Was ARTPOP What Gaga Wanted?

[Jester 6,275]

I feel like when Gaga talks about ARTPOP she talks about all 70+ songs she wrote for it... and she definitely loves them and lives for ARTPOP rn

[lavenderblondee 3,695]

I'll try and make a (rather basic) comment:

Despite the lengthy blackout in 2013, I don't think Gaga was ready to come back mentally, physically, musically, etc. I think she was still upset about the injury and I think she was still in pain. I think that there was a lot of external pressure from whoever/whatever for her to return as soon as possible, and I think that meant compromising on a lot of things in terms of quality. I think there was some notion that she needed to release material in order to be able to keep going career-wise and I honestly don't think she's happy with the product. I think the "messiness" that a lot of us have been commenting on is really her trying to find her footing with the material. We've seen her embody so many personas, and while many attribute it back to her comment regarding being "all icons", I think she's really just trying to find a place where she can connect the material.

I think she was shoved in a very unfortunate situation with material she wasn't happy with. Her comeback had such high expectations and I think she's been beating herself up because she feels she wasn't able to live up to the expectations. I think she's gained a lot of bitterness directed at those who previously supported her, then pushed her back in the spotlight when she wasn't ready.

[tokyodisko 0]

Interesting suggestion - Gaga was the one who wanted to be more commercial. Do you think she stands by her decision now, or feels that it was a mistake?

I do think Gaga was going to be commercial for the album, but the way things panned out had a negative effect. 

I think she does genuinely like the music on ARTPOP, so I don't think she doubts her decision with the songs that were picked, I just think she needed a way to spin the story of Troy and her break down. 

It seems highly orchestrated in some aspects too. This is commercial pop music, so they have to have a strict plan, even if it is Gaga. 

 

I think she may have felt screwed over in the DWUW release, so that changed things a bit in the marketing aspect. 

[rivingtonrebels 245]

At the beginning I really thought it was.  It seemed like there was a strategy - even just by looking at what Gaga was wearing.  Then things just completely fell apart.

[eamonster123 0]

Some of the problems during this era are not her fault and some were completely out of her control

[PureARTPOP 0]

I wonder if Gaga really understandS how much we truly love and worry about her. In the end, I'm sure this will all work out, that ARTPOP will free her mind of all bull**** and she'll be back on track to creating musical experiences for the world to enjoy.

[Popero22 8]

Wow, the fact that Gaga doesn't like Applause makes me sad :(

I personally think Applause couldn't of been the best lead single.

[Whispering 18,865]

From SXSW keynote speech:

 

"I love 'ARTPOP' so much," Gaga added. "That album got me through the hardest time [after her hip surgery and amidst business-side issues]. Making that record, it healed my soul every single night. It’s like the most incredible thing when your friend can play a bass line and it gets inside your spirit and your heart like that and you say, “I was feeling so sick, but then you played that and now I feel so alive and I can keep going."

 

"That’s what the **** it’s all about."

 

I think she just wasn't fully ready mentally or physically and the management upheaval impacted the era greatly and affected Gaga deeply. It's been a mess of an era in many ways, but Gaga will learn more in this era than she ever did when she was "slaying". All artists need these kinds of setbacks to get better.

One thing this era showed me for sure is that, Gaga is a fighter! It's made me love her even more!

[nickkoko 922]

I do think that the project was rushed a little bit and that there was so much pressure from the fans to release new music ASAP. I feel like she either threw together some songs in the blackout of 2013, or quickly finished the WIP songs she already had so that she could release the album. All of us were so desperate for new music at that time, but I think if she took a little more time to finish the songs exactly the way she wanted and worked with the produces more in the recording process (like the BTW era), the album would have turned out much more like she wanted it to be. For example, I don't think Born This Way was a rushed album and, since she took her time with the recording process, it turned out much better. It's definitely not all her fault though, so I'm not exactly blaming her for the messy era. Many other factors played a part in this, which have been mentioned before. I'm just hoping that, with Gaga having time to look back on what this era has been so far, she will definitely make sure to take charge in the next era (ARTPOP Act II or next era) and does what she wants (no pun intended) to do exactly the way she wants it. I think the artRAVE is going to be like that, now that she knows exactly what she has got to do.

[LadyAshwee 0]

Wow, everyone's thoughts are so insightful on this topic!

I would have to say that I really don't believe that the ARTPOP we got is the ARTPOP she wanted to give us. Don't get me wrong, it's a great album but I find it hard to believe that she wrote "like 50 songs" and had such an incredible amount of time to perfect this album during her recovery, and THIS is what she wanted to give us. Also, the way this entire era has been executed is disheartening to say the least. I understand what losing Troy Carter did to this era, but I also can't help but to feel completely left in the dark by Gaga her self...Why couldn't we have an explanation for her blackout mid era? Don't we deserve more than that?? I love her with all my heart and she's been my Mother Monster since the absolute beginning. With all that said I really hope we DO INFACT get the rebirth of this era so Mama can slay all over again.

[Stefani 25]

maybe

[wahkeenasitka 1,980]

I believe the album, the artwork, the promo shots, and the artRave Launch Party all went the way Gaga wanted them. For me, it seems the music itself isn't what's not aligning with Gaga's original ideas for ARTPOP. I feel as though the issue lies with how she's been made to promote the album. She probably wanted a different song, most likely Venus, to serve as the lead single and a different song as the second single. But higher ups felt Applause and DWUW were more marketable and convinced her to go down that route. It would explain why she specifically told us making DWUW the single was her personal choice, then going on to cancel the video for the reasons she gave. I feel like someone, possibly Troy, convinced her to go the DWUW route and she saw it as reasonable. But when the debacle with not being given enough time to plan the video came up, she realized that the person who convinced her to make DWUW a single was really just in it for the money. I'm just speculating at this point, but I think it makes sense.

 

So, to sum things up, the album itself as a body of work came out the way she wanted it. The way executives and higher ups are trying to promote and use the album to make money is what's frustrating her. (In my opinion)

 

I think this is pretty much on point. It's really hard to know. It is all speculation, but this does make sense. 

[GagaDragon 10]

I wish i could say yes but then i look at songs like J&D, Donatella and i'm like hmmmm

[wahkeenasitka 1,980]

Wow, everyone's thoughts are so insightful on this topic!

I would have to say that I really don't believe that the ARTPOP we got is the ARTPOP she wanted to give us. Don't get me wrong, it's a great album but I find it hard to believe that she wrote "like 50 songs" and had such an incredible amount of time to perfect this album during her recovery, and THIS is what she wanted to give us. 

 

Everything she has said in interviews is how much she loved making this album and it was the work she was the most happy with yet, as an artist. I think she loves the album ARTPOP.. 

 

But like other people have been saying, I think the problem has been the management issues behind the scenes with promotion. 

 

It's really hard to know what is actually the truth, without some actual truth-telling from Gaga's mouth (and the other people involved in the process.. cuz there's always more than one angle to the story) 

 

That's one thing I really feel sad about is that there has been absolute silence - except for that one paragraph she wrote back in January on LM.com - otherwise, there's been nothing from her... until she started to unleash last week at the SXSW show & the keynote interview. 

 

But I want her to tell the story. tell the truth. Explain what's been going on. Even if it is drama and ****ed up power trips. Which that's probably what it is... 

 

Until we get the word from the lips of Gaga, it's mostly all just speculation & conjecture and it's hard to make any real assessments based on speculation. 

[Judas Oyster 1,883]

About the album: If you see ARTPOP as a glass full of liquid that Gaga has been drinking from for a long time. What I feel Interscope did try to do is to clean the glass from the lipstick marks on it, and somehow managed to do it, but u can still see some red lipstick there. At the end of the day its still the same glass, with the same liquid. Its just a little more cleaner glass. I think ARTPOP is as fully as Gaga wanted it to be. If not she wouldnt have released it at all, or leave Interscope.

 

 

About the topic: I can't discuss with u, because I fully agree and understand what you say :P

I think it is interesting too. What makes it interesting is to think about how long she has been "dictated" or been negated to express herself both in MV's or performances. Because I think it has been here for a long long time, and maybe even since she got famous (because Troy always was there). But things have been good since 2008, until somehow now perhaps? I find her performances and MV's very good ofc... Is she rebelling herself from now on? has she ever done it before? Or perhaps it started after BTW being criticized?

 

And... How is the future going to be. Im a little worried, because I honestly like the clean Gaga (Bad Romance and other music videos) rather than The Edge of Glory for example. It may sound bad, but it's just my personal taste. We'll see what happens, its exciting at least.

And at the end of the day I think she is going to deliver good as always, even if it's Clean or raw Gaga.

 

 

+ I personally just really enjoy about around 5 songs on this album. I think the next album, or maybe the one after that again is when Gaga will come "back to "normal" in terms of JUST the music/songs. Not talking about performances or MV's. Every artist has the "ups and downs" in albums. It's inhuman to think a person can deliver a perfect album every new album. See Michael Jackson or Madonna as examples, those have been in the music industry for many many years, yet they had albums that weren't liked as much as others. It's about taste too I know, but clearly this album isn't as liked as others, both in the fanbase and the general public.