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Post by HIStoric on Jul 4, 2018 7:42:10 GMT
I don't get the fuss about Gaga. Some songs are okay and Born This Way is good (albeit a rip off of Express Yourself), but she's very gimmicky (Bad Romance). For me there's a huge gulf between her and Madonna (albeit Gaga's voice is obviously better). So I used to be a massive Gaga fan back in ye olden' day. I still like her and I'll always check out new material, but I don't follow her as closely anymore. I remember finding Lady Gaga quite... refreshing in a way actually. She was a modern day popstar that reminded me of Michael who I was fucking OBSESSED with then, like I still am, but I mean MichaelMania crazy fangirl level obsessed with Michael. So she really appealed to me in that way because she sung great, was heavily involved in her songs, she made lots of full-on short films for her music videos, wrote lots of great songs (I think The Fame Monster and Born This Way are fantastic albums, The Fame is a great pop album too but it's quite straight forward) and her tours were other worldly. Seriously the stage for The Born This Way Ball tour is the greatest I have ever, ever seen - IRL or in picture. So yes, I found her quite refreshing because she felt quite different to other popstars at the time, and you could see other popstars start dressing OTT like she did because of her influence (see Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj at the 2011 VMAs. Yeesh). But HIStoric I hear many of you ask, how in the world is she refreshing because [something something Madonna]. I quickly became aware of these Madonna comparisons. It always felt it was about her looks especially and in that case, I always felt Gaga pushed it much further, much more OTT than Madonna and to me, that made her stand out more. I noted some other comparisons, but honestly just didn't care because I really like Gaga's work, a lot of it was still original and stood out to me in that way. So yeah, I guess that was the fuss. It was just really great pop music, I loved the vibe she gave off and pretty much everything. I didn't know much about Madonna until I got into Gaga. Not long after I gave her a chance and bought her MDMA + the Celebration album on iTunes, some pretty good tunes on both. However I remember she did this interview where she spoke about Gaga and TBH she just came off like this massive bitch, which left a pretty bad taste in my friends and I's mouths about her. Keep in mind this was our first proper exposure to her as a person and I remember it turned us off her quite a bit. Through that interview she felt like the opposite of Gaga who was always singing and spreading this positivity and joy, another thing we both quite valued about Gaga. Now-a-days I'm more knowledgable on her and my opinion has changed as a result (although I still think she had a bitchy attitude in that interview and it reflected poorly on her, you can look at that Letterman interview from the 1990s and WOW. Loved how defiant she was there). Of course I totally respect her as she essentially set the blueprint for female popstars, and even if I personally prefer Gaga's work, in that way she can't compare to Madonna.
Oh and yes Gaga's voice. The voice of an angel I tell you, I need only say 4 words: The Sound of Music.
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TonyR
The Legend Continues
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Post by TonyR on Jul 4, 2018 7:57:39 GMT
^ I agree that at the time, and especially if you didn’t really know Madonna, that Gaga was very refreshing and just what pop needed at the time.
I haven’t seen the M interview you mention, but I’ve always seen her relatively respectful about Gaga, saying the only time she was really pissed with her was when the song BTW came out and it was a rip off of Express Yourself. But even then, lots of other artists would have sued and she didn’t do anything like that, (but she did do a fantastic mash up do Express Yourself and BTW on her MDNA tour!).
Madonna can SEEM very hard sometimes, but mostly it’s a front from losing her Mother at 5 yo and the struggles she’s had (remember how many barriers she broke down in women in music). She’s done tonnes of stuff the press don’t talk about, I remember last year she funded and oversaw the build of a brand new orphanage in Malawi but the same week she wore a dress that revealed a lot of cleavage, so guess which story the press ran with!
Anyway, even on the music. Madonna is a million miles ahead. And for me she’s the best live artist ever, along with Mike’s Bad tour, her Blonde Ambition is the blueprint for every pop artist since. Including Gaga. But also it may be a generational thing, if Gaga was big when you were a teenager or in 20s I can fully see why she’d capture your imagination.
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Post by HIStoric on Jul 4, 2018 8:23:10 GMT
^ I agree that at the time, and especially if you didn’t really know Madonna, that Gaga was very refreshing and just what pop needed at the time. I haven’t seen the M interview you mention, but I’ve always seen her relatively respectful about Gaga, saying the only time she was really pissed with her was when the song BTW came out and it was a rip off of Express Yourself. But even then, lots of other artists would have sued and she didn’t do anything like that, (but she did do a fantastic mash up do Express Yourself and BTW on her MDNA tour!). Madonna can SEEM very hard sometimes, but mostly it’s a front from losing her Mother at 5 yo and the struggles she’s had (remember how many barriers she broke down in women in music). She’s done tonnes of stuff the press don’t talk about, I remember last year she funded and oversaw the build of a brand new orphanage in Malawi but the same week she wore a dress that revealed a lot of cleavage, so guess which story the press ran with! Anyway, even on the music. Madonna is a million miles ahead. And for me she’s the best live artist ever, along with Mike’s Bad tour, her Blonde Ambition is the blueprint for every pop artist since. Including Gaga. But also it may be a generational thing, if Gaga was big when you were a teenager or in 20s I can fully see why she’d capture your imagination. Yeah, Gaga was. The interview I mentioned was where they mentioned BTW and I think she just said "Reductive. Look it up" then took a sip of her tea in this really... 'up herself' way. That's how it really came off. Despite all the comparisons, I never really picked up on BTW vs EY that much. I think people were blowing it up out of the contention between the fanbases and the media stirring things up. To me this meant that if there were resemblances, they were pretty small in the grand scheme of things and certainly not anything to get panties in a twist over. Besides many great artists have based songs parts here and there off other songs, I'm sure Madonna has a few songs like that too.
That explanation does make sense of her being hard, and especially have to be as forefront as she was a woman in the 1970s/1980s, I can imagine she would've built up this quite hard (and sometimes cocky) attitude. It does actually explain a lot of what I've seen of her over the years. It's great to hear about the orphanage too!
As for the music, yeah I think the generational thing has a big part in it too. She definitely captured the imagination of me, my friends and many people I knew at school and it's obvious Madonna did the same for you all too back in her hey-day  |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2018 11:33:36 GMT
^ I agree that at the time, and especially if you didn’t really know Madonna, that Gaga was very refreshing and just what pop needed at the time. I haven’t seen the M interview you mention, but I’ve always seen her relatively respectful about Gaga, saying the only time she was really pissed with her was when the song BTW came out and it was a rip off of Express Yourself. But even then, lots of other artists would have sued and she didn’t do anything like that, (but she did do a fantastic mash up do Express Yourself and BTW on her MDNA tour!). Madonna can SEEM very hard sometimes, but mostly it’s a front from losing her Mother at 5 yo and the struggles she’s had (remember how many barriers she broke down in women in music). She’s done tonnes of stuff the press don’t talk about, I remember last year she funded and oversaw the build of a brand new orphanage in Malawi but the same week she wore a dress that revealed a lot of cleavage, so guess which story the press ran with! Anyway, even on the music. Madonna is a million miles ahead. And for me she’s the best live artist ever, along with Mike’s Bad tour, her Blonde Ambition is the blueprint for every pop artist since. Including Gaga. But also it may be a generational thing, if Gaga was big when you were a teenager or in 20s I can fully see why she’d capture your imagination. |
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Post by respect77 on Jul 4, 2018 13:02:57 GMT
To sum it up.
Gaga has the better vocals.
Madonna has the better catalog. A LOT better.
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TonyR
The Legend Continues
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Post by TonyR on Jul 4, 2018 13:29:42 GMT
To sum it up. Gaga has the better vocals. Madonna has the better catalog. A LOT better. And at the end of the day, it's songs that stand the test of time. |
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Post by Snow White on Jul 4, 2018 15:25:03 GMT
I like Shakira's most successful albums in Spanish Pies Descalzos (Bare Feet), ¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones? (Where are the thieves?) and her first 2 albums in Spanish/English were catchy but I can tell the more comercially successful she became and started to incorporate reggaeton, the shittier and stupider her "music" and lyrics were. It seems the peroxide fried her brains. Case in point, her 2017 single Chantaje (blackmail.) Hard to believe it's the same woman who did this [video src="https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=5BzkbSq7pww"] [/video][/quote] Shakira traded quality over being a commercially successful crossover act, she's another example of a sell-out. To reply to Tony's comment, her good philanthropic efforts don't take away she's been doing crappy music for at least a decade. Michael is a good example of being massively successful commercially and still had a top-notch quality in his work. |
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Post by bedroom on Jul 4, 2018 15:50:23 GMT
To sum it up. Gaga has the better vocals. Madonna has the better catalog. A LOT better. This is what it ultimately boils down to. I don't wanna sound like a crazed Madge fanatic but her run of classic albums from the self-titled Debut to American Life (arguably, but not in my opinion, to Confessions) is unheard of. That's 9 classic albums in a row. Nobody else achieved that feat, in my opinion. |
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Post by respect77 on Jul 4, 2018 16:43:00 GMT
^ I am not sure if all of her albums are classics, but as someone who is not a Madonna fan I'd listen to her music any day over Gaga's. It has more variety and it is more enjoyable to me.
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TonyR
The Legend Continues
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Post by TonyR on Jul 4, 2018 17:04:55 GMT
To sum it up. Gaga has the better vocals. Madonna has the better catalog. A LOT better. This is what it ultimately boils down to. I don't wanna sound like a crazed Madge fanatic but her run of classic albums from the self-titled Debut to American Life (arguably, but not in my opinion, to Confessions) is unheard of. That's 9 classic albums in a row. Nobody else achieved that feat, in my opinion. Well as much as I love her, I’d be hard pushed to call Bedtime Stories or Music classic albums. They had some great stuff on them though. The main, and maybe only reason, why MJ is my favourite artist of all time is the quality of his albums. Admittedly he made far less, but the quality of OTW through to HIStory blows my mind. Especially Thriller thru Dangerous. |
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Post by bedroom on Jul 4, 2018 18:23:48 GMT
This is what it ultimately boils down to. I don't wanna sound like a crazed Madge fanatic but her run of classic albums from the self-titled Debut to American Life (arguably, but not in my opinion, to Confessions) is unheard of. That's 9 classic albums in a row. Nobody else achieved that feat, in my opinion. Well as much as I love her, I’d be hard pushed to call Bedtime Stories or Music classic albums. They had some great stuff on them though. The main, and maybe only reason, why MJ is my favourite artist of all time is the quality of his albums. Admittedly he made far less, but the quality of OTW through to HIStory blows my mind. Especially Thriller thru Dangerous. I can see your point with Bedtime Stories. But Music is one of my fave albums ever. See what you done Tony? You've hijacked this thread. Now all roads lead to Madonna. as they should  |
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TonyR
The Legend Continues
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Post by TonyR on Jul 4, 2018 19:13:47 GMT
Well as much as I love her, I’d be hard pushed to call Bedtime Stories or Music classic albums. They had some great stuff on them though. The main, and maybe only reason, why MJ is my favourite artist of all time is the quality of his albums. Admittedly he made far less, but the quality of OTW through to HIStory blows my mind. Especially Thriller thru Dangerous. I can see your point with Bedtime Stories. But Music is one of my fave albums ever. See what you done Tony? You've hijacked this thread. Now all roads lead to Madonna. as they should Ssshh....that’s my secret mission. Much like it is Triumph’s to make every thread about Prince! Okay, I’ll bump (and grind) the actual Madonna thread instead. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2018 22:58:41 GMT
To sum it up. Gaga has the better vocals. Madonna has the better catalog. A LOT better. This is what it ultimately boils down to. I don't wanna sound like a crazed Madge fanatic but her run of classic albums from the self-titled Debut to American Life (arguably, but not in my opinion, to Confessions) is unheard of. That's 9 classic albums in a row. Nobody else achieved that feat, in my opinion.
It is an indictable crime that not one Prince song made the 21st century list. Black Sweat, Time, Futuresoulsong and Call my name are a bazillion times better than anything on that list. |
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Post by HIStoric on Jul 5, 2018 0:54:55 GMT
Just to be predicatble Triumph threadjacks by mentioning PRINCE, the greatest musical paragon of the ages. That’s a very weird way of spelling Michael Jackson  |
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