Lady Gaga reflects on her 2016 album, Joanne, and how it’s different from MAYHEM

[lastpopicon 37,247]

 

“I think that was a hard time for some of my fans, because it felt so different from the “me” that they knew. But it felt so needed for me. It was like I just wanted to strip everything away. I just wanted to understand and get much closer to who I was before it all. It’s so interesting because it’s the most stripped-away that people feel that they’ve ever seen me, but I know how far away from me I was. On this record, I’m much more confident and sure of who I am. I also didn’t feel the need to completely reinvent every part of who I am, because I’ve started to become proud of who I am and feeling like I can own my personal approach to pop music, my style, my vision, that these are things that I made that belong to me, and that I don’t have to put so much pressure on myself to be somebody else, to be great.”

[Mister Gaga 22,996]

Wow. Never seen this. It’s so peculiar what time can do; it’s honestly an adventure to stan her. She sounds so mature and free, but from an adult perspective, which is actually more complex and viable than being ‘rebelious’ just for the sake of being it. The ultimate twist/shook for Gaga is kinda going back to be gaga and have the guts to do it with her head high. 
Mayhem might be her best era and album ever, from a fan perspective. It’s watching the flag go up again, after years of doubts and trashing from the outside, only this time, her flag rises stronger

[Reid LePage 4,919]

9 minutes ago, Mister Gaga said:

Wow. Never seen this. It’s so peculiar what time can do; it’s honestly an adventure to stan her. She sounds so mature and free, but from an adult perspective, which is actually more complex and viable than being ‘rebelious’ just for the sake of being it. The ultimate twist/shook for Gaga is kinda going back to be gaga and have the guts to do it with her head high. 
Mayhem might be her best era and album ever, from a fan perspective. It’s watching the flag go up again, after years of doubts and trashing from the outside, only this time, her flag rises stronger

Born this way is the magnum opus that saved her fans 

Mayhem is the magnum opus that saved herself 

Both living in harmony 

[Starmie25 20,337]

I still enjoy this album, but I wonder if she'd ever pull a "Taylor" and re-record Joqnne again. 

My main gripe is sonically the up-tempo tracks get a bit buried in the mix, plus there was just a lot of sadness within her voice and lyrics. 

[Gagaplayer315 14,338]

And it showed how far she was from her 

[Starmie25 20,337]

20 minutes ago, Gagaplayer315 said:

And it showed how far she was from her 

She was still there (sometimes)

[lasagna 3,059]

i could listen to her talk forever reflecting on her past work. its so interesting to see her perspective on past eras, and i think with hindsight its easy to see that she wasn't doing the best mentally during these times for various valid reasons. its really refreshing to hear her say shes proud of who she is now. and it's not to knock the joanne(or chromatica or ARTPOP) era either.

it even weirdly ties into iheartradio speech today for me. for her to very publicly acknowledge her inspirations like that was so incredible to see. i know she's always been very vocal about her love of these people, but there was a time when i think she tried to distance herself from all of those people and her initial "gaga" isms. it's so nice to hear her say like actually you know what i got it right the first time, and this is something that im actually proud of. we've always known this part of her was incredible, and it fills me with joy that she knows it now too  i love our girl

Edited March 18, 2025 by lasagna

[AiDi 223]

10 minutes ago, lasagna said:

for her to very publicly acknowledge her inspirations like that was so incredible to see.

 

Yes, especially mentioning Madonna. 

[lastpopicon 37,247]

Joanne was a healing album for her in a way,  it was a pivotal moment on her career,  it opened the doors for Hollywood and the broader GP appeal, plus, it was clearly what she needed for herself at the time, and I feel like it might be her most genuine album to date, even if fans don't like to acknowledge that.

Angel down still remains one of her most beautiful songs and I'll die on that hill 

[Ladle Ghoulash 32,124]

47 minutes ago, Starmie25 said:

I still enjoy this album, but I wonder if she'd ever pull a "Taylor" and re-record Joqnne again. 

My main gripe is sonically the up-tempo tracks get a bit buried in the mix, plus there was just a lot of sadness within her voice and lyrics. 

Honestly, exactly this. I think the mix is a little too compressed/muddy. If Joanne was engineered more like ASIB, I feel like it’d be so much more enjoyable 

[Ladle Ghoulash 32,124]

12 minutes ago, lastpopicon said:

Joanne was a healing album for her in a way,  it was a pivotal moment on her career,  it opened the doors for Hollywood and the broader GP appeal, plus, it was clearly what she needed for herself at the time, and I feel like it might be her most genuine album to date, even if fans don't like to acknowledge that.

Angel down still remains one of her most beautiful songs and I'll die on that hill 

It’s interesting that you say “her most genuine album to date” even though she says in the video how far away from herself she felt creating it. I’m not saying that that necessarily means it’s insincere as much as it probably means that she was working through some inner turmoil and dissonance, but she does, at least vaguely, imply that her attempt at that time to try and recenter herself outside of her post-fame life during Joanne was unhealthy. But again, I guess all of the messiness and contradiction is part of what makes Mayhem such a fitting milestone. 

Edited March 18, 2025 by Ladle Ghoulash

[50 Ft Queenie 523]

1 hour ago, Reid LePage said:

Born this way is the magnum opus that saved her fans 

Mayhem is the magnum opus that saved herself 

Both living in harmony 

This 

except the lyrics in disease “there are no more tears to cry” is special its a hug 

[lastpopicon 37,247]

10 minutes ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

It’s interesting that you say “her most genuine album to date” even though she says in the video how far away from herself she felt creating it. I’m not saying that that necessarily means it’s insincere as much as it probably means that she was working through some inner turmoil and dissonance, but she does, at least vaguely, imply that her attempt at that time to try and recenter herself outside of her post-fame life during Joanne was unhealthy. But again, I guess all of the messiness and contradiction is part of what makes Mayhem such a fitting milestone. 

I feel like she was talking how people perceived her before Joanne, because she says before: "it’s the most stripped-away that people feel that they’ve ever seen me", that's how I interpreted it at least, but from an artistic standpoint, yeah, it was an "abrupt" departure from her previous works. I feel like Joanne is her most personal album, maybe that's the more correct description.

Edited March 18, 2025 by lastpopicon

[Ladle Ghoulash 32,124]

3 minutes ago, lastpopicon said:

I feel like she was talking how people perceived her before Joanne, because she says before: "it’s the most stripped-away that people feel that they’ve ever seen me", that's how I interpreted it at least, but from an artistic standpoint, yeah, it was an "abrupt" departure from her previous works. I feel like Joanne is her most personal album, maybe that's the more correct description.

I don’t really agree, only because she goes on to say that doing Joanne “took her further from herself” and that “looking in the rear view mirror” made her “unwell.” 

[culturalbaptism 2,967]

7 minutes ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

I don’t really agree, only because she goes on to say that doing Joanne “took her further from herself” and that “looking in the rear view mirror” made her “unwell.” 

Joanne was her trying to go against the “Gaga” mode just to be rebellious and I’m so glad she’s admiring it. It’s not a good album at all and it shows.