think Gaga would dislike her career being summarized as a "whole life based on other people and mimicking them" as she much as she would dislike her tributes being called "draggy homages."  

If you are asking my opinion, when it comes to Joanne specifically, I would have preferred her not to pair the album with visuals that evoke Americana and Western themes. The music video for Million Reasons is a prime example of her just relishing in cliches. 

I want her to be a chameleon, and a shape-shifter, but in ways that are not entirely predicable. In ways that challenge our preconceived notions of genre and style.

3

I didn't mean that her "whole career was based on mimicking people" in a bad way. It's just who she is as a person as an artist. She conscious (or rather, subconscious) mimicks others. That's not bad, it's just her style of artistry. As I said, that doesn't mean that Gaga isn't unoriginal because she's practically the most original artist in the industry today. It's just a fact that she gets a lot of inspiration from people (again, she started her career with David Bowie's iconic lightning bolt). 

To talk about Joanne specifically, for you to say that you would prefer if she didn't envoke "Americana and Western themes" goes against what the album itself. The album [while not pure country] is a pop/country/rock/folk kind of album. In order to convey that, and in order for her to convey a more "stripped down" era, she felt like it was necessary to have those Americana and Western themes, and I agree. I mean, how else are you going to portray "country/rock/folk?" 

On the topic of her being a "chameleon," the very fact that she is considered a "chameleon" makes her unpredictable. She uses a combination of precedence and her own artistic vision to accomplish those goals. What I mean by precedence is that she uses already established pieces of pop culture and turns it into something different, with her own "Gaga" spin. I mean, I still don't understand what you're trying to say about having her "challenge our preconceived notions of genre and style." I pose the question again, how are you supposed to represent a cowgirl without Americana and Western themes? You just can't. There's where the precedence comes in.

[SKANK 14,288]

6 hours ago, M Monstre said:

I didn't mean that her "whole career was based on mimicking people" in a bad way. It's just who she is as a person as an artist. She conscious (or rather, subconscious) mimicks others. That's not bad, it's just her style of artistry. As I said, that doesn't mean that Gaga isn't unoriginal because she's practically the most original artist in the industry today. It's just a fact that she gets a lot of inspiration from people (again, she started her career with David Bowie's iconic lightning bolt). 

To talk about Joanne specifically, for you to say that you would prefer if she didn't envoke "Americana and Western themes" goes against what the album itself. The album [while not pure country] is a pop/country/rock/folk kind of album. In order to convey that, and in order for her to convey a more "stripped down" era, she felt like it was necessary to have those Americana and Western themes, and I agree. I mean, how else are you going to portray "country/rock/folk?" 

On the topic of her being a "chameleon," the very fact that she is considered a "chameleon" makes her unpredictable. She uses a combination of precedence and her own artistic vision to accomplish those goals. What I mean by precedence is that she uses already established pieces of pop culture and turns it into something different, with her own "Gaga" spin. I mean, I still don't understand what you're trying to say about having her "challenge our preconceived notions of genre and style." I pose the question again, how are you supposed to represent a cowgirl without Americana and Western themes? You just can't. There's where the precedence comes in.

 

I know your comment about her having a career "based on mimicking people" wasn't intended to be insulting. My comment about her tributes being "draggy homages"  wasn't intended to be insulting either. Drag is associate with the mimicry of other artists. We are really making the same point. We just have different takes on the matter.

As for the second half of your reply, I think you can sing a Country song dressed as an alien, you can perform a Jazz standard in a meat suit, you can sing a Disco song in a cowgirl hat and fringe coat, you can scream a Heavy Metal song in a Braden Maxwell gown, you can perform a Sound of Music tribute in leather and jeans. What you are calling "embodying" personas, I would say verges into the territory of Community Theater takes on different archetypes. 

A cowgirl? For a Country record? Groundbreaking.