Perfect celebrity : the ghost of a betrayed album

[Plastic Flower 4,272]

It’s been like this for every album. Stop. Perfect Celebrity wasn’t even the first thing she did for this album. 

[LittleMonster20 9,801]

I agree with this analysis. Mayhem is spectacular and I love it, but it would have been way better if Perfect Celebrity sonically and thematically set the tone for more of the album, and made it as a title.

However, I do sincerely believe DWAS fits beautifully on the album, regardless of whether or not it was originally intended to be on it or not. It’s a fitting closer both lyrically and sonically.

[dynamite 52,918]

[nattuggla 21,788]

Maybe the grunge concept with Perfect Celebrity as its focus existed at one point however Gaga said herself she created other songs with different sounds first. At one point she wanted to ditch those to change direction to do a whole grunge album. But it was Michael who said to her she definitely should keep the other amazing music she made for the album as well - so the Perfect Celebrity concept never was "The Original Concept."

Plus Gaga said the first song she wrote for the album was Vanish Into You.

Despite it is not the first time that Gaga changed the direction of an album but it is a usual and common practice. She started with RedOne for LG5 and then continued to do Joanne with Mark Ronson. For LG6 she started with DJ White Shadow and then was in the a lot in the studio with Boys Noize before deciding that Bloodpop is the main producer...

 

[50 Ft Queenie 113]

1 hour ago, CookieHWilson said:

If it “wasn’t that deep,” the visuals wouldn’t scream what the tracklist no longer does. Gaga said it herself: Perfect Celebrity was the core. Mayhem reframed the mirror, but the cracks are still there — you’re just choosing not to look too closely. Wanting her to be “successful” over staying true to her original vision is your choice, but don’t confuse compromise with intention. And let’s be honest: emotional proximity like Michael Polansky’s should never shape the architecture of an album. That’s not inspiration — that’s interference.

She let males interfere on ARTPOP too. I hope one day she works with a female producer …idgi. What you said is true though

[Gardevoir 9,802]

Gaga’s album era wouldn’t be Gaga’s album era without the dramatics.  

[guacamole 56]

yall need to touch grass 

[GAGASEXUAL 3,681]

I completely agree and I feel disappointed too. I was certain that this would be my favorite album but after hearing it in full, no thanks. 

[elegidadedios 1,418]

Also, and I quote, if the visuals scream what the tracklist no longer does, and according to OG post logic - that she allegedly changed the sound direction -, wouldn't she have rushed and changed the visuals too to "match" them?  I don't know... If you think about it... It's just that she intented the sound and visuals to be the way they are 

Edited 23 hours ago by elegidadedios

[kaosbender 103]

22 minutes ago, 50 Ft Queenie said:

She let males interfere on ARTPOP too. I hope one day she works with a female producer …idgi. What you said is true though

I honestly agree with this as a female who grew up with her. I don’t wanna start a whole debate about it but at least let me say that I don’t buy that she is really THE strong woman she tries to sell. It’s a facade or manifestation if you will. Even at age 38, you can see and hear it easily. It bled through her songs over and over again, her interviews about the men in her career and personal life, so there’s that.

[Economy 48,725]

I wish she had moer songs like Disease and Perfect Celebrity that are dark and intense cuz they are my favs in the album (the intro of Perfect Celebrity is especially cool!)

 

Instead half the album sounds like disco funk which isnt my fav vibe ever

 

But I still Adore Disease, Perfect Celebrity, Die With A Smile and The Beast so I got 4 loved tracks in there

 

Theres a few others I dont necessairily adore but still like such as Abracadabra, Garden of Eden, Blade Of Grass and Killa.

 

So i do like the album now more than when it came out

Edited 22 hours ago by Economy

[CARL GRIMES EXPERT 339]

1 hour ago, misha4ever said:

 

55 minutes ago, dynamite said:

great minds think alike

[killme89 1,400]

I feel like I read this post each time she releases an album lol 

expectations and what ifs will be the death of you all 

[RichAssPiss 4,865]

I don't think there's any evidence of a secret "other" album here.

For starters, the fact that Die with a Smile is on the physical releases will always prove to me there was no last minute decision to include it. 

We have seen time and time again physical vinyls missing tracks finalized late in the album process. There is a lead time to physical production.

The tracklist and cover were set awhile ago.

I do believe Gaga considered the title Perfect Celebrity. Would I prefer it? Possibly. It would be a nice bookend to The Fame and a nod to a new version of a past idea. The girl who imagined herself famous now reflecting on the pain of real fame.

But I don't see that theme spread throughout the album tracks all that much. 

With Zane Lowe, she talked about a reinagining in the production phase. Wanting to take the fragments of her creative output and unite the sound to fall in line with the techno grunge sound of Perfect Celebrity. 

I believe she could have chosen a tracklist for a themed record called Perfect Celebrity and created a more consistent sound. Though honestly the tracks don't sound disjointed to me. There's a through line of different influences and themes. 

Ultimately, fame is an alienating concept and fregrounding this as a record about the perils of fame was probably deemed a poor marketing choice. 

I believe Gaga made these choices during the production of the record. Chose not to make an album with one sound and a central theme.

Hence Mayhem. 

Nothing about the rollout or physical releases has traces of being retrofitted to me. 

The album has many macabre and gothic themes. Zombies, killers, beasts. They wanted a dark aesthetic for all the materials. Disease and Abcadabra, the lead singles, have macabre themes too.

Could they have left off How Bad Do You Want Me. Maybe. But it's a good pop song and her self conception as "bad girl" fits for me the macabre themes of the record. How bad (dark, macabre) do you want me? 

I think claims the record was changed last minute are a reach. 

 

[popkulture 41]

This is such a tired and disrespectful take, honestly. It's the reason we have the nickname "Little Managers". Let it go and enjoy this incredible era for what is is. I'm so tired of people like this who can't live with what we have. No wonder Gaga was once so distance from the fans: these takes are incredibly toxic.