Lady Gaga on Howard Stern - WOW!

Alpha Echo

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Lady Gaga was on Howard Stern, and maybe I'm late to the party, but I was blown away by her talent!

She sings several songs with nothing but her voice and her piano. Not only is her voice amazing, but her song-writing is as well. She gave me shivers.

My husband and I were talking about her talent, and the world really needs more like her. She actually went to Julliard, and she's very intelligent, yet, there's no such thing for her as thinking outside the box because there is no box.

I also love the backstage version of Born this Way. This one not only demonstrates her own talent, but the talent of her backup singers to just follow her lead and keep the harmonies.

I wish I could do what she does. I don't think her head is anywhere near the same place mine is. I admire those like her, people who take what they learn...and take it further, who invent things at a time when it seems all we can do is innovate because everything's already been invented. Steve Jobs did that.

Edgar Allen Poe, Hemmingway, if you ask my husband, Roger Daltry. John Lennon. Kirk Cobain. All of them changed the way we perceive life. They changed the course of their art, at the very least.

My husband has actually shown me how to appreciate more than just a fun song or pretty lyrics. There's so much more to it than that.

This post is sort of haphazard and not at all intelligent because I'm at work and trying to post this quickly, but all this to say that I have a huge appreciation for Lady Gaga's talent even if I don't understand the crazy things she does.
 

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I'd seen her photos with her outlandish outfits and just figured "meh." Then a few years ago she was on Oprah (I got to watch about two of her shows a year). I, too, was blown away! Incredible talent. I'm so tickled I got to see her sing and play her piano.
 

Alessandra Kelley

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She played at Lollapalooza in Chicago in 2007. No one knew who she was, but her talent was outstanding.

She wasn't wearing the outlandishly inventive outfits at the time, if I recall aright.
 

Alpha Echo

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Yeah, I really didn't think too much of her because she's just so out there. I mean, meat dress? Ew. My daughter loves the songs Poker Face and Born This Way and another one...can't think of it. They're fun to sing to and bop around in the car.

But until you hear just her voice with her piano and really listen to the words of her songs, I don't think it's possible to understand the breadth of her talent. I wish she did more of that on her albums.
 

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I'm pretty meh on Gaga personally. I think of her like Carrie Underwood the other night in the Sound of Music - she has a very nice voice. She can sing. Then they put Audra McDonald (who was clearly holding back) next to her and oops, because while Underwood can sing, she can't SING, it's a like, top 40-level voice.

Gaga certainly has fans and better than Britney and all that - however, chick did not go to Julliard. I think she went to NYU for a bit or something. Not Julliard.
 
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Alpha Echo

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I'm pretty meh on Gaga personally. I think of her like Carrie Underwood the other night in the Sound of Music - she has a very nice voice. She can sing. Then they put Audra McDonald (who was clearly holding back) next to her and oops, because while Underwood can sing, she can't SING, it's a like, top 40-level voice.

Gaga certainly has fans and better than Britney and all that - however, chick did not go to Julliard. I think she went to NYU for a bit or something. Not Julliard.

Oh. I should have checked. I went on what my husband said.

Check out the youtube clips if you haven't already. Not that that'll change your mind, but you might enjoy them. :)
 

ZachJPayne

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Lady Gaga is one of those artists where I desperately wish she did acoustic versions of all her songs, because her stuff sounds so much better that way.

I mean, she's not a charlatan, she doesn't need to hide behind those outrageous outfits to garner attention; she can really sing! (Compared to most recording artists these days, not Audra McDonald, who, in all honesty, is a pretty unfair standard to hold people too ;) )
 

Alpha Echo

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I totally agree, Zach. I wish her songs were all acoustic. Why add all that music and stuff? And you're right. She doesn't need to hide behind the studio and all its tricks.
 

benbradley

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Lady Gaga is one of those artists where I desperately wish she did acoustic versions of all her songs, because her stuff sounds so much better that way.

I mean, she's not a charlatan, she doesn't need to hide behind those outrageous outfits to garner attention; she can really sing! (Compared to most recording artists these days, not Audra McDonald, who, in all honesty, is a pretty unfair standard to hold people too ;) )
It's "high production" [music with drums, guitars and all the other popular instruments], big shows and fancy costumes that sell pop music.

Musical talent always helps, of course, but is apparently not as important as Autotune and the ability to dance or swing on a ball.

Elton John already had hit songs before he got on the I Need To Be A Big, Outrageous Rock Star bandwagon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13GD78Bmo8s
And here he is afterward (okay, this one's a bit tongue-in-cheek):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL3mYAsEp9g
And indeed he became a superstar.
I totally agree, Zach. I wish her songs were all acoustic. Why add all that music and stuff? And you're right. She doesn't need to hide behind the studio and all its tricks.
Many people say that, but ... the "unplugged" versions of overplayed pop songs are a nice change, but the versions that make it a hit song are the hyperproduced ones.
 

Celia Cyanide

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I'm pretty meh on Gaga personally. I think of her like Carrie Underwood the other night in the Sound of Music - she has a very nice voice. She can sing. Then they put Audra McDonald (who was clearly holding back) next to her and oops, because while Underwood can sing, she can't SING, it's a like, top 40-level voice.

It's not really just about her having a "nice voice," though. Lady Gaga can also play instruments and write songs, unlike most of her contemporaries. She's a pop singer, but she is also a musician and songwriter. Some of the best musicians don't even have a "nice voice," so it doesn't really matter that someone like Audra McDonald can out-sing her. It doesn't negate Lady Gaga's real talent, which is more than just singing.
 

andiwrite

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I think she's completely amazing in every way. I've been totally in love with her ever since she blew up a few years ago. She's so incredibly talented and beautiful and smart and just...uggggg. It kills me. I LOVE HER!
 

robjvargas

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I think she's completely amazing in every way. I've been totally in love with her ever since she blew up a few years ago. She's so incredibly talented and beautiful and smart and just...uggggg. It kills me. I LOVE HER!

That's interesting, andi, and I'm not disagreeing with you. I just recall an interview with her a year or two ago where she was described as "not as classically pretty as Britney or Christina Aguilera."

That lack of "common" beauty is part of why she and her fans think of themselves as "monsters." And that, too, is part of why her outfits get so outlandish. Sort of a middle finger at the ideas of classical beauty.
 

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I think she's very talented. I'd never heard of her before the outrageous stage act; have listened back a bit to her, pre-gaga. But she may have gotten tired of toiling in obscurity. Who can really blame her? The music business is an awful lot like the writing business; it's often feast of famine. As far as her looks, I agree she doesn't have what most would call classic beauty. But I don't think Christina or Britney do either. It's funny, how a musician's looks should even be a consideration. I understand it's the video age, but this is why many of the stars of the video age never would have been stars before MTV changed the game. And the opposite is sadly true- many of the singing stars of past would not have had the looks to be the same kind of super stars now that they were then. Is it any wonder then that when it comes to "listening", some of the greats of the past are just as popular today as they were 40, 50, & 60 years ago?