You might have seen these threads on other forums.. So let's discuss our Gaga related chart suprises! Which single / album performed better or worse than you expected? Feel free to be 100% subjective!

 

Shallow climbing to #1 in the UK after the ASIB movie premiere is the obvious one. I had faith in the song but not in a million years thought it could go #1, top ten at best. It going #1 in the US too later wasn't that much of a surprise, more like a reward.

 

Perfect Illusion being a lead single and missing top ten was a negative surprise although the song seemed very polarizing from the start.

 

Her albums have always performed well, so no surprises there. Maybe Joanne peaking only #3 in the UK was a slight disappointment.

Although not a chart surprise the big collapse of sales from born this way to ArtPop was very surprising in a sad way.

 

Judas going to number 8 I was expecting another top 5 from it.

You and I missing the top 20.

Perfect illusion missing top 10.

 

Shallow going to #1 was the biggest surprise though, after not achieving a top 10 at all in the previous era I thought she was over on the singles chart. She has a lot to thank that song for.

Although not a chart surprise the big collapse of sales from born this way to ArtPop was very surprising in a sad way.

 

Oh yes, have to agree, the decline from The Fame (10 x P) to Born This Way (3 x P) and to ARTPOP (gold) was very steep. ARTPOP is kind of purest example of "a fanbase album".

 

Obvously streaming replacing pure sales means that Chromatica hasn't "sold" as many units as ARTPOP, but I would say it has been more popular.

Edited October 29, 20222 yr by Sour Candy

My big initial thought is Shallow going to #1! When I first heard it I did not think it would be a global #1 and go on to be one of the most streamed songs of all time.

DWUW seemingly being a hit was always so odd for me, especially cause Gagz seemed hell bent on Venus being the single.

 

I also always assumed Starstruck was gonna be a single.

 

 

We forget how well DWUW did with everything that has happened since. It's shocking how *little* Venus did despite her shoving it down our throats with her promotion. We can see why too, it should never have had the promo over some of the other songs on the album!

Let's be real, the promo for ARTPOP was all over the place and not in a good way. She had some fantastic performances though, especially the Muppets Xmas special and the title track was it at Fallon...

I compare it to the promo and performances we had for the BTW Ball era and it makes me so sad. BTW was the perfect era for promo and performances but it's all been downhill since then (with a slight incline for Joanne and then ASIB).

The promo "environment" is very different now though - has there been any albums that have received a significant boost from random tv performances this year? It's all about big festivals, tours and events like Super Bowl and Grammys/Brits. Gaga has been very visible at all the biggest events in the US (Grammys, Oscars, VMAs to some extent)

True. I guess I just miss the classic TV slot performances and interviews.

 

Aside: another chart shock of sorts was Million Reasons? Her first full on ballad released as a single and it's one of her most streamed and did particularly well in the US. Off the back of ARTPOP and Perfect Illusion, I did not see this song turning the fortunes round for her!

In the US, definitely! The Super Bowl did wonders for her but never though it would help the song that much!

Why didn't LoveGame go higher than #19 btw - I wasn't a huge Little Monster back then and cannot recall. Was it to do with Paparazzi being popular still?

Why didn't LoveGame go higher than #19 btw - I wasn't a huge Little Monster back then and cannot recall. Was it to do with Paparazzi being popular still?

 

It was the 4th single from the album, back then when the album has sold a lot a 4th single in the campaign generally doesn't chart as highly.

As a "part-time" fan, I think I was surprised at how her album sales fell off.

 

Born This Way wasn't accepted in the same way as The Fame - and I was expecting the lead single to be an easy No.1.

 

Artpop seemed to really struggle and critics seemed to not like Applause.

 

Perfect Illusion not making the Top 10 was quite a surprise.

 

I was so pleased that A Star Is Born was a success and Gaga seemed to be making her way back to the top, as I didn't feel someone so talented and creative who pushed the boundaries deserved for her career to continue to fade.

Edited November 1, 20222 yr by CJK

Born This Way not going to #1 on paper is one of her most shocking for sure. The Friday release when songs were all released on Sundays really impacted it hugely. The fact it charted top 5 after only 2 days was impressive enough and if we counted its sales for a full week (Friday to Friday) it would've been #1 but obviously the Brits happened in the middle of the next week and so it fell short two weeks in a row. Still, its sales are strong but its peak is definitely a shock especially being the lead single following on from The Fame Monster and the HUGE insane hype it had.

Do we count Hold My Hand not making it in the top 20 a bit of a chart surprise? Her previous soundtrack songs obviously smashed everything out of the water and Chromatica was successful so with such a humongous film, I think looking back it was surprising it didn't chart higher. Obviously there was the lack of streaming support because it did v well on downloads so it's not all surprising, but yeah, thoughts?

It's a bit of borderline case. It did fairly well despite never going higher than #24, but it got a bit of a slow start and was snubbed by Radio 1...

I was expecting 'Hold My Hand' to smash big style... but then when I heard it I understand why it didn't (I know that's subjective and all but alas)

Edited November 2, 20222 yr by Jessie Where

I was a little hesistant but I actually thought the safeness of the song + the movie would've made it have a bigger peak than it did. It did decently in terms of hanging around / sales but the peak doesn't give that justice! Also being told it was a prominent part of the film and likely to have a huge impact on viewers..