2010 saw Lady Gaga steal everyone’s attention and storm to success like no one else ever did before.  Music awards, sold out concerts, flocks of fans following here everywhere she goes, making news?  Lady Gaga has been there, done that.  She is one of the most controversial artists the last decade saw.  I don’t personally like pop music, but I do have a lot of respect towards her as an artist.  She is a perfectionist, creative and unlike many other commercial artists out there, she knows how to play instruments herself.  Therefore she is not up there by mistake, or simply by luck (although luck plays a major role in the beginning) but she worked hard for it and she definitely knows what she is doing.  She is one of the most determined artists who is ready to give it all to keep on leading the charts.

2010 was also the year where the music industry is fed up of the current boom boom bam bam music scene, and is finally giving more space and exposure to more experimental music.  Time to go back to the roots?  It seems so since La Roux and Hurts also led the charts for some time and managed to establish themselves as top bands.  Are the 80′s back?  This year we received a good amount of emails from bands that are playing electro and dark wave music, and as a personal note, I encourage them to keep it up.  The light at the end of the tunnel does not seem to be that far away anymore.

In 2010 we also received another good amount of emails from bands who are experimenting with psychedelic music, heavy rock music and other similar rock genres as well.  Will we see the likes of Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Grateful dead, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple leading the charts in 2011?  The answer is simply NO.  Definitely there are more and more bands playing such music again and experimenting, but rock was never and is never going to be mainstream music, but will always be a secondary controversial music genre.  Rock is like common sense, something which is good to have, but even though common sense should be something that everybody has, hence common, it seems it is not as common as we think it is.  The generic public lacks common sense and unfortunately the charts depend on the generic public.  They only hear to what is played on the radio, songs from people wearing lampshades, lesbians and disturbed teenagers.

There is still hope for 2011 though, because the vibe is that we will see a wider variety of music genres being given airtime on radio stations and television stations.  This year it was the time for electro pop / almost dark wave music of Hurts and La Roux, and maybe next year it will be the time for some other genre.  As long as it is not Nickelback, I’m looking forward to listen to something new and great!

So ever thought what could be THE THING that makes these artists so different in the public eye, yet at the end of the day there is so much in common between them?

It is the genre of music they play and the promotion they get.  Lady Gaga writes and composes pop music, while Marilyn Manson composes and writes rock music, or better heavy/hardcore rock music.  Pop music has always been mainstream music, at least for the last three decades.  Though there is still something funny, since Lady Gaga does not exactly write pop music, doesn’t she?

As Mike Stock, Kylie Minogue’s song writer said, “I’ve always held out for decent pop, which to me is music that can be appreciated by all ages. The more racy stuff that you see going on nowadays is not something you could put two to ten-year-olds in front of, and you’re embarrassed if you sit there with your mum. I find that [style] almost anti-pop because it targets the 18-25 year-olds to the exclusion of everybody else.”

The Lyrics

Manson’s lyrics talk about about the harsh reality of today’s life.  Suicide, religion, social problems, drugs, and sometimes even about politics are all subjects that have been mentioned by Marilyn Manson.  Funnily enough, it seems such issues are still a taboo for today’s world to discuss, even though almost every human on earth is affected in some way or the other from any of these subjects.  Yet it seems parents do allow their very young kids to listen to Lady Gaga’s lyrics, which talk explicitly about sex, gay, and hardcore partying.

Is it because Lady Gaga’s music is marketed as pop while Manson’s music is labeled as rock, hence it gets less exposure?  Is it possible the generic public is so blinded by what the media says?

Image

One can also easily notice that both Manson and Gaga share almost the same “dress code” and like to portray the same kind of image.

What’s funny though is that there have been cases made that Marilyn Manson was crazy, extravagant, and provocative in his dress code and image.  As a matter of fact, on March 10, 1997, a show in South California was cancelled “in response to growing public pressure by religious, civic and political leaders who criticized the group’s image.”

Let’s face the truth.  Don’t you think that Lady Gaga is actually more provocative and inappropriate than Manson to the generic public?  Simply launch an image search on Google, where one is presented with a large number of pictures of topless Lady Gaga, or only with a piece of tape covering her nipples, i.e. bare breasted.  Ever seen the video of the song “Telephone,” where again she is featured naked?  What I just mentioned is just a hint of Gaga’s image, when considering what kind of “clothes” she wears in public.  Lately there was even a video of her in a fishnet on YouTube stage diving!

Conclusion

I am not trying to point fingers at Lady Gaga, and I’m not even saying that Manson is more righteous than Gaga or vice versa, or that people should listen to rock music instead of pop.  All I want to point out and also emphasize is that I think the money hungry label owners who control the music industry and who decide who makes it to the top or not should act more responsibly.

Obviously artists like Lady Gaga and Marilyn Manson should have their share of success, but I do not think such artists’ music and music videos should be marketed in the public as Lady Gaga’s music is now.  As we all know, artists and their music have a huge impact on everyone, especially on the younger generations.  Do you want your teen’s life only to evolve around sex, drugs, and parties?  Although I love music, I think there is much more to life than that, but it seems that is just what Gaga tries to portray!

Article first published as Is Lady Gaga Getting Too Much Exposure? on Blogcritics.

We all think of Lady Gaga as a real envelope pusher: she’s doing new things in music, performance, and with videos right now; her costumes are otherworldly; and she refuses to be tagged as any kind of “type” at all. Whether or not you like her music, she’s a good inspiration for anyone who’s feeling frustrated by conventions or who just needs a pick-me-up after a tough day at school or work. But she’s not the only eccentric in music history. Here are 10 entertainers who paved the way for her liberating style.

Read more here!

Christopher Walken on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross BBC1 performing a special Halloween Message. Go Lady Gaga! Give us more lyrics

Lady Gaga‘s Poker Face and Motorhead‘s Ace of Spades are a perfect example of how much music changed, from the dedicated musicians of the 80′s, to today’s just commercial music industry.  Don’t get me wrong, there are still good musicians around, who do what they do simply because they like it and not just for achieving worldwide fame.

Though unfortunately, today’s music industry gives priority to musicians who write music that makes money sink in.  Requirements?  Just one catchy tune and you’ll achieve international ‘success’ and become filthy rich in a matter of weeks.  What’s next?  Become a hot celebrity!

As Lady Gaga states; when she is writing music, she thinks about the whole show, what clothes she will wear on stage etc.  As opposed, Motorhead always wore bikers, a pair of jeans throughout a 30+ years career and still gave big shows and managed to make thousands of people mosh around.   Don’t get me wrong, Lady Gaga got the right voice to be a famous singer, and I am sure if she improves her ‘arrogant’ attitude and write less commercial music, she can still make a huge success!

This year’s torment Poker Face, which we’ve heard all day long on radio stations, in bars and clubs and on beaches, already sound old fashioned as radios are already playing a newer single.  Poker face will be out of fashion in a matter of months.  Ace of Spades is one of the old rock anthems, which 29 years later still sounds great.  As a matter of fact, in 2005 and 2009, it placed #10 in VH1′s greatest hard rock songs, and Q Magazine place it at #27 in its list of 100 greatest guitar tracks.  Now that is what I call an achievement!