A Reflection of Gaga's Work

[Bebe 17,093]

Long post and full of unpopular opinions, I’m sure, but as the new era is upon us and I reflect upon Gaga’s previous solo work I find myself appreciating it more and more and I wanted to take the time to share my appreciation for her work and artistry somewhere.

Stating with her “imperial era” during TF/TFM/BTW:

From the beginning Gaga has had a distinct style.  She was working with producers that nobody else was working with (RedOne worked with Nicki and others after, DJ White Shadow hasn’t really worked with other pop artists). Her lyrics, even during The Fame, were also (frankly) more complex and intelligent than her peers.

Although the subject matter isn’t necessarily deep, if you compare the lyrics of Poker Face to the other top 10 hits of 2009 (Such as Boom Boom Pow, I Gotta Feeling, Right Round) you can see how smart she is with her wordplay and metaphors. It’s clever pop and the subject matter of the song is still transgressive and avoids cliché.

Comparing the top ten hits of 2007 and 2008 clearly shows that, while dance-pop was nothing new, Gaga was at the fore-front of a new wave of pop music

 

 

In regards to imagery – while her contemporary’s attempted to emulate her style in a more cartoonish and or campy way – Gaga notably worked with fashion photographers and fashion designers to create looks that were stark and not traditionally “pretty” or “girl next door”. She went in a direction that is distinct from the pop females that came before her. She wasn’t portraying herself as a sex icon in the vein of Britney Spears or PCD. She was high fashion and concept driven with her looks.

Comparing some magazine covers (not in any disparaging way) of some iconic ground breaking female pop stars and you see the distinctions between all three.

  

 

 

 

We went from the strong, boldly sexual pop archetype of Madonna in the 80’s/90’s to the submissive, girl next door archetype of Britney in 90’s/00’s to a tattooed, avant garde, gender-bending popstar with horns on her face in the 00’s/10’s. It is actually quite remarkable when you think about it.  While she is clearly following in the tradition of her predecessors and shares some similarities with her contemporaries she developed a sound and image that is unmistakably Gaga.

 

Moving on to ARTPOP – She pushed the electronic dance pop sound of her previous works to the edge and pushed her imagery to even further extremes. The soundscape of her album was more EDM focused featuring contributions from DJ White Shadow, Zedd and Infected Mushrooms and she decided to collaborate with respected multi-disciplinary artists from performance artists, theatre directors, sculptors and photographers to push her visuals further. Gaga once described ARTPOP as “the end of the beginning of my career" and I think it’s fitting, it really seems to be the furthest edge her previous work could possibly be pushed. Cranking everything she had done previously to a 10.

 

 

 

Although the focus is on her solo musical work it’s impossible not to discuss Cheek to Cheek. It was a bold move, expecting her fans to follow her from dance, electronic music to traditional jazz but she still managed to pull it off in a “Gaga” way. Belting out American Standards with huge, curly Cher hair and see through dresses and singing the national anthem dressed as the US flag.

 

Although she has always written songs that show her skills as a vocalist and songwriter, her decision to strip back the distraction of electronic beats and ever eccentric costumes allowed her to showcase her vocal ability at its strongest. This pivot to establish her reputation as a serious, disciplined singer/songwriter undoubtedly led us to Joanne.

Joanne was a notable departure from the rest of her solo work but also notably different to what was popular on the radio at the time.

Once again when comparing the top ten hits of the year – Gaga’s biggest hit was Million Reasons, a pop/country ballad. Once again Gaga released music and accompanying visuals that were drastically different to what was popular at the time.  My appreciation for Joanne might have grown even more now when comparing it to her past work as well as were she is going in the future. When looking through the slick pop videos of her lead singles (featuring unique, conceptual looks and tight choreography) Perfect Illusion suddenly appears:

 

Loud, frantic, stripped down, grungy and energetic with messy hair, minimal makeup crop tops and denim shorts flashing across the screen as grumbling synths and untreated vocals blast through the speakers.

 

And while Million Reasons will no doubt be the most remembered single of the era Grammy award winning single “Joanne (Where Do You Think You’re Goin’?) (Piano Version)” features Gaga as lead songwriter and producer. The song and video portray Gaga in a way we have never seen her before.

I think it’s difficult to listen to and watch the videos for Stupid Love the videos from Joanne and the videos from her previous eras without getting the sense that the Joanne era will be viewed in the future in a completely different light to what it is now. I have no doubt it will evolve into a fan favourite and highly regarded Gaga album in the future for exposing such a different side of Gaga and her work than we usually see. I really believe future Gaga fans that are not even born yet will one day stumble through her body of work and find her work from Joanne to be a positively jarring, refreshing and special chapter in her career.

While also not a part of what I’m considering her solo music career – Gaga brought Ronson and producers from Joanne onto the ASIB soundtrack which led to one of her biggest hits Shallow – another song dramatically different from what her contemporaries are doing that will no doubt be considered a Gaga classic for years to come.

 

From what we have seen and heard already it seems as if the new album will be a concept album set in the world of Chromatica. I’m expecting the world she creates to be expansive and potentially one of her most cohesive era’s yet with its video game aesthetic, different tribes and unabashedly pop sound. Regardless of how you feel about the music and visuals for Stupid Love (I personally love it) I hope you can at least appreciate that whatever direction she goes it will undoubtedly become a special chapter in the incredible and diverse body of work of Lady Gaga.

 

 

 

 

[Delaney Elias 1,318]

Slay!

[Smother Em Eh 7,095]

I loved this so much and I couldn’t agree more! Gaga is truly a unique Artist who is always rebelling and doing the opposite of everyone else. From the beginning she had paved her own lane that makes her stand out from her peers! 
Proud to be a Little Monster

[BetrayedSTAN 1,839]

43 minutes ago, Bebe said:

From the beginning Gaga has had a distinct style.  She was working with producers that nobody else was working with (RedOne worked with Nicki and others after, DJ White Shadow hasn’t really worked with other pop artists). Her lyrics, even during The Fame, were also (frankly) more complex and intelligent than her peers.

I agree with everything u said .. gaga is such a unique artist .

But just one thing redone was a hit maker even before working with gaga .. he worked with shakira.. kat deluna..akon..Enrique Iglesias etc before he worked with gaga  .

[Monster7 5,697]

This is the kind of threads we need more here

[Celloo Deng 54,839]

Love this thread, totally agree with everything you said! 

And might I add how underrated the C2C era was.. The incredible vocals and immaculate style 

[Guillaume Hamon 6,469]

Very valid points!

She managed to be right in the middle of the picture while not being like everybody on the picture and that's what make her fascinating.  

[Delusional 9,221]

Yes!!! Yes yes!!!!

That is exactly my views on Joanne. It’s such an amazing album and i don’t care what anyone says - it slaps! 

[Sneaky Oliver 22,067]

It makes me weirdly emotional to think perhaps many years from now there will be weird kids discovering Gaga’s discography for the very first time and i can’t even imagine how surprising Joanne will be 

[Francis 105]

She is definitely groundbreaking. That's why when people compare her to other artists that inspired her, like Madonna, she always comes out better in more than a few aspects. She always wins because of her talent and her versatility.

[Francis 105]

Also can we talk about how ths fan base has a time-dependent view of Gaga's work? Like a lot of monsters like to dislike, hate even, on Gaga's pieces. Then years after, they start stanning that piece, like what is now happening with Joanne. I guess Gaga works that way, a slow burn perhaps. She puts out classics even before anyone knows it's gonna be a classic.

[littlepotter 75,075]

I absolutely love this. So well written, and made my heart swell. Thank you