Born This Way is Gaga's Magnum Opus

[Smother Em Eh 7,095]

Yes BTW is truly an amazing, revolutionary, legendary, and unique album that only Gaga could record! BTW was just a untouchable album and era that no one could replace or top. It’s amazing that she had even more success after the big TF/ TFM breakout. What can I say? Legends only! 

[TimisaMonster 31,073]

I have to agree since no album after compared in terms of quality, promo, and cultural impact 

[Sepsami 18,825]

Anyways, YES IT IS! 

[TheSlash 14,539]

Let's acknowledge OP writing Scheiße correctly

[Bebe 17,093]

7 hours ago, metalguru said:

I def agree. Marvelous album. One of my all time favorites, next to classics like Station to Station (Bowie), Hounds of Love (Kate Bush), Roxy Music, etc.

But I see that there are two big problems regarding its legacy.

1) Tracklist.

2) The cover.

The trackless is so long and out of control. 

And the cover is... just no.

I hope one day she remasters BTW and tightens it up and releases with a new cover (from the same photoshoot of course.. what a shoot it was with all the glorious photos taken, sadly the worst had been chosen as the cover). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What don’t you like about the tracklist?
 

I think the cover is perfect honestly, and that’s coming from someone who used to hate it.

Its just such a heavy metal/anti-pop cover. It’s abrasive, bombastic, the text is ugly, the picture is bizarre. The fact you don’t like it is what makes it such a brilliant album cover, it’s challenging.

It’s so intentionally seperate from the sort of beautiful, glossy ‘pretty’ album covers you would expect from a female pop star. It seemingly has no concern with being appealing to a mass audience. 

There was no concern over whether she looked beautiful, if it was a good angle or what her body looked like.

It totally matches the heavy metal sonic influences and visual aesthetic of the album.

[Lumiere 5,704]

I remember reading a review before. It said that every record label was rushing to find its own Lady Gaga - hence the dramatic change in the artistry of her peers.

[Rebel 5,221]

Absolutely. It's Gaga at her biggest, loudest, most proud

[BlondeQueenOfGGD 25,454]

It’s her best album

[Reject False Icons 4,769]

As what Gaga said, the message of Born this way is what will last  such an special era, luck to the ones who lived it 

[sillynate 6,170]

Don’t forget to stream it on spoot for 1b streams by May! 

https://open.spotify.com/user/silly_nate/playlist/0w7S4Gbs8ZdEOS5vSvNTMU?si=gDSGqCINSv6hBoTqjSxmBg

[Jose P 23,341]

Definitely, a perfect representation of everything she stands for. Locals might not live for it as much, but it will always remain truly special for the fans.

[tyler k 5,330]

10000000000% AGREED

easily one of the greatest and most influential albums of all time. Born This Way saved so many lives... mine included. 

I also used to HATEEE the album cover when I was in high school, but yeah- it's perfect. it's actually brilliant, 

1 hour ago, Bebe said:

Its just such a heavy metal/anti-pop cover. It’s abrasive, bombastic, the text is ugly, the picture is bizarre. The fact you don’t like it is what makes it such a brilliant album cover, it’s challenging.

It’s so intentionally seperate from the sort of beautiful, glossy ‘pretty’ album covers you would expect from a female pop star. It seemingly has no concern with being appealing to a mass audience. 

There was no concern over whether she looked beautiful, if it was a good angle or what her body looked like.

It totally matches the heavy metal sonic influences and visual aesthetic of the album.

they said it best^ it's challenging and totally against what anyone would consider putting out. I also love how she talks about the cover, saying "there's no road because I'm forever moving through space & time, half fantasy, half reality." 

God I love Gaga

[ThisGuyTony 30,162]

I agree. More political than any of the pop girls (at the time).

More controversy due to its themes (religion, LGBTQ+ acceptance, immigration, etc). 

But she still managed to make it her own and make it a special and personal record (Yoü and I, The Edge of Glory).  

[xoxo Craig 55,649]

Its her worst album along with Joanne. I don't get the hype for it at all. Are we really gonna say its her 'Magnum Opus' because she was a trend setter? I mean, at every point in Gaga's career she's been a trend setter. The Fame inspired and brought back 4 on the floor beats and revolutionised electronic beats within pop music. After Just Dance and Pokerface came a whole wave of electronic/euro dance beats in pop music.

The Fame, and The Fame Monster brought avant-garde fashion into pop music. Everytime she stepped out the door people where curious as to what Gaga was going to wear, and this translated into music videos. In my eyes, Born This Way was more embracing herself and allowing it to be a movement of self-expression. It was a continuation of avant-garde fashion into more experimental music.

ARTPOP (after many years) did influence people to think more cautiously about the art itself. Without ARTPOP, albums like Witness wouldn't have a place in the world.

Joanne inspired a wave of stripped back music. Kesha went back to her roots, even Miley went back to country. 

And even Chromatica has inspired people to bring back dance elements to their music. For a little period of time, disco seemed to be the next trend. But dance-pop in general is starting to come back. 

ASIB showcased that if you work hard at what you do, you can pull it off. Katy Perry said that she wanted to try acting, Ariana said she'd might consider going back to acting... 

In short, she's always one step ahead of everyone and continues to be an artist that many look to for inspiration. The album the defines who Gaga is, her Magnum Opus, is actually Chromatica. In terms of era, it hasn't happened yet

[Bebe 17,093]

1 hour ago, xoxo Craig said:

Its her worst album along with Joanne. I don't get the hype for it at all. Are we really gonna say its her 'Magnum Opus' because she was a trend setter? I mean, at every point in Gaga's career she's been a trend setter. The Fame inspired and brought back 4 on the floor beats and revolutionised electronic beats within pop music. After Just Dance and Pokerface came a whole wave of electronic/euro dance beats in pop music.

The Fame, and The Fame Monster brought avant-garde fashion into pop music. Everytime she stepped out the door people where curious as to what Gaga was going to wear, and this translated into music videos. In my eyes, Born This Way was more embracing herself and allowing it to be a movement of self-expression. It was a continuation of avant-garde fashion into more experimental music.

ARTPOP (after many years) did influence people to think more cautiously about the art itself. Without ARTPOP, albums like Witness wouldn't have a place in the world.

Joanne inspired a wave of stripped back music. Kesha went back to her roots, even Miley went back to country. 

And even Chromatica has inspired people to bring back dance elements to their music. For a little period of time, disco seemed to be the next trend. But dance-pop in general is starting to come back. 

ASIB showcased that if you work hard at what you do, you can pull it off. Katy Perry said that she wanted to try acting, Ariana said she'd might consider going back to acting... 

In short, she's always one step ahead of everyone and continues to be an artist that many look to for inspiration. The album the defines who Gaga is, her Magnum Opus, is actually Chromatica. In terms of era, it hasn't happened yet

"Are we really gonna say its her 'Magnum Opus' because she was a trend setter?"

I mean no... That's almost the polar opposite of that I'm saying. I didn't say she set trends with Born This Way I said she set trends with TF/TFM and then, at the height of her fame/popularity, released an album and visuals that was completely uncompromising and bold without fear of alienating a wider audience. An album that was deeply political, that was sonically and visually different from anything else in pop music. An album that still strongly informs her public perception to this day.

She was more experimental with Born This Way than she has ever been lyrically, sonically, thematically and it's an album that to this day is still such a major part of Gaga as a persona. She wrote a song that was almost entirely in fake-German, wrote a song in English/Spanish about illegal immigration and gay marriage, got up on the VMA stage as a Drag King, released an album heavily influenced by rock/heavy metal with aggressive industrial beats and complex lyrics, she released a lead single that name checked the LGBT community boldly when even the most popular 'progressive' politicians were afraid of publicly supporting Gay Marriage, and she did it with absolutely no features on the album.

I couldn't name an album of the 2010's that managed to both challenge and reflect the changing social attitudes and political ideologies of the time the way Born This Way did. It's such a watershed moment that seems to bridge the gap between the start of the decade with policies such as Don't Ask Don't Tell, Gay Marriage being illegal (and taboo) and the end of the decade with Gay Marriage legal and hit T.V shows RuPaul's Drag Race dominating T.V waves and Trans celebrities being featured on Vanity Fair.

I don't think Born This Way is impressive because it was a success and trendy, it's impressive because of the type of album she created and released at the height of her success with no concerns about trends. When she had the entire world looking to see what she would do next, she released an album that was political, controversial, polarising, challenging, unapologetic and uncompromising. 

Chromatica is a fantastic album that is sonically interesting, cohesive and frankly more personal than her stripped down "Joanne" era that proceeded it. It just doesn't capture the cultural zeitgeist of the moment the way Born This Way did, it isn't as risky as Born This Way was, it isn't as experimental. It doesn't need to be any of those things to be a great album either. It's just not her magnum opus imo.

While I have no doubt the next album she releases will be just as great as Chromatica, and she will continue to put out quality work, I believe history will look at Born This Way as her greatest album. It just has too many things going for it, not all are even in Gaga's control:

1. It's so sonically different from her contemporaries featuring bold lyrics and dark, thumping industrial beats alongside stadium rock anthems.

2. She is known as a political artist, and this is by far her most political work. Exploring themes such as LGBT rights, Feminism, Immigration, Social Norm, and Religion.

3. She was at the height of her fame, at peak Gagamania where she dominated every media landscape.

4. She recorded an album that addressed the major tensions of the time and shifting attitudes of the time.

5. The imagery is such a drastic departure from the image of the female pop star archetype that came before her and that were also current at the time.