One criticism that all 3 songs share

[AnglerfishbraBENUS 4,818]

The songs build over a period of time so the listener doesn’t get bored. 
 

the critique about the choruses is badly researched. Listen to Tiny Dancer by Elton! What’s the most memorable part of the song? Arguably it’s the ‘hold me closer tiny dancer’ line. That happens for the first time at the 2:30 mark. 
 

This structure still works I promise. Shallow would not hit as hard if the chorus came after Bradley’s part 

 

also in the lyrics in the cd single, it’s not ‘higher higher’ it’s ‘hey yeah hey yeah’ like the other vocals in the pre chorus 

[Reginald 13,661]

59 minutes ago, Thwack said:

I think the structure of music is just changing because of streaming. Songs are getting shorter to encourage replays.. 

 

It's this, 100% -Replays, and also, shorter songs leave time for more ads between tracks.

Each major format change (vinyl, 8 track, cassettes, cds, mp3s, streaming) has inspired some kind of shift, or adaptation, in how popular music is written or recorded

We already know how short the album, and songs are. It's the general direction mainstream pop is headed in, for better or for worse 

 

[Spyro 8,429]

The one time a user gives constructive feedback and y'all don't do the same.. smh..

[Miel 15,009]

I like the song a lot!

But I do agree that it feels a lot tighter than other Gaga songs, because it simply is. @Alan123 makes a great point in that we are acclimated to Gaga's signature songwriting (across multiple albums and through different genres of pop) as being very bombastic, and bursting at the seams. Dramatic intros, multiple hooks, very full verses, equally full choruses, and occasionally a huge outro.

ROM, even moreso than Stupid Love, is almost a "bare bones" pop song. Short verse for Gaga, pre-chorus Gaga, chorus i, chorus ii (dance-break), same for Ariana, bridge, final chorus, chorus outro. It has all the working of Gaga's "bigger" songs, but without the textual bombast.

However, what I do appreciate the most about the song, is that it still manages to retain a highly dramatic effect purely from the lyrical and vocal performance of Gaga and Ariana.

I don't know if this was the intention, but it's almost like the song was designed to have their performances at the forefront (as opposed to, say, a lot of the BTW album, where the highly complex and loud instrumental production is at equal energy with Gaga's vocals). Not a bad thing by any means, just different for me.

[Miel 15,009]

3 minutes ago, Spyro said:

The one time a user gives constructive feedback and y'all don't do the same.. smh..

I love GGD, but this isn't the greatest place to ask for constructive conversation. I've tried several times, I-

[Spyro 8,429]

With the rest of the album going to have similar length songs, you'll just have to learn to love it.  I was never a fan of "no chorus" songs, but it's becoming too common for my liking.  I DON'T like it and hope we can go back to having real chorus', but right now we'll just have to ride it out.  It's not Gaga's fault, but more like what's selling now.  Though I agree with you.... I only like the pre-chorus of SL.. other that... meh..

[Spyro 8,429]

2 minutes ago, Miel said:

I love GGD, but this isn't the greatest place to ask for constructive conversation. I've tried several times, I-

I'mma take a bow so they can kiss my ass

[Miel 15,009]

2 minutes ago, Spyro said:

I'mma take a bow so they can kiss my ass

and deservedly so lmao

3 minutes ago, Spyro said:

With the rest of the album going to have similar length songs, you'll just have to learn to love it.  I was never a fan of "no chorus" songs, but it's becoming too common for my liking.  I DON'T like it and hope we can go back to having real chorus', but right now we'll just have to ride it out.  It's not Gaga's fault, but more like what's selling now.  Though I agree with you.... I only like the pre-chorus of SL.. other that... meh..

If there's one particular consolation with these singles so far, is that the pre-choruses are so dense and heavily written, that it doesn't feel so empty that the chorus is essentially a dance break. Stupid Love, in particular, is one that I view as having two very heavy pre-choruses ("freak out"/"all I ever wanted was love"), which helps fill the space. I'd say the same case with ROM a bit, too, although it's definitely a very tight and concise song.

[Mr S 7,601]

10 minutes ago, Miel said:

I love GGD, but this isn't the greatest place to ask for constructive conversation. I've tried several times, I-

I feel like there are plenty of good discussions in the off topic sections, but when it comes to Gaga, it's lacking.

[Candy Gaga 5,374]

34 minutes ago, DiskoBaby said:

I get that that's what she's been going for. I'm just not used to it. Her signature writing has always been explosive stuttering choruses. So it seems strange to not hear that from her anymore.

Even when Rihanna was doing edm pop she still had big choruses in Only Girl and We Found Love and during the chorus the beat hit hard and felt epic.

When Gaga gets to the chorus it just feels underwhelming because not just the chorus isn't strong enough but the "drop" the beat that's supposed to replace the chorus is too light and doesn't explode in you. The beats themselves just sound generic. And a generic beat with a lack of a strong chorus or a beat drop sounds underwhelming to me is all. 

EDM is a huge genre tho. I'm sure there are gonna be different drops for each song some heavy and some light. Only Girl and We Found Love are leaning towards Electropop while Gaga is going for a more European inspired Euro-Dance so the songs are not underwhelming they are made intentionally this way that's why ROM debuted at #1 on overall European chart of itunes and #2 WW cause that's a more Euro (=European) inspired album. But as I said no way she have all songs with light drops so If you crave something heavier you'll get it like Babylon demos for example suggest that

[UnlikelyStan 306]

1 hour ago, Mr S said:

While I love both Free Woman (even if it's a demo) and Rain on Me, there is one common theme I've noticed about all 3 songs so far.

There is something off about the song structures. Like they are underwritten or incomplete. SL was obviously missing a chorus and some of the lyrics are random (higher higher?). Free Woman has great songwriting in the verse IMO and a decent chorus but it feels like a rushed essay by a student who spent too much time on the beginning of the essay and ran out of time. Rain On Me builds up to what seems like it's gonna be an explosion of pop euphoria then it just stops.

While we're at it, I always felt Shallow was incomplete too but one can argue it was written for a scene.

I actually get what you’re saying. But after hearing Rain on me and Stupid Love and free woman back to back to back, I feel like it’s intentionally stylistic. It makes for a semi-cohesive song structure but a very cohesive concept as an album. Plus Gaga openly discussed how much she enjoys straying from typical musical structures, or the “norm”. Once we get the album and we hear the songs enough time I feel like it’s going to create a sort of new norm. | The song structures weren’t what I expected, but I think they are turning out to be everything I wanted. She’s definitely pushing constructs 

[Spyro 8,429]

14 minutes ago, Miel said:

and deservedly so lmao

If there's one particular consolation with these singles so far, is that the pre-choruses are so dense and heavily written, that it doesn't feel so empty that the chorus is essentially a dance break. Stupid Love, in particular, is one that I view as having two very heavy pre-choruses ("freak out"/"all I ever wanted was love"), which helps fill the space. I'd say the same case with ROM a bit, too, although it's definitely a very tight and concise song.

Yeah I have noticed all the effort and love went into the pre-chorus and the chorus was paid dust.

I wonder if that's going to be the norm in this album...

[UnlikelyStan 306]

1 minute ago, Spyro said:

Yeah I have noticed all the effort and love went into the pre-chorus and the chorus was paid dust.

I wonder if that's going to be the norm in this album...

The chorus is definitely hard to distinguish, in all 3. I consider this a point of interest, in my own perspective, as I think it must be intentional, but I respect it as being regarded as a constructive criticism. I wonder as well. Can’t wait to hear the whole album 

[Miel 15,009]

6 minutes ago, Spyro said:

Yeah I have noticed all the effort and love went into the pre-chorus and the chorus was paid dust.

I wonder if that's going to be the norm in this album...

 

3 minutes ago, UnlikelyStan said:

The chorus is definitely hard to distinguish, in all 3. I consider this a point of interest, in my own perspective, as I think it must be intentional, but I respect it as being regarded as a constructive criticism. I wonder as well. Can’t wait to hear the whole album 

I definitely think she's aiming for it, in a stylistic regard. She kind of touched on it in ARTPOP, with its inspiration from big room house and heavier, complextro-style EDM's (I think Swine is the biggest example of a chorus-replacement drop), and now she's kind of working it in with a 90's house inspiration (with some definite differentiation from early-2010's house revival in that it's a lot cleaner, imo).

I wasn't the biggest fan of the idea, initially, but I think ROM did it really well. If the rest of the album can deliver it just as well, and still be diverse, then I will probably stop lamenting the more "classic" high-drama pop that Gaga would write.

[Miel 15,009]

21 minutes ago, Mr S said:

I feel like there are plenty of good discussions in the off topic sections, but when it comes to Gaga, it's lacking.

In some ways, I get it. I think, after such a long period of wait and unfair criticism to Gaga, I think any criticism to Gaga at the moment can feel like a sting.

But, I think there's too many instances of brushing it off. Even legitimate questions get posed as "oh, another thing to complain about?"