And there's one more thing I MUST add.
BTW isn't just going to be a bump in the road from which Gaga will be able to recover. It's the beginning of the end for her as a pop powerhouse. As stated in the OP, the problem comes from
her - she's simply too arrogant now. In a way she reminds me of Xtina, who looked down her nose at her debut album, tried to aim for something "superior," and lost more and more fans with each album until she eventually flopped into reality TV oblivion.
Gaga's arrogance and need for creative control is also keeping her from working with the top producers in the biz. Who's scoring the big pop hits lately? Pink, Katy, Ke$ha, Rihanna, Britney. Is there anything particularly special about them? No, but they work with the very best: the aggressively commercial Max Martin, Dr Luke, Stargate. They wouldn't even
exist without them. It's a wonder Gaga even made it this far without their help. And don't mention Adele as an exception because she's not - 21 was crafted by a slick team of top-notch Top 40 producers without which she'd now be
devouring flipping burgers in some London pub. Pop music is
nothing without powerhouse producers, no matter how talented you are or how big your voice is. So while the other girls sacrifice creative control (you saw that Dr Luke article - he runs his girls like an iron-fisted pimp) in favor of massive hits, Gaga invites her bad kid friends to play around with '90s synthesizers and craft 12-minute songs around her vague Mother Monster lyrics. Does she think she can compete by putting unknown flops like Fernando and DJWS at the helm? Based on BTW, she lacks the vision needed to guide smaller/unknown producers into making great songs that are both commercial
and fresh. So it's best to leave it to the experts and be willing to share the credit with them.
Sure, a triumphant pop album full of empowering anthems and deep religious messages would have been amazing. But BTW is not that album. So the problem isn't that Gaga changed...it's that she changed and headed in a direction that she couldn't handle. When you look like you don't know what the **** you're doing, it's a sign that you're better off sticking to the formula that worked for you.
