Gaga has become too safe.

[Bronco 25,558]

12 minutes ago, Mothermayhem said:

Pls i know you hate that behaviour too I feel people like us have been subjected to swallow their BS but we really don’t have to 

I genuinely don't care

I'm 30. 
I have bills to pay, credit card debt to clear and a decade of rugby injuries to worry about. 
I don't care if someone dislikes the Mayhem album 

[bxr 2,221]

1 hour ago, DESTROY UR DISEASE said:

anyways what's going on in here, I forgot to catch up the last several pages

Spoiler

[metalguru 1,570]

I won't call her "safe," but there are certainly areas where she needs to push further.

Song composition is one of them. Her melodic structure leans quite traditional, and she relies too heavily on big moments rather than letting harmonies warp, breathe, and loosen. Her sense of form rarely allows her to go quiet, and that limitation carries into her vocals too — the pull toward the big hook negates detail at times. This is part of what made Harlequin such a meaningful step forward: it had that organic element, a willingness to let things sit rather than constantly build toward a peak. More of that restraint, more trust in the smaller gestures, would take the work further. This is why Mayhem is her peak craftsmanship, especially Requiem. 

Another weakness in her output is atmosphere. She's a fantastic storyteller, stylist, and trickster, but sonically there's still so much left to discover. I'd like to see the abrasiveness give way to mystique, something more confident, more lush, more mysterious. I want her to go further into ambient territory, to let the sound itself carry weight rather than leaning on edge alone.

And then there are missed opportunities. Mayhem is a fantastic album, but the back half of the LP suffers from a lack of innovation. Take the Beast... imagine it less wordy, more Depeche Mode x Björk, something stranger and more spacious. Or Don't Call Me stripped down to something acoustic. Instead, what we get is direct and successful, sure, but far less exciting than it could have been.

Or take Joanne. Rather than leaning into Americana, imagine it built around harp melodies, more global instrumentation woven through  something that opens the palette up instead of narrowing it to one well-worn tradition.

 

I hope her next LP continues what she started with Harlequin and Mayhem, and pushes it even further: rich instrumentation, like those sugary, Cure-like guitars on Vanish Into You; clear and complex production; more experimental song structures; and quieter, more restrained tones from her vocals.

 

[Ladle Ghoulash 53,728]

2 hours ago, nATAH said:

I hear it in the instrumental but I can't imagine taylor singing it at all, it still has that dark edge to it

Eh, I don’t think it’s any edgier than anything on Reputation, tbh.

[Notorious Bean 8,540]

1 hour ago, metalguru said:

I won't call her "safe," but there are certainly areas where she needs to push further.

Song composition is one of them. Her melodic structure leans quite traditional, and she relies too heavily on big moments rather than letting harmonies warp, breathe, and loosen. Her sense of form rarely allows her to go quiet, and that limitation carries into her vocals too — the pull toward the big hook negates detail at times. This is part of what made Harlequin such a meaningful step forward: it had that organic element, a willingness to let things sit rather than constantly build toward a peak. More of that restraint, more trust in the smaller gestures, would take the work further. This is why Mayhem is her peak craftsmanship, especially Requiem. 

Another weakness in her output is atmosphere. She's a fantastic storyteller, stylist, and trickster, but sonically there's still so much left to discover. I'd like to see the abrasiveness give way to mystique, something more confident, more lush, more mysterious. I want her to go further into ambient territory, to let the sound itself carry weight rather than leaning on edge alone.

And then there are missed opportunities. Mayhem is a fantastic album, but the back half of the LP suffers from a lack of innovation. Take the Beast... imagine it less wordy, more Depeche Mode x Björk, something stranger and more spacious. Or Don't Call Me stripped down to something acoustic. Instead, what we get is direct and successful, sure, but far less exciting than it could have been.

Or take Joanne. Rather than leaning into Americana, imagine it built around harp melodies, more global instrumentation woven through  something that opens the palette up instead of narrowing it to one well-worn tradition.

 

I hope her next LP continues what she started with Harlequin and Mayhem, and pushes it even further: rich instrumentation, like those sugary, Cure-like guitars on Vanish Into You; clear and complex production; more experimental song structures; and quieter, more restrained tones from her vocals.

 

I’ve been saying this for SO LONG!!! I love everything you said it’s exactly how I feel right now in Gaga’s career. I literally made a thread about it a few weeks ago lol

[VTV 13,960]

No. She just matured and knows when to push the boundaries and how. 

If Gaga's trying to be safe, she'll release Joanne 2.0

[nATAH 57,217]

40 minutes ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

Eh, I don’t think it’s any edgier than anything on Reputation, tbh.

you will suffer for this 

[Ladle Ghoulash 53,728]

1 hour ago, nATAH said:

you will suffer for this 

I mean, it honestly isn’t lol. If anything, if it were on that album, it’d be more tonally adjacent to something like Gorgeous, which is a fine track, but is admittedly a tongue-in-cheek take on a somewhat juvenile trope. What I think elevates HBDUWM is how Gaga frames it narratively in TAOPC as being a commentary on her persona/relationship to her audience, but even that type of commentary isn’t totally foreign to someone like TS. If anything, what makes HBDUWM stand out in Gaga’s discography is it’s earnestness, not so much any edginess.

Edited 6 hours ago by Ladle Ghoulash

[nATAH 57,217]

28 minutes ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

I mean, it honestly isn’t lol. If anything, if it were on that album, it’d be more tonally adjacent to something like Gorgeous, which is a fine track, but is admittedly a tongue-in-cheek take on a somewhat juvenile trope. What I think elevates HBDUWM is how Gaga frames it narratively in TAOPC as being a commentary on her persona/relationship to her audience, but even that type of commentary isn’t totally foreign to somewhat like TS. If anything, what makes HBDUWM stand out in Gaga’s discography is it’s earnestness, not so much any edginess.

oh wow...... this poetry

[mlmc1995 109]

48 minutes ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

I mean, it honestly isn’t lol. If anything, if it were on that album, it’d be more tonally adjacent to something like Gorgeous, which is a fine track, but is admittedly a tongue-in-cheek take on a somewhat juvenile trope. What I think elevates HBDUWM is how Gaga frames it narratively in TAOPC as being a commentary on her persona/relationship to her audience, but even that type of commentary isn’t totally foreign to somewhat like TS. If anything, what makes HBDUWM stand out in Gaga’s discography is it’s earnestness, not so much any edginess.

You’re spot on with this. That part of Mayhem Ball is one of my favourites and that’s coming from someone that didn’t really care for the song initially. But now when I listen to it, it just makes me think of her with her bare face and beanie, having fun and being carefree with her dancers after such a structured show. Kinda illustrates the power of live music and performance, to have the perspective of a song change so much as a fan. 

[Flippy 14,368]

4 hours ago, Mothermayhem said:

And they should be banned honey! This shouldn’t be s a safe place for them!

People won’t be banned for disliking an album. GGD is a place for discussing different things but mainly centered around Gaga. People are allowed to express opinions as long as it’s done in a respectful way. 

[DESTROY UR DISEASE 20,190]

7 minutes ago, Flippy said:

People won’t be banned for disliking an album.

But the threads will be locked for poking fun at others

[elegidadedios 5,011]

4 hours ago, Bronco said:

and a decade of rugby injuries to worry about. 

Why is that sad and hot at the same time

[Flippy 14,368]

8 minutes ago, DESTROY UR DISEASE said:

But the threads will be locked for poking fun at others

Well, you know why that is

[DESTROY UR DISEASE 20,190]

1 minute ago, Flippy said:

Well, you know why that is

maybe I do... but even if I do I will keep pretending that I don't anyways

Edited 5 hours ago by DESTROY UR DISEASE