Gaga over nothing

Music criticism isn't my bag. Still, Lady Gaga has always struck me as a talented poseur, an original without originality, if you will. Though I like her musical shtick, she's no Madonna. Nor is she David Bowie, Blondie, Courtney Love, Janet Jackson or the other pop rockers she kaleidoscopically imitates. So why the fawning frenzy over Ms. Stefani Germanotta? Slate's Nathan Heller isn't fooled: "In an adult world, there is nothing especially radical about saying bad words and reading moody poetry. Underneath her histrionic patina, in fact, Gaga's mettle shimmers sparkly clean. When she talks about her goals of increasing autonomous pride, community acceptance, and respect for personal industry—all praiseworthy objectives, needless to say—she is setting her compass by lodestars that are conservative in all but the political sense ... When she uses mass-market sounds (like Euro disco), throwback sounds (like the long-lost sax solo), and old cultural symbols (like glam-rock raiment), she is following a preservationist's creative path. Gaga's credentials as a carrier of the '70s and '80s torch are impeccable. But this is 2011. What is she doing, really, besides reaching back in time to claim a safer, more old-fashioned template for pop-star success? ... The most impressive feat for someone of her ambition would be the one thing she hasn't yet done as a musician: take a creative risk."