Tony Bennett And Lady Gaga Sing 'Cheek To Cheek'

Lady Gaga is known for wearing many artistic hats -- and many outfits to match -- and for her unpredictable, anything goes creative spirit. But even for those who closely follow her work, Gaga’s latest musical venture may come as something of a surprise. The new album, Cheek To Cheek pairs her with the iconic crooner, Tony Bennett, as they sing duets of 11 standards from the American Songbook.

But some believe the record, and Lady Gaga's latest left-turn is nothing more than a stunt. Writer Nick Messitte addresses that very issue in his Forbes article, “Is The Lady Gaga/Tony Bennett Album Anything More Than A Stunt?” In a conversation with Soundcheck host John Schaefer, Messitte delves into his piece, and weighs in on Cheek To Cheek's music and production.

Interview Highlights

Nick Messitte, on whether Cheek To Cheek is anything more than a stunt:

Certainly it has a stunt-like mentality in its genesis. Here’s Tony Bennett, the guy who lately duets with everybody and here’s Lady Gaga, who was criticized even by me on ARTPOP. I loved ARTPOP, but I said there could have been more left-turns. So here’s Lady Gaga being like you want your left-turn, here’s your left-turn, so in that way it is a stunt. It tries to be more than a stunt, but ultimately I believe that a combination of the selections chosen, the performances of the singers… and the production in particular bring it down to stunt-hood.

On the notion of intergenerational creepiness:

I’ve gotten so much Twitter flack about people saying that I’m inappropriate in my article. What I did say that probably was the lowest blow of anything I said was that much of this album feels like watching an old, ugly rich man pick up a beautiful, money obsessed 18-year-old at a house party. I’m not making a statement about Lady Gaga here or a statement about Tony Bennett. What I’m saying is that their voices on two love duets… these little duets we heard back in the day, that were cute, playful things all of a sudden it just has this sinister vibe if you recognize it.

On the production of the record Cheek to Cheek:

There is a way that Lady Gaga’s vocal sits on top of Tony Bennett’s and almost trounces it a lot of the time. To be fair he loves to give that warts and all performance, like he’s not gonna pretty himself up… no auto-tune here and maybe that’s what they were going for—for a raw thing—so you don’t know about that, but it doesn’t work for my ears.