Dr_Rez

I just feel bad for other pop superstars Poor Britney hasnt seen a post in forever.

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Ska Lagos Jew Sun Ra

I feel sorry for the rest of music in whole. Like her or no, it's not really the issue, this is getting so ridiculous. I've known people who basically live, eat, and breathe this woman. In often cases, it almost seems like some sort of massive twisted cult.

I mean, to give her some due, she's a good singer, and extremely creative with her imagery. But, that's kind of the problem, she seems to profit majorly off of every aspect of modern music apart from the music itself. Even then, what she does is certainly not landmark by any stretch.

I'm sure from a sheer musical perspective she's a decent pianist, and, again, a good singer in a very cardboard technical fashion. She somehow pairs that with being a slightly burlesquey glamor model, and somehow explodes into an echelon of popularity beyond seemingly everyone else.

It's a shame because seemingly every single aspect of her has been outdone, and overdone three thousand times in other mediums, genres, etc. From the photography, to the theatrics, to the show itself, to the music.

From a societal view, I just don't understand why we need superstars, and even if we have them... can we at least distribute the attention between multiple eccentrics? Maybe have a cavalcade of cult of personality figures to pick and chose from? Or maybe feel more confidence in our own identities to where we don't need them in the first place?

I mean, it's bad enough that somebody can't get as popular as Lady Gaga by I don't know... simply making great music... but, being able to go somewhere, anywhere, on the Internet, and click up to three links without seeing her freaking name, or going to freaking google news and have the ONLY article on the front about arts and culture FOR THE ENTIRE WORLD be about whatever silly costume she choses to wear, or whatever watered down rendition of the frankly GWARish gimmicks she's been tossing out right and left ad naseum.

I can majorly sympathize with what Mr.Rez is saying here. I rarely go to the pop forum but notice it's only once in a blue moon I go here and the last thing I see is anything but Lady Gaga. Frankly, I'm just tired of seeing her name or hearing about her. If she releases a new album, cool, lets talk about it. If she goes to the zoo to visit koalas in a thong made of string cheese, that is an attention grab, THAT IS NOT NEWS! She's only doing it for the attention and it distracts us all from more valuable figures and cultural aspects of our world we can spending our time discussing.

Even if I can concede to the concept that, even if I don't, other people think she's great, I have a hard time believing she is THAT great. We don't need to be sifting through her garbage seeing what kind of peanut butter she eats because it's not really that important to music, society, or culture in general.

Scarlett O'Hara

It's never going to change, ultimately with mainstream pop music there will always be some over-hyped pop superstar that people get obsessed over, thus overshadowing more 'decent' artists.

It's been happening since music was around bb. It just changes it's form every so often.

If it wasn't Lady Gaga it would be someone else, and will probably be so in 10 years.

My advice: get over it.

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Dr_Rez

I give her 2 more tops.

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*Best chance of losing virginity is in prison crew*
*Always Checks Credentials Crew*
*nba > nfl crew*
*Shave one of my legs to pretend its a girl in my bed crew*

Ska Lagos Jew Sun Ra

To me that's like a Nazi soldier saying: "So, a bunch of Jews died, get over it." while trying to justify the mass loyalty to Hitler.

Whether it be a simple continuation of a formula or not does not make it excusable. So, I will chose to complain in vague hopes that the world get sane. I mean, that's a trait of a satirist, and should be welcome.

Besides, I get the vague feeling if it were somebody else that somebody else would end up being the EXACT same thing since Viacom's got a barrel of em' out in the back.

Goblin Tears

Good advice if there ever was any.

I get confused when people make claims such as ''Beyonce is destroying music'' ''GaGa is overshadowing more important artists'' etc. Poppycock. Nobody is forcing anyone to listen to pop musicians, they are simply placed in a mainstream canon by our culture and society. There's even that abhorrent indie sub-culture (which is actually QUITE large) that claims to loathe the mainstream. It just reeks of insecurity.

Anyway, Beethoven is arguably more mainstream than ANY of these women because he's remained relevant for hundreds of years. So go play the Moonlight Sonata, take a nap, and get a grip on your bearings, because nobody should ever feel threatened by popularity, be it the social or musical kind.

Ska Lagos Jew Sun Ra

I'm not bothered by the fact she's popular. I'm bothered by the fact tons of other things aren't. I just wish that other things were allowed to make a cultural mark, that's all.

Besides, what would culture be if there weren't people who didn't get over it? I mean, there's always room for the satirist and commentator. It's not like I turn my computer off, and stab a poster of Lady Gaga fifteen times or anything. I think however, people should be able to share their viewpoint, defy, and rebel. Even if change cannot be made, at least, the viewpoint can be heard.

Fact of the matter is, musicians who actually take risks do not get the same level of notoriety. Beethoven was good, admittedly, but in the end, he was a pop musician. There are tons of composers who are actually better composers who have gotten little to no notoriety in comparison. Not to say he wasn't amazing, and significant.

Gaga isn't destroying music, or overshadowing anybody. However, she's shamelessly aiding, and profiting off of a system that is. Therefore, is just as guilty as the system.

Just saying, there's merit in fighting against the cult of personality. There is no harm in me saying what I'm saying, or taking the viewpoint that I do. I need to vent because I am frustrated, and I need to be frustrated in order to keep my knife sharp to help support the things in which I do. So, I argue, because it's a scarily overly relevant issue in the modern first world.

It's a side effect of passion, my friend. Don't take it so hardly.

Consolator

You must be pretty miserable. I mean, seriously. Amazing, phenomenal work goes under the radar constantly. Even in the indie world, truly amazing stuff gets pushed down for whiny mediocre "OMG WE HATE MAINSTREAM" material. The irony behind that mindset (which you seem to have a little bit of) is that it's really the same. In every genre or subculture of music, there are endless instances of talented, thoughtful work being not given the light of day. I agree, I think it's disheartening for artists trying to make it big. Ultimately though, there will always be people (just take a look at musicbanter) who do appreciate all sorts of music. You're arguing with the wrong people here.

Also, why do you feel she puts no effort into her writing? Have you heard her songs Speechless, Future Love, Born This Way, Greatest, or The Fame? I find it a bit disturbing that you think a ballad (Speechless) written solely to convince her father to not kill himself when he had a terminal illness requires no effort. If that's not "real" writing to you, then please explain to me what is because I apparently have absolutely no idea what is. I think there are times when she does put little to no effort into her writing -- see Just Dance, Telephone, Alejandro, etc. Her next album shows a lot of promise to be more hearty material, less shallow pop crap that her first album was full of.

Also, I thought your whole argument was that Lady Gaga is overshadowing aspiring artists and everything else in the music industry? Now you say you aren't arguing that? You expect her to be humble and make meager advances towards success? That argument is borderline delusional. Yeah, Lady Gaga, stop touring for months on end and working so hard because it isn't fair for other artists that want to be successful. Really? I think most artists want success, but for different reasons. Some want the money, some want as many people as possible to hear their music, some want to make others feel good, some want to be liked or respected, and some want to inspire change in negative ways of thinking. Lady Gaga (at least to me) is doing all of those.

I think you mean well with wishing other things were popular, but you're ultimately wasting your energy, as Vanilla attempted to point out. You say it's "passion", I say it's naivety. My favorite band is an art-rock band from NYC called Elysian Fields. I listen to their albums religiously, and nature is usually the topic of their music. Lyrically, I think they blow everything on the pop radio (Lady Gaga included) out of the water. I wish sometimes that more people could hear their stuff and appreciate the thoughtfulness that goes behind their work, but most people I think would find it to be boring. Their music tends to be pretty slow and I know that when I'm running or working out, I want something fast and upbeat. So I can see how someone may not enjoy it. For me even, it depends on the time and place.

I'm not really sure what I'm saying at this point. So I'm going to end this post, lol. You should be able to take at least something from it.

Ska Lagos Jew Sun Ra

See, and that's the spirit.

Case in point, Whether or not there are deeper songs on her catalog is not the issue. It's the fact that it's not particularly about them but rather the few shallow songs she pushes out. Furthermore, it's the fact that even they take a backseat to every other thing. Now WHEN she releases this next album we can talk about it.

Right now, we can discuss Elysian Fields. Where is their thread? If not, make one. Certainly whatever they're doing is worth the effort and time if they're you're favorite. That's more productive to any point than continuing to argue from any side.

Consolator

I'm not sure what's worse -- the fact that you compared Lady Gaga to Hitler, or the fact that you expect mainstream news outlets to not be pieces of ****. Celebs' mundane lives have been "news-worthy" for quite some time now. I think it's unnecessary, but hey, it sells. They see that Lady Gaga has a huge following, so naturally they're going to mention her as much as they can. I've had a problem with US news outlets for a while now, but the fact that you're blaming Lady Gaga for this is sloppy arguing.

You're right that she does take up much of the spotlight now in the music industry -- which I don't really think she deserves a lot of the time. Again though, who do you think wants Lady Gaga to be successful more than anyone (besides herself, perhaps.) Her LABEL. They know she's a big name right now and they're going to milk this cash cow as much as they can. It isn't this often that pop artists have such wide-reaching, penetrating power. Your overall problem with her seems more about the way pop music runs and the nature of the business. It isn't something I think is fair at all, but what good is going to come from whining about it on some online message board?

When it gets down to it, I enjoy her music and appreciate her concern for gay rights (which I think it's ****ing retarded that it's such a polarizing issue in the US.) She's vocal of her views, which is something that can't be said of that many pop stars at the moment. She has used her

By the way, if you're so sick and tired of her, why are you in this thread?