Would Born This Way have had a better reception if it weren't so heavily hyped?
![[Deleted User]](https://w5.vanillicon.com/v2/558a6b2b52fad17a1ec84bfc1252c027.svg)
[Deleted User]
Posts: 477 Forum Member
✭
I'm listening to Lady Gaga's Born This Way at the moment and I can't deny that it's a great album. I think coming up to the album's release there was a lot of hype and aniticipation due to a variety of factors.
1. Lady Gaga dropped onto the scene with more of an impact than any artist in recent times. Her debut album The Fame spawned some huge singles and The Fame Monster later became critically and commercially acclaimed. There was obviously going to be hype for her next album.
2. She gave us a preview (live performance of the chorus) of the first single in September 2010 at the VMA's when the single wasn't to be released until February 2011. This gave the single momentum and huge speculation and exceptions 6 months before its release. She also gave the albums title away almost a year before it's release.
3. Gaga herself went on about how amazing and important the album was.
4. Her fans 'little monsters' also hyped the album up so people had unrealistic expectations.
5. The media and online forums like this had a huge amount of hype anticipating it.
Therefore the album was expected to be up there with the greatest albums of all time such as Michael Jackson's Thriller or some of The Beatles most acclaimed work.
I'd like to note that I'm nothing more than a causal listener to Lady Gaga's music. Not really a fan and by no means a 'Little Monster'.
As a result of all this hype when the album was finally released in May 2011 the reception was no more than...let's say 'luke warm'. Leading people to claim that it had flopped (surely a hyperbolé to say the least). It sold very well but people's opinions of the album were always going to be tainted.
Now I'm wondering. If Born This Way were Lady Gaga's debut album and nobody had heard of her and it wasn't hyped would it have received a better reception? I think it would. It's a very solid album with great lyrics and some really alternative sounds that aren't in the charts today at all.
It did sell very well but a lot of critics and casual listeners really tore it apart.
I believe it would have actually had a huge cultural impact if it wasn't so heavily hyped. It's a very long album by today's standards but speaking about the original edition (not the deluxe one) I'd say it's a great album. Not the best of all time but certainly stronger than most music in the last few years.
Just food for thought, any opinions?
Do you think Born This Way would have received a warmer perception without all the hype leading up to it?
1. Lady Gaga dropped onto the scene with more of an impact than any artist in recent times. Her debut album The Fame spawned some huge singles and The Fame Monster later became critically and commercially acclaimed. There was obviously going to be hype for her next album.
2. She gave us a preview (live performance of the chorus) of the first single in September 2010 at the VMA's when the single wasn't to be released until February 2011. This gave the single momentum and huge speculation and exceptions 6 months before its release. She also gave the albums title away almost a year before it's release.
3. Gaga herself went on about how amazing and important the album was.
4. Her fans 'little monsters' also hyped the album up so people had unrealistic expectations.
5. The media and online forums like this had a huge amount of hype anticipating it.
Therefore the album was expected to be up there with the greatest albums of all time such as Michael Jackson's Thriller or some of The Beatles most acclaimed work.
I'd like to note that I'm nothing more than a causal listener to Lady Gaga's music. Not really a fan and by no means a 'Little Monster'.
As a result of all this hype when the album was finally released in May 2011 the reception was no more than...let's say 'luke warm'. Leading people to claim that it had flopped (surely a hyperbolé to say the least). It sold very well but people's opinions of the album were always going to be tainted.
Now I'm wondering. If Born This Way were Lady Gaga's debut album and nobody had heard of her and it wasn't hyped would it have received a better reception? I think it would. It's a very solid album with great lyrics and some really alternative sounds that aren't in the charts today at all.
It did sell very well but a lot of critics and casual listeners really tore it apart.
I believe it would have actually had a huge cultural impact if it wasn't so heavily hyped. It's a very long album by today's standards but speaking about the original edition (not the deluxe one) I'd say it's a great album. Not the best of all time but certainly stronger than most music in the last few years.
Just food for thought, any opinions?
Do you think Born This Way would have received a warmer perception without all the hype leading up to it?
0
Comments
The hype was insane, and we're all to blame to some degree.
I think it's overly simplistic to put it down - like so many do - to purely Gaga yapping on about it all the time. She certainly did over-do it, but the media lapped up every word and made every mention (usually to her fans on tour, not in interviews) turn into a proclamation and headline news. "Anthem of a generation" and "Greatest album of the decade" comments in particular were taken slightly out of context and run with.
Naturally, fans (hardcore and casual alike) got themselves hyped up and detractors set their bars high in anticipation of her falling short. Expectation was just flat out ridiculous. Anything short of curing cancer would have received backlash.
As it was, it tripped over its own hype before it properly got going. It's a shame, because the album is definitely not the weak link in this.