After bombarding us with the bulk of 2011 with her shitty Born This Way album, and the abysmal publicity stunts that tried but failed to elevate the mediocre singles to must-buy status, Lady Gargoyle has announced that she will release a new album sometime this year.
Sure she made a whopping $90 million last year and the album was considered a success worldwide, but let's not forget the many bumpy roads she faced in the eye of Hurricane Gaga. First there were the Madonna plagarism claims, where she was accused (and rightfully so) of ripping off Express Yourself and Kelly Rowland's hit When Love Takes Over for her Born This Way single (and the media hype that soon followed). Also let's not forget unashamedly stealing the looks of so many artists like Madonna, Roisin Murphy, Marilyn Manson, Grace Jones, Bette Midler, David Bowie, Gwen Stefani, and every drag queen you can think of. There was also the firing of longtime choreographer Laurieann Gibson, slashing her album's price on Amazon.com to rake in the big bucks during first week sales, and the fact that Judas, Edge of Glory, You & I, and Marry The Night (the latter which was just pulled from radio) were all commercial flops. Case in point: Outside of Gaga pandering to the gays with the abysmal Born This Way so she can rake in the dough, there were no radio friendly tracks on BTW that could live up to the pop timelessness of Just Dance, Bad Romance and Poker Face.
BTW was filled with too many ideas, and it seems no one in her camp has the cojones to tell her that she needs to keep the ideas to a minimum. Maybe if her BTW album was shorter it would have been able to live up to the success of The Fame and The Fame Monster. or better yet, when you say BTW is going to be the best album of the century, you may need to rethink your strategy when it doesn't.
I've said it before and I will say it again. I liked Gaga when she was fun and put out catchy pop songs, which showed that she didn't take herself seriously. The minute she became a global superstar, you could see the Gaga machine take a turn for the worse. It became more about the wacky outfits she would wear or what community college art piece she would perform on stage (like at the VMA's) and the music became secondary S Club 7 quality. She needs to stop listening to the handlers Interscope employs within the Haus of Gaga and come up with some good music and ideas that are her own. Stop with the wannabe-religious/political pandering (like she's done with the Madonna Like a Prayer-esque symbolism and faux gay political activism).
What I love about my icons (such as Madonna) is that once they've tirelessly promoted their album with touring, live appearances, and music videos, they retreat underground for a few years, giving the fans just enough of them to crave a little more. I can't tell you how many people are anticipating the release of new music from Madonna, who has been M.I.A. from the music scene for as long as Gaga's been famous. These new school divas-in-training (like Gaga, Rihanna, and Beyonce) could learn a thing or two from the veterans in which they take inspiration. Take some time off and become inspired. Then come back and give us something young, fresh, and new. But I guess when you have the last of a dying manufactured pop machine behind you, it's hard to become inspired when you can easily rip off some lesser-known artist to pass their ideas off as your own. I think if she would just tour over the summer, retreat underground in the fall/winter to give us a new album in the Spring/Summer of 2013, that would be the perfect time to miss her and feel excited about some new music. That is, if it's actually good.
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