Aint No Other Man - Christina
Wind It Up - Gwen
I Kissed A Girl - Katy (due to the controversy and the worry they wouldn't play it in the Bible Belt)

Madonna's Frozen (her only good song) comes to mind

CRYING at this DELUSION

It's really not the same, hence the Express Yourself comparisons. Born sounds like a disco song of the past. Everybody was expecting probably along the lines of Heavy Metal Lover.
I think the reception to the song kinda speaks for itself, it is nothing like Just Dance or Bad Romance.
Though, BTW was riskier in the lyrics than the production.

dead at BTW and HIAM being risky singles

just dance due to it's heavy dance and electronic sound and there wasnt many songs like that mainstream at that time. she has even said how she had such a hard time to get it on the radio but in the end it all worked out....fantastically tbh

There is a great deal of "fans" wanting "the old Gaga" back. Do you believe she could release a single like BTW - in production and lyrics - as the lead for the next era? The meltdowns

I think musically Born This Way was risky in that it was a different sound than what was on radio but let's be honest, she could of released a three minute lead single of her farting and it would of smashed. There wasn't really a risk in terms of the single being successful.

Some of these so-called "risky singles." No words.

I Kissed A Girl was risky and California Gurls is probably one of the less risky lead singles that have been released

Not the first post.

"Erotica" and "Frozen".

BTW is sourta risky since based on the lyrics.

Born This Way

He's not that delusional since Slave in some way alienated part of Britney fan base because of her sexual image and that was clearly obvious in the decline of her sales from Oops to Britney.

SexyBack, by far!

Almost all of Gaga's music borrows heavily from the 80's and 90's dance periods which critics noted in terms of structure and production elements as early as the singles from The Fame. BTW borrowing from 1989's Express Yourself doesn't exactly deviate from that larger picture. I would say You and I is more of a risky single choice then BTW was, or if she released Speechless that too. Staying the same dance genre that you've been in for the past 2-3 years doesn't count as a risk when it netted you 6 #1's and the biggest album of your career.

Wow, this thread is a MESS.
Beyonce has been known for making forward thinking R&B music. IIWAB is in no way risky though.


I think Hung Up is one of her least riskiest songs. It's actually very safe, and was made to gain back all the people she lost with American Life.



Anyway:
Justify My Love
Confide In Me

those are good choices.

Exactly

Me Against The Music, Gimme More

I named my fave because she DID have risky lead singles!

A lot of people on this thread are talking about their faves even when they don't have ANY risky lead single, that's the difference