• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

BEYONCÉ RETURNS: POPGAF OT XIII

L

Little Mons†er

Banned
The lack of taste here

That OT thread proves y'all wrong!

bcI0e94.gif
 
M

MrV4ltor

Member
The Queen and Black Jesus + Amen Fashion are the only songs I don't like on BTW.
It's her best alberm tbh.
The Filler is trash besides the singles tho.
 
S

Soulscribe

Member
Idolator wrote an ode to the album of the decade:

Five Years Later, Lady Gaga’s ‘Born This Way’ Is Still An Absurd, Abrasive Achievement

Lady Gaga’s second full-length came out five years ago today (May 23), and while Born This Way may have seemed overwrought and overstuffed back in 2011, it was the moment Gaga achieved a balance of sound and image. The album turned out to be forward-thinking for its adventurous, ominous production, helping to jump-start pop’s ensuing embrace of the sinister for the next half-decade. It was exactly the left-field jolt the Gaga narrative, and pop music, demanded at the time.

As the album’s lead single and title track dropped, the knock on Lady Gaga was that her music didn’t match the subversiveness of her presentation. If we’re shedding our poker faces, the production on The Fame was dinky. The Fame Monster muscled up the arrangements — “Bad Romance” sounds colossal enough to hold up that life-giving chorus, and “Telephone” doesn’t buckle under the weight of its two megastars — but simple synth-pop club tracks just weren’t going to cut it anymore once Gaga was showing up to the Grammys in an alien egg or wearing a meat dress. So on Born This Way, the production had to be as outlandish as Lady Gaga herself.

And she achieved that not by tapping into the EDM tropes that were about to peak, or just going the juiced-up dance/synth-pop route that stars like Rihanna or Kesha were doing at the time. Instead, garish and muscular genres like industrial, hair metal and darkwave formed the core of her BTW songs and every crevice of the album was filled with noise and brittle riffs. Sax solos are the least ostentatious aspect of the album. Guitars sound like synths, synths sound like haunted house organs, drums sound like static blasts, vocals sound either operatic or demonic, everything is in the red. Dystopian robo workouts (“Government Hooker,” “Judas”), steroidal ’80s drama pop (“Marry The Night,” “Born This Way,” “The Edge Of Glory”), power ballads (“You And I”), Brian May, Clarence Clemons, Mutt Lange, DJ Snake, they all intertwined on this thing.

The hooks aren’t as memorable as those from her Fame phase, largely due to the onslaught of sounds, but these are anthems nonetheless. Like the unholy Gaga-cycle hybrid on the standard edition’s cover, the music is a metallic machine twisted into something vaguely grotesque and familiar. And five years on, it’s a clear antecedent to the pop moment we’re in now.

The grimy churn of “Government Hooker” and the warped digital burps and goth chants of “Bloody Mary” could very easily have set the template for Kanye West two years later to do a song like “Black Skinhead” and dabble in witch house on Yeezus. “Bad Kids” works gnarly processed guitars into a dance anthem, similar to the textures Grimes would work with on Art Angels tracks like “Kill V. Maim.” The harried gabber-lite stomp of “Judas” laid the groundwork for Demi Lovato to borrow from Sleigh Bells and Justice. You can find that same BTW DNA in all kinds of places, whether its Allie X, those oppressive blasts that open “The Hills” or the NIN vibes of FKA twigs’ M3LL155X.

By disguising aggro goth-pop as radio fare, Gaga provided an alternative to the super-sugary molly-pop sound of the time, ditching the rave tent in favor of the void. Of course acts like The Knife had already toyed with this idea, but when someone of Gaga’s stature decided to cling to her inner demon, it made the pop world safe for stars at the top of their game looking to go on some truly abnormal, unexpected (and un-focus grouped) musical excursions. The album’s lyrics, length and lasting effect on Gaga’s career trajectory (alien egg -> Jo Calderone -> whatever this is -> vomit art) are certainly questionable, but nobody else could’ve made such an absurd, abrasive blockbuster seem so prophetic.

Source: http://www.idolator.com/7633796/lady-gaga-born-this-way-review-essay-anniversary
Click to expand...


Preach the Gospel, sistren.
 
F

Floridian

Member
Gaga only stans trying to tell others about taste, hmmm.

Anyway, Marry The Night, Bloody Mary, Heavy Metal Lover, Electric Chapel, and You & I. The only songs worth a damn to go back to.
 
M

MrV4ltor

Member
oBPHq03.png

"She's using her for Oscar promo"
"She'll stop talking about her after the Oscars"
"She's only talking about her to promote TIHTY"
 
R

rhandino

Banned
Bey does not need to give interviews when her music speak so much of herself and what she thinks during that time and I think I learned more about ha by listening to Self-titled and Lemonade than all the other girls "interviews" and music.
 
B

Blood Diamonds

Banned
I only like Marry The Night, Judas, Government Hooker, Heavy Metal Lover, and Bloody Marry. I can't remember any of the other songs besides BTW the song which is trash.
 
S

Soulscribe

Member
Floridian said:
Gaga only stans trying to tell others about taste, hmmm.

Anyway, Marry The Night, Bloody Mary, Heavy Metal Lover, Electric Chapel, and You & I. The only songs worth a damn to go back to.
Click to expand...

Maybe it says something about taste when no one can ever fucking agree on what Gaga's best songs are. Ever. Someone in here will surely be judging you for putting Electric Chapel in that list for example, while they praise Americano.
 
F

Floridian

Member
Soulscribe said:
Maybe it says something about taste when no one can ever fucking agree on what Gaga's best songs are. Ever. Someone in here will surely be judging you for putting Electric Chapel in that list, for example, while they praise Americano.
Click to expand...

I think (thought?) that Electric Chapel was one of the universally liked songs on the album. I would probably judge someone for putting the title track as the one the best, since that has aged pretty badly. And no opinions on Americano =/
 
M

Matt_

World's #1 One Direction Fan: Everyone else in the room can see it, everyone else but you~~~
I've yet to catch up on the BB Awards other than thirty seconds of Madonna struggling to sing
Anything worth catching up on? Did Brit Brit slay or shall I save my time

Vazra said:
Big Bird and the brown condom singing Fashion was fun tbh
Click to expand...

The video is region locked and I honestly don't know whether you're being shady calling rupual a condom or if hes actually dressed as one and its making me cackle

You Know Nothing said:
Astrid S - Atic

Get into it.
Click to expand...

!!!!!!
this is fucking good shit
 
V

Vazra

irresponsible vagina leak
Matt_ said:
The video is region locked and I honestly don't know whether you're being shady calling rupual a condom or if hes actually dressed as one and its making me cackle
Click to expand...

Gaga looked like a brown condom. Ru was Big Bird.
78ac3a4cb6.png
 
M

Matt_

World's #1 One Direction Fan: Everyone else in the room can see it, everyone else but you~~~
Talking of Madonna there is a song I keep hearing on the radio that sounds like Madonna in her ray of light days and its so good


Vazra said:
Gaga looked like a brown condom. Ru was Big Bird.
78ac3a4cb6.png
Click to expand...

fuck what a plot twist
 
M

Matt_

World's #1 One Direction Fan: Everyone else in the room can see it, everyone else but you~~~
i found it and its called Shura - Whats It Gonna Be
Maybe a bit more Music than Ray Of Light, but her vocals have definitely got a Madonna feel to them

Some of you indie pop darlings may use
 
V

Vazra

irresponsible vagina leak
Kinda pissed there is not much to complain about Fifth Harmony album. It's actually pretty good and a huge improvement over the previous stuff.
 
L

Little Mons†er

Banned
Vazra said:
Kinda pissed there is not much to complain about Fifth Harmony album. It's actually pretty good and a huge improvement over the previous stuff.
Click to expand...

The debut album was ATROCIOUS! The only passable songs on that "record" were Going Nowhere and Top Down

Will wait for my judgement on 24/7

Work from Home slays HARD
 
M

MANUELF

Banned
BTW was the start of Gaga decline, the fact that it sold half of its sales on its first week makes it a frontloaded mess that no one liked, just like Batman Vs Superman
 
V

Vazra

irresponsible vagina leak
JollyJoe said:
The debut album was ATROCIOUS! The only passable songs on that "record" were Going Nowhere and Top Down

Will wait for my judgement on 24/7

Work from Home slays HARD
Click to expand...

It feels cohesive and everyone gets space to shine on different songs (including Lauren)

Now they just need to get rid of Camilla tbh.
 
M

MrV4ltor

Member
Started listening to 7/11 or whatever.
The Life kinda bops ngl, but I feel like I've heard the song before.
The noise in I Lied is irritating and atrocious.
Squeeze is trash.
That Kinda Girl kinda goes awf.
 
R

rhandino

Banned
Alejandro the songs is really good... I enjoyed the video a lot but there is this weird disconnect between the lyrics, tone and visual all over it.

I do remember when people were surprised that Gaga could wear normal clothes and then that surprise turned into "Meh" when she appeared in the gun bra.
 
M

MrV4ltor

Member
First impressions on 7/27:
Flows well, features are good and fit the songs, kinda samey (which doesn't have to be a bad thing), bad production on some songs (I Lied), not that many stand outs.
Favourite songs: Work From Home and Not That Kinda Girl
Worst songs: Dope (Gaga ha curse) and Squeeze.
 
W

WaffleTaco

Wants to outlaw technological innovation.
BTW was an absolute failure compared to The Fame and TFM. It drove most of the populace away, because in all honesty...it was a little too flashy. Should have toned it down by a lot. Marry The Night and The Edge of Glory are the best songs on the album. Also most of her music has aged terribly. Talented she may be...but she's kind of a fad...something to watch as it gets more and more ridiculous to where finally no one cares anymore, so they have to do tribute songs, and TV shows just to get work.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

PlayStation Stars returning, phased rollout (points have not been lost)
2
921
consoul replied
Tekken 8 |OT| Don’t H8 When Fist Meets Fate
10 11 12 13 14
661
36K
Klosshufvud replied
Working OT is pointless
2
828
NecrosaroIII replied
DCS: F-4E Phantom - Release Date Announcement
Trailer
8
624
ultrazilla replied
Games you LOVED at first, but they eventually petered out
2 3 4
151
7K
Pimpollo818 replied
Top Bottom