Are underwhelming first singles the new trend?

[vyniildisk 12,689]

16 minutes ago, PsychoMaxcara said:

For me, I'd say the orchestral interludes, Gaga blending Pop with K-pop on Sour Candy in the context of Chromatica which is unapologetically house as far as genre is concerned, which leads me to songs like Alice or Replay and the beat drop in Sine from Above which are all completely different from anything artists are doing these days. 

 Lol 

Loved your explanation! So it seems streaming is to blame for the shift in lead single choices.

Btw -- I can lowkey imagine 2020Ga putting out Summerboy as the lead from The Fame. 

Blending pop with k-pop (korean pop) 

[BornAsUnic0rn 2,097]

25 minutes ago, Mesmer92 said:

I think you misunderstood what I was trying to say. What I meant is that I don't think ROM would have had the appeal it had if it was released in February. When it dropped in May, we had been dealing with the travesty of covid for weeks and the message of surviving in spite of the bad resonated better then. I love ROM, its one of my favorite songs LG has ever done, I apologize my meaning wasn't obvious. 

Agree with all of this!

Also others have just shoot their shot with releasing big productions as music videos before the pandemic fully hit, so when Gaga brought out ROM it stood out because it was surrounded by these small quarantine self produced things. And it was until much later when people were able to do bigger productions again, because adapting to the new standards isn’t easy. So the timing of the MV release really played into her cards, it truly stood out as the event that it was. 

[Mesmer92 92]

2 minutes ago, BornAsUnic0rn said:

Agree with all of this!

Also others have just shoot their shot with releasing big productions as music videos before the pandemic fully hit, so when Gaga brought out ROM it stood out because it was surrounded by these small quarantine self produced things. And it was until much later when people were able to do bigger productions again, because adapting to the new standards isn’t easy. So the timing of the MV release really played into her cards, it truly stood out as the event that it was. 

The release really felt like 2010 all over again, the hype and thirst was unreal!! 

[Cookie Tookie 10,546]

It’S bEcAuSe We LiVe In A sTrEaMiNg ErA

[BornAsUnic0rn 2,097]

5 minutes ago, Mesmer92 said:

The release really felt like 2010 all over again, the hype and thirst was unreal!! 

Exactly. What made Gaga stood out was how she made an event out of the music video releases, she did it since Paparazzi, and was the first to do it. Later everyone followed. 

 

And now she was in the position to do that again, with Rain On Me (because it was truly an outstanding pop celebration, which was enhanced by weak competition) and she did it again with 911 because she served high art and huge productions. Amidst the pandemic, around people doing visually stunning but typical pop videos that were made as safe as possible, both from a commercial and also a budget standpoint. When pandemic rules and safety measures cut hugely into the budget, the budget, while slightly increasing, has to be lowered and there are lots of compromises that have to be made. 

[bluemonkey 639]

43 minutes ago, Mesmer92 said:

I'm not clowning my friend. I just can't have a genuine, unbiased, discussion about Stupid Love because I think it's one of her best songs. Our conversation would just go in circles 

That doesn’t mean we can’t have a conversation. Isn’t that what forums for? To share opinions? I just think it’s immature to write someone off just because they think it’s weak. Do I still listen to it once in a while or when playing the album full? Yes but I can still believe it’s a weak song because she does have the occasional bad song here and there. She wrote Bad Romance in a mere minutes and it’s one of my all time favorite songs and one of her best lead singles.

I still think Chromatica is a masterpiece and to me her most personal album to date. The 90’s house definitely calls back to her youth and growing up watching MTV and standing in time square just to catch a glimpse of Britney Spears waving at the window. It definitely takes me back to those times and I feel it’s like her coping with her struggles by resorting back to nostalgia. Well nostalgia is big right now

[PsychoMaxcara 814]

56 minutes ago, HotLikeMexico said:

Someone else already said it perfectly. Chromatica isn't "experimental," it's all been done before. All the songs are inspired by 90's House Music.The Sine From Above outro seems to reference a similar sound that Bowie and Nine Inch Nails explored in their work as well. Lot's of artist the past couple of years have been inspired and referencing 90's music.

I see where you're coming from, but what hasn't been done already? You can take pretty much anything released today whether it be a book, movie, or a song, and trace it back to something else in the past. I think the experimental aspect of Chromatica (for me anyway) is the fact Gaga took 90s House and tried to create a current sounding record reminiscent of that genre in 2020. I can totally see how that might not feel experimental to you though (and other people here) so I get what y'all are saying.

Btw, I'm one of those people who prefer the demo versions of many songs before BloodPop ""polished"" them but that's a whole another topic. I just feel like the rough versions had more attitude and were far more promising as far as the concept of the album is concerned 

54 minutes ago, StrawberryBlond said:

I agree so much. Maybe it's to make sure that there's a big hit released just before the album, meaning strong first week sales or something. But I think different. If a lead single doesn't hit me between the eyes immediately, it really dulls my hype. Yes, a better follow-up raises it again but the initial single always kicks off your perception and never really lets go until you hear the full thing. You make a good point that maybe an underwhelming lead is to make way for a much better album so people are more thrilled with the end result than they would've been had 2 amazing singles preceded it. It's better in a way if the worse songs are out of the way as singles so you hear nothing but bops when you hear the full album. I see this commonly with some of my favourite singers - they tend to put out the worst song on there as the lead because it's usually the most generic and therefore the highest chance of being a hit. But I know the rest will be much better, which is comforting. But for casual listeners, I don't know if there's any real benefit.

I strongly believe that your singles should represent your album well. If you're only releasing the most generic songs as singles but the rest of your album is very experimental, it might disappoint fans of mainstream music. I have a funny feeling that's sorta what happened with BTW. Not that I think those singles were generic but out of the whole album, those were probably the safest choices she could've possibly made instead of really weird/controversial ones like Government Hooker, Americano and Bloody Mary. It could've been why sales went right down after the initial massive hype and promo campaign. I think that album freaked out so many Gaga fans who were into her mainstream work. I know that's when she lost so many fans and it set the tone for her downfall with AP. People officially saw her as too weird now and someone who makes almost a bait and switch when it comes to single vs album content.

Well put! I totally agree with many of your points.

I do feel like we're in a transitional period of sorts right now where many Pop music consumers (myself included) are still sort of 'stuck' in the past lead single = strongest single mindset back when physical album sales were still of utmost importance and either made or broke the era.

I honestly don't know if I like the new (streaming) philosophy behind lead singles, or if I'll ever get used to it.... we're kind of lucky in that we stan an artist who has existed & released new music during both pre-streaming AND streaming ages, so we can compare the individual eras. Imo, The Fame with leads like Just Dance & Poker Face, and The Fame Monster (Bad Romance) felt like huge events in Pop music because the songs were so strong. I don't think Gaga would achieve the same magnitude of interest and commercial success if she opted for some of the album tracks (The Fame, Paper Gangsta, etc) instead. 

BUT I will say that it does lead to a somewhat mixed reaction (to a degree) when you have an album with such glorious international smash hits and then listen to it only to find out said hits were really the highlights of the album and there's nothing left. So I can also see how getting rid of the bad apples first may work.

I agree about your evaluation of the single choices during Born This Way as well! I actually wanted to go off on a tangent about that, but then decided to keep things more general. But yeah, the discrepancy between the singles and the actual sound of Born This Way was too big for the GP to receive well. I had a hard time, myself! And then she's repeated it that again with ARTPOP by releasing Applause first (the safest most radio friendly choice not at all reflective of what the rest ARTPOP sounds like) which I think further contributed to the divided messy reception by the public.  

 

47 minutes ago, Dulo Peep said:

Blending pop with k-pop (korean pop) 

 

Haha love that gif 

Well, isn't Korean pop like its own genre? I often hear K-pop artists/idols define it in different ways, but most of the time it's usually interpreted as more than just Pop music sung in Korean. The music itself differs from American pop in some ways, there's also the visual aspect, the fashion, every song having a unique visual theme with its own signature dance. I personally tend to think of J-pop and K-pop as being different from ordinary pop music, but I'm neither Japanese nor Korean so it's possible said nationalities might view it all as just Pop music.

 

 

[HotLikeMexico 5,193]

2 minutes ago, PsychoMaxcara said:

I see where you're coming from, but what hasn't been done already? You can take pretty much anything released today whether it be a book, movie, or a song, and trace it back to something else in the past. I think the experimental aspect of Chromatica (for me anyway) is the fact Gaga took 90s House and tried to create a current sounding record reminiscent of that genre in 2020. I can totally see how that might not feel experimental to you though (and other people here) so I get what y'all are saying.

Btw, I'm one of those people who prefer the demo versions of many songs before BloodPop ""polished"" them but that's a whole another topic. I just feel like the rough versions had more attitude and were far more promising as far as the concept of the album is concerned 

I see your points. Def Agree.

[Lovelife 460]

57 minutes ago, Dulo Peep said:

Don't stop now pretty much changed the game and the overall entire industry and it was the first single. 

What's a don't stop now?

[Butters Stotch 5,364]

2 hours ago, JoanneMonster said:

No

 

Came here to post this.

[TimisaMonster 31,073]

1 hour ago, swooning said:

Wait, what is experimental about Chromatica?

Maybe the ending of SFA but thats about it lol

[xoxo Craig 55,649]

2 hours ago, COOOK said:

No.

Everyone keeps forgetting the way we were all living when it leaked. Sad that she waited an entire month though, the topics and conversations would be very different around here had it been released with 0 leaks... 

THIS

[xoxo Craig 55,649]

1 hour ago, Dulo Peep said:

Don't stop now pretty much changed the game and the overall entire industry and it was the first single. 

[Im Human 133]

Grower song trend

so the song can exist in chart for very long time. every gaga solo singles since ARTPOP struggle to do this except shallow 

[sillynate 6,170]

Woah I’m shook 

Comparing all my first listens for these songs, I enjoyed 

Blinding Lights more than Heartless 

Physical more than DSN

Intentions {way} more than Yummy 

YNTCD more than ME! 

Say So even though it wasn’t the second single more than Juicy 

RoM more than SL 

I’m waiting for more songs from Ariana and Miley cuz so far they’re following suit