Born This Way: 4 Years Later

[Glove Slap]

This time 4 years ago, pretty much anyone following pop music was waiting for any information on Lady Gaga's followup to her titanic breakthrough, the likes of which had not been seen in nearly a decade. She was the biggest pop culture icon since Britney Spears, and arguably the most omnipresent since Eminem. After her triumphant sweep at the VMAs, she unveiled the title. Then the new year brought the picture of her in the jacket with the single and album release dates, the latter of which was all the way at the end of May, 5 more months. The single would be debuted when she performed at the Grammys. Then the release date was bumped up 2 days due to demand. There had not been that kind of anticipation for a new project in pop music in a long time.

Then, the air started to gradually come out. The rest of the year was a series of events that were simultaneously massively successful, and yet ultimately a disappointment for many. The single entered at #1 and was there for over a month, but it failed to have legs and sales numbers didn't match her previous peaks. Whereas she had received praise for most of her previous singles and recent work, the title track was instantly met with harsh criticism regarding its similarities to Madonna's Express Yourself. There were even accusations of plagiarism from some critics and the similarities continued to be commented on as the months went on. Madonna herself would remain mum until a year later, at which point Gaga's steam would have already run out. The second single underperformed in the US and had a short life, leading to the release of a 3rd single prior to the album.

When it dropped, everyone flipped a s**t one way or the other so much that I wondered how the project would be viewed once the insane fervor around it, and her, settled a bit. Some thought it was horrible. Reviews were good, but almost all said that it didn't or never could live up to expectations. She said it was the album of the decade, and a portion of her fanbase strongly agreed. The album controversially debuted with over a million copies, but with assistance from a 99 cent sale on Amazon, leading to a change in Billboard rules for how low you could price an album at the time of release for it to chart. It was the second biggest selling release behind Adele's that year, but it was front-loaded heavily and its presence on the charts had slipped by the Holidays. The later singles performed moderately in America but underperformed heavily in some territories. Nonetheless, it ranked high on many year end lists and received Grammy nods.

As the year ended, it seemed that the massive fire behind her had dimmed at last. The 3rd consecutive AOTY nomination for this was arguably the final cap in her insane peak. The following years would prove challenging, with injuries, addiction, a change in management. Her most recent LP was viewed as a disappointment and the singles, while successful, failed to come close to where she had been three years prior. Her critical love has also dried up in recent years.

Today, I think we're in such a position to look back at this project with more objectivity than then. Popular music has shifted a bit enough from the dance period that Gaga helped usher in and released BTW at the peak of. I'd also say that today, Lady Gaga's popularity has dipped significantly further than it would have otherwise. We are finally in a place where her period of immense success can be viewed with some hindsight.

Basically, I'm curious as to how people here look back at this era and project. A project that was so so successful, a huge period by any objective measure, and yet it just never lived up to its incredible predecessors level that it was marked against. Was it to blame for that? Could things have gone for it differently, or was it an inevitable disappointment regardless of what she did? Has your opinion on it changed? Did you think it was the album of the decade and then start to dislike it? Or were you turned off initially, but then really warmed up to it? Do you think she played her card well? Is it as great as she once said? Do you think the album has any kind of legacy? Is it notable now, when everything surrounding its massive hype has long since calmed? etc.

[Deleted]

I think after all the dust has settled, it's my favorite album of hers. It wasn't as instant and a bit jarring at first but it has some incredible songs (Scheisse, TEOG, Heavy Metal Lover,Yoü And I etc) and has held up well.

[#brayden]

Great album and it's held up surprisingly well over time for me. "Americano" and "Highway Unicorn" were the only songs I wasn't really attached to. I actually don't think there's been an album release as anticipated and hyped up since this one.

[Future Captain]

Dec 21, 2014 2:23:26 GMT -5 #brayden said:

I actually don't think there's been an album release as anticipated and hyped up since this one.

1989 and Red say hello. About Born This Way (the album), it's very good and is my fave by far.

[Ezekiel 23:20–21]

I still love this album. It's behind her The Fame Monster EP as my favorite album.

[#brayden]

Nah. The hype leading up to Born This Way felt a lot bigger than the build-up to those albums.

[Fat Ass Kelly Price]

Not her best album. Not her worst. Not a tragedy. There are a lot of good, solid tracks, but I rarely revisit Gaga's discography.

Dec 21, 2014 3:35:22 GMT -5 Future Captain said:

Dec 21, 2014 2:23:26 GMT -5 #brayden said:

I actually don't think there's been an album release as anticipated and hyped up since this one.

1989 and Red say hello. About Born This Way (the album), it's very good and is my fave by far.

I don't think so. They may have sold a bunch (overall and initially), but there was not the same building hype.

[Deleted]

This album already sounds really dated to me. Most of her big hits do.

[HolidayGuy]

I got the album via amazon in the first week, but have not listened to it since first getting it. "The Edge of Glory" is my favorite song of hers, though (followed by "Paparazzi").

[MiniMusic]

I never understood the hate for this album. It is basically The Fame Monster on steroids. The melodies throughout are so catchy, every song has something that will stick in your head for days. The production is really great and to me doesn't sound dated because that sound wasn't really out there ever? "Government Hooker" or "Electric Chapel" or "You & I" don't sound dated to me because in what time were those sounds popular? I don't know, to me the album has a bad rep for no reason. It's also very cohesive, I love the dark mood going through all the songs. It's also very visual, I can picture a video for each track. The singles were picked awkwardly. Even though "Born This Way" was a huge hit, I don't know that that was the correct lead single. And clearly "Judas" wasn't the right choice either. I think clear cut choices were tracks like "Marry the Night", "You & I", "Edge of Glory", etc.

[irice22]

Dec 21, 2014 1:55:35 GMT -5 @drag27 said:

I think after all the dust has settled, it's my favorite album of hers.

This.

[Deleted]

I thought and still think that this album was terrible. The Edge of Glory is the only song that was as strong as her debut and even that seemed like a step-down. Definitely prefer her first album and even Artpop to this.

[MiniMusic]

Artpop is another underrated one.

[ILLUSION]

Dec 21, 2014 15:31:34 GMT -5 irice22 said:

Dec 21, 2014 1:55:35 GMT -5 @drag27 said:

I think after all the dust has settled, it's my favorite album of hers.

This.

[poplife]

I treated the hype of Born This Way like a second coming, there may have been other albums that were hyped up and expected to sell well but nothing compared to the BTW campaign. The leaking of lyrics in tweets, the mystery behind what Born This Way (the song) was going to sound like, the New Years announcement of the dates of the single and album releases, everything was so perfect leading up. I've always been a fanboy but I never fell so hard for an artist and especially an album campaign before. It was a very exciting time to be a stan.

Now that we've flashed forward to now, it's still a solid album, yet maybe not as epic as The Fame Monster. Some of the noisy/industrial productions do sound dated, but the songs themselves aren't. For a long time, I hailed Heavy Metal Lover the greatest song ever, and I'm still semi-on board with that thought. That song, Scheisse, and Hair are my Holy Trinity. The only songs I never really cared for were Americano and Bad Kids. I recently I found this 'review' that I made right when the album came out - its more of a delusional embarrassment at the ridiculous over the top praise I gave every track. I actually regarded Government Hooker as 'music of the future!' - why didn't my journalism career take off? Everything she touched was gold, but I guess that's the fun in being a delusional stan. ;)

[Deleted]

I admittedly like the album more now than I did at the time of release... but it's still her worst by a long shot. But that's just my opinion. Let's look at the facts!

Everything considered, the album was a failure. Critically, it was received ok; but post-debut sales left a lot to be desired, and her public image took a nose dive that she has yet to fully recover from. This was the album that turned the artist into the joke. Even she herself has acknowledged this in a promo for ARTPOP.

Any discussion regarding the quality of the work is obviously aubjective, but to act like anything good for her career came of the album is, well, wrong. That's not to say it wasn't a success by the numbers, but all things considered...

[surfy]

I wasn't following pop music much back then, but I remember singing Born This Way (IDK how I even knew the song tbh) but now that I've seen what happened... no. This era was a flop considering that she was the biggest pop star out there at the time of the release and then it ended up turning her into a nobody in the public eye... it's embarrasing. I like a lot of the songs on it, but the public just hasn't been for her ever since this album was released.

[poplife]

I do agree, I love the songs but overall I think it was the turning point in her career. She had hyped up this 'album of the decade' and it wasn't. I think the public started to turn when she didn't deliver. Plus Judas being the positioned as the next single then being dropped for The Edge Of Glory didn't help keep everything smooth either. As much as I loved the album back then (and still do now) I didn't think it was her best work and she became very overexposed during the era. Even I got fan fatigue during You and I promo because she literally had been everywhere all spring and summer.

[Deleted]

I think its her 3rd best album but it was the album that made me become a Gaga fan. I liked her singles leading up to this album but was never moved to buy her albums. The album was a instant success to me and only after hearing her first two albums did I end up ranking this third. She got a new fan in me so she saved her herself some online dragging lol but yeah it was the start of the end in a commercial sense. It shouldn't have been though.

Gaga's problem has and still isn't the music or the singles, I just think people in general are put off by her over the top "Drag" ways and the bleeds into their view of her a musical entity. She can come across too pretentious for my liking too. Part of getting people to support you is likability and sometimes she is not likable.

Really though judged on her pop "superstar"  counterparts of today she is still the only one who can produce a full album worth listening to and not just hits. In a day and age when most of the successful acts and many of them are more single driven its always great to see someone like her and Beyonce still giving a s**t about their album and delivering good body of work. Success or not.

[Future Captain]

Talking about this, I'm pretty sure that the first that came into my mind when I see the album's cover is whether Gaga is too lazy or is trying too hard. Born This Way kinda turn me off by the way, Judas also isn't her best, but Edge of Glory got me interested again, Hair is amazing, You and I is simply perfection, and many other tracks of the album make me love it, which make this album really good as a whole.

But in term of effect it has on Lady Gaga herself, it bring more bad than good. If they choose Edge of Glory as the 2nd single, You and I as the 3rd single, and Hair as the 4th single, I don't have any doubt that the era would have gone much better. The decision to release Judas is one of the factors that make this album isn't as big as it should have been.

Then the whole overexposure during the era make everyone kinda sick of her, even her fans. If only she played down her controversial things at least to acceptable level, then people may still pay attention to her music and Artpop wouldn't be such a flop, as to quote many people.

[Wave.]

The follow up singles weren't as hype as BTW. The promo was overbearing from what I can remember. It was kind if forceful.

[toomuchboy]

I've warmed up to the album more over time, but it's still my least favorite of hers. When I first got the album, I absolutely hated it, barring a few songs. Now I'm half and half.

[SPRΞΞ]

It's her best album. It's a great piece of work. TFM is great too, but that's more of a "radio-ready" album than a piece of work album. It created the nosedive yes, but it exposed Gaga for who she really is. ARTPOP proves this too. TF/TFM seemed more label-driven.

[Envoirment]

I loved the album at the time. The issue I have is that, bar one or two tracks, her albums tend to age quite badly for me. The same can be said for Born This Way - I haven't played the album in full in years.

[Devil Marlena Nylund]

Four years later and I can still say this is my favourite album of hers. As far as music goes, even since I started listening to music, this album was the single biggest event I'd ever experienced for an era. The promo was out of this world and I still can't believe how massive it was. Definitely too much for sure but as a fan, it was a thrill to experience firsthand. Hell, there was even an edition of the Metro newspaper dedicated to it. How's that?! Nothing has outdone this since and I honestly don't think any album will ever outdo the promo this had. This was a true event.

And likely, because of the hype and so much promo, it was bound to fail because nothing can live up to the impossible hype she set for herself after The Fame Monster and THEN the advertising and promo prior to BTW's release. But the songs themselves are just so intense. From Marry The Night, which was kind of a bland song on its own, it still hits harder than most songs that came out since. I didn't care for the album version of You And I but I still loved it. And of course, The Edge of Glory is probably what I consider (now) as my favourite Gaga song.

My only regret was missing the tour. :( I tried though. She canceled it. Not me.

[die Lotterie]

Born This Way is easily one of my favorite albums. It's bold, fierce, and full of catchy jams. I was ecstatic that I was able to attend one of the album launch parties in Miami, and though I missed out on the tour, I was able to hear "Born this Way" live during the last leg of the Monster Ball at the American Airlines Arena right after it premiered.

Scheiße, Heavy Metal Lover, Bad Kids, Edge of Glory, Judas, Born this Way, and Government Hooker will slay on for years. <3

[Kishi KCM]

This was the album of summer 2011 for me.

LOVE - Government Hooker, Judas, Hair, The Edge Of Glory, You & I, Heavy Metal Lover, Fashion Of His Love (my second favorite track right now), Bloody Mary, Amen Fashion (probably my favorite track right now)

LIKE - Born This Way, The Queen, Marry The Night, Bad Kids, Highway Unicorn

DISLIKE - Americano, Schiesse, Electric Chapel

It does bring back memories from that time, but it's probably the album I listen to least from Gaga.

[HEADOFTHEPACK]

I think it's the album she had always wanted to make, but I can see why it put a lot of people off. It's very self-indulgent and sometimes has way too much going on, it can be really exhausting to listen to. That couple with the high expectations (that she fuelled) and the onslaught of promo... I think people were just like, OK, enough.

My favourites haven't really changed. I've always loved Judas, Schiesse, Government Hooker and The Edge of Glory especially - the latter is a really brilliant song.

Born This Way isn't a great song. I enjoy aspects of it, but it definitely rode off the hype/message. There's some other dross (Highway Unicorn, Electric Chapel, Americano), but overall I really like it. It actually reminds me of the music my parents used to listen to when I was younger, so I enjoy it in that respect.

Veeeery different to TF/TFM - this and Artpop, I'm not surprised she's alienated a lot of people.

So yeah - good album, but too much hype, too jarring for casual listeners, iffy singles, too much promo if anything - just didn't come together.

[Ling-Ling]

The rollout for this was kind of eye-rolling and the initial singles just did not deliver on what she was promising. I also have to add that the album cover is one of the worst album covers in the history of music. This was the era where her image and antics stopped being fresh and provocative and just seemed desperate and tiring. When you're as over-the-top as she is, you're always riding a line... once you step over it, it's hard to come back.

As for the singles, "Born This Way" is almost great, but that second verse... embarrassing. "Judas" is just a putrid, sour song. And also a lowgrade, poor attempt to recreate "Bad Romance." "The Edge Of Glory" is amazing, should have been second. "You And I" is pure hokum, she cannot deliver on ballads or these Elton John wannabe tracks. I think "Marry The Night" is so underrated, gives me "Flashdance" tease.

The album itself is borderline her best IMO. There's some crap to wade through, but the highlights are probably my most listened to Gaga songs.

Love:

Marry The Night
Black Jesus - Amen Fashion
Bad Kids
Fashion Of His Love
Heavy Metal Lover
Electric Chapel
The Edge of Glory

Like:

Born This Way
Scheisse
Hair
Bloody Mary
Highway Unicorn (Road To Love)

Ugh:

Judas
Government Hooker
Americano
The Queen
You And I

[Deleted]

The main way I speculate on anything's legacy is to think, what will people have to say about it another 10 or 15 years from now? And by people I really mean publications, writers, and other media that like to do their nostalgic pieces on occasion, and music forum nerds who probably aren't actually old enough right now to remember an era well, and 10-15 years from now will only have 'receipts' to look at.

In that regard I think BTW will more or less be semi-forgotten, and that actually works in BTW's favor. The writers may do a little more digging to find the initial reactions to the era, but they're also more likely to review the album for what it is and put a more positive spin on it that way (something like the retroactive heralding of Blackout, just to a lesser extent). The ones who only have receipts, the chart nerds, will probably look at it (and the tour) and conclude that it wasn't her biggest era, but that it still did well for her. Some of us will still be around to remember and tell people what it was really like at the time but odds are there won't be a lot of us, for various reasons. The industry will be crowded with a new crop of superstars with a new set of insane fan bases, and Gaga won't be much more than one of the former stars that they reach for a point of comparison when trying to predict one of their new superstar's career trajectory...a lot like what Cyndi Lauper was to us when we were trying to plot Gaga's career trajectory. Wash, rinse, repeat, right?

As for the album itself: I listened to it once, was not moved, and never gave it a second play. I should probably give it a relisten one day b/c I really just don't recall much of it now aside from the singles. As of now however I would say Artpop was better. However, I flinch a bit when I see people declare it an out-and-out 'flop.' It was definitely a disappointment, but it sold too much to write it off as nothing but a failure. I suspect that the way we view it now has been shaped less by BTW's own run and more by Artpop failing to right the ship. BTW had so many missteps - the less commercial sound, the ridiculous artwork, the take on social commentary that fell sorta flat, and the absolutely hamfisted and hubristic attempt to gas up Gaga herself as an icon and new savior of pop music. And that damn 99 cent sale. It was all too much. Yet, I list all of those things and then I remember that BTW actually ended on a pretty nice note (considering that most people don't recall that Marry the Night ever happened). She got three top 10 singles out of it; those hits gave the album enough legs to sell 2.5 million in a year; and her touring pull was as strong as ever. But to a person not paying close attention, Artpop seemed like it was an extension of everything the general public didn't like about what Gaga was doing before. So it only reminded people of all the things that were wrong with BTW instead of the things that went right with it.