There are very few artists today who set the example that the music should speak for itself. David Bowie is one of the best examples and the shock release of The Next Day showed that he is all the more enigmatic for this. Queen too, also achieved a great deal of success in their time and remain legends today, not just for their impromptu interview quips but for their stellar sets and hits. Ironically, Lady Gaga (a fan of both) can't seem to take a step back and let her music be appreciated for what it is. Her upcoming album ARTPOP has been built-up as an already experimental classic for the nature of its release (it's an app, hardly Pink Floyd). Indeed, her theatrics have cast a shadow so large that her album simply won't live up to the hype. When her new single "Applause" was leaked to the internet a week early, this past Saturday, she tweeted in rage: "Lord, in HEAVEN WHY"- amongst a carnival of other nonsense. While more people will know about the song (perhaps a ploy altogether), it will also be associated with a bunch of hysteria rather than affection for the song, itself.
This whole article is not about Lady Gaga but she is a fine example of someone who should let the music speak for itself. Had she not made so many excuberant statements about her "little monsters" and her hard life beforehand, would it not have been possible that her last album Born This Way would have been a great revelation of character? Instead, it was released already as tired as we had become of her and ARTPOP seems to be going the same way, so Gaga should maybe re-examine her old chest of Bowie classics and stop flaunting whatever mad assortment of clothes she has lined up.
Other artists have also indulged in the act of self-promotion but describing (or building-up) a song/album is never an easy feat- it serves little purpose in actuality. For example, Alex Turner has said of the Arctic Monkeys' new album, "[it sounds] like a Dr Dre beat, but we've given it an Ike Turner bowl-ct and sent it galloping across the desert on a Stratocaster." You may understand the first part but I think a lot of people will be left disappointed when they hear the simplicity of a track like "Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?" Oasis were also never gifted with subtlelty. Dig Out Your Soul (their last album, 2008), was supposed to be "colossal," "rockin'" and "out there" all in one. It landed however with an unremarkable thud for their swansong. I'm not going to even get started on how Liam Gallagher described his Beady Eye projects but suffice to say there were a few sukken faces after the fourth track of BE.
Advertisement
So music artists, why not try for a bit of subtlety? Promotion is important in letting us know that the album is out but save the shtick on how it's going to restore you to your former eminence (Robbie Williams- Take the Crown). Gaga should specifically take note for the difference between "Just Dance" and "Born This Way" was more than just a matter of the first being a slightly better song.
