The Needle Drop: Joanne review (6/10)

[PartySick 134,463]

@SomethingMore Merged

[Neight Shayde 7,925]

15 minutes ago, Swan Heart said:

It was a really nice review even though I love the album a lot more then he did. He was respectful at least.

He rised a good point on her jumping from one genre to another and "wearing them as a costume" rather the fully embodying them. I do read this a different way though, I thing it gives the album a very rich and warm feeling while still sticking into the pop sphere. To each their own.

I think Gaga doesn't really want to completely abandon Pop even though doing so might actually make her really shine. Joanne is a good example of that, but i feel like she's still a bit hesitant to fully explore genres she want to make.

[xoxo cupcakke 4,781]

15 minutes ago, monsterdino said:

I find most of pop music being bad, lyric wise and produce wise, but there are some excuses obviously

But that's the thing, why assume that pop music, in general, is bad, when we should treat pop songs individually as part of a pop genre and reviewing its viability in said genre rather than including pop as a collective that is to be pitted against other genres that have no connection to it whatsoever

Like, are we really going to pit songs on Joanne against songs on Back to Black? Those two are completely separate entities and really it is better to review Joanne against something like Thank You or Dangerous Woman

If we were to treat Joanne as not a pop album, which it is and there is no denying but this is the hypothetical, then it probably deserves a 5/10 for its lack of cohesiveness of themes, lyrics, and genres as well as its manufactured nature. If we treat it as a pop album, Joanne deserves a 7/10

11 minutes ago, AlexanderMagno said:

Watch the whole video, he gives it a strong 6. His review is very good, he's very respectful of her work.

If he considered pop music lowbrow, he wouldn't review Born This Way, ARTPOP or Born This Way. He has never considered pop an inferior type of music, ever. He's very open minded.

He didn't "hate" Joanne at all.

And he raised the "pop nature" of the songs only in the light of Gaga's will of embracing a new direction. Anyway, his review is very good and in the end not only he gave a strong 6 but he's obviously very curious to follow her.

In my review of this video, he is treating Joanne as if it's not a pop album with various influences, and instead reviewing the album as its influences influenced by pop music. That is what I'm saying in that he is not treating pop as a separate entity rather than a collective entity. In other words, virtually any song can be a pop song, but not all pop songs can be every song

[djBuffoon 11,642]

1 minute ago, Bette Davis said:

One annoying theme that I've noticed in many Joanne reviews, including this one, is how they assume that she was attempting to completely shift away from pop into something different (indie, country, rock, funk, or something else) when she has stated herself that she is still doing pop but infusing it with other genres. Then they run off with this misguided assumption and butcher her for what they see as basically a "half-assed attempt to be something she isn't."

THIS. He wanted her to go to 100% rock, which was never her intention. Even right from the very first track, it's clear that a pop/rock/folk hybrid is what she's going for. So what exactly is the basis of that specific criticism?

I respect Anthony, at least he goes in-depth with explaining his reasons. I just think, when it comes to Gaga, the critics are the ones missing the mark.

[narcoswing 1,123]

Ok @ him giving every Gaga album a low rating but still wearing that red flannel

[Saint Laurent 4,862]

I have such an issue with the whole 'I wanted it to go full rock' 'she's wrong and it's not as good because she hasn't fully embraced the genre' So ****ing what? Her music can be genre-less and we can all call it a day without once again caging her creativity.

[Katie14 4,828]

18 minutes ago, FlyingF said:

You don't have to 'commit' to a genre, in fact NOT committing to one is MORE artistically true because she's doing what she wants without the need for a basic label.

Exactly. She said herself she never intended the music to fit into a specific genre. She just made music. I really wish people wouldn't see music as needing to fit a category and then drag an album for not committing enough to one. It doesn't make sense to me. 

[Bio 23,538]

I like the album way more than he did but I agree with some of the points he made. It's still a pop album in a sense that it doesn't go to it's full potential. And I think a lot of the reviewers found Joanne to be lukewarm because of that. It's different when you have a dance album, no expectations are made besides "can we dance to it?".

When you promise a shift in style with analog instruments and powerful lyrics people expect you to deliver just that. And don't get me wrong, Joanne has the best instrumentals and lyrics Gaga has ever created but it's still rudimental compared to what it could be.

I hope she keeps exploring that in her career because I think she's got enormous potential to blow everyone away in a few years.

 

[Cuntyanne 100]

I only agree with his comment about the production. Not as a whole but in a small number of tracks.  If the vocals were tweaked down just a tad, the harmonies would blend a little more with the overall sound.  I've listened to Joanne on different sound systems and I like the way it sounds on a Bose home stereo and through a set of Sennheiser headphones. 

[Poope MOnster 1,446]

Ok i m pretty agree with him in many point (except for angel down)

he seem like great reviewer and that a lot of praised too

highligh of joanne is ballads and midtempo song

it can be her 21 if she take advantage this direction

so i m not mad i think it should be solid 7/10 from the ways he talk about joanne

personally i think 8/10

(9/10 BTW)

(8.5/10 TFM)

(7/10 ARTPOP)

(7/10 The Fame)

[Leaf 2,428]

"Strong 6"

[Debaser 50]

4 minutes ago, Leaf said:

"Strong 6"

Shia is so damn hot I can't

[Neight Shayde 7,925]

34 minutes ago, Bio said:

I hope she keeps exploring that in her career because I think she's got enormous potential to blow everyone away in a few years.

 

Right!?!? I feel like she can flourish when she completely abandons pop

[SummerGirl21 780]

1 hour ago, CowSiss said:

I know, but why does he seem to think that pop music is so lowbrow, which it will never be. That's what has me reeling because he finds pop music so low tier compared to others; pop music can be just as good as any alternative, non-mainstream artist or group. There is a craft to any and all genres of music, so why hate on Joanne because of its pop nature is my question? 

I see his points, but Joanne really is an album worth a 7/10, not continual 6/10s we have been seeing

I see what you did there 

[StarstruckIllusion 41,998]

this album. he says, is clearly striped back, but yet he's complaining that DIC doesn't have some more complex symbolism? I've stopped watching not even halfway thru.