Reviews > Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga’s Stunted Quest For Superstardom
By Johnny Firecloud
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Let’s face it: Lady Gaga, love her, hate her or just plain weirded out by her, is bound to be around for quite awhile. Clearly an avid observer of pop icons that came before her, Gaga understands that mystery and intrigue are half the battle, and whether she’s changing costume seventeen times in a song or refusing to acknowledge or deny the rumors that she’s a hermaphrodite, she’s fully committed to the iconic image she’s been cultivating. It also helps to have the gay community eating out of your hand.
We live in a different time than when Michael and Madonna first made their impact, but catchy pop jingles recorded by otherworldly oddballs will always have their place, regardless of classic caliber, and Gaga’s been paying close attention. She’s a savvy student of exposure, and writes or co-writes most of her material, allowing for direct engagement with her field of cultural focus rather than generic love/breakup tracks compiled by the teams of songwriters most of her rivals rely upon.
With production from Teddy Riley, Rodney Jerkins, Ron Fair and Fernando Garibay, The Fame Monster is an intentionally vintage-sounding club pop collection of supplements to last year’s smash debut The Fame. Opting out of the reissue idea to let the songs on The Fame Monster stand on their own was a good idea; anyone remotely interested in The Fame either has it by now or is too sick of the hits (of which there are many) to pick it up at this point. Eight tracks are seriously pushing it in terms of what defines an album, but these songs stand together in style and scope and thus transcend B-side relegation.
Her dance-pop isn’t revolutionary or even innovative, but Lady Gaga’s fully aware of that. Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta is a passionately intuitive and relentlessly creative young lady who realizes that her strength as an artist lies just as much in showmanship as it does in skill. A thousand ridiculous costumes, fake blood, pianos engulfed in flames and sexual mystery fill in the gaps of captivation that her music tends to leave, facilitating the Gaga character and providing proper mojo stilts when the content doesn’t conjure the magic.
That’s not to say the girl’s without spark, however. Paparazzi and Poker Face alone are already immortal, and there are moments on The Fame Monster that have some real promise. Most of those moments are found in Bad Romance and La Isla Bonita cousin Alejandro, the only two songs to transcend the rest of the album’s obsession with ’80s melancholy synth-pop atmospherics, but still… they’re moments.
Dance In The Dark has nothing at all to do with Bruce Springsteen, thankfully (?), but rather finds Gaga addressing the complexities of fame and general female self-issues. As with Alejandro, it’s full of cheap hook gimmicks with uninspired payoffs, but payoffs nonetheless, at least enough to satiate the eager. Beyonce shows up on Telephone, which is not to be confused with the pair’s original, stronger collaboration, Video Phone. Points docked for atrocious lyrics on that one.
Speechless has an amateurish, theatrical nature rooted in ’70s piano-drama pop that doesn’t quite ring with conviction, despite premature critical claims that the song will be her post-Poker Face musical touchstone. Semi-title track Monster, a danceable throwaway, finds Germanotta meeting a boy in a club and falling hard, with the lyrical highlight: We French kissed on a subway train / He tore my clothes right off / He ate my heart and then he ate my brain. Again, there’s an uninspired celebration of throwback, retro ’80s synth beats that beg for more time in the cooker. Every ounce of promise is matched with overt, boiling cheese sauce.
Lady Gaga doesn’t need ten hits on an album to make her mark as a real artist, but she’s going to have to try harder than this to maintain her star trajectory, even if The Fame Monster is only intended as a stopgap between The Fame and her next full-length album.
- Disc 1
- 01. Just Dance
- 02. LoveGame
- 03. Paparazzi
- 04. Poker Face
- 05. Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)
- 06. Beautiful, Dirty, Rich
- 07. The Fame
- 08. Money Honey
- 09. Starstruck
- 10. Boys Boys Boys
- 11. Paper Gangsta
- 12. Brown Eyes
- 13. I Like It Rough
- 14. Summerboy
- Disc 2
- 01. Bad Romance
- 02. Alejandro
- 03. Monster
- 04. Speechless
- 05. Dance In The Dark
- 06. Telephone
- 07. So Happy I Could Die
- 08. Teeth
:phew: So I wasn’t the only one who listened to this out of curiosity. What I got was pretty unbearable.
Why would a respectable site like Antiquiet waste time with crap like this?
Call it a grotesque fascination.
THAT was the term I was looking for.
i think i might generally be more prone to pop curiosity than the next guy (next guy being johnny), owning both of gwen stefani’s albums on vinyl, and several other unholy atrocities. but i held out on gaga until i could grab the 2 disc fame monster, with the original full length included. checked it all out at once.
ultimately, gaga’s records are best suited for clubs and homos, it’s fully synthed up high fructose corn syrup. however, her live performances often kill. there are great pop songs under the fluff, and she can strip ‘em down and play them with heart. she’s an artist, and one of the more respectable pop stars on the table these days. but that doesn’t mean i disagree with the rating here. the album only represents one part of what she does, and it’s a fair, objective call on that part.
The girl is just the right amount of calculated, batshit crazy that intrigues the hell out of me. The songs are catchy enough to not be unlistenable and her live performance makes my head hurt in a good way. I was looking forward to the Kanye/Gaga show before it got canned. I’m sure it would have been a damned entertaining spectacle.
Gotta say, I’d have been interested in that neon clusterfuck as well.
looks like her stylist is the only talented one… *shutters*
Great review Johnny! I love the line “Every ounce of promise is matched with overt, boiling cheese sauce.” Funny enough, that line makes me want to try out the CD – Macaroni and Cheese is good every now and then…
Pop isn’t my thing. Her performance on whatever awards show that was, MTV Video Music maybe, was so nuts I couldn’t look away. I don’t “like” her, but she is definitely attention grabbing. I don’t hate her either, though. If she can keep it going, she could possibly be the next Madonna. I didn’t like her either back in the 80’s when she started, but look at her now. Rich, famous, an attention-whore. I do however appreciate Gaga’s boldness-she says “F**k it”, and does it. Musically…..eh, not so much. Whenever I get that damn Paparazzi stuck in my head, I want to bang it against the wall! How long ’til she starts adopting African babies.
Someone posted a performance video of her on Facebook- pre-nose job, sans Battlestar Gallactica get ups- and he said for those who don’t “get” her to look past the outfits and this video showed what an incredible musician she is. Problem for me is that the outfits and the garishness that comes with are part and parcel of the GaGa and overshadow her gifts to the point that I’m not interested in trying to unearth those gifts at all (Gwen Stefani has presented me with the same problem). When she did SNL and she sat her ass down and rang the talent bell I was enchanted, but then it was over. I get GaGa as much as I can which ain’t much plus vapid pop/club/dance music doesn’t do much for me. Maybe I should turn gay. That might help.
I hate to admit that you cover too much mainstream shit, while there are still plenty of good acts left unreviewed. I don’t think Lady GaGa is worth mentioning at all.
I agree. It’s safe to say that 100% of all big mainstream music sites and magazines have reviewed Lady Gaga. It’s not like she needs the help, and it’s not like we read anything new about it here. Seems redundant. The saddest part is that it actually requires someone to sit down and listen to that shit, instead of any one of a million good records out there.
While our ears are always open for any great artists under the radar, and a few things are brewing regarding just that, there’s a cultural curiosity in GaGa that’s within our spectrum of vision. You didn’t see my 50 Cent review here, and we’re not going to stoop to Rihanna territory, but some hype demands a closer look. And if I’m in a poppy kind of mood and the option comes up to review Lady GaGa or one of a million bands Jack Nobody is convinced are about to get massive, I’d rather spin something with more universal appeal, and scratch a curious itch in the meantime. But again, can’t stress enough, our suggestion box is always open.
Blakroc, Florence + The Machine, Red Fang, La Roux… When I look at the “Reviews” tab I see many interesting things, some I wouldn’t have even heard about, If it wasn’t for your reviews. But then I also see Paramore, AFI, Lady GaGa (I didn’t put Wolfmother, cause it just had to be done) I mean, compared to the number of articles containing fascinating music, a few reviews like this seem unsignificant. On the other hand I simply can’t stop seeing it this way: “instead of wasting time on the shit that is obviously unworthy of this site, they could’ve covered something more deserving”.
She’s not an artist, she’s a media whore who wastes her voice on horrible music.
I see it as it’s your website and you can review whatever the fuck you want and I’ll read or won’t read at will.
we appreciate that trina…
we’ve covered red fang with a few pieces… we have the blakroc album, and will very likely review it. i also have lungs, but i haven’t been able to crack through to the point where i can confidently say something about it. have heard some hype about la roux, will dig deeper.
This is the reason I love this site. A perfect blend of all genres and levels of popularity. Fits my musical tastes to the tee. I listen to Tool and I listen to Tinariwen. I listen to Johnny Cash and I listen to Daft Punk. I listen to Coheed and Cambria and I listen to White Denim. I listen to Deadweather and I listen to Gogol Bordello. I don’t give a shit what you guys review. The whole point of me coming here is to get perspective and maybe discover the best band I’ve never heard. Keep it up guys.
Let them review it, mainstream underground, who cares. It’s music blogs with their elitist “must not be mainstream” attitude that detracts from the good music that coincidently (surprise) other people may enjoy.
not that it’s necessarily mrs. gaga/rothschild. Although I do give her credit she does her own writing, started out writing for other pop-tards, and designs her own fashion style. when it comes to her brand of music drivel, she’s alright
oh and also, you know, there’s this. it’s been making the rounds over the past month or so… you kinda can’t watch it and remain unconvinced that she’s not a talented songwriter and singer. somewhere under the grace jones shit.
uhhuh?
She fuckin sux. There’s loads of people, local musicans that can do what she did in that video even better skerwl and have more talent but on top of that she makes some of the most obnoxious fuckin pop I have ever heard. uh maybe because I’ve heard this sound of hers before in other forms of pop sensations, total rip off. She tries way to hard. She plays the “bi” card. It’s just all so lame. Not to mention when she talks it’s all so rehearsed. “I’m gaga all the time” no your not, you wake up and dress like an ass and we all know all these pop stars have ghost writes so nowadays it’s hard to believe anyone in pop REALLY writes their own music. I dont get it and dont think I will. She sells herself like she’s so original by dressing up like an jackass but she makes music that is just not original by a longshot. this makes me just as uneasy as that paramore article. Why do you feel the need to defend such shite? People don’t care if she or the chick from paramore have an one ounce of talent, its just shit, their contribution to music…the music is just shit. I listened to the record -1 star. It’s just shit. There’s better talent in the world, you can write about whatever you want, not knocking that cause I like that about this site but you have this comment thing here and people are gonna use it, otherwise dont let us.
Wow agree with ripplez. Her music is pretty meaningless and not very original at all. It might be catchy but I have heard it before. Thats why she compensates by dressing and saying the things she does to make up for the lack of originality in her music. Makes me pretty sick to be honest, shouldn’t entertain such trash, how could you get through a whole album?
Gaga is genius and has more nerve and integrity than any Indie band out there. I’m old and creaky and came to the conclusion that music is mostly youth culture so I don’t listen much to new music anymore. But if you listen to Gaga, instead of letting her image throw you off, she’s an incredible writer… up there with Costello or Byrne. I wish more artists or bands had the balls to put themselves out there and instead of lying to themselves about their ‘integrity.’ I feel too many artists and bands are way too comfortable and I love that Gaga is shaking up both the Pop and Indie worlds. Iggy, Pistols, the Clash and the Ramones all wanted to be famous so they could shake shit up (well, the Ramones wanted riches, too, but sonically the Ramones were not that different than what Gaga is peddling.) I don’t expect Indie music to start playing dress up, but if they pushed as hard as Gaga they might be relevant again. I can already see the Pop scene being more open to experimenting because of Gaga. I hope Indy artists rises to the challenge.
I admit I don’t get the Lady Gaga craze. I know people who say that she is incredibly talented and has a beautiful voice. So this is what she does with it and the public eats it up?? I know it’s dance club music and this fits for that genre. It is definitely working for her and she is ripping up the musician scene. I’d much prefer a singer/performer who tries to do honest music instead of elaborate stage production stuff but that does not sell CDs. Good for Lady Gaga for marketing herself so well.
I browse through gossips everywhere, that very little in Drag queen Gaga is original and that she is really a copycat :-( I nevertheless really like Lady Gaga coZ she roCks!!