Is Gaga’s discography overrated?

[skedaddleBItCh 2,785]

I don't know about mid.  Her discography has its highs and lows, like any other artists, but I think that you thought that her discography is because she makes pop music, and that's alright. However, I think saying that it's mid is quite insulting because for the pop culture landscape she has changed through pop music she had made, to call it mid is not something I would say, especially when her music is really really good considering that they're all pop. What's great though is her versatility, not only through her performance and visuals, but also through her music!

[Future Lovers 6,545]

26 minutes ago, Joshie S said:

Look, you don't have to be a fan of everything she does... 

But it doesn't make sense to me to be a fan of her, yet you don't like her music? That music is literally her life. 
Every single song she's ever written has a purpose and so much meaning, and I love each song for what it is and what the intention behind it may have been. 

Some fans are selective and that's ok, but I choose to love every gift she has given the world because that's what I cherish the most. 

They didn't say they didn't like her music, they simply said that it sometimes falls a little flat to them in comparison to seeing her perform it. 

While I love most of the albums, I do agree that her songs have always been better live because that's the only time we get to really see all of the emotions come out in full view. Her albums are emotionally driven yes in that she is clearly fully committed to the song, but sometimes it's hard to see exactly what it means to her taking just the song on its own. 

It can very much be a more special experience to see her live than it is to listen to her on an album. That doesn't mean that person is any less a fan, it simply means they connect with her in a different way, and I don't think it's fair to try and insinuate that they're wrong for that.

[Monstermilo 3,811]

i dont think so 

i think its very diverse - more diverse than any of her peers 

no one comes close to how many genres shes done

[tomsches 17,321]

She does great pop music but it’s definitely overrated among her fans. Like, people on here treat her like she’s the most experimental and artist that makes the most complex music ever. And if you only listen to pop music maybe that’s the case. And while yes, pop music will never be low brow, her music is pretty average in the grand scheme of what music can do. What she’s really good at is performing, visual arts etc. 

[Nite 4,975]

I think it depends on who you ask, although I'd personally disagree with both.

Among the GP, I feel like it's underrated. Most people you ask nowadays aren't aware of a lot of her songs or how good she is at performing because she isn't on their radar as much as she used to be. 

I don't think it's overrated amongst her fans, if anything, some songs and especially the jazz albums get a pretty strange amount of hate. And looking at the pop landscape back in 2009-2011, I feel like it was very difficult to compare Gaga's songs released then to new releases now. But her pure discography isn't just that, for one thing her performances have always blown more life and variance into her studio versions and I'm pretty sure she hasn't reached her full potential with studio versions yet either.

[Benji 20,113]

No way.  Gaga is one of the few pop artists that actually puts out full cohesive albums that are mostly good.  There’s some albums containing more duds (ARTPOP) but mostly Gaga’s albums have all been incredibly solid.

[Smother Em Eh 6,995]

No, if anything it’s underrated. She has a diverse discography and an artist of true versatility. She has her highs and lows but excels in quality, mostly. I do think she hasn’t truly released her true magnum opus, a record she is capable of making using ALL of her multi talented capabilities!

[Nathaniel Arven 1,597]

She's had some major songs - moments, like any other artist -

And she's always a tweak away from the mainstream sonically. 

 Sure she has flaws like anyone, obsessions with that pop mold, record labels, fans expectations.... 

But she's still yet to have that timeless, general success album... Like Madonna did in the second half of her career with Ray of Light, Music and American Life,

Or a comeback to high brow artistry like Bowie did in the 90's.... (what we expect) 

 

And I also am confident because you can tell that now that she's more comfortable in her career, her choices are being more mature and are confirming that she's working to make her craft as intricate as who she really is. Like the artist that never stops to dig to get to itsquintessence. 

 

 

 

 

[Meat 18,962]

Overrated by who? Her most acclaimed album is literally 79 on metacritic when people like Beyoncé and Taylor Swift get universal praise for releasing garbage 

[Juanlittlem 41,952]

4 hours ago, Frank Potion said:

Like the fact that we got Plastic Doll on an album released in 2020 

ANOTHER PLASTIC DOLL HATER.

[MOT 2,733]

I read the thread title and metaphorically rolled my sleeves up and said 'right, someone's going to get a damn good thrashing'. But then I read the OP and actually I kind of agree. In a nutshell I think Gaga's discography is fantastic, but I think she's better live.

For me, the highlight of her music, be it recorded or live, is her voice. I regard it as the most consistently thrilling and beautiful sound I have heard in popular music (now that's just me), and I think it shines that bit more when she's live.

As a separate point I would argue that there is no such thing as underrated or overrated. All ratings are personal and are therefore correct.

 

[Julien Lockhart 822]

It's underrated*

[Bolkins 4,085]

I don’t think her discography is overrated, but perhaps a little predictable these days. If there’s one thing she loves its putting a modern twist on an old sound and it’s almost overdone at this point. Imo it would be refreshing, and even daring, if she was to create a modern and progressive sounding album that isn’t referencing the past in some way.

[River 106,320]

Her discography is misunderstood and sometimes hard to read, Gaga loves to add these little details in her songs that makes them fantastic and genius, you need to carefully and repeatedly listen to the songs to get the whole experience out of them and she's one of the few artists that their songs are their signature and non other could create them.

For example, when she simply says "church" before the breakdown "don't be a drag just be a queen, whether you're broke or evergreen....", this simple word has a big meaning and a big protest against the church and their bad treatment against LGBTQ+.

[sexy 3,164]

She's my #1 favorite artist, been a fan since Just Dance came out when I was 9 years old, can't overstate how much I love her work... that being said, I think a better descriptor than "mid" is "uneven."

There's no doubt in my mind that the first 3 albums are better than the latter 3 albums (even as AP is my favorite of all-time from her). TF, TFM, and BTW are just far more consistent, cohesive, creative, and forward-thinking than AP, Joanne, and Chromatica. I feel like she's always been on the cusp of making a generational work, her perfect (or close to it) album that everyone unanimously agrees is her best. But it just hasn't happened. I think after TFM, when she demonstrated what she was capable of with Bad Romance, fairly high expectations were set, and BTW is probably the closest thing to a magnum opus she has, but I feel like it's social impact far outstrips its actual musical quality. Don't get me wrong, it contains some of her best work – MTN, Bloody Mary, Scheiße, Judas, Heavy Metal Lover all rub shoulders with genius. But they also make me think, "Where is that album where it all comes together for her? Where is Gaga's Melodrama, MBDTF, NFR, Ray of Light, DAMN, 21, etc.?"

Personally, I think ARTPOP was not only a personally damaging period for her, but also a massive creative blow to her. Her ambition was insane during the era, and I think the sheer number of setbacks and catastrophe that that era put her through sort of permanently made her weary of trying anything as audacious again. As a result, her career post-2013 has been fundamentally different. Much safer-for-the-whole-family, far more focused on her vocals, less focused on "art."

I think her discography may appear "overrated" because so much of her "consensus greatest work" is concentrated in the first 3 years of her career, while she's been in the industry now for close to 15 years.