Whatcha Say: Lady Gaga, One Direction And The Year 1994 Got Our Readers Talking

Bradley Stern | November 21, 2014 5:30 pm

Happy Friday, Idolator readers! Did you have a good week? Same. As always, a whole bunch of pop happenings went down in the past few days — including the release of One Direction‘s highly anticipated fourth studio album, FOUR! (And yes, it’s already on track to having the second highest-selling opening week sales of 2014…just below Taylor Swift, of course.)

Plus, Sia announced her new “Iko Iko” cover for her husband’s Kickstarter project, Pentatonix gave us their “Mary, Did You Know?” visual and we celebrated the 5th anniversary of Lady Gaga‘s Fame Monster EP. (Time flies when you’re cheek to cheek!) And, in case you haven’t seen it yet, we took a time machine back to the grand year in music that was 1994 and counted down the Top 50 best songs, with interviews from acts like Ace Of Base, Haddaway and Lisa Loeb. Check it out!

As always, you guys had plenty to say. Check out some of the week’s best and worst comments after the jump.

:: When Madonna questioned society’s perception of Kim K‘s butt, Sean M. agreed on Madonna Calls Out Society’s Perception Of Kim Kardashian’s Exposed Ass On Instagram: See The Topless Pic: “This is a topic of conversation that’s needed to happen in this country since the Janet Jackson Super Bowl incident. Especially as butt cheeks are becoming more ‘mainstream.'”

:: Whodid? seconded the sentiment, adding: “She has a valid point, why are nipples bad and big, fat, fake, oily buttcheeks ok?”

:: Jay was feeling nostalgic after reading our list on The 50 Best Pop Singles Of 1994 (Featuring New Interviews With Ace Of Base, TLC, Lisa Loeb, Real McCoy & Haddaway): “This list makes me wish I was 8 years old again. 1994 and 1995 were great years for everything. Music, movies, tv shows. I had an older sister and older cousins so I was exposed to many of the songs here. I loved Ace of Base, Aaliyah, Madonna, Janet Jackson to the one-hit wonders like Ini Kamoze. We would watch MTV and VH1 at my grandma’s house for most of the afternoon, going through music video after music video. Good times.”

:: When wesmanlv heard about the new Giorgio Moroder album, he had a plan on Britney Spears, Sia, Kylie Minogue & More Featured On Giorgio Moroder’s Upcoming Album: “How about a Donna Summer track from the vault? I am sure Giorgio must have something in there!”

:: Bello felt Kylie was missing the plot on Kylie Minogue Debuts ‘Sleepwalker’ Mini-Film: Watch: “I don’t appreciate tons of low quality music coming from Kylie recently. Something is not right there. Is she lost again? ‘Madonna, can you hear me?'”

:: Eslam was reminded of Gaga’s greatness on Lady Gaga’s ‘The Fame Monster’ Turns 5: Stan & Deliver: “She really was/is the best thing that ever happened to pop music because of The Fame Monster…pop went from boring to EXCITING, and the good thing about Gaga that she is not like other popstars she actually has “Talent” and she proved it on her Jazz record Cheek to Cheek.”

:: While Nicole M, had a plan for her career post-jazz…involving Elton John: “She’ll never be able to capture the magic of The Fame Monster, it just not something that can be repeated. I’m hoping she’ll embrace her inner Glam Rock Queen on her next album though. It’s the only logical direction after jazz to go full on Bennie and The Jets.”

:: Brandon H. wasn’t feeling the love for Clean Bandit‘s cover on Clean Bandit’s “Show Me Love”: Listen To Their Cover Of The Robin S House Classic: “They turned a timeless pop banger into something remarkably boring! It lost all of its funk and personality.”

:: Jay felt good about the new 1D album on One Direction’s ‘Four’: Album Review: “Definitely a lot better than Midnight Memories. Sure, the album is a bit melancholy but surely they couldn’t keep doing songs in the vein of ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ or ‘Best Song Ever.’ They had to grow up a bit sometime.”

:: While Nicole had a more nuanced take: “The production and vocals (from everyone other than Nail who’s voice I personally just don’t like) are quite flawless. The real problem is the content. Growing up does not mean sappy romantic ballads, it means crafting songs with depth and content that’s behind the surface level. FOUR really plays it safe on every last song. There’s nothing here we haven’t’ heard from them before and it’s not particularly exciting to listen to. Sure songs like ‘Night Changes’ and ‘Ready To Run’ are crafted well, but there’s just nothing that pops. You could mix these songs in with their last two albums and get the same sound and result.”

:: And finally, when Jonathan A. heard about the new SNL musical guest line-up, he started setting his DVR on Nicki Minaj, Charli XCX & One Direction Added To ‘Saturday Night Live’ December Lineup: “December sounds like a good month to actually start watching SNL again.”