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The "Mayhem" Episode (with ZEE MACHINE & DJ John Michael)
180 Plays3 days ago
LG7 has arrived, and we're diving in headfirst! Pop sensation and certified Gaga stan ZEE MACHINE joins me, along with best-friend-of-the-pod DJ John Michael, for an electrifying track-by-track reaction—recorded just 12 hours after Mother Monster unleashed her latest era of MAYHEM.
From "Disease" to "Killah" to "Blade of Grass", and the bonus cuts "Can't Stop The High" and "Kill For Love," no beat, lyric, or synth goes unnoticed. And, of course, it wouldn’t be HOMOPHONIC without a Gaga Edition of Songs We Don’t Talk About Enough. PAWS UP, LITTLE MONSTERS!
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Transcript
Introduction and Teasers
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome back to Homophonic, everybody. I'm your host, Zach Rickle, aka FunctioningGay. I am joined with Z-Machine. ah Perfect celebrity, if you could say.
00:00:11
Speaker
And John Michael. Hello. Peloton fame. um You guys, today, I don't know. Today's like kind of an exciting day. i don't know. Like something happened. Something dropped today.
Lady Gaga's Album 'Mayhem' Release
00:00:26
Speaker
What happened? like alcohol and like indie little known pop star named Lady Gaga. She just dropped her new album Mayhem. And I will say it feels very wrong. And I felt this way about Beyonce too, when she dropped her album, like that any of us have to do work on these days.
00:00:40
Speaker
I mean, I took today You know, when it's stuff like this, it doesn't feel like work. Like, I would be doing this regardless. Now I just have like, you know, do it on a public But I'm like, my actual job. fair.
00:00:51
Speaker
Right. oh Yeah. Yeah. Like, the day the day job, I know. yeah No, I i literally, i was like, last week, I was like, I'm going to take today off. Yeah. That was smart. I wish I would have thought of that. Yeah.
00:01:02
Speaker
I was like, sorry. i was like, I'm just going to do it. You're cutting into my mayhem time work. I mean, i would say life is mayhem right now. So fitting. Right. She knew.
00:01:13
Speaker
She knew. She knew. um I mean, you guys, the the last, I would say like 12 hours, the internet's been ablaze. And or actually, i would say maybe the last 24 hours, once it started coming out in like Australia and New Zealand, it's been ablaze. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
00:01:29
Speaker
I mean, I famously was i was up until like... I was up until like 5 a.m. being like, okay, okay, just one more little snippet. Okay, okay, I'm gonna stop, I'm gonna stop. Okay, okay. Oh, wait, oh, wait, I haven't heard The Beast yet.
00:01:40
Speaker
Okay, okay, all right, No more, I gotta save it. Yeah. Oh, my God. Well, and then I was just seeing posts and everybody's just like, if you set your VPN to New Zealand, you can get the album now. And I'm like, all right, but all right, I need everybody to take a breath. Right, yeah. And so, I mean, i ah magically managed to not hear anything good for you yeah so i was like i was like i could be like did you not even listen to the the um the what was it garden of eden clip that they released for f no for formula one wow like five people like sent me that and i was like i am not listening i was like absolutely not i was like i don't want any false pretenses right now
00:02:19
Speaker
I feel like that's so that's allowed though. Because she, you know, released it herself. Yeah, it's okay. Well, yeah i I'm going to have a comment about this later. About snippets. with us About snippets. and Well, just about a certain song that she teased in Paris last year. okay. And so i so that's why I was like, I am
Unreleased Music and Fan Anticipation
00:02:41
Speaker
going to avoid these at all costs right now.
00:02:43
Speaker
I was going to say, if he starts talking about snippets, we're definitely going to hear about the Black Eyed Peas and J-Lo any minute. by Wait, I don't, what's this, rat what's the reference here? So Zach, this is your moment to shine. my God. Are you ready? So it's February 7th, 2020.
00:03:01
Speaker
but She just performed the Superbowl and JLo goes on the tonight show with Jimmy Fallon and announces that she's releasing a remix of Reetmo and a video. And then at the same time, they like put it on social media. There's like a 30 second snippet Reetmo remix coming soon.
00:03:17
Speaker
And here we are in 2025 and it's never been released. Just never. COVID ruined a lot of things for a lot of people, namely you. But that, ah yeah. And there's, but no one else, no, like, sorry, it's not happening. Not that anyone would ever do that. Right. Like, sorry guys, actually the song is not happening. We're taking it back.
00:03:34
Speaker
Yeah. Well, I mean, on that note, ah we've got... i would I have several similar complaints for Gaga. i mean Oh, God, yeah. I mean, and Country Club kind of did that with with Party Nauseous. They did kind of be like, actually, sorry, it's not happening. Or Pop 2, the mariachi Americano. The the greatest thing. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, there's a lot been a lot of things that have been like dangled in front of us that we kind of just...
00:03:59
Speaker
lots of dangling think it's so crazy that she was just like with a shared duet and she's like, I don't know, I just didn't think it was good enough for both of us. I'm like, girl, this song is a bop. abbu ah i sorry yeah so like It's so ridiculous. She sounds like she's like ascending to the heavens in the song.
00:04:16
Speaker
Literally. But I mean, you know what though? At like any sort of Gaga night that like people have like dance parties, they play it. so Oh yeah.
00:04:27
Speaker
Joke's on her if she doesn't want to get those streams. And she just posted that on her YouTube channel when she did that thing where where she was posting all her demos and then just took them down. Yeah. I thought right. I thought that someone had like like I thought it was like fake for a second. And then when I actually went to the channel and I started playing it, I was like, oh, my God, it's actually happening. I love it when she acknowledges her own lore, you know. Right.
00:04:48
Speaker
Yeah. Do you think that was it? Do you think it was her or do you think it was like I think it was her because like she's she's confirmed that like, oh, it's or if it wasn't her, she was probably behind it.
00:05:00
Speaker
I don't know if she was logging into YouTube, but you know. But she also confirmed that it's her that's like commenting on social media and reshitting TikToks and stuff. Yeah, which love. that. Yeah, same. You can't really be sure. Right.
00:05:11
Speaker
Did you see the clip of them at when she had her Little Monsters conference of the guy asking her, what did you whisper in Ariana Grande's Yes! And i watching every, all the other gays in the audience react, I was like, this is, see, this is why we are the culture. We are. You knew that these were the fans.
00:05:27
Speaker
Right. Because they were asking what we want. It wasn't like, how does it feel to be at the Oscars? Right. Right. Right. and What advice would you give to your 12 year old self? right Right. And the the beginning when that someone was like, Justice for Ratchet, and they were asking her about Azalea Banks. and Oh, and she was like, have you seen Azalea Banks' Support for Disease?
00:05:46
Speaker
Yes. Yes. yes And then, by the way, Justice for Ratchet, she was like, that too. yeah like i'm not She's like, girl, i'm not getting into that. Oh my god. It was kind of funny how she was like, trying to act like art pop volume two wasn't a thing she was kind of being like well i left it off the album because i didn't think it was good enough for you but i was like no bitch you talked about volume two coming out right it was at south by southwest that's fair it was also 2014 and she was like famously not in her right rightest of minds i think right yeah yeah truly because i feel like that was
00:06:27
Speaker
Yeah, and I feel like with especially with Art Pop, I kind of got the sense that she was kind of just like, very wrapped up in the moment of it, like in a very chaotic headspace, and probably like with some distance is like, and these don't need to be out.
00:06:41
Speaker
Right? we were watching, we were going through her performances and there was that one where she did the, the Wizard of Oz one on the morning show. Oh yeah. Oh my God. Right. And we were, I was like, I forgot all about this. I was like, i and I see why I forgot all about this. I was like, but vocally it sounds great, but I'm like, I don't yeah actually know what's going on. And then Robin Roberts comes out and she's like,
00:07:01
Speaker
Lady Gaga! Like, everybody. Like, she had no idea what just happened. So she starts with Over the Rainbow. Yeah. Yes. She really was. Like, that was an era like an era where, like, there was, like, 70,000 aesthetics. There was really no cohesive oh look except for, like, the giant hair look. but Different every time you saw her.
00:07:21
Speaker
Right. Every time. And it was, like... intricate like I always think about the toilet paper look oh my god yeah she kind of looked like a mummy and I'm like imagine I was like that's literally me just like going to the get quinoa at Trader Joe's like come on okay we have an album to get into right and I'm and I'm thinking we all know that we can talk about the singles maybe at the end if we feel need sure But should we just dive into the new tracks and just go track by track?
Production Insights and Album Coherence
00:07:50
Speaker
but Well, right. So let's let's let let me set the stage for a second. So like what I noticed about this, what I like about it is like radical optimism, we have the same set of players behind the scenes that are doing everything here.
00:08:01
Speaker
So you've got Lady Gaga. You've got Henry Walter, which is Circuit. You've got Andrew Watt, also known as just Watt. Mike Levy, which I don't think I'm saying that right, who is Gusevelstein. And then Michael Polanski, who's Gaga's fiance?
00:08:14
Speaker
Apparently it's A, which I just found out yesterday. It's Gusevelstein. Gusevelstein. Everybody that I have heard at the record label has said it differently. I'm like, I need him to say it to me. Yeah, Gaga says says Stein, so I'm like, I'm just going to trust her on this one. don't know. yeah But I've only heard Steen.
00:08:31
Speaker
but Yeah. She's one of those people that tries to say the names right. Right. Yeah. yeah so And he wrote he co-wrote four of the tracks, produced three of them. Circuit did 12 of the tracks. Watt did all 14 of the tracks.
00:08:41
Speaker
Wow. 15, if you add, can't stop the high. Ugh, love. Right. So that's just, that that's the baseline. That's where we're at, which I love. And I love that this is like a cohesive sort of whatever moment. Right. Yeah. Yeah.
00:08:52
Speaker
And interesting that it's all produced with Circuit for the most part. I know, because what i most associate him with up until now is Ava Max. work yes honestly yeah so it's so surprising yeah and not to like be controversial but started his career with dr luke so right well yeah whatever again it's it's a real thing it happened right so it's a real thing that happened everyone shows over i get canceled right i want to find he's too woke yeah exactly
00:09:27
Speaker
is um So, I mean, let's go into the new tracks. I mean, first new track that we've heard off the album is Garden of Eden. And... are we are we So are we skipping Disease and Abracadabra?
00:09:38
Speaker
id say i I would say, ah do you want to start with them? Well, I mean, we can touch on them maybe. Just let's because yeah because Disease well is my favorite song that on the album still. Still? you know i just want to get that out Speak on it Tell us about it.
00:09:53
Speaker
it's it's There are a few moments throughout quote-unquote career as a fan of hers where she drops something new and I'm just like, this is exactly what I wanted from her.
00:10:06
Speaker
Going into a new era. Like I felt that with stupid love. come I don't care. i felt that with um aura for sure. Yes. yeah Like the leak of aura. Yes. yeah And I, and as soon as the beat dropped for disease, the first time I heard it, I was like, Oh my God. So I don't know. I think this is, this is like, it was like a return to form without feeling redundant.
00:10:31
Speaker
yeah. I don't know. yeah It still, I think, holds up as my favorite song on the album. i Some things come close to it, but that I don't know. that one i's Starting it off that way, I'm just like, thank God.
00:10:44
Speaker
Thank God. yeah right It is a good opener, I will say that. and i i I liked it when I first heard it. And then I saw the music video and I was like, okay, I like this a lot more now for sure.
00:10:56
Speaker
yeah but it's definitely not my favorite, but it's a great opener. And I think that it's, it sort of sets the tone for everything else really well. Yeah, I think this is kind of what people were expecting the whole album to sound like, right? Yes. Because this and abracadabra were pretty cohesively, I think, that went together. They aligned well. Yeah. and And as soon as you get like be beyond those first four tracks, you're like, oh, okay.
00:11:20
Speaker
No, this is not what this is about. Right. right And I think the thing that sticks out when I listen to it several times through is that this album is not designed for an algorithm. Right. Thank God. Right. no You know what i mean?
00:11:33
Speaker
i mean, okay. here, here, i'm going to get on my soapbox. So get ready. We knewt we know what's going to happen, but like how refreshing was it to listen to an album with all of the songs be over three minutes long?
00:11:45
Speaker
Right. Oh yeah. They all go somewhere. They all do something. They all do something and it's all just felt complete. And I was just like, oh my God, this is excellent.
00:11:56
Speaker
yeah I found myself thinking this like a few points over the, um, while listening to it where like the first chorus would happen. I'd be like, okay, that's cool. And then by the last chorus, I'm like, oh, my God. so like, the first chorus would happen and I would just be like, okay, that was cool.
00:12:13
Speaker
And then by the time you get to that last chorus, it's like, holy shit, she has let all these different elements and, like, ideas, like, add on to each other. And so by the time you get to the the end, it just accumulates into this, like, experience that was so much bigger than that first chorus.
00:12:27
Speaker
And you don't have time to do that in a two-minute pop song. Right. That part. And it really is crazy, the levels, which is why, like, even now, I feel like there's going to be things that as I listen to it more, I'm going to still discover because it just hasn't been enough time. And yeah I've been reading a lot of hot takes and I'm like, you have not gotten everything you've gotten out of this album in three hours or however long. ago I know that my ranking. Yeah, I know my ranking is going to change. Thousand percent goes.
00:12:53
Speaker
Oh, absolutely. And just for all the listeners out there, we are recording this on the same day that the album came out, March 7th. This episode will be out Tuesday next week. So ah you are getting fresh perspective, fresh listens, and fresh reactions from us right now.
00:13:09
Speaker
Yeah. um Yeah, and i and i really like with that you said that disease and abracadabra are like really well aligned. I feel like abracadabra was a natural follow up to disease and obviously is a huge hit right now. People are loving it went viral on all the social media platforms and people just recreating the dance and um And I don't know, there's been a lot of discussion about it being like, you know, reheating her nachos, if you will.
00:13:35
Speaker
That phrase, I need it to die. need it to die. Every time I see some demon twink posting that, I'm like, stop. i just She was the one who made the recipe.
00:13:46
Speaker
Right, right. Cheese the cheese. Yeah, exactly. And honestly, like, it's like, I'm like, a part of me is like, yes, it, like, I hear how people say that, but I was like, it's also a sound that is still fresh and that she hasn't really done before. Like, it's in her wheelhouse.
00:14:03
Speaker
Yeah. sure. And that, like, many people have tried to recreate unsuccessfully. Right. So, like, you know, every, anytime, like, someone who, like, Kind of comes along and may I dare I say shifts culture. You see a lot of copycats like people tried to recreate a Britney.
00:14:21
Speaker
That never really happened successfully. Everyone was trying to like do, a have their Gaga moment back in the early 2010s. Like Katy Perry wearing that stupid square on her head for no reason. And doing like the five costume changes the the year after. Yeah.
00:14:35
Speaker
yeah Yeah. There was no reason for that because it wasn't authentic, but like she, um sorry, I do love her, but um I don't know. I just, I think like if anyone's allowed to reheat their nachos, it's the, it's the original chef.
00:14:49
Speaker
Right. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And they were put in the oven. They weren't microwaved. Yeah. That's correct. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like abracadabra gave me what you got with disease.
00:15:00
Speaker
Hmm. Like that was what I wanted from her. Like yeah yeah in this moment, I was like, this is exactly it. And and while I didn't and think that the album was going to be another like 90s piano type album, because that felt like it was so much of Chromatica.
00:15:13
Speaker
Yeah. And I was like, right, this is going to be darker. I don't think it's going to be all like this. But that I was like, this is exactly what I was hoping for in that moment. When you said ninety s piano moment, my mind went to Tori Amos. And I'm like, I don't think that's what it was going to be either. but i Not that 90s
Exploring Unreleased Tracks and Fan Favorites
00:15:29
Speaker
What's funny is that right before you hopped on, we were also talking about her. That's really funny that you brought that up Because I was like, she's got about five songs that I really like.
00:15:35
Speaker
yeah And I think she's super talented. yeah because i was yeah um so I was saying that I was saying i was like i feel like that there was a moment um in my self-awareness where I figured out the phrase, this I am not the intended demographic.
00:15:48
Speaker
Yeah. And that where that sort of separated everything where it's like I can be objective about what I think how the the structure is, how the mastering go, all of the other technical aspects of it. It's just not made for me.
00:15:59
Speaker
And it's just not my thing. Right. And I feel like my job had to make me sort of do that over the last decade. But that's I feel like people don't have that self-awareness. And that's why we see a lot of bad takes on the Internet.
00:16:10
Speaker
that part um um my ex used uh is a torrey super fan who has like followed her along on tour for like 20 years every tour like he'll buy like dozens of tickets and it'll just like go along and he's like met her a bunch of times so i got to see her like front row center one year um back in like 2017 and i'm like okay that's good i'm not gonna top that experience right right does he also go to therapy You know, I think he's the one that I listened to the album with yesterday. we We're so cool. And like, we hang out and stuff. every
00:16:43
Speaker
I've known so many Tori Amos fans in my life and they all are in therapy. and Yeah, no, it's it's it's... And I say that with love. I think it's a great thing. i love that.
00:16:55
Speaker
It's people who've seen some shit. People who've seen shit. And you know who saw some shit was Eve in the Garden of Eden. Sure did. Come it back together. And let me tell you what. So Garden of Eden...
00:17:06
Speaker
ah one of the new tracks that we got to hear for the first time today. um a lot of people yesterday were comparing it to a an old demo called Private Audition, which I had never heard before. I had never heard this one, me either. I had never heard that before either.
00:17:21
Speaker
And so um so I heard a little snippet of Private Audition, and I was like, interesting, okay. So I hear the similarities there. i have an interesting, so i it kind of reminded me of, I don't know if either of you know this song,
00:17:35
Speaker
This is going be very on brand for me. There is an unreleased Nicole Scherzinger song called Physical featuring Timbaland. Yes, I know it.
00:17:46
Speaker
And the cadence of the verses, the sound of the song. i In fact, I do feel like this song is very Timbaland-esque. That I hear. And let me, and literally in my notes, because everybody, because I'm a crazy person, because I write notes when I listen to stuff now, because I'm old. um My notes say, Britney, break the ice blackout vibes. Okay.
00:18:05
Speaker
Oh, interesting. Yeah. Yeah. I love this song. Yes. I know. I will say I'm not. This is maybe where I maybe where I get like my monster card revoked. I'm not like huge on the unreleased song crowd.
00:18:21
Speaker
or Or like, or like i'm not I'm not super well versed with like Gaga's unreleased songs. I feel like I probably know like four or five of them really well, but there are some like really like underground like, oh yeah, dingy demos of hers that like, frankly aren't great.
00:18:38
Speaker
But I don't know a lot of the monsters just be like, oh my god, I miss you know, the red and blue EP. Like that was her best era. I'm like you are. Oh my god. Yeah, they are lying. The fuck up. Yeah.
00:18:49
Speaker
They are not standing Stephanie Germanotta. Come on. No, no, no. I mean, lot glad she went through it, but like, come on. No. Right. Although justice for no floods. I do love no floods. No, it was okay. It was all right. I just, I don't like, not me criticizing the mixing and mastering on her independent EP. Right, right, right. The sonic mix of that EP was a little rough for me. Totally. Yeah.
00:19:14
Speaker
But yeah, no, I never heard of ah Private Audition either. And this was one of the ones where there was actually like what sounded like an AI version of this one going around for months.
00:19:25
Speaker
Yeah. People were being like, oh my God, this is is like this is from LG7. And it was that chorus. I'm going to be a girlfriend. Yes. yeah Yeah. And it was just like there was no harmonies. The production was really minimal. Her voice sounded really like bare bones. And i was like, I hope this is fake. yeah and then when i heard And then when I heard that this was real, I was like, okay. but But that thing where when you let a song s simmer, it can take you places.
00:19:50
Speaker
And by the time we got to the end, I was like, okay, this shit sold me. Because... The way that that outro goes. Oh, yeah. Yeah. and this was the This was one of the ones where it's like I listened to it. I liked it, but I kept going back to other ones. And then in the middle of my day today, that one grabbed me again. And I was like, i was like, I think it's got me.
00:20:09
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. This might be like controversial take. I'm not like obsessed with that. Like Timbaland Nelly Furtado kind of sound from like 2005. And I feel like most people in my generation are just like that was peak pop. And I'm like, I mean, it was right. Whether whether nostalgic or not um so this was never so that's why i like the new tate mccray album is like not really my my jam either but and so when i heard that this was hearkening to that i'm like okay like i i'll deal with it but honestly it's it's um it sold me by the end of it though yeah it sold me because it's i feel like it's also again like similar to that early gaga like
00:20:53
Speaker
pre-fame early fame era when she was doing a lot of more of that like theatrical pop similar to paparazzi right paparazzi type sound or um i'll use uh what was what was the other one that i was thinking of there was another song like fancy pants and like things like that um beautiful dirty rich like it kind of harkens to those sounds yeah and i haven't i haven't heard that later yeah in another song but garden of eden banger banger alert love it and And then we've got, we finally have perfect celebrity. Z, go ahead.
00:21:29
Speaker
Go ahead. This, this is also in the vein of disease. Like this is the sound I wanted. yeah That fucking, like, industrial, heavy, slamming, belting, kind of modulates between major and minor tonality, melody kind of vibe. Oh, my God. This this one was everything.
00:21:55
Speaker
Yeah. and And was the one that I was the most excited from since she teased it in Paris. Yeah. Yeah. I found it interesting that now having heard both of the the songs in full, she teased Abracadabra and she teased Perfect Celebrity.
00:22:11
Speaker
um She played the intro of Abracadabra from the car. yeah And then you hear split second of Perry the Tall and she stops. yeah And with this one, she played the outro.
00:22:25
Speaker
because you hear this lo-fi vocal ibica and um and i was like i wonder how that's gonna sound and i it was like wait when is this happening and then she got to the end of the song and i heard it and i'm like okay got it yeah yes i was thinking the same thing i was like i was like i thought that that was gonna be the intro of the song yeah i thought that was gonna be the verse that we heard yeah or something yeah this is This is the Gaga voice that I want to hear like to a Led Zeppelin album, like the one that exists in the song.
00:22:52
Speaker
like That's where I feel like this one sits. like The whole, you love to hate me. like that whole like that The scream in it is so good. and just I was going to say too, that it ends on the lyric, I've become a notorious being, I think is excellent. Because I love when shit like like what Madonna does in Deeper and Deeper, how she ends on like a random lyric.
00:23:09
Speaker
I love that. I love that. It's so good. this sound. So this to me, after listening to it several times, the chorus to me reminded me of, it so it lives in a similar sonic universe to me as the song Time Bomb by Pink off of The Truth About Love.
00:23:27
Speaker
The chorus, and ah both melodically and like production-wise, are very similar and in tone, and I love that. like the song is I think the song is incredible.
00:23:37
Speaker
This is one of my favorite songs on the album. Yeah. Perfect celebrity. I did. i did rank them. ah And i put this one at number four for me. I love that. I didn't rank them either. just I didn't. mean Yeah. I don't know if I can.
00:23:50
Speaker
If I can honestly rank them yet. i I feel like it's a little fresh in my ears still. um i think I know my top three. I can do that. I can probably do my top five. do top three. Maybe four. But yeah. But definitely top. Yeah.
00:24:04
Speaker
Yeah, let's give it let's reveal our top fives at the end. Okay, yeah. Excellent, excellent. I'll give you my top 16. Yeah, you heard it here, folks. We're going to talking about brunu bonus
Potential Singles and Vocal Prowess
00:24:15
Speaker
tracks. yeah um So then after Perfect Celebrity, we've got Vanished Into You, which has been teased potentially maybe being a next single of sorts.
00:24:23
Speaker
Yeah, when I kept seeing that um that being like ah teased on like the the album sticker, i was kind of like, ooh, I can't wait to hear this one. Yeah, this is the first moment where I was little like, huh?
00:24:36
Speaker
Okay. Yeah, I think it will grow on me. i have lot I have a lot of friends being like this one stood out to me and I'm like, that is interesting. I don't know if like, I don't know why this is the comparison that's jumping out to me. I can for some reason here like.
00:24:52
Speaker
Like like a garage rock, like the strokes performing a song like this, just melodically and quarterly, or it feels kind of like a British band. Well, as yeah I was thinking that the part where she goes, ooh, that part is almost identical to Kylie Minogue's Every Day, like Christmas, yeah which was written by Chris Martin. ah yeah Well, there you go.
00:25:14
Speaker
Right. This is my first favorite of the album. I love this song. This was the first one that I was just like, whoop, okay, we're standing up. I was like, I love this. The chord progression feels very like Red One type-esque, although I'm assuming that this is like the the Ava Max bit of it all with Circuit is probably coming in on this one.
00:25:31
Speaker
yeah um Because it just has that sort of four chord in the chorus thing. Yeah, but I feel like in this song, the vocal specifically, and I don't know how else to explain this except that she sounds so Italian in this song to me.
00:25:46
Speaker
i Like there's something because like, I feel like the strength of everything that she's been doing with the jazz projects and that type of her voice feels like it's being applied here because there's like a Rosemary Clooney, Edie Gourmet vibe that I'm hearing in the strength.
00:26:01
Speaker
Just the strength. Like, I'm not saying stylistically, but, like, the power in her chest, and which is, like, it just feels very old crooner type to me. And am i just how the chorus lifts, I absolutely love. Love, love, love. I love this song. Love, love.
00:26:17
Speaker
Yeah, this is going to make a great remix. i would like I would like to hear that, because I actually felt like this is this one was, like, relatively, I think the one thing I didn't, love about this one immediately was that it it felt really simple.
00:26:32
Speaker
like Like from a writing standpoint, not necessarily lyrically, but just like melodically in the chords, I kind of was like, oh, for sure. This feels very kind of like, okay, this is is going to sound way shadier than I mean it.
00:26:43
Speaker
It kind of felt like the Ringo Starr song on the Beatles album. ah Sort of like, like okay, this like the... Little monsters are going to cancel Z-Machine. No, here's the thing. I love Ringo. And, you know, but it just kind of felt like the songwriting applied to this was just a little bit less elevated say, know, Abracadabra. Right. You know?
00:27:07
Speaker
like abercadabra right i you know I would say maybe that has a lot to do with sequencing. Like, I just feel like after the the the the punch of disease, Apricadabra, Garden of Eden, and Perfect Celebrity, and then going into Vanish Into You, it's just, ah it is a kind of a stark difference.
00:27:26
Speaker
Well, so and I think that it's interesting because I was going to bring up the sequencing of the album, too, because I was on her site looking through because, of course, she's going to get my money on the vinyl sales. yeah And I was looking and I was like, which one did I not? What? me just look.
00:27:38
Speaker
There are specific versions of the vinyl that are sequenced differently than what has been put out digitally. Oh, it was like the bonus track and stuff. The bonus tracks are in different places on the album. Like in one and one of them, it's like second to last before i die with a smile. And another one, it's like somewhere within the first six tracks.
00:27:57
Speaker
Oh, I didn't know. I did see that. Yeah. I'm i'm actually curious. I didn't check my because I got the vinyl today. I um i didn't. The way she lays out the track list is very, like, all over the place. So, I mean, I kind of need to go and see. I need to, like, look into where that way would be. Right. Because now my, like, crazy brain is like, okay, well, let me try the sequence this way and see if that changes anything or how this flows.
00:28:18
Speaker
Right. Yeah. And I'm very, i mean, i was I was so curious as to, like, what goes into that. And, like, you know, was something changed last minute or, you know. Yeah. Who knows.
00:28:29
Speaker
But. Like, yeah. Like the whole be and say. writing where they added tracks. And so those tracks aren't on the um on the first final pressing. Right, yeah. And change, I mean, allegedly changing the album title.
00:28:42
Speaker
I mean- Oh, let's celebrate that. and ah Track six, we've got Killa featuring Gesethelstein. Yes. Let me tell you why I love this song. Okay. This is she has never done anything like this before. And i I so this is one that I for I would say more than half of these. I heard like 15 second clips of them on on Twitter just because I'm human and I'm weak.
00:29:08
Speaker
um I when I heard this originally, I was like, ooh, The monsters are going to hate this. but Really? That's funny. Yeah, I could see that, though. I could see that.
00:29:19
Speaker
Because it's like, I heard that I'm a killer. yeah I'm like, they don't want this. i i When you hear the whole song, it's not like that. like It's completely different in context. But I was like, they they want, you know, fucking, you know, Judas. Right, yeah right, right. Which was bad romance part two.
00:29:40
Speaker
Right. And but when you hear the whole thing and then you hear because Efelstein's breakdown. Oh, my God. he earned that feature. for sure. Because when it first started, i was like, it's giving me somewhere like a Lenny Kravitz American woman.
Unique Tracks and Pop Appeal
00:29:53
Speaker
type just that like we're putting it all out here but there's like a 90s george michael energy too it just feels very sort of masculine that she does so well yeah that masculinity and yeah when and when it flips in the second half i'm like there's gasefelstein there he is yeah yeah it's so good that's like that 90s vibe there's something so like prince and bowie yeah it's like fame it's like fame fame yeah uh-huh Because people were even saying online that like the the guitar riffs were kind of sampled from Fame.
00:30:25
Speaker
I don't know if that's actually true. don't know if it's sampled. Maybe in interpret maybe ah because of sampling, you'd actually have to take the master recording part. But I could hear someone like replaying it like that and uncrediting it. Right, replaying ah Yeah, or definitely like inspired by. like Yeah, ohful for sure. I mean, her whole fame era.
00:30:42
Speaker
Right. But outside of Abracadabra, there is no, as at least according to the publishing that I've seen, there is no other, nobody else that's getting credited. so So let's celebrate that. Right. you know I feel like that's the alternate of this podcast, by the way.
00:30:56
Speaker
it's like homophonic and then let's celebrate that yeah's i say it all the time someone actually do that's an oprah reference right right it is yeah okay yeah sure i knew hello let's celebrate that ah because lindsey wasn't doing drugs yeah suck that on much oh my god yeah someone the other day called me out on that uh next we've got zombie boy can sister This is the one. Also known as um the car song.
00:31:27
Speaker
The car song. Yeah. From the disease video. Yep. This is the one for me. I was very, very, very excited about this one. It's so fun. The chorus break at like 2.14 that happens is like what my pop dreams are made of. The vocals, like I literally wrote down in my notes, holy shit, oh my fucking God, I love this.
00:31:47
Speaker
yeah yeah The chants are fantastic. I was like, it's it's Gwen Stefani without being Gwen Stefani. It's better. Right, that's what I mean. that's i mean like it's it's it's It's the evolved version. yeah Well, to me, it's like that put your paws all over me. you like that To me, this actually calls back to... so I keep bringing up old demos of hers, but like to me, this calls back to an old demo of Beautiful Dirty Rich ah where she goes, look at those dirty rich girls. Look at them dirty rich boys.
00:32:18
Speaker
And so I was like, i was like oh my God, this is for... these us truthers out there. Yeah. Like full dirty rich truthers. Cause I've always felt like I was like, you know, I, she's done ah this a lot throughout her career where she's kind of played early versions of her songs and then changed them. I mean, art pop was very much that. And this is one of those moments where I was like in beautiful, dirty rich. I wish that she had left that part in the song. Cause it just adds so much to it.
00:32:44
Speaker
um So I think that this feels like a like a calling to that to me at least. Yeah. It's, this is, this is, that's why I posted on my story and I said, RIP to my Spotify wrapped.
00:32:55
Speaker
No way this is going to be so stupid this year with that song. Yeah. This is, this is about, This is another one where that final chorus, like, i ascended. Yeah. Like, like i loved i loved it, and I loved the second one more, and by the time they got to that end, you had just been, like, taken on such a journey that when finally all the elements just come crashing together at once ah law over that melody, it was like, my God.
00:33:22
Speaker
god Right, right. yeah This is how you do it. No one else is doing, literally, no one else is doing this anymore. oh my God. and even the ones who aren't, I'm sorry, go ahead.
00:33:33
Speaker
no, was going say, I feel like the closest that I've heard that has done it at least somewhat well has been Rina Sonoyama. She seems like the most direct disciple. Okay, okay. Like, when I hear her music, there are certain tracks where I'm like, oh, this is absolutely like a Gaga reference. she's a Gaga student, for sure. Right, right.
00:33:51
Speaker
but I can't think of anybody else that I've heard that I feel like has done it that well. I think Chapel will get there. i think that she's done great stuff and I think that she's got the the potential, but there's really not many other people that I think are in the running. Yeah.
00:34:02
Speaker
And Reena's in the studio right now. Thank God. and love her so much. I know me too. I'm so excited. wonder there'll be a Charlie feature. Sorry. Maybe. Maybe not. um So next up we have Love Drug.
00:34:18
Speaker
Oh. Where do we begin? Are you obsessed? This is my sleeper hit. Like, oh only in the sense that, like, I don't think it'll be a single. I don't feel like a lot of people were talking about it much leaving up to it. But, like, the this is the other one I keep coming back to. And and the one that people keep saying you should cover.
00:34:35
Speaker
Right. Well, i love that. this is, like, this is a legit 80s track. This song lives somewhere sonically for me between, like, the... the They were like hair metal, but they were almost like pop hair metal. There was a girl band called Vixen in the 80s between their music and heart in the 80s, specifically in the 80s, I feel like is where this song lives.
00:34:55
Speaker
Almost like um for anybody out there, it sounds like a song that would be on the soundtrack to the movie The Lost Boys. Oh, love. If you know that movie. and yeah But the one thing that kept sticking out is that about two and a half minutes in, and it goes to about three minutes, it's like 30 seconds where I'm like, there's almost a guitar solo.
00:35:14
Speaker
It needs a guitar solo. And you know who would do that really well? this oh I wonder. This guy's Z Machine that I know. I mean, look. I mean, just like a raging, like, Mick Mars type, like... Well, she wants to call me up, I mean, can call my manager. i just said I think that someone on her team called someone up, because... I'm saying...
00:35:37
Speaker
it be I would watch that TikTok a lot. So there's I'm just throwing it out there. This song and another song on the album, I was like, this is Z Machine song. Not a Gaga song. I mean, ah and another another disciple though. but Right, another disciple of Gaga.
00:35:53
Speaker
Yeah. You know i would kill that actually. Yeah. yeah I'm telling you. I'm really... You know what? And I love... I really love the verses. Yeah. i don't know. They're just very kind of like, like it just has that straightforward kind of beat and the melody sits really nicely in a place in her voice. Cause she has a lot of different types of voices. Like, yeah.
00:36:16
Speaker
I can kind of get like this. Right, right. But like something about the way she sings the verse here is very just measured and controlled. Her tone is gorgeous.
00:36:27
Speaker
Yeah. No, this is this is definitely going to be another one that that I go back to every day. yeah i just feel like throughout this album the songwriting is so strong yes i think melodically the hooks the chords the melody is like the chorus i mean like again and anything that you know not to beat the dead horse about song length but like when you are able to add these types of things in there and structure them these ways it just elevates the song so much yeah yeah excellent no love love love this one yeah but Before I hit play, I was like, let's take a love drug, take a love drug. I think she was trying to get us all sublimity into that. Oh, absolutely. yeah know She She does what she's doing. Even formatted the same way.
00:37:11
Speaker
Right. the the um the The name of the song. Exactly. She's like, F slurs, assemble. Here we go. Here we go Next week. Next walk. What am even saying? Next up, we have ah How Bad Do You Want Me?
00:37:25
Speaker
And this one was one of my shocking favorites on the album. like b Brian said that too. From the album 1986. From the 1986? Well, no, because she was because it sounds like a 1989 song from Taylor Swift, kind of.
00:37:41
Speaker
But Gaga was born in 1986. but Love, love, so love, love, love. I was like, I hope that doesn't go over their head. No, My immediate my immediate thought and what I wrote down in my notes is that this song was written for Ally and A Star Is Born.
00:37:54
Speaker
Yes, it's giving the cure. Yes, yes. And that's my second note is that it gives me the cure slash why did i why did you do that? And all of that type of stuff. But it's like the song is just right. No, totally. The song is just straight up doo-wop chords from like the 50s.
00:38:10
Speaker
Like it's not even trying. It's just two two sets of two different doo-wop chords from the 50s. The arpeggiator is almost identical to Only You by Yaz. Mm-hmm. It has that same sort of like dreamy intro. And my husband actually pointed that out. And I was like, very good. I was like, I love that. But it's absolutely true. this song for me sounds like you're standing outside of a sun, out at the top of a sunroof.
00:38:31
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Yeah. i'm a I'm obsessed with this one. Like i the chorus just keeps getting stuck in my head. I love the, the lyric. like a psychotic love theme. Yes. How bad do you want me? Like, and how that changes what she does. And every time that that part of the song comes up, how the lyric, the lyric changes. And then so does the, um,
00:38:54
Speaker
what is it, the emphasis on the wrong syllable. You know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like how she does that is brilliant throughout the whole song. It's so good. and And, you know, I know that there's a lot of Taylor Swift comparisons. There was even like rumors this morning about Taylor Swift being on the backing vocals of the song. That was fake news.
00:39:11
Speaker
No. Yeah. No, I don't see any different, i no. No, I'm shutting all that down. I'm sorry, Swifties. This is not your moment. I apologize. I love you. But there is nothing on this album that harkens Taylor Swift to me. No, no i ah i get what you're saying about that. I get what you're saying.
00:39:25
Speaker
i get what you're saying. Fight. I understand. Right, right. I just and like here. Look, no one is is happier to deny, you know, Taylor Swift her flowers than me. Trust me.
00:39:36
Speaker
Trust. Yeah. But like I hear it. I definitely hear it. And but like it's also not really a sound that I think she invented. But it was, you know, she is just the most popular one. She tried it on. and And, you know, if anything, I think if Taylor put this out, people would be like, this is one of her best songs she's done in years.
00:39:53
Speaker
Oh, without a doubt. Yeah. just because Because the writing is is um ah so much more intricate. And like. Just beautiful than anything. i think she's done since like, and almost a decade, like since reputation. i don't know. so not, not to keep dwelling on her. I'm just like, you know, to Gaga, to Gaga's credit. I think this is like an amazing Taylor Swift song.
00:40:14
Speaker
Yeah. I see that. I see that. I love that. But nothing brings me more joy than when I wake up at 4.30 in the morning and i hope um but I just see Z Machine just dragging Swifties left and right. It's so funny. That's one in the morning at my time. And that's prime dragging hours. It's so funny. And I'm just like, someone's got to put them in their place. come on.
00:40:37
Speaker
Because I don't have the strength right now. But yeah, one of my favorites. I got you. Definitely. um Next up we have Don't Call Tonight. Alejandro part two. Alejandro. Yeah.
00:40:50
Speaker
um I like it, but it's fine. I, this is in my, I put this at number of the, of the 14. I put this at number 11.
00:41:01
Speaker
11. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I, I like it. I feel that. Yeah. I like it. I like my production. Yeah, the Daft Punk like ah vibes of like the the the yeah robotic voice and yes and the bridge is fun. It's very like, I feel it coming. Yeah.
00:41:19
Speaker
I feel it coming. Yeah. i feel yeah we could yeah in a comment yeah yeah Exactly. Which Circuit helped produce. so Oh, well, there you go. Let's celebrate that. oh I'm going to like, i we yeah we're going to need that master cut of every time someone says, let's celebrate that. Right.
00:41:38
Speaker
and right But yeah, I was going say, this is probably the one that is of the tracks so far that I'm just kind of like, it's cute.
Bonus Tracks and Personal Favorites
00:41:48
Speaker
i'm I'm not running back to it like I am the other ones. Yeah.
00:41:52
Speaker
I like it. It's fine. Yeah. Yeah. um And then next up, we have Shadow of a Man, which was, was this the first snippet that we had? Yeah, this so chromatic this is the snippet from the end of the Chromatica Ball film. And oh my God.
00:42:09
Speaker
Oh my god. This... ah she You know, she hasn't really done anything like this before. like i dont i don't like It's not even that it's like super groundbreaking, but it's just like this is... If she had opened for Michael Jackson and the This Is It residency...
00:42:26
Speaker
what it did it's so It's so crazy that you said that because I literally texted this to my boss and I was like, there's something Rod Temperton about this like thriller era that feels like to me. like It gives me that vibe.
00:42:37
Speaker
Or like if Dance in the Dark was a disco track. It feels like a Smooth Criminal little bit. In a way, like the chorus does like... Right, right, right. Yeah. right yeah this the The staccato vocal. Oh my God. no this is the This is the one that I find myself...
00:42:55
Speaker
As of, you know, 12 hours post-release, listening to the most. Well, when we were talking and i was I was commuting home when I was texting with you guys before and as we were talking about this song and I was... The thing that changed my mind about this is that, first of all, it's like 118 beats per minute. So it's a really good walking pace.
00:43:11
Speaker
And i was walking I was walking through New York City while this song was on and I was like... I was like, all right, this might be the one. I was like, I think it just got me. And I'm like, yeah, this is a good pace. This is like good iced coffee music.
00:43:21
Speaker
This is like, yeah you know yeah girl just lost her job and is going to take over the world. Right, right. yeah yeah or Everything's to be okay. It's going to be fine. Yeah. John Michael did not lose his job. I just want to clarify. No. And, but but I feel like this is the other song that could use a guitar riff from you.
00:43:39
Speaker
Oh, I'm down. I'll do it. I'll do it. I was going to say, this is the other song that I was like, this is like, this song was made for Z machine. Like this is Gaga.
00:43:50
Speaker
This is Gaga. This is Michael Jackson. Like this is your, yeah. Cause two of my, my desert Island artists that you asked me Yep. yeah um sure are as i gonna say know Oh, it's also interesting is that when she teased this at the end of the chromatica ball,
00:44:08
Speaker
that clip was put over like her you know like her silhouette where she like did this like little move and this like kick. And she was basically doing like an MJ move. Yep. Where she like did like the hit the hip shift, the kick, like the hand up type of vibe. it was very So I think it's so fitting that this song harkens to that so much.
00:44:27
Speaker
yeah And also sounds very different from the clip that we heard. We just heard the intro. Right. right Because there wasn't that like... did it did it like that like sim did it in it Yeah. yeah yeah
00:44:39
Speaker
but bru that did did yeah i want i wish that was still there i wish it was still there every time i keep waiting for it and it doesn't hit and i'm like oh no i know gaga gaga when you see this trust me we're happy i promise we are so happy she's just like these miserable little you know it's the faggots uh telling she's she's like i am not putting out another album right like i am done with you oh she's Oh, I do fear that we will not be hearing pop music from Gaga for quite some time.
00:45:07
Speaker
So let's enjoy this. Right. Oh, for sure. I i do feel. Yeah, i've I'm with you. I feel like she's going to after this, allegedly a tour is happening. And then I think that we' she's getting a break.
00:45:19
Speaker
Right. A little bit. I think mama wants to have a baby. House of Gaga, House of Labs. I've heard that she won't be announcing tour until after Coachella, which is fine by me. makes sense. Because I'll be there.
00:45:33
Speaker
God damn it. Oh, my God. i managed to score a weekend one ticket because that is my birthday weekend. Yeah. Oh. ah Yeah. So I'm i'm literally just, i I think my plan is to go for the first day.
00:45:45
Speaker
Yeah. Because i cause I'll be honest, festivals are not my vibe. Right. I don't really care a lot about the other artists and headliners. So going to go for one day. going to like find someone. I'm going to sell my other two days and I'm just going to head home. Love that.
00:46:00
Speaker
let's celebrate let's Let's celebrate that. that. Wait, April. What is it? April something? she's on She's performing the 11th. April 11th. Yeah. Yeah. Is that for for his birthday? Obviously.
00:46:11
Speaker
Well, yeah, I mean, my birthday is, I think that's Sunday. I think i don't remember. Isn't, didn't you release habit in April, April 22nd something like that? i think that's, he's a sick individual. gross. I sure did.
00:46:25
Speaker
Because I think that you and I think that i we happened to be messaging last year and it just so happened to be the day. And so I think that and I think that that stuck in my mind because I was like, oh, I was like, I think I like was introduced to you and around this time.
00:46:41
Speaker
and i love that you know that. And then I looked at the release date and I was like, oh, it's actually today. And so that's why it now sticks in my head. No, that's amazing. And the fact that that was like your your onboarding point makes me very happy.
00:46:53
Speaker
That's a good onboarding point. yeah like if if If anyone listening, if you have not listened to Habit by Z Machine, do it now. Do yourself a favor. if your onboarding point was um fuck shit up, you're basic.
00:47:05
Speaker
Right. Or I'm just slow. Or I need to catch up. You were waiting for the real quality. But also, also we got to shout mean, John john Michael is the one that introduced that to me.
00:47:17
Speaker
ah yeah. Oh, my God, you're right. Well, thank you. Of course. He was the one that posted in in his stories, and then I was like, oh, my God, this is amazing. And then I said, yeah, and then the rest is history. and then I'm always on the hunt for my LGBTs.
00:47:29
Speaker
That's right. LGBTQs. That's right. Yeah. but And if you ever, I'm going to call you out, if you ever get your publishing handled. Oh! ah keep I sent you an email. do You know what? I've been Then get the other person. Get it get the merch manager. Get somebody to do it. He's busy being a notorious You're a liar and it's okay. I'm going to keep harassing you.
00:47:48
Speaker
I'm not liar. I am. I don't know what there's going on. tracks 12 and 13 on this album, I feel like we might all be in agreement on?
00:48:00
Speaker
Possibly. This is a weird way to end. No. Well, well we we still have the bonus track, so we're going to go back up on a high. Yes, because we can't stop the high.
00:48:10
Speaker
right But um hi but ah tracks 12, we have the Beast. Boost! How dare you?
00:48:22
Speaker
um I am crossing my fingers that this is about Michael's dick. Oh, like that AI clip you saw on Twitter. Have you seen that one? No, I haven't. Oh my God. Wait, hang on.
00:48:33
Speaker
I hate the the thing people do on podcasts where they play stuff from their phone to the microphone, but I really feel like you need to see this. But do it. This fucking sent me the other day. It's like it's basically, it's a really realistic like AI audio clip of Gaga talking about, okay.
00:48:50
Speaker
Stop. Stop. but b is about michael's monstrously fat stop have one more dirty track this is the dancing the sex dreams be i like it
00:49:11
Speaker
oh Stop. Incredible. my God. That's so funny. That's just, I love that. So, amazing oh my God. Well, I hope it's true. That being said, the other one I saw was like, oh my God, this clip of the beast leaked.
00:49:29
Speaker
And I woke it up. The beast in me. And I'm stronger than that little puppy. Not Idina Menzel. Look at me.
00:49:41
Speaker
Oh my God. oh my God. The intro of this song, like it sounds like that same Casio demo Bossa Nova button like they'd use Blondie's Heart of Glass.
00:49:53
Speaker
It has like that same sort of like backing thing to it. But its this sounds like a song that Gaga will eventually release like piano demo version of. oh yeah oh sure you know what i mean all right yeah my thing with these next two is i don't dislike either of them like they are good at the type of song they are right it's just a little jarring to go from shadow of a man to like three ballads in a row to close out the album on my quote unquote a bridge playlist that i sent you all screenshot of i have removed these two and it ends with die with a smile right right yeah
00:50:27
Speaker
yeah Yeah, can objectively say that these I am not the target audience for these songs. Fair enough. Fair enough. And that is okay. I don't think that they are... I like The Beast more than Blade of Grass. Blade of Grass just did not do it for me.
00:50:43
Speaker
I love the concept of Blade of Grass. i like it and And of course she said this is her favorite one. Of course. Yeah. Because this is about when Michael proposed. Yeah. It was very. so So I get that. And you know what? Let's celebrate that.
00:50:58
Speaker
Let's celebrate that. And you know. Later. Right. But i feel I feel like. I feel like Blade of Grass is going to be her. A million reasons at the moment in the tour. Yeah.
00:51:09
Speaker
And I feel like it's going to be the piano moment because it feels like if you take everything else out of it, it's that very like 70s Elton John theatrical sort of. And I feel like that's going to be her whole thing. She's going to do this and she's going to go into Always Remember Us This Way.
00:51:23
Speaker
Right, and right, right. I mean, there's a key change in the song. Let's celebrate that. Let's celebrate that. I do. I love a key change. Yeah, not many people can do that, so... I'll celebrate that.
00:51:33
Speaker
I'm about to celebrate that. And speaking of, yeah. I was trying to quote quote the Mariah Carey. It's like, not everyone can do that. Right. no no Not everyone has that right ability. It's hard to do um Do we need to talk about Die With a Smile, the runaway number one hit that just keeps on giving?
00:51:55
Speaker
I love it. love I do love it, honestly. yeah And it's it's it feels like a song we've always known at this point, you know? but And that's what I think ties it to this album, because as I listen to it more and more, these songs almost sound like, and I don't even want to be like super like hokey and whimsical, but a lot of them sound like memories from another time.
00:52:15
Speaker
They feel timeless, yeah. They do, like but they feel like also like a very, like I can imagine hearing them at certain points in my life. like There's just something about them that seems so familiar. But it's so, yeah. No, I do. i love i But I love Die With A Smile, too. It's so good.
00:52:30
Speaker
It's song. It's like a song song. Yeah. And I just want to say that I know that there was like some commentary online about like these three songs, but in particular, Die With A Smile, people being like, it doesn't fit in with the album.
00:52:42
Speaker
But the thing is that my Madonna, I'm so sorry. Bite your tongue.
00:52:51
Speaker
And we mentioned the anniversary of the year? bitch has an anniversary every other month. i she sure She certainly does. And let's celebrate that. and we will And you will celebrate that. Zach is listening to Mayhem, Madonna's version. Yeah.
00:53:08
Speaker
She's a beast, baby. It's the Victor Calderon remix of Frozen as Abracadabra. Okay, before we get off track. Okay, I know, I know. So what I was going to say is that Gaga has had ballads in all of her albums. Yes.
00:53:20
Speaker
And especially like the fame monster. I mean, Speechless was right in there in the mix. good. Right. and and And, you know, you had you and I on Born This Way. You had, you know, a plethora of ballads on The Fame. And you had Dope on Art Pop. I mean, like, so I think that people need to understand that, like, Gaga is going to always throw in some ballads.
00:53:40
Speaker
And they're always... It's not... I don't know. Somewhere along the line, and I don't know when this happened, but people think that albums need to be, like, super, super cohesive. And if there's anything that doesn't sound like the other, then it's like, what... But, like, I...
00:53:55
Speaker
prefer that personally. I like songs to have their own life. And I think it takes real talent and musicianship to have an album where songs are all very different and still have. Yeah.
00:54:09
Speaker
Like, like and she that's what she has Yeah. So, I mean, it's not... out of place or out of i mean don't know i don't know i mean these songs don't not fit into the album yeah it's just maybe the sequencing is a little jarring even even the fame is not that cohesive oh not at all i feel like the singles all feel very cool oh i mean like poker face and just dance start because it's like literally the same synth sound um But um a lot of those songs in the middle of the album that you can kind of tell were made with like a budget of like 50 cents are like yeah really, really do not sound like the rest of even like AA is kind of out of there as it has like brown eyes or again, again, like she's she's always been all over the place. Like the and the only time she has like stuck to a sound was chromatica.
00:54:56
Speaker
right Yeah, I agree. Otherwise, otherwise she is, and and I guess to some degree, Joanne, ah kind of. um But she has always been a one for genre exploration on one project. So I don't know what y'all were expecting.
00:55:14
Speaker
not But not y'all, y'all. you right right right yeah Right, yeah, yeah. The royal, y'all. The royal. um But now we there are two bonus tracks. One ah that is available on the physical editions on her web store called Can't Stop the High. And one that is available on Target.com.
00:55:34
Speaker
ah physical editions called Kill the ah Love. um Kill for Love. Kill for Love. Kill for Love, excuse me. you ready So, so so learning is still learning the bonus tracks.
00:55:45
Speaker
um Which one do you guys want to talk about first? I think Can't Stop the High. That's how I have it ordered in my but in my playlist. so I end with Kill for Love. I have to admit right now, Can't Stop the High is my favorite song from this project. Wow, okay.
00:56:03
Speaker
I... I fucking obsessed and I am going to go on record right now and say, God, are you are a fucking cunt for leaving this off the standard version of the album.
00:56:14
Speaker
I love it so much. And, and I, I was like, so all day i was like, what is this reminding me of? What is this reminding me of there? I think it's reminding me of several things and I can't place the other part But it got to me just a couple hours ago. i was like, this has similarities to her own song, Fever, that was never released that Adam Lambert ended up covering. and Yeah.
00:56:40
Speaker
Yes. I love that one. and And this song it is just giving me like 90s. Truly, she gets she used this phrase a lot in this promo tour, 90s electro grunge.
00:56:51
Speaker
And this is exactly how I would put that. And it makes me feel good. I feel like I'm about to get dicked down by the DJ. I am like, i love this song much.
00:57:05
Speaker
but i can't yeah I can't stop the high. like Right. No, I absolutely love it. it almost This is another song that feels like it should be on a soundtrack, like on a Fast and Furious type movie. like there's like There's so much action happening.
00:57:17
Speaker
It's a very cinematic song. Yeah, yeah. I mean, she really... like I actually can't believe that this is not on the album, but we... We have all the other ballads and stuff. I am a little... i too, am surprised. Okay, so I don't know that I'm as effusive about it it as as Zach was. i I like it a lot.
00:57:36
Speaker
It kind of falls in the in the middle for me a little bit, but I'm going to chalk that up to i really haven't heard it until... Something just fell in my kitchen. I'm so sorry. that that That was me throwing something right now. Fair enough. I heard it three hours ago and I spent an hour, one hour of that waiting in line thinking I was going to meet her. The other hour stressing about my merch orders not being shipped to Canada.
00:58:03
Speaker
right um So I just haven't really had a lot of time to let it I think I've maybe heard it twice now. So I need to give it of and I think I've listened the other ones like four or five times now. and need to let it sink in a little bit.
00:58:14
Speaker
Well, here's what happened is that I was listening to the album and I had listened to it, I think three times. And I think I was on my fourth listen when my friend Andrew sent me this and I was like, Oh, here we go.
00:58:26
Speaker
And then, and when i heard it, I was like, wait, there's like i was like, hold on, repeat. And then I was like, repeat again. And then I was like, why the fuck can I and and like upload this to my Apple music?
00:58:38
Speaker
And then I was like, Oh my God, I'm, I can't get enough of it. I love it. Yeah. yeah It's phenomenal. Yeah. And then we have out for love. I was I was excited by the fact that she said in the interview that it was heavier than perfect celebrity.
00:58:53
Speaker
Yes. Yes. Because this yes because i was like, I because when Gaga goes heavy, that's usually when I like her at the best. Right. Yeah. I know. And I think that's I think that's why i like immediately when I saw that interview, I went ordered.
00:59:05
Speaker
the web store. So like I so i was like, okay, I'm and gonna need that because I know that I'm gonna want that like its own physical copy. And then today I also then went to Target and bought the Target version, which has kill for love.
00:59:19
Speaker
um And then that's yeah. i Kill for Love, this might be, this might rival Zombie Boy as my favorite album. Is for Okay, yeah. This is for me. This is like an absolute disco dream, honestly. like And it's, I want like a seven minute version. I want it to just go there. Like there's so much goodness in this song. I just, yeah, I love everything about it. It's ah it's it's a tea dance.
00:59:43
Speaker
and Yeah, yeah. This is chic. It's I Want Your Love. It's the vocal, her voice just soars on it. Give me all of this. She tears into it.
00:59:54
Speaker
All right. This is OK. Clearly, this is where where I become the villain. OK, here's the I really like it. I really, like really, really like it. I think if it's I love the dynamic, though. It speaks to the quality of the album, I think, for me.
01:00:08
Speaker
um i would probably rank it around a similar place as Can't Stop the High. I think the thing that maybe. OK, so I listened to that little clip that someone posted on Twitter of like the vinyl version of it. And I listened to it and i was like, oh, I don't know.
01:00:21
Speaker
Right. It kind of it kind of just sounds like it sounded a little bit like she was doing like a disco but pastiche a little bit. But when I heard the full quality version, something hit differently for me. It's like, oh, I like this like twice as much as I did before.
01:00:35
Speaker
So I'm going to let these ones grow on me a little bit. I wish I could put them in my my, you know, I know that really bums me out that I have to go seek them out. Right. I know. There are rumors. I won't rumors. I say rumors. And I saw one like invite Nostradamus insider whomever on Twitter.
01:00:52
Speaker
um There's a allegedly a deluxe version in the works. Who knows? Who knows? I mean, it makes sense. It would make sense. And i like fingers crossed that these tracks would be included on that and put them.
01:01:06
Speaker
put them on streaming because inject them into my veins. Oh, like for real. yeah Yeah. I, I, so, okay. So we said at the end, we were going to do top fives for everyone. What's everyone's top five.
01:01:19
Speaker
Okay. Who wants to go first? You go first. Okay. I'm going to say, I'm going to say, um, can't stop the high number one. Um, um Number two, I'm going to go ahead and say Abracadabra.
01:01:33
Speaker
ah Number three, I'm going to Perfect Celebrity. um Number four, I'm going to How Bad Do You Want Me? And number five, I'm going to say Garden of Eden. All right. I'm going say Perfect Illusion.
01:01:45
Speaker
but I love that song. I was a big fan of that. yeah I liked it, then I didn't like it, and i like it again. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, God, now it's really hard. I thought the top five was going to be easier. Now I'm looking and I'm like, wait.
01:01:59
Speaker
um I'm pretty certain of mine for now. Do it. Do it. You go. Okay. So number one, disease. Like that's my shit. That is my shit still. um Number two,
01:02:13
Speaker
this one was hard. I think I'm going to say shadow of a man. it just edged out abracadabra, but those two will are, those two, right? Yeah. Those two are hard to rank because I have listened to those so many times that they feel like old school gaga to me already.
01:02:30
Speaker
Right. Yeah. so it would be like, where do I put like bad romance in these? It's like, you can't do that. You can't compare it. Like it's, yeah, they're just not the same. They don't, they're, they sit in different parts of your brain.
01:02:41
Speaker
Yeah. Um, Okay, so Abracadabra, Perfect Celebrity, and then Love Drug. my number Excellent. Excellent. So I think it's going to be Abracadabra for me, Vanish Into You, Zombie Boy, Love Drug, and then Kill for Love.
01:03:02
Speaker
Yeah. Come on, Disco Queen. These all pretty different. i love that. We are. I really want Shadow of a Man and How Bad Do You Want Me To Be in there, but those would be the ah those ah that would be my top seven, but the yes. yeah yeah yeah But who knows? i mean, the album's been out, what, 12 hours? That's the thing. I have a different opinion opinion tomorrow.
01:03:20
Speaker
I kind of think of, in a weird maybe it's because they're next to each other, but like for me, Killa Zombie Boy are like sibling songs. Yeah. I can't believe I left out Killa.
01:03:31
Speaker
Oh my God. Oops. Oh my God. I left out Chilla. Wow. I literally just aborted my own child in front the other. That's it. Sophie's Choice. Sophie's Choice.
Music Platforms and Personal Preferences
01:03:40
Speaker
That's it. Would that be in your top five?
01:03:42
Speaker
That would be in my top five. Okay. my God. Maybe going to take out Garden of Eden and put... I don't know if I... I don't know. We're saying like the stakes are so high. They're so high.
01:03:54
Speaker
Right. I'm going to keep it for now. Tomorrow's going to kill it. Yeah. Kill it. I was going to probably creep in there. Spotify will tell you the truth when you look tomorrow if you're on repeat. That's so true.
01:04:06
Speaker
Right. You'll find out real quick. Okay. Yeah. well No, I think. Too bad I've been listening on Apple Music. ah Yeah, that is too bad. yeah i know I know. I know. I try so hard to to get into Spotify and then i just I'm just used using Oh, it's okay. It's a terrible company. I guess so. It's like, i mean, none none of them are great companies. Right. yeah right I know. I mean, it's, it, it does pain me that in 2025, Apple does not, there's no way to add your audio files to your Apple music. It's so nuts.
01:04:36
Speaker
Once they took that, feature that the the iTunes feature out, i was like, this is, this is garbage. Yeah. Cause you've sent me some stuff recently that I want to upload to my, I can't believe it doesn't let you do that. That's so weird. It's so and like the way I would have to put it on my computer, sync my phone up, but my computer's too old to sync now. Anyway.
01:04:54
Speaker
Well, so now I actually went out and I bought, um I think I sent it in, I had it shipped in from China. I bought like ah an actual iPod. Because I was like, not only do I need a place to have everything that is not released on streaming, but I also like when an album like this comes out and there's a mix of tracks that
Unreleased Songs and Catalog Comparisons
01:05:10
Speaker
are like not on streaming and are, then at least I can have everything all in one place. And I'm just like, whatever. I'm not draining my phone battery.
01:05:17
Speaker
I'll use this. Right. There we go. Oh my gosh. Well, you guys, this comes to the classic... famous part of the show songs we don't talk about enough I know that we just had to like do some anonymous honestly I think we should do one I think it should be for Gaga I think it should be for Gaga too like what's a Gaga song we don't talk about enough oh okay yeah that narrows it down because I was like did not plan for this yeah um y'all go first while i think of one Okay.
01:05:44
Speaker
Do you want me to go first? Well, I don't remember if I've spoken about this song yet on this show or not. So if this is a repeat, I'm sorry. Sometimes I will just black out when we record. But anyway, um I'm going to go ahead and just be that person and talk about an unreleased Lady Gaga song um that was allegedly written for the Pussycat Dolls oh and was produced by Fernando Garibay. Who's produced favorite Gaga songs.
01:06:12
Speaker
let's sell it. You know what? Fernando, let's give some flowers to Fernando really quick. We love you. i have, however, heard that he is an asshole. And oh I feel like maybe that might be why he has not done anything with her in 14 years.
01:06:27
Speaker
Well, and why he hasn't done with a lot many. What else? man i hope Yeah. bo After that, But we love the work that you did do, we so let's celebrate that. I'm not one to cancel someone for being mean. Right, right, right, right. right um Because, I mean, look at who I worship.
01:06:43
Speaker
yeah No, I was i was don't know how say it, but yeah. Yeah, was just saying. um But this song is called Text You Pictures. And it came out, well, it was supposed to, it was written around like that 2008, 2009-ish time.
01:07:00
Speaker
um And I think was probably not released ah because one, Gaga started gaining her own fame and notoriety. And then two, I want to say that this is around the same time again that ah Tyle Cruz and Kesha's Dirty Picture oh had come out.
01:07:17
Speaker
So it was kind of like a similar thematic, you know, thing. Text you pictures, Dirty Pictures. Do either of you know the song Text You Pictures? I feel like I've heard. sure So youre probably like you You're right. You've texted a picture. Yeah. There is the the snippet that floated around on the internet for years because the song leaked in full just a few years ago finally.
01:07:37
Speaker
But there's a snippet that leaked online years and years ago. ah there was like, baby, you know, no, you left a mark, mark. Do you remember when you taped it in the dark, dark? No?
01:07:50
Speaker
i don't think so. Okay. Well, you guys just missed out on some incredible pop music. And I sounded just like her. I can't believe you have never heard it. I thought she was in the room. thought the nico that Nicole.
01:08:01
Speaker
But anyway, I fucking love this song. In fact, I suggested that to use that song ah to one of our local drag queens here. Cause I was like, if you did this and I was at that drag show, I would go fucking nuts.
01:08:13
Speaker
Yeah. So good. I love it. It's I, as, as I look through her catalog, it's so difficult to pick a song. That's like a song that we don't talk about enough because I feel like she's at the level now where it's like,
01:08:25
Speaker
have a catalog like Madonna where there's so many, so many songs that it's like
Live Performances and Artistic Reinventions
01:08:30
Speaker
you couldn't even do all of your biggest hits in one show. Well, she also has like that stand-down that we like. She has rabid fans that know all the deepest cuts feel like the biggest songs in the world when you're that deep in the stand-down.
01:08:45
Speaker
Yeah. That's what I mean because like i like I don't think that we talk about bad kids enough. You are, and you would be right. Right. We don't. And you would be correct. Right, because it's it's such an incredible like juxtaposition from the verses to the Giorgio Moroder-ness of the chorus.
01:09:03
Speaker
And it's like... ah i'm a and allson i yeah good which do you remember how the liner notes to born this way had an extra verse yeah kids that we never heard We never heard where the fuck is it? Where is it?
01:09:24
Speaker
Give us the extra verse. Give us the seven minute version of um Americano. Right. And I mean, but that but that album has like, i I feel like government hook is another one. Like it's extremes really well, but it's like, it's not a song that you think about when you think about her or talk about.
01:09:39
Speaker
Well, speak yourself. Right, right, right. But I mean, like it's like that song and like like Sex Dreams, both of those. They're all like some of my favorite songs that just nobody ever brings up. It's like when you sit there and you're just like, I love Britney. i Toxic is my favorite song. I'm like, that type of shit. like I feel like that's where we're at with Gaga now.
01:09:57
Speaker
Yeah. Is that people are like, I love applause. I'm like... ah um guy Someone on Twitter, think yesterday, was speaking. there they were Someone was talking about ArtPop, and he was like, well, ArtPop gave us applause, so blah, blah, blah. And I was like, that's what you think of when you think of ArtPop? It gave much more is than applause.
01:10:18
Speaker
So much more. Yeah. I was like, I was like and don't think you're homosexual. Just saying. But applause, I feel, has honestly gotten better for me over the years. Like, the more, like, like when it came out, it was kind of jarring. Because it's like, what is she doing in the verses here?
01:10:38
Speaker
i don't know. she Everything seems kind of, it's like, it's leaking. Everything just felt a little kind of, like, off. And now I'm like, oh, this is this is just, like, smack you in the face. Like,
01:10:51
Speaker
banger. Oh, yeah. Well, as soon as I heard it, I was like, this one is for the live show. Yeah. Yeah. You know, this is going to be that moment. Like, and that's great. And I love that for This the Wizard of Oz themed morning show. This is, we're going to wake Robin Roberts the fuck up at 6 a.m. with this one. i hear this, I think, over the rainbow.
01:11:09
Speaker
but That's right. Well, it's so crazy because I'm looking on Spotify now and on Artpop for some reason. Gaga, I know you're listening to this. Friend of the pod, Stephanie Germanotta. Um, jewels and drugs not that i'm going to listen to it is now missing on art pop it's great oh no what a shame right interesting so i don't know what happened here but somebody's seems like the territory rates are not up to snuff on your so on your spotify on my spotify jewels and drugs is grayed out i can't play it i don't know if that's divine intervention how hell are you going to smack maybe in the gay young gay it's it's on mine and you can play it
01:11:46
Speaker
Yeah, it's playing right now. That's so crazy. No, I can't do it on mine. But it is also the least streamed song on the album. Well. Yeah.
01:11:57
Speaker
Right. Along with Dope. Well. That tracks. Right. yeah but she I saw her do that in concert, and I was like, um we could have used this for something else. like This is like four minutes. We could have we couldve used that four minutes differently.
01:12:11
Speaker
That's fine. It's a great song. She sounds great on it, but it's... it's Yeah, Art Pop sort of falls off for me in the second half until we get to Gypsy. I mean, that's one of those songs where at Swine Fest, she debuted it as I Just Want to Be With You. Which was better.
01:12:24
Speaker
and It was better. It felt better. it It felt better. It felt more natural. Yeah. And then she changed it to Dope. so So what would you pick then? Oh, me for my song I Don't?
01:12:38
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, yeah. Sorry. Sorry. didn't know which was for me. Okay. So this actually is a song people don't. Talk about enough. um And maybe in my top five Gaga songs like ever. Oh, um, Enigma.
01:12:56
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Oh, my God is. Oh, I don't know. And I feel like this got like hate from fans for being like one of the worst on the album. And I'm like, OK, what is replay? I don't know. I'm ah i'm a replay hater.
01:13:11
Speaker
Oh, I'm not. and here's the no I'm actually not. I do like it. But it was but I never go listen to it is the thing. I don't But but I but I am but but Enigma is one of my most played songs ever on Spotify.
01:13:26
Speaker
Did you hear what I said? What? I said I was like hearing her do that live. That's what i that's the moment I was waiting for because the full chest. yeah yeah So I think I was – don't know if I was telling you this, Zach, at one point. But like I realized like during – this is the second time i' bringing her up. When um Tate McRae dropped her album, I realized – I actually don't care if my pop stars dance.
01:13:54
Speaker
Like I really could care less if they could dance. If they can, it's just a cherry on top or whatever, but like I don't need them to, dance if if if I have to appreciate their dancing in order to enjoy the music, I don't really like it.
01:14:07
Speaker
right And what I loved about, cause Enigma had been my like ah sort of underrated fave for for two years at that point when I saw her at Dodger Stadium. the show that she filmed for the concert hey um film. You're basically an extra. I was an unpaid extra.
01:14:25
Speaker
That's right. um But when it got to that point, it was like, oh, she's doing my favorite song from the album. And she's just planning herself in the middle of the stadium with just a microphone and just nothing but vocals and stage presence. No dancers, no choreo. And then she did like the extended outro where the whole band jammed out and she left and she did her costume change.
01:14:45
Speaker
But I'm like, this is exactly what I want. And she gives me those moments so much where she'll just come out and she'll do exactly the thing that I love about her. and And it's just like, I feel like I'm the only person in the world.
01:14:56
Speaker
And i just, I'm so up obsessed with that song with where she goes, with her voice in it, with the chord changes, with the production, with the buildup for that, with the breakdown. i just, it's everything to me.
01:15:07
Speaker
That's how I feel about Thousand Doves. Me too. Oh my God. i Let me tell you, like I play that almost every single time that I play in Philadelphia and it's always the one that I feel like surprises people the most, but they get so happy when they hear it. And the way the entire room comes together in the gay bar, when you play that is so, it's just like a hug. And I just, i love everything. of it it It reminds me of like nineties, no mercy type music, that nineties dance pop. And it's,
01:15:36
Speaker
Like she understood the assignment on that. She was like, these are these are all the things that I know about 90s dance music all put into one. It's beautiful. Yeah. That that was, and um I feel like I saw her say this in, I think she might have said this on um At the Chromatica Ball or something like that.
01:15:52
Speaker
um But it was like a low quality video where she was saying that she wrote it on piano and she didn't want to produce it out. into a full track, but they convinced her to. And so she never did the full studio version live.
01:16:05
Speaker
She only ever did the piano version. right And she does has and like, you know what? Who am I to tell Lady Gaga what to do? But she does have this instinct in her. This this this unstoppable need to like.
01:16:18
Speaker
be this kind of like not warbling shantous but you know what i mean where to sit and just like pour her heart out at a piano and then she has like millions of like gay guys being like just dance right right right and while that is a part of her i feel like as she has grown older that part of her has called to her less and she wants to be this woman at the piano hence blade of glass grass being her fucking favorite yeah um So so the fact that she was like begrudgingly turned that song into one of my favorites on the album has always made me sad.
01:16:54
Speaker
But, you know, what to especially since it robbed us of hearing that left because there's nothing that pisses me off more than when the artist does my favorite song stripped. and I I will never stop being mad at Madonna for beat for playing. um Was it a Ray of Light with the fucking guitar?
01:17:12
Speaker
Or it was Express Yourself. She did. oh no, it was is Express Yourself. Yeah. It was it on the last tour. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. She did. x Because I was Express Yourself. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like Ray of Light. She did. It was a remix.
01:17:24
Speaker
Yeah, she did the Sasha remix. Yes. yeah Or am I thinking of, or is it burning up? Which is the one that she always does with a get guitar, and it just it pisses me off. She she did do Express Yourself, because I remember it. Don't go for second best, baby. No, not that, not that. No, no, no. When she does like the rock guitar. Oh, no, I'm just saying, like I remember her doing Express Yourself with acoustic guitar.
01:17:44
Speaker
Oh, oh, oh. No, yeah no, It's when she does like the rock guitar, and she's like. I think it's burning up. It's burning up. Yeah, that's the one that I'm like, I don't. I was like, I know. I appreciate that. Well, right. I appreciate you learned four chords.
01:17:56
Speaker
yeah Yeah. I'm proud of you, Z, for knowing your Madonna history. and i went I was like, you know what? I need to go to this tour. hadn't seen her live before. I mean, hot that that hurts.
01:18:08
Speaker
That hurts. Because she's... I mean... Yeah. I mean, Madonna... Her... Careful. This will turn into a Madonna podcast. I know. I don't know what to say. i just like I'm just kind of like, ah like her tours... have you Have you watched any of her like recorded tours?
01:18:26
Speaker
i mean I've seen yeah um Truth or the Error. I mean, that's the right one. That's the right one if you're going to star. But, oh my gosh. You should watch con Confessions. I was going say, Confessions is on YouTube. And Drowned World. If ever have...
01:18:39
Speaker
two
Remix Culture and Artistic Refresh
01:18:40
Speaker
hours free. I've seen part of the MDNA tour, but that's because like of a friend an acquaintance of mine when I lived in New York is like a famous Madonna fan who has like worked his way into like her... Who is it? like Appears on like the DVD in the crowd.
01:19:00
Speaker
ah boy. i don't know if I don't want to call him out on here. I'm sure she's insufferable. Yeah. Which tour was this? It was for me. um It was the MDNA tour.
01:19:11
Speaker
okay Not my favorite tour. He's in the crowd a few times. And he, like, showed me. Yeah.
01:19:17
Speaker
I have to say, my i when I lived with my former roommate, Teddy, shout out to you, Teddy. um Straight man, love him. um he i remember I was watching this in our living room, the MDNA tour, and he like was kind of passing by and like stopped as it as it was starting, because it was like it was right where like Gang Bang was going. Right, right. Which and one of my favorite Madonna songs.
01:19:41
Speaker
It's one of the only ones on MDNA that I like. Mm-hmm. And he stopped and watched the entire concert with me. and he was like, that was amazing. oh Yeah.
01:19:52
Speaker
And I was like, I know. yeah I was like, i stand, ah I stand the queen. yeah So, but it's, yeah it's for the confessions tour. Like it's the performance of like a virgin that does it for me, that specific version, that how Stuart price reproduced that for that is so fucking good.
01:20:10
Speaker
So Z, here's a question. i mean, we could go on and on, but here's a question for you. um So i know that I know that we talk about remixes a lot. You're not the biggest remix person in the world.
01:20:23
Speaker
But how do you feel about artists who kind of reinvent or remix their songs for like live performances? Because like Kylie Minogue does that a lot. Madonna madonna does it. Britney does it. You know who's who's been doing that lately Katy Perry.
01:20:36
Speaker
She has. Katy's actually done it for every tour of hers. Interesting. oh yeah i don't know. and Here's the thing. It's not that I don't I dislike remixes, I think. And I was actually thinking of like, I would say this next time I was on a podcast. Cause I know that this becomes a huge part of anytime you guys are on an episode together.
01:20:54
Speaker
um And like, I, there's a, I think I just approach it a little differently as like a songwriter. Cause I'm like, I put, I'm like, i put so much attention and detail into making this song and y'all just take it and put this. do Right. Right. Right. And I'm like,
01:21:09
Speaker
and and no, no, no, no. no no um But I'm like, and there's some remixes I fucking love and like, I think are better than the original, but I'm kind of like, if you don't make this better than the original, don't do it. It's gotta be in service to the song. Like that's, that's what I feel like makes a good remix.
01:21:24
Speaker
There are some remixes. Oh, sorry, go ahead. I feel like in recent years, once, once technology has become so accessible, there's a lot of positives to that. Right. But like, there's also,
01:21:36
Speaker
We've seen the music industry basically say, sorry, DJs. yeah like like Everyone's a DJ now, so we're just going to commission a fan. Well, i mean, and that literally, I just saw that that's happening with somebody else. There was a DJ, and now um it's it's totally escaping me, but I saw it on Instagram. He has been playing an edit of whatever his Nelly Furtado track has been for a minute, and he just posted, he was like, Universal Music Group reached out to me and was just like, hey, do you want to make this official?
01:22:04
Speaker
right wow so now they're just putting it out which is really cool but at the same time we've lost kind of the art of like the remixing that john michael and i kind of grew up with i think it's just the remix packaging yeah like this is what we were talking about in the last one where it's like you know i feel like you throw out one remix and it's like you give one option that's not really helpful like because there's going to be so many people who are going to want to play a remix of that song in different areas So it's like, at least in the back of the day, there was like a ah package of remixes that went for different audiences.
01:22:34
Speaker
And now it's like you get one, it's two and a half minutes long, and then that's it. Right. Yeah. It's part of the game. as far as like people doing them live, I think if it's not...
01:22:48
Speaker
my preference but but you know i'm i'm sure they do it for a reason i just you know sometimes there will be like a specific thing about a song that i'm obsessed with and then the remix will take that out um and so it it really it depends it's a it's a case-by-case scenario um Well, what I love specifically, so you John Michael brought up Like a Virgin at the Confessions Tour, and what I like specifically about that type of remix, so and which a lot of artists tend to do, is that it keeps the spirit of the original, but freshens it up to make it more cohesive with the current project. Right.
01:23:23
Speaker
And Stuart Price is a master of that. He yeah he can do that. He did it so much with Madonna. right And so that's why I was, so that's why i i my long story of just being like, I think that you might really like Confessions because she, the older songs that she does perform on that tour, get that type of treatment where they are spruced up in a way where they still remain truly original. Also the version of latis La Isla Bonita that she does on that tour.
01:23:49
Speaker
is
Underrated Tracks and Ballad Discussions
01:23:50
Speaker
insane yeah and that the the love super christ and his stuff so i'm sure like he he does a justice um yeah he's yeah he's a wizard but like what steward price is to madonna is what steve anderson is to kylie which is why i think that that works so well for the both of them because you've got both of these producers that are sort of yeah attach to these women and make it all sort of work and i love it yeah there are there are some instances where the remix feels like the main version though at the end of the day right um yeah like like when i found out that um a new day has come is is a like a ballad in three four right i was like nope don't want to hear that Right, right, right. Right. So you're like, give me that radio remix.
01:24:37
Speaker
Right. That's what and I feel the same way about. Sorry for love. We talked about this last time where I was just like, it has to be the version on a new day has come. I was like, because you tried to make it a ballot on the one heart album. Sorry, Celine. yep That song has to be a dance song.
01:24:49
Speaker
Dance. yeah give And it's not even that dancey. It's like mid-tempo at best. It's just a beautiful arrangement. yeah right So now I want to ask a question, which I thought might be fun. ah What would be the one Gaga song you would remove from her catalog?
01:25:03
Speaker
Whoa! okay Shots fired! but but bear but Apparently, Jewels and Drugs is removed from yours. Like I said, could it be Divine Intervention? I have no idea, but my Spotify is not having it.
01:25:15
Speaker
Oh, actually, I have an answer. Brown eyes. o Really? char Interesting. It's grating. She rhymes brown eyes with brown eyes too many times. I just... She sings... yeah It feels kind of like drama, school, ah gaga. It just feels like a she's not this artist anymore and she's done this but better.
01:25:37
Speaker
Right. And i find that I find the guitar on that kind of grating as well. So I don't love it. also But also the fame is just like everything she had. at that point we're just gonna take a bunch of songs that we've written over the past like three two three years and just put them on this record and oops it changed the world like you know so it's right but but i don't yeah but i feel like of the there was that and there was again again which i think was like a bonus track but it was a similar vibe and i think that one's better yeah i i love again and again yeah i'm gonna go with hey girl
01:26:12
Speaker
No! Sorry. No! Sorry. I tie that one and Grigio Girls together. and they're but like I don't like Grigio Girls, but since that's also a bonus track, I don't really count that. Is hey is hey Girl her duet with Florence Weller? I wanted it to be something so different than what it turned out to be.
01:26:30
Speaker
See, that's one of my favorites on Joanne, just because like it feels Benny and the Jets-like. I don't know. I think they sound good together. and like But you know i see where you're coming from. A lot of people weirdly don't like Hey Girl, and I'm like... I don't love it, but like but I also prefer... like I also don't hate Joanne as much as everybody else does. like I think Sinner's Prayer is fantastic. I think Come to Mama is wonderful.
01:26:51
Speaker
And I absolutely love John Wayne. I don't hate Joanne, but it's just like, this is not what I come to Gaga for. Not at all. yeah Not at all. yeah No. Yeah. This is her Kylie Golden album.
01:27:05
Speaker
Okay. Which is a great. It is a great album. Right. Right. And I like it. Which I realized during the pandemic, I kind of wrote it off when it came out. um And then I re-listened to it during the pandemic. and I'm like, wait.
01:27:17
Speaker
I love it. Okay. Stop Me From Falling it with the hening Hente De Zona. Yes. It's so good. It's so good. I used to screw when they would play that video at there's at a ah gay bar here in Grand Rapids called the apartment lounge. Super cute little hole in the wall. If you guys ever come visit, I will show i'll show you there.
01:27:31
Speaker
But they will play music videos on the screens. And whenever they would play that video, I would literally yell. I'd be like, everyone needs to shut the fuck up. Kylie's playing. I was like, we listen to her. Right. And then we can resume after it's done. Right. Yeah.
01:27:47
Speaker
Well, because... No, you go first. No, no, I was going to say, on the Joanne tip, I was just to say, but one of my favorites and one of my probably all-time favorite Gaga ballads randomly is Angel Down.
01:27:58
Speaker
That's very pretty. yeah Yeah. I love it. I love that whole when she really gets into it. The where are leaders? Like that whole bit. So good. So good. so Well, I mean, she's saying that at the Chromatica Ball. At least at my show. I don't think.
01:28:10
Speaker
Yeah. aye You know, I actually do. i think I just got tired of it because she just played this shit everywhere. Million Reasons, I think, is one of her best ballads. It is. Objectively.
01:28:20
Speaker
I don't listen to it often, but like I do think... Because so someone um on Twitter came for me, not came for me, but like I had said the other day when they were playing um Kaleidoscope by Chapel Rhone on Gaga Radio that I was like, not the one skip off of Midwestern Princess.
01:28:38
Speaker
And then someone was like, excuse me, that's one of the best. I'm like, you know, to each their own. And then when I ranked um Blade of Grass low, like lowest, they're like, I'm still getting over you ranking Kaleidoscope as a skip. So do you have some ballad trauma? And I'm like, it's not that I have ballad trauma. I just I for me, ballads need to work a little harder.
01:28:59
Speaker
to get to yeah grip me because they they they can have a tendency because it's just easier for a ballad to be sleepy and so i think when a ballad has like a melody if it's just like long soaring notes i'm like you got to give me more to sink my teeth into so that's why like speechless is so fucking good that's why million is that all right yeah i love is that all right and here's my controversial take i was gonna say delete million reasons yeah
01:29:28
Speaker
I saw you cover your mouth and I'm like, oh, here it comes. I know. because it gay Cause here's me, cause hear me out. It's the it's, it's the song is fine, but it, it, it, that was the song that kind of quote unquote saved the Joanne era, right? That's the song that became a hit.
01:29:45
Speaker
And I feel like it's also kind of the reason why she started gravitating more and more to like the piano ballad of it all, like singer songwriter of it all. Like that she clearly loves late of,
01:29:57
Speaker
grass, Die With Smile, you know, like that that's what and it's what the general public is gravitating to now, right? Like those are the songs that are really starting to like become hits for her. Yeah.
01:30:08
Speaker
And I feel like that's the song that started it all. And I'm like, how dare you? i will I will say though, and I think that this is one of those instances where when I've watched her, like when I saw her on the Joanne World Tour, the live performance of it, I think kills the album version.
01:30:25
Speaker
tenfold and the way that she was better way better yeah like it's like the way she was singing it she gave more room to hold certain notes like and it was just i don't know i just like the hell i really do appreciate the live version of that more than the album version yeah kind of like how i mean i loved the out the before she released born this way i mean she was performing you and i on the fame monster or on the monster ball right yes also yeah i'm actually curious do you so you consider you and i like a ballad Um, it's just, it's so raucous to me, you know? Right. But like, like it's a, pe it's like an organic kind of piano song. It definitely doesn't fit in with the rest of Born This Way. But like, I guess I never really thought of it much as like a ballad.
01:31:06
Speaker
Cause it's like, I guess it's, it's a ballad song. Right. That's what I was It's a ballad in the way that every Mutt Lang song like that is a ballad. Like there's a lot of Shania Twain songs that sound identical to you and I for me.
01:31:18
Speaker
Yeah. Cause like, I, I, I guess it depends on one's definition of ballad because I feel like a lot of people just associate ballad with slow. Right. And that's not always the case. And i think this is a good example of that where it's like, I, I would say it's a ballad, but not in a, and not in like a Celine Dion because you loved me sense. Right. Right.
01:31:39
Speaker
You
Conclusion and Music Preferences
01:31:40
Speaker
know? Right. Um, But yeah, it's definitely more, it has more of the mid-tempo rock country-ish vibes. Yeah, yeah. Because I remember like seeing like a ballad is like, a ballad is a song that tells a story. And I'm like, well, that was not what I think of a ballad.
01:31:54
Speaker
No, I don't know about that. I mean, I've heard a lot of stories. Yeah. sorry is that were That were very fast. and Very fast. And I've heard a lot of ballads that were not stories. is slut pop.
01:32:05
Speaker
Get your dicks out. Yeah. Oh, my God. let's that that's That's a storyteller. That's a storyteller. Throat goat. Oh, and I think another underappreciated one, though, on on the pop tip is Fashion of Your Love.
01:32:17
Speaker
know when i' It's so fucking good. Yeah. I referenced that to you yesterday. That's the best ah bonus track I think she's ever done. Fashion of Your Love.
01:32:27
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. yeah Yeah. And the fact that it like incorporates Earthquake. Right. It's so good. And even that. Favorite demos of hers. Same. That and nothing. If I was going to pick like top favorite, I would say like um nothing on but the radio is probably in my top five of all time. Same. But my world collapsed when I found out she didn't write it.
01:32:48
Speaker
Same. And I had a very hard time and I was like defiant about it. Like, and I refuse because all the girls on my team that are like 20 years younger than me were like, but Addison Rae. And I was like, fuck Addison Rae.
01:33:00
Speaker
And i'm like, it will never be. I was like, this is a Gaga song. but Jesse Chambliss, turn it off right now. And I don't even mean that to say that like, I dislike Addison Rae. She's fine. But yeah. um Yeah, no, I just, that's, that will always be her song for me.
01:33:15
Speaker
Yeah. Same. ah Well, you guys, we covered. This was so fun. This was so fun. But really, I'm just like, I want to wrap up so I can listen more. I know. Yeah. Well, we're going to do that. Everyone go stream Mayhem by Lady Gaga. We are not getting paid for this promo at all. so So you're welcome, Gaga and team. And if you want to invite us to this Mayhem ball that's allegedly happening, we would love to come. The inboxes are open.
01:33:42
Speaker
The inboxes are wide open. They are spread open. Thank you, boys. wow Thanks for joining. Thank you. Love you so much. Thank you so much. Until next time. bye bye