Was working with Mark Ronson a mistake?

[LOVE JUNKIE 3,299]

As soon as I heard he was co-executive producing Joanne with Gaga I was wary. He had produced some stuff I liked here and there but for the most part his work seemed unoriginal and derivative. I ended up liking a handful of songs from Joanne (John Wayne, Diamond Heart, Joanne, Angel Down, A-YO) but overall it's my least favorite Gaga album. I can't help but wonder how much better it could have been if Ronson didn't have as much control. BloodPop also worked on every song on the album but I enjoyed what he brought to the table (weird sounds, slick production flare, hypnotic synths) which leads me to believe that Mark was the weak link in the equation.

What do y'all think? Was trusting him with Joanne a mistake or do you love Daddy Ronson?

Spoiler

And for the record I don't have an issue with the genre(s)/musical styles of the album. I just think they could've done Pop-infused, Country-tinged Americana Rock in a more interesting and cohesive way and I think Mark got in the way of that. And I do think the record is well-made and I'm glad so many people really love it. I think Gaga enjoyed working with Mark and loved making this album. I'm just not a huge fan of the overall end result.

 

[jayzer 2,507]

No.

edit:can yall stop hating Joanne i mean its gaga's most personal and her best vocally album,and its her my fav of hers

[mister max 18,480]

Mark Ronson is an AMAZING producer and Joanne proves that. I really like it and I do feel like Mark brought something interesting to the table

[DoremonLove 7,835]

Not at all joanne slays

[GagaExGaga 641]

NOOOOOOOO .. Joanne is amazing ... its just lack of promotion as usual

[Sirius094 2,248]

I played the album just 1-2 times... So, yes  

[Chris Evans 8,903]

no. delete.

[LOVE JUNKIE 3,299]

2 minutes ago, gagaxgaga said:

NOOOOOOOO .. Joanne is amazing ... its just lack of promotion as usual

even if Joanne was her most promoted and successful album it'd still be my least favorite personally. It just didn't do it for me the same way her albums always had and for me the production was the main issue.

[GagaExGaga 641]

yeah .. i'm not into Joanne as much as the other albums .. I love Gaga in Born This Way or The Fame Monster more i need those excitement and anthem in my life .. i need those powerful pop and rock songs again

[Monsterish 5,520]

No, but it could've been better 

[A Hybrid 10,959]

No. If anything it highly improved Gaga’s recording quality. As much as I loved Born This Way, it had terrible mixing. It didn’t sound professional at all. For example Americano and Marry The Night.

[Bradley 55,156]

Like Gaga herself said, "I never do the same thing twice. Did anyone get the memo? Born This Way was like nothing on the radio. Applause was like nothing on the radio. Perfect Illusion is like nothing on the radio. They're in for a ride."

Joanne was intentionally crafted to be different from The Fame Monster, and in my opinion this makes her so much more fun to stan for. You never know what you're getting next. And what's best about her is that she would make the music accessible by giving her music a commercial touch, hence enlisting Bloodpop to work on Joanne. Like you could still hear a strong influence of pop in Joanne.

I think if she solely worked with Bloodpop on Joanne, it would have been a generic piece of work, sort of like Justin Bieber's Purpose. I thank Mark for spicing it up so that it didn't sound like what the rest of the industry has been offering - generic, radio-friendly, trend-hopping music.

[LOVE JUNKIE 3,299]

3 minutes ago, A Hybrid said:

No. If anything it highly improved Gaga’s recording quality. As much as I loved Born This Way, it had terrible mixing. It didn’t sound professional at all. For example Americano and Marry The Night.

I don't disagree with that but I also don't think Mark was integral to Joanne being of higher quality. I think he brought some good things to the table but overall I just wasn't impressed with what he brought creatively.

[Battle 4 Ur Life 5,833]

tragic.gif (cause I’m on mobile)

the guitar in A-Yo, the trumpets, Perfect Illusion in its entirety (!), Joanne, Sinner’s Prayer, Million Reasons, Come To Mama, Hey Girl, the richness of instruments and the crispness, soulfulness, high fidelity and authentic quality of the minimally edited vocals of Gaga in this album is all due to one man and his name is Mark Ronson.

in the name of sanity and good taste please do repent. (I’m joking cause you’re entitled to your opinion but yeah he made Joanne the iconic Grammy-Nominated [ouch!] underrated masterpiece that it is)

[arrtpop 2,751]

Joanne is my favorite album from ANY artist

Mark, Bloodpop, Florence, Hillary Lindsey, etc. were a HUGE part of the reason why its my favorite