Decodekid 28,429 Posted Wednesday at 05:42 PM Share Posted Wednesday at 05:42 PM Imo the Nostalgic Selling factor has worn out already with Abracadabra and it won't be replicated anytime soon, sadly. Mayhem has been promoted as a dark album in hopes to grab the GP's attention, you can trace everything that lead us to Disease, and it's clear to be intentional. Disease didn't take off, but this was later achieved with Abracadabra. Now here's the catch, Abracadabra wasn't just a regular song that became a hit, it was promoted and perceived as the "Lady Gaga is back" single, not in the sense that she's returned, but in the sense that they hadn't seen a comeback like that in years. Great, single peaks, album comes out, Coachella/TMB, what's next? Another single that feeds from nostalgia when you're dealing with a shrinking attention spam? Months ago it was cool to dance to Abracadabra on TikTok, yesterday I came across a video making fun of TDD's choreo and its attempt to go viral, I was so mad lol. I dare say whatever success was tried to be milked from Bloody Mary's resurgence, has been achieved with Abracadabra already. Songs like VIY and HBDUWM have been clear indicators (from numbers even I think) that a different direction/approach could be tested. Most contemporary Lady Gaga singles don't fit her previous formula or sound, so why are three attempts at this sound being made with Mayhem? You could argue TDD doesn't fit within these three given its disco production, but there's clear elements like the ongoing death theme, choreography, and dark aesthetics attached to it. Yet, I know it's not that deep, I'm more than happy with whatever follows, but I love this album so much and would love to see more from it Long Live Gretchen 13 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elsamars 2,439 Posted Wednesday at 05:43 PM Share Posted Wednesday at 05:43 PM (edited) 2 minutes ago, Decodekid said: I dare say whatever success was tried to be milked from Bloody Mary's resurgence, has been achieved with Abracadabra already. This is so true omg that’s why I hate Abracacabra Edited Wednesday at 05:45 PM by elsamars 1 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziggy 12,026 Posted Wednesday at 05:56 PM Share Posted Wednesday at 05:56 PM Mildly disagree bc I think the novelty pop Halloween horror schtick is not one she’s expressly done but kind of a pop culture distillation of her work which has always been way more serious. I think her going that route for this album is one of its fresher elements, actually! Feels Gaga in that it combines glam rock and pop and dance with the hard beats and ear worms she’s known for. So it’s kinda everything she’s known for but never quite shows up in any one album before now. But some tracks (zombieboy) pull this better than others (TDD) 6 2 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
REALITY 77,455 Posted Wednesday at 05:57 PM Share Posted Wednesday at 05:57 PM I think the whole point of MAYHEM is to harken back to the darker sounds/aesthetics that made her popular, but with a new, modern twist. She's specifically talked about being nervous returning to pop music because she wasn't confident, but I think the process of creating MAYHEM made her more self-assured; it was her reclaiming her old sound, but within a new context and years of experience. So yeah, the entire era is one big nostalgia ploy, but I think it's extremely effective. Imo, it's sonically her best album to date, and I think the visuals/aesthetics are great. 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔪𝔲𝔰𝔦𝔠'𝔰 𝔤𝔬𝔫𝔫𝔞 𝔟𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔪𝔢 𝔟𝔞𝔠𝔨 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔡𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔥 12 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Decodekid 28,429 Posted Wednesday at 06:06 PM Author Share Posted Wednesday at 06:06 PM 5 minutes ago, REALITY said: I think the whole point of MAYHEM is to harken back to the darker sounds/aesthetics that made her popular, but with a new, modern twist. She's specifically talked about being nervous returning to pop music because she wasn't confident, but I think the process of creating MAYHEM made her more self-assured; it was her reclaiming her old sound, but within a new context and years of experience. So yeah, the entire era is one big nostalgia ploy, but I think it's extremely effective. Imo, it's sonically her best album to date, and I think the visuals/aesthetics are great. I agree, personally I have no issues with Mayhem as a whole, she’s truly benefited from this, I just think in regards to the single’s rollout, more from this album could be explored as the darker side of Mayhem isn’t the only thing that represents the album, sound wise it’s basically less than half of it. Long Live Gretchen 4 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nodandsmile 10,788 Posted Wednesday at 06:27 PM Share Posted Wednesday at 06:27 PM people seem to like her loud unhinged stuff like Abracadabra, I also think that's why Judas has grown so popular in recent years... TDD sounds pretty safe to me! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MountainMonster 885 Posted Wednesday at 06:38 PM Share Posted Wednesday at 06:38 PM TDD is only nostalgic in the sense that it harkens back to disco sounds that have been woven throughout her discography. TDD has more in common with Money Honey and Disco Heaven than it does with Abra. I think we actually can point to a lot of evidence that actually suggests the opposite of what your point is. People wanted more Abra, Judas, BR, Poker Face and instead they got The Fame’s (the song) cousin with a dark synthy bass line in the verses. If their goal was to recreate the Abra magic - they missed every element of it. The fashion? One pretty bad look. The choreo? Bad. And with the wrong choreographer. The video? bland. I think TDD represents the other side of Mayhem (and candidly all its predecessors) that have a mid tempo disco dive. And what we learned? Most people don’t want it. What do they want? Ballads and full-throated, bombastic pop. (Which represents the other two thirds of her catalogue) 2 1 7 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTV 12,873 Posted Wednesday at 06:41 PM Share Posted Wednesday at 06:41 PM TDD is like her doing the Sexy Redd camoe. Very random and out of place. Forced. 2 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Controversiaga 11,653 Posted Wednesday at 06:51 PM Share Posted Wednesday at 06:51 PM TDD doesn’t have nostalgia elements to it except for sounding like a song from dua lipas Future Nostalgia album released 5 years ago im sorry but Pronounced like “Balenciaga” . Emphasis on the “Ga” 5 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTV 12,873 Posted Wednesday at 06:57 PM Share Posted Wednesday at 06:57 PM 27 minutes ago, nodandsmile said: people seem to like her loud unhinged stuff like Abracadabra, I also think that's why Judas has grown so popular in recent years... TDD sounds pretty safe to me! No. They love it cuz its a euro pop song by redone with a catchy hook and chorus. Abra reheated Judas nachos. Perfect Illusion is loud and got less love from GP. TDD just reheated a non-iconic commercial genre. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Decodekid 28,429 Posted Wednesday at 07:08 PM Author Share Posted Wednesday at 07:08 PM 1 minute ago, Controversiaga said: TDD doesn’t have nostalgia elements to it except for sounding like a song from dua lipas Future Nostalgia album released 5 years ago im sorry but 15 minutes ago, MountainMonster said: TDD is only nostalgic in the sense that it harkens back to disco sounds that have been woven throughout her discography. TDD has more in common with Money Honey and Disco Heaven than it does with Abra. Thing is, it all goes back to the starting point which is benefiting from Bloody Mary's virality. Production wise TDD might not be similar to Abra, or Disease even, but every attempt made to create success up until this point stems from that specific moment. All singles have a recurrent theme of darkness and death, including DWAS. There's more to Mayhem than that. Long Live Gretchen Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rahrahbitchson 20,527 Posted Wednesday at 07:15 PM Share Posted Wednesday at 07:15 PM (edited) For me i think that Abracadabra is just a really good song, like she created magic with that song you know? When u listened to Mayhem u just know that the song NEEDED to be single and thats why they made this great video, cuz they knew the song deserved it and could be a great hit. I dont think the song was promoted as a comeback, they made promo and they do everything they could for it cuz is just a great song, but the song is catchy and thats the main reason it became a hit. I dont think they had the same faith for the other songs and thats why we didnt get more singles, and tbh i agree, Abracadabra is the Bad Romance of Mayhem IMO Edited Wednesday at 07:16 PM by Rahrahbitchson Quizás bastaba respirar, sólo respirar, muy lento...💙 10 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFame Monster 8,959 Posted Wednesday at 07:16 PM Share Posted Wednesday at 07:16 PM 15 minutes ago, VTV said: No. They love it cuz its a euro pop song by redone with a catchy hook and chorus. Abra reheated Judas nachos. Perfect Illusion is loud and got less love from GP. TDD just reheated a non-iconic commercial genre. Abracadabra did not reheat Judas' nachos. Judas did that with Bad Romance. It's very obvious with the songs structures and hooks. I'm not saying that as a bad thing. Abracadabra took some of the appeal of what drew listeners to Bad Romance and Judas - the almost nonsensical hooks - and really played it up with that being the entire intro, chorus and post chorus. Instrumental wise, Abracadabra is very different from Judas and Bad Romance 7 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nodandsmile 10,788 Posted Wednesday at 07:25 PM Share Posted Wednesday at 07:25 PM 26 minutes ago, VTV said: Perfect Illusion is loud and got less love from GP. I mean loud isn't the only criteria, this one isn't as catchy as the rest Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMontebello 605 Posted Wednesday at 08:13 PM Share Posted Wednesday at 08:13 PM It's a bad song. One of her worst singles ever. You like the fat girl I got in me 🍕 5 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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