More Impactful: BTW or ASIB?

[The Z 17,864]

It depends your definition of impact? BTW impacted more personnal lives but ASIB impacted the market and the GP's perception of the artist like no era since Adele's 25

[Flora 695]

a star is born this way

[mmmmonster 136]

BTW for the fans and people who appreciate music, and ASIB for the general public.  The latter humanized LG and made her more "palatable" for the masses.  E.g., my coworkers probably thought that I was odd just for being a Gaga fan (the stan in me never showed up to work because I worked at a super uptight finance firm), but post-ASIB, they finally acknowledged that LG is talented.  They were so surprised that she could sing (again, I worked with a bunch of people with no lives) and didn't recognize her at all, because they all had their preconception of Gaga as a freak.

Over the span of her career though, I think TFM was the most impactful.  Her looks, sound, and persona were revolutionary at the time.

[bxr 1,016]

On 9/14/2019 at 4:14 PM, KEVIN STEVE said:

It depends your definition of impact? BTW impacted more personnal lives but ASIB impacted the market and the GP's perception of the artist

 

That’s kind of where my head was with the question … I see impact as cultural, something that speaks to and influences culture, and the people within it.  But, I rarely consider my POV a consensus perspective, so that’s why I opened the question to the forum.

Full-transparency, ASIB just didn’t resonate with me, (idk why, it just didn’t “speak to me” on a core level, but neither here nor there, just different strokes, different folks) but its mass appeal is objectively evident … BTW on the other hand, just felt like a cultural moment; period … regardless of commercial, mass, or critical reception / appeal, it made a statement on behalf of a marginalized group that reached a global audience, within some capacity. But, again, that’s just my POV, and I wanted to see how / what other people think …

That said, as far as definition of, impact (for me) is synonymous with shifting culture / society … or merges the personal and the political, or just becomes a cultural identifier or something people connect with on a fundamental level … but that’s abstract. Commercial and critical appeal aren’t directly synonymous with cultural impact to me, just because I feel the commercial marketplace and critic’s circle, by definition, exclude vast members / groups of and within “culture.” The GP, is a tough barometer imo, I guess I just feel like “the GP” doesn’t connect with work at a deep level (again, I could be so wrong), it’s quantity over quality of appeal -- a lot of people can like creative work (i.e. BTW and/or ASIB), but how many love it or can say it touched their lives at a deep level … so, GP I guess feels more like impressions versus impact. (But again, that’s just me -- I don’t think there’s really a right or wrong here, so much as just personal truths on the works).

[xoxo Craig 55,649]

Born This Way (Song) had more impact on me than Born This Way (album). Back then I was too young to understand the message behind the song, but as I grew up it became more and more meaningful. As for the album, I didn't really care to much for it except for maybe slightly more than half of the album. I hated Bad Kids, Highway Unicorn, Black Jesus Amen Fashion, Fashion of His Love and Government Hooker... and I still do, though slightly warmed to the later.

A Star Is Born was the turning point that made her (in my eyes) a legendary vocalist. We all know Gaga could blow the roof off before, but her technique and her tone seemed much more better in this era... almost giving Mariah Carey or Celine Dion vibes in some songs.  

A Star Is Born had an more overall impact on me than Born This Way (album) although Born This Way (song) may have had the biggest impact 

[RochestrMonstr 2,274]

BTW for monsters. 

ASIB for the GP. 

 

Her relationship with the GP went sour in the BTW era, especially in the second half. But many monsters felt most connected to Gaga during this era. 

Her reputation among the GP is better than ever with the ASIB era, while some monsters refuse to even acknowledge ASIB as an era. (Which is actually pretty dumb)

[AJRocketMan 2,684]

Born This Way, and it’s not even a contest. A Star Is Born was very successful, but it didn’t resonate with the culture (young people and their lives) and it didn’t offer any socially challenging perspectives like BTW did. However, what BTW offered are the very same things that made Gaga become overbearing to most non-Gaga fans in 2011. Also, I feel most of the cultural impact of that era was rooted in the song, rather than the album. I see A Star Is Born like the 2010’s equivalent of Waiting to Exhale and The Preacher’s Wife—very commercially successful, as well as critically, but lacking cultural impact.

[mmmmonster 136]

39 minutes ago, AJRocketMan said:

Born This Way, and it’s not even a contest. A Star Is Born was very successful, but it didn’t resonate with the culture (young people and their lives) and it didn’t offer any socially challenging perspectives like BTW did. However, what BTW offered are the very same things that made Gaga become overbearing to most non-Gaga fans in 2011. Also, I feel most of the cultural impact of that era was rooted in the song, rather than the album. I see A Star Is Born like the 2010’s equivalent of Waiting to Exhale and The Preacher’s Wife—very commercially successful, as well as critically, but lacking cultural impact.

Agree that BTW (the song) had challenged so many norms and people's perspectives at the time and has lasting impact to this day.  However, I think that ASIB shouldn't be dismissed as  lacking cultural impact - both were impactful, just in different ways.  ASIB's probably not life-changing for most (like BTW was for a lot of her fans), but it was impactful nonetheless.

To be fair, it's quite difficult for non-superhero movies to have any real cultural impact nowadays when there are so many more platforms/distractions out there relative to any time before the 2010s.  I personally think that ASIB had made pretty significant impact on pop culture; its longevity and popularity (ASIB gave birth to so many Halloween 2018 costumes and I've lost count of how many times I've been forced to listen to people butchering Shallow at karaoke bars) really took me by surprise.  Also, I'd attribute most of Shallow's success to ASIB - it managed to remain #1 on iTunes for 5 months even though it didn't receive much airplay for the first few months, and TBH the song isn't mind blowing on a standalone basis to achieve that level of success.  ASIB gave it the context to succeed and resonate with people.

That said, I recognize that "impact" is defined very differently today compared to 2011 and prior.  Arts and culture's impact seem to be measured by the number of memes, trending topics, and views more so than ever before, and IMO that's quite unfortunate.

[HeavyyMetalVenuss 1,765]

btw proved to her fans that she is a legend, asib proved to the gp that she is a legend. both were massive, thanks to steps that gaga had taken before them leading to proving it to these groups. her previous albums to her fans, her entire comeback path following ARTPOP to the gp

[PeachJug 2,928]

aw this thread is producing positivity

 

both projects were AMAZING and impactful, but I'll go with Born This Way since it made me and so many others feel wanted/loved/accepted despite much of the world telling us otherwise

[SevenWonder 3,074]

As others have said this is close. Everyone I know loves ASIB. Shallow, the movie, the whole shebang. BTW was so polarizing. I think it was genius, but for others that's when the goodwill she established from TF and TFM started to wane and paved the way for my personal fave ARTPOP'S "flop". So I'm going to say ASIB. Though I love BTW. 

[Rino 5,094]

Born This Way reinforced the conversation and movement in pop culture about LGBTQ rights, so I'm going with that one. its purpose and impact were miles wider than ASIB's. considering how Gaga was the biggest pop star / one of the most influential people in the world at that time, she definitely made an impact with that era, whether people were ready or not. 

ASIB was a spectacular vehicle for Gaga's career, however. ultimately ASIB did more good to Gaga than Born This Way, but that is the thing that I appreciate the most about Gaga's decision to make and release Born This Way. she knew it was probably going to hurt her career, but she in a way made a sacrifice for the greater purpose.