I need to get something out of my chest, tho:
I actually like Lady Gaga? I mean, I was a stan when she first appeared out of nowhere in 2008, and Just Dance and Poker Face videos on YouTube were still under the 1kk views mark. She continued to grow with Fame Monster and it was exciting to see Bad Romance and Telephone and how big those songs were and how the public finally got a chance to know her. It was a nice change from the "Lady Who?" response you would usually get when talking to your friends about her. Up to that point it was fine. And then things started going sour for me.
Little Monsters happened. Gaga became more and more weird. Most of the things she did were more about fashion than about music. Born this Way happened and it didn't quite connect with me ,and she continued on this trajectory. Before [REDACTED] happen everyone was acting like she would transform the POP scene, and when it crashed and burned, she kind of pretended it never happened, went low-key for a while and came back with Joanne (Rod who?), which, I don't think is a bad album, but I can't be bothered to listen to it either (not to mention, that during the weird Gaga days, how she would act like she invented a style, either of music or fashion, when she was heavily inspired by other people before her and would never give credit, with Little Monsters actually becoming bullies in every single YouTube video that wasn't a Lady Gaga one).
Still, I guess the old stan in me still believes she can do great and she can be great. Whenever I watch some interview with her (at least the recent ones, where she is not the Gaga persona) I find it very easy to connect with her, and she seems like a nice gal. But I still have the feeling she is holding back. If I had to guess, I'd say she probably treads a very thin line of doing what she wants to do, but at the meanwhile still wanting to be liked and appreciated. And I suppose that brings her potential down.
On of the things I love about Madonna is how, for most of her career, she didn't give a damn about what people would think. No one would ever think of releasing something like EROTICA in these current days, but she did it in the early 90s. She never apologised for it after the backslash and still made bank by releasing Human Nature after the controversy where she just puts more logs into the fire by speaking this, amongst other things, at the end of the song:
(I'm not apologizing)
(Would it sound better if I were a man?)
(You're the one with the problem)
(Why don't you just deal with it)
(Would you like me better if I was?)
(We all feel the same way)
(I have no regrets)
(Just look in the mirror)
You would think most people would just see the backslash, would apologise for it and try to pretend it never happened. She didn't. And the back slash didn't stop her from creating more controversy later in her career, and she made an entire album called American Life, pointing the incongruence of the lifestyle of that nation. Which got more people pissed, more backslash, boycotts, and radios refusing to air her music. And what does she do? She doesn't apologise for it.
I feel Gaga could benefit from being bolder. I guess that is what I miss from her. A bolder persona. Not a persona that pretends to be bold hiding behind a costume. Someone that really takes a stand and sticks to it, instead of dropping everything when it doesn't go according to plan. Do something bold. Do something people will remember. Take a stand. Don't be afraid to not be liked. As of now, her fashion is the fist thing that comes to my mind when I think of Lady Gaga. I know she made some statements about LGBT+ people, and she spoke about mental illness, but not with the same conviction as she hang herself covered in blood during the VMA. She also missed a golden opportunity to make something during the SuperBowl. I know there are probably contracts in places forbidding it, but she could have made a better stand in a time America needs it so bad.
Anyhow. This is my personal impression of Gaga, and how, as a stan, I felt out of love with her. I still like her and wish she would do something to blow me away, because I'm sure she has the talent to do it. I'm not claiming this reflects the GP perceptions of her either.