Gaga’s Most Authentic Era — to you

[lost in limbo 6,035]

personally, I think every era is authentically her

different facets of her but still her

tho I feel like there hasn't been an era (unless you count 2015 as an era lol) that perfectly emcompasses all of her sides. 

[RahrahWitch 6,985]

Musically, Born this way.

In terms of the Era as a whole I'd say a tie between Born this way and Joanne. we got to know a lot more of Gaga trough the Joanne Era with 5ft 2.

[Bradley 59,023]

[AndiGaga 6,665]

Every Era was the real Gaga for me

The Fame - her beginning, the start into the life of a superstar

The Fame Monster - dealing with the struggles of fame

Born this way - she found the power to tell everybody that she and we are born this way

ARTPOP - that was a drama, but so was her life at that time

Joanne - back to her family roots, of course that is authentic

 

[Ryusei 61,036]

2 minutes ago, M Monstre said:

The Fame seemed like her most inauthentic era to me. It was clear (to me, at least) that she had some sort of "persona".

but to me the very very early the fame moments were the most authentic ones and then she started putting on a character of some sort. 

[The Fame 4,192]

The Fame Monster; I'm thinking specifically of her powerful Monsterball speeches. 

[xoxo Craig 55,649]

4 minutes ago, AlexanderMagno said:

Born This Way.

 

And her last true authentic album.

It was definitely free of preconceived ideas. There was no agenda, no need to change her image, Gaga was at the top of her career and could do whatever she wanted to. Born This Way was incredibly honest to herself and her vision back then, and everything sound is her own.

But half of that album is fillers... then you have Judas which is supposed to be another Bad Romance/Pokerface.  She also physically changed her image. She wore prosthetics on her face and shoulders to give her a more "alien" look. There was an agenda with it, they sold the album for 99 cents when it first came out... and the whole theme of the album was thought of in 2010. Born This Way was honest in the view that its about her bullied past. But, she wasn't an open book.  Therefore to me, Born This Way isn't her most authentic album. Joanne is because she let us see the parts she shut off. Even in her interviews, she was more open.

[REALITY 76,234]

1 minute ago, Ryusei said:

but to me the very very early the fame moments were the most authentic ones and then she started putting on a character of some sort. 

I can understand that, and when I say "inauthentic", I don't necessarily mean that it's completely fake or not genuinely her. Of course Gaga, at that point in time was just trying to be herself as best she could, but at the same time you can clearly see that there is a "character" there as well.

I don't remember where she said this (it could've been interviews during Joanne or a segment during 5F2), but she did say that she would watch earlier videos of her and she would notice that she would put on different accents, that her thoughts/sayings were a bit stranger than what she normally would've done, etc. 

She even said in 5F2 that she would often do weird and eclectic things just so that she felt like she had some sort of freedom. 

[whore 11,447]

11 minutes ago, M Monstre said:

The Fame seemed like her most inauthentic era to me. It was clear (to me, at least) that she had some sort of "persona".

The Fame was literally her attempt at getting famous, and it worked. 

[REALITY 76,234]

1 minute ago, Loeppke said:

The Fame was literally her attempt at getting famous, and it worked. 

Well, I wouldn't say that it was just a complete character and that it was completely inauthentic to who she was, but yes, to some degree it was in order to get herself more name-recognition.

I mean, the whole Fame era was very much Bowie-inspired, and Bowie's obviously Gaga's biggest inspiration. So, while it wasn't totally genuine, it also wasn't completely a facade.

[Illuminati 15,921]

Born This Way, I feel like she will never be as inspired as she was at that time

[seashellplay 512]

ARTPOP is just an amalgamation of her ideas while high, The Fame and it's counterpart criticizes celebrity obsession through being a plastic celebrity. I think we all have really different ideas of being authentic though 

Born This Way and Joanne remain, but I'm sticking with Joanne. Gaga has noted how Born This Way was a much darker time for Gaga. I feel like it's, instinctual to sort of note Born This Way because it's an album that really preaches being yourself and all of that bullshit + just in general the aggressive sound -- but there's also just the factor of people preferring it because they ate up the whole Govt. Hooker persona and wanted the unicorns she rode on. In BTW, Gaga during the interviews really just seemed interested in shocking people and doing something funny, like on Letterman -- I remember her talking about Madonna claiming 'She had done it all, now I have to find new ways to shock people'.

If you listen to Red and Blue you can easily differentiate it from Born This Way, but it strikingly resembles Joanne. Joanne is really the album where everything changed, Gaga dropped the 'halloween costumes' she stopped really making electronic music, she experimented with country and rock, she adopted a  lot more emotional and softer sound, while maintaining her experimental qualities. The Joanne interviews seem much more just, organic? There were odd and funny interviews, but it looked like she was herself -- especially when she explained Joanne as an album being her 'mother's daughter, sister's sister, uncle's niece' or whatever it was

[ryansamonster 1,705]

2 minutes ago, xoxo Craig said:

But half of that album is fillers... then you have Judas which is supposed to be another Bad Romance/Pokerface.  She also physically changed her image. She wore prosthetics on her face and shoulders to give her a more "alien" look. There was an agenda with it, they sold the album for 99 cents when it first came out... and the whole theme of the album was thought of in 2010. Born This Way was honest in the view that its about her bullied past. But, she wasn't an open book.  Therefore to me, Born This Way isn't her most authentic album. Joanne is because she let us see the parts she shut off. Even in her interviews, she was more open.

The prosthetics were part of the theme - She looked alien or grotesque because she wanted to go against the norms of what is considered beautiful. Remember that giant mole and raccoon hair during the Judas era? Essentially she wasn't afraid to look “ugly” which further developed the concept of loving yourself no matter what. 

BTW was more than just about her bullied past. It was about US too. “This album is for U” written on the inside cover. It was political, it was extreme for its time, having the word “transgendered” in a song. It was about love and death, fears, dreams, etc...

This era was when Gaga put others before herself. So she might not have been an open book herself, because she was helping others to open themselves up more. I think it’s authentic in the way that Gaga has always been a passionate artist who stands for something and uses her voice to help others. 

[Vergil 2,296]

Born This Way. The art, music, avant-garde visuals and message were really genuine and you could tell she really wanted to make lgbt+ people feel loved and seen.

[McYves 1,612]

Born This Way, of course.