I Feel Like Joanne Could Have Been Better Than What it Was

[DoremonLove 8,147]

So now we will tell gaga how to make album nice

[adamsenigma 9,520]

12 hours ago, ELEMENTALITY said:

So Jo sat and had a convo with Stef about how his dead sis used to finger herself?

 

 

 

....seems plausible 

Still, this album isn't 100% about Joanne, and let's not act like Joanne never got horny. 

[Ziggy 11,854]

I think, as others have said, it isn't about Joanne, nor did she say it was. It is called "Joanne" after her aunt, but the idea is that Joanne was the spiritual vehicle she used to heal. She's said it before, Joanne is her family, it's her family's story. Joanne specifically. This album was about finding peace with herself after breaking things off with Taylor, trying to find some direction creatively and professionally, friends abandoning her, etc. She needed to find her core again. So she went back and tried to make amends with this family tragedy to do that. That became the song Joanne. After that, the floodgates opened for her personal healing. DH is about rectifying her past, A-YO is having fun without care, JW is about the kind of men she loves (retread territory tbh), DIC is about finding strength in her loneliness, PI is seeing things clearly, MR is the pain of her Taylor relationship, SP is coming to terms with her own imperfection and accepting that they make her great and that she was not alone in ruining the relationship, CTM is how she feels about the world today, HG is lady love which I think this album really pushed her to feel strongly about, AD is a bleaker look at CTM in that it's about the world today.

Really, the album has no direct concept, as she's said. It's just a collection of songs about things she felt the need to address in order to properly heal and feel okay again. Joanne, her aunt, was really just her way of accessing those feelings and starting the process which is why she talks about her so much.

[djBuffoon 12,120]

12 hours ago, ChrisC said:

The concept wasn't about her dead aunt though. It was her trying to find herself after all these years of fame and drama and to do that she went back to her family roots which included having to acknowledge her aunt's death. When you think of it as gaga finding herself, DIC, MR, PI, DH, Joanne, JAD, Hey Girl, GG, JW, and SP all fit the bill. She explains this concept of the album in all those interviews that she kept saying that "i'm my dad's daughter, sister's sister, Italian-American etc etc"

This....... This. 

[mamo 19,092]

I think Joanne was a solid album. I just think the single choices were completley bizarre.

I love Perfect Illusion don't get me wrong, but in no way did it shout 'Lead Single' material. If gaga and her team wanted to start the era off with a bang it should have 100% been 'Diamond Heart' or if she wanted a commercially successful radio-friendly hit then 'Dancin' In Circles'. Million Reasons and Joanne were both the correct second and third final single. 

If we're talking about what this album and era lacked, I'd have to say it was the execution - BUT I'm still grateful for what this era gave us. Gaga works her ASS off like no other and stars like her only come once so every often. Here's to the next era!

 

[Drin Lon 7,875]

Her 2nd name is Joanne, so it's not just about her dead aunt, but about Gaga as well, kind of like a Self Titled album.

She didn't know it was gonna be called Joanne immediately, they decided that after having most of the songs done.

Joanne is not as good as BTW, but it's a much more organic, walls down, album. 

I honestly appreciate your post cause I agree with a few points, cause even I don't think Joanne is all that, but she said since the beginning that this record doesn't have a theme, and it's a collection of songs about her life, so yeah...

[Ziggy 11,854]

1 hour ago, mamo said:

I think Joanne was a solid album. I just think the single choices were completley bizarre.

I love Perfect Illusion don't get me wrong, but in no way did it shout 'Lead Single' material. If gaga and her team wanted to start the era off with a bang it should have 100% been 'Diamond Heart' or if she wanted a commercially successful radio-friendly hit then 'Dancin' In Circles'. Million Reasons and Joanne were both the correct second and third final single. 

If we're talking about what this album and era lacked, I'd have to say it was the execution - BUT I'm still grateful for what this era gave us. Gaga works her ASS off like no other and stars like her only come once so every often. Here's to the next era!

 

I think her team wasn’t really sure how to manage this era. It’s uncharted territory for Gaga. She’s coming off of a commercial low period, but she’s had some stellar press since then, but then this sound is totally antithetical to what’s on radio and Gaga’s sound. I feel like they weren’t massively invested in PI as the lead as we can see from that just stellar promo for it, but they were unsure of how exactly to market this newly rebranded Gaga who is the complete opposite of everything that made her famous.

[mamo 19,092]

5 minutes ago, Ziggy said:

I think her team wasn’t really sure how to manage this era. It’s uncharted territory for Gaga. She’s coming off of a commercial low period, but she’s had some stellar press since then, but then this sound is totally antithetical to what’s on radio and Gaga’s sound. I feel like they weren’t massively invested in PI as the lead as we can see from that just stellar promo for it, but they were unsure of how exactly to market this newly rebranded Gaga who is the complete opposite of everything that made her famous.

I totally agree - this album was a new direction for gaga but choosing PI as the first single didn't really summon that mature sound/image that this era intended to be. 

[Dominic 11,922]

I agree and disagree. Joanne is her weakest album for me personally. Largely because I can't relate to it due to geographical location (The US centric songs), the family business (It doesn't apply to my own) and lastly because the music just didn't offer something unique like I felt her previous did. 

I enjoy some songs but overall as a complete package the Joanne concept seemed a little too much for me to buy into. It's funny how I was able to relate to an album about the dark side of fame yet her most personal one is so distant. I agree that her previous albums seemed a bit more personal. 

Is what it is though, can't please everyone. Thanks for bringing a mature discussion

[Jed 7,716]

22 hours ago, Sebs said:

no t no shade but i always wonder why people spend time writing very long posts about stuff they didnt like

especially so long after?

"why Aura would've been the perfect single" "My theory as to why Gaga scrapped the Redone songs"

like, get ooooover it

[metalguru 1,553]

I wish Joanne has more layered songs, orchestrated and epic, yet serene and stripped down.. Something like Older or Listen without Pre. from George Michael. And I would prefer a sleek, polished, jazzy dance song as a lead singer, like Bowie Young Americans or Roxy Music More Than This type of soul/sophisti-pop... More universal, yet personal. 

Yes, keep the country-inspired songs to chill out the tone. 

And maybe one more duet like Hey Girl. With Adele, a dream feature. 

This one is just a personal fantasy: I see BTW and ARTPOP as high-end, complex pieces of music. From the sexual darkness of BTW to decadence texture of ARTPOP, she had great ideas and concepts. All of her mistakes were mistakes of pop industry (long track-lists etc. etc.) So, when I first heard about Joanne, I got so excited to hear Gaga in her most artistic form. I imagined her topping the world again with an extremely clever song, like her "Running Up that Hill" with a mix of ARTPOP (not the album, the music style) and prog-pop. 

First, my absolutely favorite tracks of Joanne: Diamond Heart, Grigio Girls, Perfect Illusion (not like it as a lead though), Joanne title track album vers. ( I find the piano version over-sang), and Hey Girl.

My less favorites: Million Reasons, John Wayne and Come to Mama. They are not bad, I just found them uninteresting.

The song I deleted: Like Jewels N' Drugs from ARTPOP, I deleted Just Another Day from my playlist. I can't even comment about it.

I love Joanne. I love what it did to her career. But the album is a solid 7/10 for me and her weakest album to the date. As I mentioned above, I surprised and disappointed with its musical direction when I first heard the album. I found it confused and flat. Now, I understand the reasons behind her choices and am softer on the album but I still can't find it sonically interesting. Several reasons:

I am not a big fan of the main family narrative because of my own beliefs. I didn't like to see her within the context of tradition. It is great that she is sharing her story to heal but I think she has to declare her independency again soon. I think the narrative is over mentioned and I want her to explore the other sides of grief. 

I couldn't find strong melodies in Joanne. I don't get the production. I mean, did it rushed? Where are the curiosity of Gaga? Do we need a Come to Mama type of production? I find the production very flat.

But my biggest problem is her voice. Everybody praises her voice. Now, it is time to chill it down. I think she is a great student of Elton John when she is on her lovely piano but turn on any early Elton John album and hear him whispering gently. For example, her performance below is one of my favorite Gaga vocal performances: Theatrical, dramatic, sometimes emotional, sometimes monotonous but mysterious. When she screams in Joanne, it destroys my emotional resonance. 

She over-sings A LOT. I would love the idea of Angel Down a lot on the paper but in practice, she does her heavy metal/glam voice again, and it turns me off. Speaking of vocals, I think she needs to explore more on what she did pre-chorus Joanne, the title track, album version: She is husky, sweet, vulnerable but still theatrical. She reminds me of Joanna Newson or Joni Mitchell and it is such an exciting thing to say! 

Also, who knows this song?

Yes! I want Gaga to explore storytelling and her soft voice. 

One last thing about Joanne. Don't kill me but I mean, she is not getting old or something! So I don't understand the rush of adulthood of Gaga in this era. Her clothes, her make up, her vocals... Maybe it was a performance but I'm glad it is over now. I want her to be feel youthful again.

For LG6, I am not expecting what I was originally expecting for LG5. I hope she goes full-force pop in most exciting and youthful way. Pop needs her and she needs pop. Little bit of nihilism, little bit of care-freeness, and curiosity of pop...

 

[Oriane 21,091]

Naming. The. Album. Joanne. Does. Not. Mean. The. Whole. Album. Is. Going. To. Be. About. Joanne.

It's just a symbol, to show that she's going for something authentic, related to her personal life, not as a celebrity, but as her father's daughter, sister's sister, friend's friend, lover's lover... Instead of mocking everything she says, some of you should maybe try to understand what she means.

A lot of songs are about her dad, or at least inspired, or a gift to him, as the journalist from FF2 said. He is certainly the most important person in her life, she looks up to him a lot and she wants recognition from him. Diamond Heart is clearly addressed to him, Joanne is written from his perspective, John Wayne and Million Reasons are about wild men like him (she's attracted to wild men because her dad was wild because he was broken by Joanne's death etc, if you listened you know about that), Sinner's Prayer is about him.

In her personal life, she was going through a lot at this time too. So there's a lot of sadness.
- Her love life (again John Wayne, Million Reasons, also Perfect Illusion...)
- Death : (Joanne, Grigio Girls, Angel Down...)
- Loneliness : When you look closer at Dancin' in Circles, there's a sad tone and she's in a lot of pain.
- The world evolving is impacting her on a personal level of course : (Come to Mama, Angel Down...)

But she's talked a lot about healing. So she's got some solutions :
- Have fun (A-YO, Dancin' in Circles)
- Spreading love (Come to Mama, Angel Down)
- Friendship (Grigio Girls, Hey Girl)
- Just living her life peacefully and try to relax (Just Another Day)

Also, Joanne is not a concept album, she said it. It doesn't have to revolve around ONE theme. Most albums are like this, and it doesn't make them bad. Concept albums are just a specific kind of albums.