2020 thoughts on The Fame?

[sexy 3,213]

I was 9 when Gaga blew up in 2008. First time I'd ever heard about her was when she performed Just Dance on So You Think You Can Dance? and I've been a fan ever since. The Fame and its singles were hella influential on me growing up, and The Fame was the first complete album I ever really understood as an "album." The suave mystique of  FameGa is always what pops into my head when I think of "Lady Gaga."

But I just relistened to The Fame cover-to-cover for the first time in years and had a couple thoughts, wanted to see what y'all thoughts are as well:

Now 8 eras and 12 years into her career, does anyone else now get the sense the TF is actually the least "Gaga" of all her albums? My taste in Gagz music has leaned heavily on Chromatica, AP, and ASIB over the last 5 years, and I couldn't help but feel like I was legit listening to a completely different artist as I heard Boys Boys Boys, Starstruck, Money Honey, Eh, Eh, I Like It Rough, and Summerboy.

Like it's clearly still Gaga, but they almost sound like long-lost tracks that she wrote for another artist. They're like Grey's Anatomy characters that died in Season 3; imagining them in the context of Season 16 is jarring. I hadn't heard Summerboy in forever, and I was shocked not only at how similar to Gwen Stefani she sounds, but how much I LOVE that song and its style. I forgot about the Red and Blue-tinged style she had on The Fame (think Retro Dance Freak, Filthy Pop, Wonderful, Retro Physical) that's on full display in Summerboy, The Fame, Beautiful Dirty Rich, Boys Boys Boys, etc.

But also songs like LoveGame, Paper Gangsta, and Starstruck. There's a coolness, sexiness, and appealing sense of understatement that I feel has been lost in her subsequent work. She's never really visited this sound again (maybe Heal Me or Sex Dreams, but not quite the same thing imo) and I kinda wonder: does she like this kind of music? Were these kinds of songs purely intended to appeal to the GP, and so perhaps she did write them as if they were for another artist?

It almost feels like "The Fame" is from "Lady Gaga the Popstar" rather than "Lady Gaga the Singer." In a lot of ways, this album now comes across as an incredibly talented vocalist acting like an archetypal American popstar, amplifying the showiness and gaudy costumes of Britney and Madonna almost like a parody. She's trying on the popstar hat almost for show, and the lyrics on this album underscore the vacuousness of our cult of celebrity. (Much more fascinating in retrospect now that she's deep into her career than what I got from it at the time, imo)

So, having now followed Gaga for 12 years, I came back to the album that started it all and personally found Gaga's first version of herself almost unrecognizable from where she is today. Crucially, I don't get this sort of whiplash listening to TFM – TFM feels firmly rooted in "Gaga" and all her music that follows. In that sense, I almost feel like TFM is more like the true debut of what would eventually develop into 2020 Gaga.

What do y'all think? How has The Fame changed for you in the last 12 years? Does it still sound like "Gaga" to you? Do you wish she had run with some of the album's original sounds? (I personally would LOVE an album in the vein of LoveGame-Starstruck-Paper Gangsta)

 

[Lava 3,201]

It's her 3rd best album, (2nd if you count it with TFM) yuuup

[Dr Fudge 8,625]

It’s crazy how much she has changed since 2008. You’re right, very different vocals and a testament to how much she has grown in her artistry. Love that she’s a forever chameleon!

[Red 96,040]

It definitely sounds dated but idc, it's full of anthems 

[Andreu 37,216]

It aged better than most of her other albums tbh

[The Fame 4,159]

I'm TIMELESS

 

[Guest]

[LittleMonster20 9,788]

It’s a great album and a legendary debut. I hope Gaga goes back to this type of music for LG7.

[PsychoMaxcara 814]

I was in my early teens when she dropped The Fame and I remember being obsessed with I Like It Rough (I had the bonus track edition where it was the last song on the album).

I don't think she can top The Fame + The Fame Monster which makes me think how incredibly lucky she was as an artist.... many artists slave away for years before they create their magnum opus, and she gave birth to one so early in her career (I know that she went through at least two scrapped albums prior to that and the whole Stefani era, but you know what I mean).

Also, I wouldn't like her to go back or try to recreate it because I think she'd fail. We're living in a different time now and The Fame was very late 2000s. It's as if Britney tried to recreate Blackout. It's not possible. The world has moved on and so have we in many ways.

[bionic 46,369]

Love, Love, LOVE it on the whole. Some songs (basically the non-singles...and a few of singles like LoveGame) sound a bit dated... but IMO even the iconic Bad Romance sounds slightly dated in the year of our Lord 2020

[Schwerk 7,070]

I was an adult at the time, loved it then, love it still.

Overall it sounds a lot less dated than a lot of other albums from around that time. She definitely had a unique sound.

What I love about it the most is that's the lyrics are loaded with double entendre and very clever. She also enunciates perfectly to emphasize this on a song like The Fame for example. Its almost rapping but in a more Jazzy flow to a pop beat. And she definitely popularized her signature by jazz scatting inspired style of singing. She can pull it off so well, but I remember after her debut hearing other artists go B-b-b-aby of muh-muh-muh maybe and it often didn't work at all.

Also the theme of Fame carried out through the whole album is genius and works so well. 

I think its conceptually not that different to how she works today, she just takes less time. Maybe this past lockdown has reignited her love for making music and having fun with it.

[Pop Music 20,536]

Love the album a lot but it might actually be my least favorite by Gaga

I don't skip any songs and most of them are great songs but some sound pretty standard (though incredible with a Gaga twist) 2008 Pop 

I listen to it the least in full of al of her albums but this is meant to be no shade at all bc it is a GREAT album

[Bolkins 4,110]

I practically can’t listen to TF or TFM. It’s not that I don’t like them or I think they’re bad, I’ve just heard them so many times they and watched Gaga perform that stage of her life so much it all grates on me a tad. I think like 10 years time I’ll be able to listen back fondly love it again but I’m just very meh about it all. 

[Jose P 23,341]

It’s definitely very dated and pales in comparison to everything else she’s done. But for a debut album it’s still pretty great.