Five reasons why you shouldn't hate Lady Gaga

[IAceI]

I quite like Alejandro. I like most of Lady Gaga's songs and don't really care about the way she dresses or acts.

I have no real love for her, I like a lot of other artists a lot more simply because other genres interest me more than hers, but I think she's amazingly talented and a typical American money-spinner. Whereas Ellie, Marina and Florence etc. are more unassuming typical British artists, perhaps they're void of real personalities - fact is I like all of them. (.. and Cosmic Love by Florence is awesome.)

[Katsuya]

For the life of me I have no idea why people like Eh Eh. It is the one GaGa song that I cannot stand, to the degree that I've stopped it from ever being played on my iTunes and I just let the albums skip over it when it gets played. I think over time I've grown to realise that a lot of the first album is just sort of average: Money Honey, Beautiful Dirty Rich, The Fame being the examples of this. It's gone some hidden gems on there like Summerboy and Boys Boys Boys (the latter might just be for the reaction it gets in gay clubs) but it's not a great album overall.

The Fame Monster is awesome though. Only Monster is a bit of a let down for me, since it's just sort of..."bleh". I love all three of the singles, too, especially Alejandro (which apparently is a bit of a divisive one). But then again I'm a GaGa fanboy so, yeah, take my opinion for what it's worth.

[GA!]

I'd possibly like Lady Gaga if her songs weren't so fucking overplayed. Also, she's quite the pretentious one considering her output is run-of-the-mill Galaxy FM electropop.

[METALMAN]

The reason I hate Lady GaGa is that she's a budget Madonna who tries to make up for her budget-ness by being outrageous.

Also (maybe not her fault) she is hailed by music journos as some kind of saviour of electro music which irks me more than a little. She is also a re-hasher of ideas and not exactly original....

Not original? so what?

I just find it baffling that you criticise Lady Gaga for lacking originality yet in the exact same post talk of your love for Little Boots. That'll obviously be the exact same Little Boots who was coincidentally refitted with a futuristic space bitch image just as Lady Gaga was becoming huge, despite desperately lacking the charisma to pull it off.

And at no point did I declare her to be a pioneer or saviour. My point was that I just find it a bit silly when people just dismiss her music purely as a reaction to her success and image

Just after I finished typing that I had a massive fall down the stairs. Must be karma. >_>

[RPS]

My only problem with Lady Gaga is the hype. People treat her as though is far more than just some woman singing catchy songs and that she is the most original thing to come around since Madonna. Kelis, La Roux, Robyn, Gwen Stefani, Shakira, Kylie Minogue are all female dance pop artists I'd take over Lady Gaga any day. I'll admit to being a Gaga addict before, but the hype faded for me when I realized there was hundreds of more interesting people making more interesting music sans the dumb costumes.

Isn't Lady Gaga just piggy backing on what Gwen Stefani did 4 years ago, just with crazier outfits and more over the top videos? Emphasis on strong visual elements, blonde woman with an acute sense for fashion singing mainstream dance pop songs about fame and glamor?...

Edited August 17, 2010 by RockPaperScissors

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

I just said I preferred Little Boots to Lady GaGa. My love was directed towards Lily Allen.

[hackerjack]

Musically I have little problem with Gaga, some of her stuff I actually really quite like, especially in the right circumstance, for instance Bad Romance is pretty damn immense on a good night out.

I do have a problem with the oversaturation of her though just the same as I've previously had with Beyonce, Christian, Britney and the rest, I don't want to hear Alejandro every hour on the radio thank you very much.

As for Little Boots, she's wonderful so lay off! Seriously yes her image is pure rehash packaging but that was the record companies decision. Musically though her stuff was definately a breath of fresh air as was to an extent Gaga's at the time even if they did both smack of massive overproduction (LB's pre-signing versions of most of her stuff is far moe interesting).

[Skummy]

I do think the lack of originality matters a bit - because it's part and parcel of what Lady GaGa's about. She makes a point of being more than just music, so you have to factor in the other elements, just like you would with Madonna - she's a cultural entity. The thing is that Madonna, and David Bowie, who Lady GaGa is also frequently and inexplicably compared to, and Grace Jones who she isn't compared to nearly enough, all have a much greater degree of cultural understanding to their work. They kept their ears to the ground, picked up on what was emerging through subcultures and marginalised art, music and fashion "scenes", or which retro styles were due a re-introduction or pastiche and incorporated the more palatable aspects into their own work, in a manner at least as impressive as if they had been genuine innovators. Lady GaGa doesn't seem to have the same cultural awareness, or ability to pre-empt trends, and because of that her music doesn't have the same depth or intrigue to it, because it's just blindly parroting back what's been done before with no idea of context or reason.

Musically, I liked "Just Dance", but I like most songs about dancing when you're pissed off. "Dancing With Tears In Your Eyes" by Ultravox, or "Dance Away" by Roxy Music. It just seems to be my thing. And I really liked "Paparazzi" when I heard it for the first time about a fortnight ago. Everything else I've thought was bland

As for the other people mentioned in here - I don't think I've ever knowingly heard Little Boots, Ellie Goulding, Ke$ha or really any of the others. I have heard Florence & The Machine, and quite like "Girl With One Eye", though nothing else I've heard by them/her/whatever. Also, I tried to book them for a gig recently and they asked for more money than anyone else I've ever gone after, including people far better and more famous than she is. So I'm not in a good mood with her lately.

Edited August 17, 2010 by Skummy

[Cactus Drags]

I actually bought the first album, and found a lot of dross, but there's been a fair few tracks I've liked, Only, I've no idea where they've come from because there seems to be a bunch of albums or re-releases or special editions or whatever. That's annoying. She's better than a lot of the rubbish pop on the radio, I'll give her that. I do get tired of hearing some of her songs after a while, but she's far more interesting than Florence and the Machine, she's dull as all hell. That You Got the Love cover got old after maybe 3 listens, and I think I skipped through all but maybe two or three tracks when I downloaded the album, I just don't see the appeal.

[hackerjack]

The thing is that Madonna, and David Bowie, who Lady GaGa is also frequently and inexplicably compared to, and Grace Jones who she isn't compared to nearly enough, all have a much greater degree of cultural understanding to their work. They kept their ears to the ground, picked up on what was emerging through subcultures and marginalised art, music and fashion "scenes", or which retro styles were due a re-introduction or pastiche and incorporated the more palatable aspects into their own work, in a manner at least as impressive as if they had been genuine innovators. Lady GaGa doesn't seem to have the same cultural awareness, or ability to pre-empt trends, and because of that her music doesn't have the same depth or intrigue to it, because it's just blindly parroting back what's been done before with no idea of context or reason.

You are comparing people who have had careers that span decades and have had massive freedom over their own work as a consequence of that with someon who has only been around a few years and hs probably had little creative control as of yet.

Madonna especially in her first years was no more original than Gaga has been thus far, producing largely tracks from 1970's disco with a more pop sounding vocal, if you compare them at the same stage of their careers the similarity becomes far mroe apparent. Can Gaga change the way that Madonna has done to stay relevent? Only time will tell but saying that someone doesn't have that ability after less than two years in the limelight is just silly.

[METALMAN]

I do think the lack of originality matters a bit - because it's part and parcel of what Lady GaGa's about. She makes a point of being more than just music, so you have to factor in the other elements, just like you would with Madonna - she's a cultural entity. The thing is that Madonna, and David Bowie, who Lady GaGa is also frequently and inexplicably compared to, and Grace Jones who she isn't compared to nearly enough, all have a much greater degree of cultural understanding to their work. They kept their ears to the ground, picked up on what was emerging through subcultures and marginalised art, music and fashion "scenes", or which retro styles were due a re-introduction or pastiche and incorporated the more palatable aspects into their own work, in a manner at least as impressive as if they had been genuine innovators. Lady GaGa doesn't seem to have the same cultural awareness, or ability to pre-empt trends, and because of that her music doesn't have the same depth or intrigue to it, because it's just blindly parroting back what's been done before with no idea of context or reason.

Musically, I liked "Just Dance", but I like most songs about dancing when you're pissed off. "Dancing With Tears In Your Eyes" by Ultravox, or "Dance Away" by Roxy Music. It just seems to be my thing. And I really liked "Paparazzi" when I heard it for the first time about a fortnight ago. Everything else I've thought was bland

As for the other people mentioned in here - I don't think I've ever knowingly heard Little Boots, Ellie Goulding, Ke$ha or really any of the others. I have heard Florence & The Machine, and quite like "Girl With One Eye", though nothing else I've heard by them/her/whatever. Also, I tried to book them for a gig recently and they asked for more money than anyone else I've ever gone after, including people far better and more famous than she is. So I'm not in a good mood with her lately.

She's only 24. When David Bowie was 24, he had three mediocre albums to his name, and no interesting or original image worth speaking of (although the lovely Hunky Dory was obviously going to follow very soon). Should she suddenly come into her own, imagewise, I feel the David Bowie comparisons may be apt, but certainly not now.

I also don't really think you have to factor in her image or any elements when considering her music if you don't want to. Certainly not just because she thinks you should. To give a real boneheaded example of this - I like the music of Paul McCartney but it doesn't mean I'm going to buy his artwork.

Pop music has forever been full of bands with irritating images, and singers that proclaim to be about much more than music. I think all the elements should be considered as a whole when considering an artist's impact on popular culture - obviously Roxy Music wouldn't have got anywhere near the heights they scaled were it not for their combining old and new into something newer - but when, for example, rating or reviewing a record, I don't think you should allow other factors to cloud your judgement. I think Combat Rock is a rubbish album because it has rubbish songs on it. I don't think it is a rubbish album because of the Clash's transparent image and juvenile politics.

It's just pop music. It's just fun and it's nearly always over in a flash. Pop music never stands up too well to overanalysis. I'm not going to scrutinise her too much just because she says I should.

[RPS]

This would all be fine and well if Lady Gaga didn't make all of these other factors like fashion and music videos and absurd statements just as (if not more) important than the music. Sure, the music is popular, but Lady Gaga is where she is because she's gone out of her way to make it more than just a song and made it into this weird spectacle. That's always going to be a part of being a pop star - but Lady Gaga simply made the scrutinies worse because she took it so far over the top.

[Cactus Drags]

I don't think I've ever stopped liking a song purely because I dislike the artist's fashion sense or statement or whatever. Hell, I wouldn't like a lost of the hardcore-y scene type stuff I listen to otherwise, because those skinny jeans and v-necks and more fringe than face hairstyles are ghastly. Sure, a song may venture into guilty pleasure status (particularly with pop music), but I'll still listen.

Like, I know Fred Durst is a massive tossbag, but that's not going to stop me from thinking Signifcant Other was an enjoyable album. Hell, even Chocolate Starfish had some decent tracks.

[kerryadelfred]

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[MalaCloudy Black]

.. Hey, thanks for that, bot.

I like Gaga (otherwise I wouldn't own a Fame Monster t-shirt). She's hilariously pretentious and the large majority of her songs are catchy as fuck tunes, especially Poker Face, Paparazzi, Telephone & LoveGame.

Also piss on the people who say she's a tranny, even were she one I'd still put my pork sausage in her buttered roll. There, I said it.

[GoGo Yubari]

Listening to her songs that metalman linked. Pretty good pop; I was never overly impressed by "Poker Face" or "Bad Romance," but "Summerboy" and "So Happy I Could Die" are both really doing it for me. Don't really care for her one way or another as a grandiose pop figure (but I'd probably end up liking her, since I find Kanye West to be hysterical and awesome), but I certainly see why she's pop music's It Girl right now.