Is Gaga a Singles artist?

[Versace 7,845]

So with LG7 hopefully round the corner, 

I’ve seen members predict it’ll be her magnum opus and I kind shrugged it off cause I didn’t want to get my expectations too high.

However, after pondering on it I may have come to a personal realization that Gaga doesn’t really have a best album objectively speaking?

We always have threads debating it and there’s never a clear cut answer, whereas for other pop artist their best work is almost universally agreed upon.

Sure, Born This Way will always be #1 in the fanbase’s heart but isn’t that a fan opinion? Doesn’t nostalgia and how fan oriented Gaga was during the era factor into that? 

Outside the fan base Gaga is more so known for her singles imo, as sometimes they would be a bigger moment than the album release itself.

Gaga has never won AOTY at the Grammies but has won more Grammies for her songs/singles over albums. 

The point I’m trying to make here, I think LG7 has a strong shot at being considered her best and celebrated as a collective whole rather than one or two singles being the main talking points? Similar to how Taylor’s folklore and Beyoncé’s lemonade and renaissance were received. 

Let me know respectfully if you agree or disagree below and why. 

[ANTI WP 19,799]

Yes

[palma 7,416]

I'd say no for the earlier part of her career but recently yes I guess. Commercially speaking, earlier Gaga material dominated the radio (despite sounding nothing like what the US radios were playing at the time) and all her hit singles were incredibly big sellers - yet she still sold a lot of albums. Compared to her peers at the time like Rihanna and Katy (top single sellers in the digital era), she was moving a lot more album units. TF+M sold around 15M pure albums, and BTW (with only 2 major hits) sold around 6-7M. In comparison Teenage Dream sold like 7M and GGGB sold 9M. ARTPOP onwards she had basically only one big hit each era and despite the declining number of album sales, she still did respectable numbers. But IDK if people remember Joanne or Chromatica as an entity. But they probably know MR and RoM.

Regarding critical acclaim, I believe Gaga is too divisive and avantgarde as an artist to ever reach universal critical acclaim. Chromatica being her best received work on Metacritic while being objectively her safest dance pop album speaks volumes on that one. Taylor and Bey has incredible media dominance and even their subpar albums are being received as masterpieces. Gaga is well-liked and very well respected as a performer but I don't think there was ever such media/pop culture frenzy over her music. During her peak she was regarded initially as yet another dance-pop girl, and later on as a pretentious weirdo. And since post-ARTPOP she's been held to a very high standard because of her talent, creativity, and intelligence - and frankly she hasn't been pushing boundaries in the last 10 years regarding her studio albums. 

LG7 is shaping up to be a true return to form artistically. Commercially, IDK how it will perform but honestly I'm not too bothered about it. As long as the music is great (and based on the snippets, it will be AMAZING) I think people will be much more willing to receive it.

Edited August 4 by palma

[nATAH 42,091]

i mean... isn't what your describing normal for pop stars? their hit singles being the well known songs?

i thought a singles artist was someone who would sell well on singles but poorly for albums?

[Didymus 34,379]

I think you are right, especially compared to her peers. It's not great in the long run, and kinda ironic given the fact that Gaga is supposed to be known as the real musician of the bunch.

I think because Gaga's image has relied so much on continuous (visual) surprises and unexpected turns, people haven't really been able to absorb her as a musician who also creates statements through her music alone.

The deeper layer to this is that Gaga simply hasn't created a truly musically superior album. Don't quote me about that. It's obvious to any casual listener that Gaga's "real talent" for which she is ever getting more respect nowadays is when she sings covers of other people's songs, and this has been the case ever since she debuted. People watched her tribute performances with Sting, the Rolling Stones, Queen,... and they routinely differentiate those from her own inferior pop career.

And there is a truth to that. She has not created music that matches her skill level, because her team is somehow convinced they need to pump out marketable singles. It is a dying formula and embarrassing to stick to when people like Billie, Charli,... are out here selling pretty experimental music compared to what Gaga sends to radio. This should be her peak time and she seems to be one of the less musically daring artists right now. I hope that will change. This is the perfect climate for her to remind the public that she is still the girl that listened to Bowie and Megadeth as well as Britney and Madonna.

[Starmie25 12,868]

Since 2019 and onwards I'd say her album tracks and region exclusive singles have finally been recieving their credit - Always Remember Gaga, Bloody Mary, Judas, I'll Never Love Again, 911, Government Hooker, Monster and so on.

[Didymus 34,379]

1 minute ago, NATAH said:

i mean... isn't what your describing normal for pop stars? their hit singles being the well known songs?

I think recent releases like SZA's, Beyoncé's, Taylor's, Billie's,... have really shook up this pop status quo. They will still get the biggest numbers for singles but I think this is the first time in pop history where we see album tracks almost competing with those singles in terms of public interest and commercial longevity.

[RAMROD 103,937]

Gurl, no. She is an alboom artist. She makes body of work, not just series of singles. 

[Didymus 34,379]

2 minutes ago, RAMROD said:

Gurl, no. She is an alboom artist. She makes body of work, not just series of singles. 

The OP is not about that, it's about public perception.

[Lucas 23,848]

If we are talking about the GP's perception of her yes. But as an artist she is definitely an album artist.

[Versace 7,845]

40 minutes ago, palma said:

I'd say no for the earlier part of her career but recently yes I guess. Commercially speaking, earlier Gaga material dominated the radio (despite sounding nothing like what the US radios were playing at the time) and all her hit singles were incredibly big sellers - yet she still sold a lot of albums. Compared to her peers at the time like Rihanna and Katy (top single sellers in the digital era), she was moving a lot more album units. TF+M sold around 15M pure albums, and BTW (with only 2 major hits) sold around 6-7M. In comparison Teenage Dream sold like 7M and GGGB sold 9M. ARTPOP onwards she had basically only one big hit each era and despite the declining number of album sales, she still did respectable numbers. But IDK if people remember Joanne or Chromatica as an entity. But they probably know MR and RoM.

Regarding critical acclaim, I believe Gaga is too divisive and avantgarde as an artist to ever reach universal critical acclaim. Chromatica being her best received work on Metacritic while being objectively her safest dance pop album speaks volumes on that one. Taylor and Bey has incredible media dominance and even their subpar albums are being received as masterpieces. Gaga is well-liked and very well respected as a performer but I don't think there was ever such media/pop culture frenzy over her music. During her peak she was regarded initially as yet another dance-pop girl, and later on as a pretentious weirdo. And since post-ARTPOP she's been held to a very high standard because of her talent, creativity, and intelligence - and frankly she hasn't been pushing boundaries in the last 10 years regarding her studio albums. 

LG7 is shaping up to be a true return to form artistically. Commercially, IDK how it will perform but honestly I'm not too bothered about it. As long as the music is great (and based on the snippets, it will be AMAZING) I think people will be much more willing to receive it.

I love this post. You make a lot of good points and put things in perspective. 

[Versace 7,845]

36 minutes ago, Didymus said:

I think you are right, especially compared to her peers. It's not great in the long run, and kinda ironic given the fact that Gaga is supposed to be known as the real musician of the bunch.

I think because Gaga's image has relied so much on continuous (visual) surprises and unexpected turns, people haven't really been able to absorb her as a musician who also creates statements through her music alone.

The deeper layer to this is that Gaga simply hasn't created a truly musically superior album. Don't quote me about that. It's obvious to any casual listener that Gaga's "real talent" for which she is ever getting more respect nowadays is when she sings covers of other people's songs, and this has been the case ever since she debuted. People watched her tribute performances with Sting, the Rolling Stones, Queen,... and they routinely differentiate those from her own inferior pop career.

And there is a truth to that. She has not created music that matches her skill level, because her team is somehow convinced they need to pump out marketable singles. It is a dying formula and embarrassing to stick to when people like Billie, Charli,... are out here selling pretty experimental music compared to what Gaga sends to radio. This should be her peak time and she seems to be one of the less musically daring artists right now. I hope that will change. This is the perfect climate for her to remind the public that she is still the girl that listened to Bowie and Megadeth as well as Britney and Madonna.

Yes you make a lot of good points, I think post ARTPOP as well and how it was received she started holding back on experimenting too much on Joanne and Chromatica. But pop music is in such a different landscape right now, that I think its time for Gaga to let her freak loose. Like **** it up Gurl, give us the most sonically confusing, thrilling, bash, grimey pop record. Let it start a conversation. Let it be a moment. Let it set a new standard. 

[Italian 568]

The general public has mostly always cared about singles and not albums so I think that's expected (although that kind of seems to slightly shift in the past 1-2 years, maybe because of Beyonce and Taylor).

On the other hand, Bloody Mary - while a massive fan favourite from the start - I don't think it's ever really been on people's radar up until Wednesday.

I think we'll be able to properly answer this when LG7 gets released - it will be interesting to see if there will be any album tracks taking off organically.

[Bronco 5,567]

I mean an album artist is someone who's albums sell better than their singles (and flipped for a singles artist). Gaga absolutely outperforms her singles with their respective album sales. Where as a singer like Becky Hill is absolutely a singles artist (I don't even know if she's ever released an album lol). 

I think this idea of a critically aclaimed/universally loved album is a seperate topic to someone being an album artist. And honestly, while I adore all her non-Jazz albums (Not shade on the jazz ones, I just don't engage with it personally so can't judge em) if she never released another album I would not say any of her discography could be described as Magnum Opus. 

Born This Way is her absolute best album currently, but there's a few tracks included on it that kind of drop it down from a 10/10 to an 8 or a 9. 

I don't want to over hype things, but just from the way Gaga's whole presence and personality is in this pre-era. I really feel like LG7 is about to be her "Ray of Light"/"The Black Album"/"Ziggy Stardust" album. 

[HelloHangoverz 15,540]

1 minute ago, Bronco said:

I don't want to over hype things, but just from the way Gaga's whole presence and personality is in this pre-era. I really feel like LG7 is about to be her "Ray of Light"/"The Black Album"/"Ziggy Stardust" album. 

Imo Chromatica was her Ray Of Light. It's the same kind of self-discovery and emerging spirituality she's exploring. I'm ready for LG7 to be her Confessions