RE: Madonna vs Lady Ga Ga
In the 80's Madonna was certainly a Super Star that exploded on the music scene like Lady Ga Ga is now. Pretty much for the same reason, she was Sexy, had great Dance Numbers, and high Production Values. Most of all, she was a Liberated Woman which was an issue that still was very controversial. In many ways, without Madonna there would be no Lady Ga Ga, as Madonna was a Pioneer that paved the way for a Lady Ga Ga to come after.
That said, side by side Lady Ga Ga is certainly far more Talented in every way you can measure it. Lady Ga Ga Sings better, Dances better, and has much better Produced Videos. It's very hard to deny this. It will be interesting to see if Lady Ga Ga has the same staying power or if she burns out as fast as she's risen to the top.
I haven't listened to a full Album of Lady Ga Ga, so I'm not sure how consistent she is. I only ever bought 1 Album of Madonna's music and it was a big disappointment. I don't recall which one it was, but I bought it because the 3 Songs from it to be released on Video were great Songs. After buying the Album I soon discovered that the other 7(ish) Songs were utter crap and actually embarrassing to listen to they were so bad. Even if you watch Madonna videos where she is involved in Dance numbers you can see that she really was in over her head. Lady Ga Ga is the total opposite from what I have seen. It's like she was raised by a Pack of Performance Artists who dedicated their lives to making the Uber Artist.