New.Music.Live.: Gaga’s Bold Statement

November 30th, 2010

Lady Gaga started the buzz for her upcoming album Born This Way when she dramatically belted out a verse in her VMA acceptance speech. Now, true to form, Gaga has taken the dramatics one step further and declared at a recent concert that her upcoming disc “will be the greatest album of the decade.”

Umm okay. Where to start? Well Gaga, that was bold… and stupid. You better deliver THE GREATEST ALBUM OF THE DECADE, because you’ve already got people thinking negatively of the record. Ego isn’t met well in the music world without the goods to back it up, just ask Kanye.

It’s weird because despite Gaga’s over-the-top outfits and attraction to controversy, she’s always been pretty humble. Apparently, she’s changing her tune. At the concert in Poland where Gaga made the aforementioned grand promise, she also told the crowd that the album would be “so much deeper than a wig or lipstick or an outfit, or a f—ing meat dress.”

Does that mean the gimmicks are dead? Interesting. Some would argue Gaga isn’t much without the wigs and the red carpet antics. Strip her of all of that and she’s left with flimsy pop songs which might not stand the test of time. So if this next album is “deeper” than all of that, Lady Gaga could actually silence her critics and prove it’s her talent that has everyone talking, not “a f—ing meat dress.” She’s definitely got the talent and so far I don’t think she’s shown us her full potential. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Bad Romance. I still listen to “Paparazzi” regularly and the “Telephone” video was brilliant. But, I think she can do better. Maybe this album will be Gaga’s Ray of Light. After all, it was that album that solidified Madonna as a critical success and a serious force in pop music.

I mean, how many more weird face-covering dresses and towering alien hats can one person wear? I say, move past it Gaga. If she focuses on the music, maybe even writes a song or two about the social issues she speaks out about, Gaga could deliver a damn good album—maybe even the greatest album… of 2011.

- Kathleen
New.Music.Live Team