Album: The Fame
Artist: Lady Gaga
Label: Interscope, Cherrytree, Streamline, Kon Live
Release date: August 19, 2008
Chart position/sales: (AUS) 3x Platinum (US) 3x Platinum [full sales certifications and chart positions]
Much as I tried to convince myself that I was above such muso snobbery as to look down my nose at Lady Gaga, much as I told myself over and over that the reason I’d never listened to her music was because of a simple assumption that she was ‘not my thing’, I have been forced to admit that I went into this review with a rather negative pre-conception of what I was about to hear. So judge me. I had pretty good grounds for this prejudice – I don’t like electro or ‘club’ music, I’m not a fan of ridiculous attention-seeking performances and, like the moralist prig you may feel inclined to call me, I don’t respect music with sexually overt lyrics. But nevertheless I decided to listen to not one but two of her releases: her debut album The Fame and follow-up EP The Fame Monster. The stage was set for death by Gaga. I procrastinated like crazy before pressing that Play button. I actually did background research. I don’t know which scared me more – the thought of spending three days listening to music that I hate, or the possibility of becoming a Lady Gaga fan.
So yes, I viewed Lady Gaga fan-hood as a stigma…but I couldn’t ignore the fact that it is a “stigma” that approximately 12 million people are quite happy to live with, Gaga’s sales soaring to that figure sometime last year (ha! background research procrastination pays off). I also read up on Lady Gaga’s first involvement with the music industry, penning hits for other artists, the discovery of her vocal talent and the rapid rise to fame that followed the release of her debut album called, funnily enough, The Fame. So far, I am impressed. I am not getting a picture of a try-hard fame-grabber – she was clearly focussed on the musical side of things and her vocal prowess was only discovered by accident by a producer who was so convinced of her talent that he signed her immediately. Feeling ever so slightly more confident, I edge closer to that Play button. It was me against 12mil…I was forced to come to my senses and put my most unbiased listening cap on.
After three songs, I will be honest, I wanted to run out of the room screaming.
No use of humorous hyperbole involved in previous sentence. “Just Dance” went over my head in a blur of conventional beats, electro vocal lines and a disappointing lack of resemblance to David Bowie - whom Lady Gaga has credited as a major influence in her work. I cringed as “Love Game” cheapened the meaning of love to a one-night stand in no uncertain terms and with little musical finesse. “Let’s have some fun, this beat is sick/I wanna take a ride on your disco stick” just sounds like pathetic, bogan man-begging. But then came “Paparazzi”…the moody beat and brooding verses spoke of a little more musical sophistication than I had been expecting and my heart actually melted a little as Gaga plaintively sang “Pa pa, paparazzi”. Stalkerish, but decidedly sweet. Also catching my attention in a track listing of boring techno beats, whining synthesisers and repetitive vocal lines were the decidedly musical and innovative “Again, Again” with its unexpectedly rough piano rock and breathtakingly gutsy vocals and “Brown Eyes” with a soaring, bittersweet chorus. The 80s riffs in “Summerboy” even tempted me to dance, almost. I feel tempted to use the word ‘respect’ here – Gaga can write simply beautiful pop when she wants to. Like, perfect pop. I mean that. And she has attitude, real guts in her performances. I actually enjoyed about half the album, which is far more than I expected of myself.
Next up, The Fame Monster.
Artist: Lady Gaga
Label: Interscope, Cherrytree, Streamline, Kon Live
Release date: November 18, 2009
Chart position/sales: (AUS) 1 / (AUS) 3x Platinum, (US) 5 / (US) Platinum [full sales certifications and chart positions]
I was in a far more positive mindset when I went into this EP – I was even ready to like it. But I hated it. And coming from someone who likes to reason and argue and weigh things up before making an opinion, that’s a serious statement.
No delicacy, no intelligence and no expansion on the glimpses of real musical originality that I had seen in The Fame, the melodies preferring to give themselves over to the mindless monotones of club anthems. And the lyrics weren’t much better…
“We might’ve f***ed not really sure, don’t quite recall”. Hm. With a careless roll of the tongue Lady Gaga passes off one night stands with a casualness that I resent. Not for myself, but for the young people listening to this stuff. And let us not dwell on the cheap porn of “Teeth” - I cringed all the way through. Sex sells and Lady Gaga knows it…and we can’t go blaming her for teen pregnancy. Don’t worry, the moralistic rant ends here, but I will say that her subject choice put a disappointing barrier between me and her musical talent. Not because of aforementioned moral priggishness, but rather because after a few songs it’s enough already! Superficial. Bored. Mindless.
And yes, I just used “talent” in reference to Lady Gaga…I’m not completely blind to the reason for her success, though I’ll admit I was surprised at discovering it. Her voice, while not particularly distinctive as far as pop divas go, is undeniably gorgeous. She is not afraid to be different. There are moments where the musicality of the songs – a clever key change here, a startling riff there - is damned impressive. Unfortunately, this only makes me madder, because at this point I would insert a particularly vindictive statement suggesting that at least she is writing about what she knows and that I can forgive her for her limited subject choice because evidently she has the musicality of a cornflake. But that is not true. She has talent. So here I am thumping my fist on the table screaming “Use your powers for GOOD woman!!! You are better than this!!!” If I am totally missing something here, please feel free to set me straight on the forum or comments box…I’m usually good with the insight, but this album just frustrated me. And that in turn frustrates me more.
I shall endeavour to elaborate, but really I just want to forget about this EP: “Bad Romance” was undoubtedly a stunning (albeit slightly disturbing) opener for this EP, but it was “Alejandro” that first captured my attention as being something different with its intriguing ‘50s-style melodrama beginning. The addition of the synthesisers melded incongruently yet perfectly, but I admit I was back to disappointment when the song emerged into another predictable beat. Insert similar disappointment for remaining tracks. “Speechless” however, gave me that little knock in the teeth as if to say “Hey! There is still talent here!” just as I was about to pronounce this EP dead…which I went on to do anyway of course, but I do consider this song the one saving grace of the record. I do not in the least understand why “Telephone” was so huge – save for the situation described in the lyric, which is probably one that a lot of people can relate to at some point or other, it bored me to tears. “Dance In The Dark” was an interesting tribute to media-oppressed women (unless I’m barking up the wrong tree), but again provided no musical interest with slow moving verses and excessive repetition. I shall save you the rest of my rant – suffice to say, I felt sorely let down after appreciating The Fame.
You are no doubt seeing a pattern with the songs I like best - they have something that a lot of Gaga’s songs are missing: SOUL. She has guts, certainly; heart, probably; but I couldn’t shake the feeling of superficiality from the issues she was singing about and I think that’s what annoyed me most. Don’t think I haven’t realised that this is a parody of superficiality – a clever, sarcastic jab at fame and fortune and tabloids, while revelling in the lifestyle at the same time. But Gaga’s ballads have real soul and drew me into the performance. I cared. As for disco sticks…*blows raspberry*
Do not be fooled by my frustrated ranting however - I do not regret doing this review in the slightest. I am finally able to form an educated opinion about Gaga’s music and I have learned to appreciate songs that I probably wouldn’t have glanced at twice before. I think I can say that I have respect for Lady Gaga. A friend (shout out to Sarah! :D) commented that she thinks many people view Gaga as a ‘contrived pop princess’ but that she thinks she’s ‘more than that’ - and ever since, I have made it my business to discover whether that was true. I think it is. I think there is more to Gaga than she’s letting on. There is musicality in those pieces – I have ignored a lot of dance music in my life, but Gaga’s sounds (even to my relatively inexperienced ear) appear to be a cut above the rest. But I can’t help feeling she’s not releasing her full potential – there’s still something about her that’s floating on down the mainstream, keeping the safety net under her in the security of the popularity of club anthems these days. I think she could go further and I will be keeping an interested lookout for her in the future, to see where she goes with this. But at the moment, it is time for Lady Gaga and I to part ways. With 12 million fans I’m sure she won’t miss me.
The Fame: 3/5
Listen to: Pokerface, Again Again
The Fame Monster: 1/5
Listen to: Speechless, Bad Romance
Is it worth my $$$? – Gaga maintains the standard throughout the whole album with a professional consistency that has no doubt won her her fans – it just depends on whether or not you and her see eye to eye on the quality of that standard. Despite that thinly veiled insult, I would actually buy songs like “Brown Eyes”, “Again Again” and “Speechless”. They are brilliant pop. But the whole album/EP is not my cup of tea.
