10 years... which album is the best?

[gagaschickens 4]

easy, it's ARTPOP

my second favorite gaga album

[Daylight Jokers 14,958]

BTW

TFM

Chromatica

Joanne

ARTPOP

The Fame 

 

 

[Twitter 14]

Born This Way was THAT album!

[JustJames 950]

It depends on the definition of "best," because unfortunately / objectively, each era's been poorly managed. Born This Way showed her biggest progression, but had a sloppy tracklist and while a commercial success, should've been bigger given all 4 pre-album releases peaked Top 12 upon debut. Fame Monster had commercial and critical success, and 3 Top 5s; it was polished and cohesive, but is it fair to compare a novel vs. short story? The Fame spawned 2 #1 songs / 4 Top 5s. Chromatica is a critical hit w/ few skips, but lacks the ambition of earlier, less successful risks like ARTPOP.

Tier 1: Born This Way (magnum opus; revolutionary pop album/era)
Tier 2: The Fame Monster, A Star Is Born (successful, re-defining moments in her career)
Tier 3: The Fame, ARTPOP (ambitious and iconic for different reasons)
Tier 4: Chromatica, Joanne (restrained by commercial demands)

#1) Born This Way Epitomizes why Gaga has become a Pop legend; it had a clear message that had impact within mainstream culture. Gaga's artistry evolved beyond the dance-pop of TF/M into mini-eras / combos of singing, fashion, and performance art. A proper rollout could've given TD / 1989 levels of performance:
1. Marry The Night (01/2011) [+Grammys performance]
Promo: Electric Chapel (02/2011)
2. Edge of Glory (03/2011)
3. Born This Way (06/2011)
Promo: Scheisse (07/2011) [+Scheisse/HML VMA performance]
4. You & I (09/2011)
5. Heavy Metal Lover / Black Jesus + Amen Fashion (11/2011)

Highlights: MTN, Government Hooker, Scheisse, BTW, Heavy Metal Lover, EOG

#2) Fame Monster Proved The Fame was no fluke; whereas The Fame felt unfocused, the 8-song tracklist of TFM was clear and cohesive. Whereas The Fame lyrics took a backseat to RedONE production, TFM explored darker themes in 4+ min songs. DITD/Speechless could've easily been Top 10s, but the holy trinity (Bad Romance, Telephone, Alejandro) was iconic.

Highlights: Bad Romance, DITD, Monster, Speechless

#3) A Star Is Born Whereas Joanne felt like a rushed attempt at an uncontroversial, palatable commercial product, ASIB gave LG freedom to take risks w/ the film as the primary focus. Whereas production once again took priority on Joanne - this time, Mark Ronson & co. - Gaga's vocals / writing shone on ASIB. 

Highlights: Shallow, ARUTW, INLA, ITA, Heal Me, Before I Cry

#4) The Fame The Fame was a hot mess in hindsight; an album serving Pokerface and Paparazzi alongside BBB and Brown Eyes is hard to consider 'acclaimed,' but the ambition of it all revolutionized the Pop era. Yes, the production is dated; sure, some lyrics are corny. But, the 4 singles / 6 MVs are reminders of the star she was from Day 1.

Highlights: Just Dance, Pokerface, Starstruck, Summerboy, Paparazzi

#5) ARTPOP I think external forces made Gaga release a BOW she no longer 100% supported; the studio version is so different from 2012 Hip-HopGA, themes explored 2011-2013, and the demos that hinted at disdain for the industry (Applause /addiction to fame; DWUW /industry r*ping her; MANiCURE /wanting to quit as Pop's Princess; Nothin' On /Marilyn), but the final version fell flat.

Highlights: Aura, DWUW, Venus, Gypsy, Applause

#6-#7) Chromatica/Joanne I love Chromatica, but feel Gaga herself didn't control the final output. The highlights, like Replay, give a glimpse into what this theme might sound like if sales and streams weren't so important. The translation from 1000 Doves (Piano) to the RuPaul'd album version (see: Fly Tonight by RuPaul) is 1 example where the typical vulnerability of Gaga's work was sacrificed. Similarly, as stated earlier, Joanne never felt personal as promo'd but instead like a need to capitalize before 2 major events: SB HTS / ASIB. 

Highlights: Diamond Heart, Sinner's Prayer, Perfect Illusion, Stupid Love, 911, Enigma, Replay

[Lady K 211]

BTW was so raw and relatable.  She talked about being bad kids, standing up for what we believe and the importance of acceptance and love.   That's why it is my favorite.  

Chromatica is not as relatable to me, but is in second place.  

[Cookie Tookie 10,546]

Nothing comes close to BTW

[Smother Em Eh 7,095]

I’m gonna say BTW or Chromatica tbh. I love ARTPOP and the others but these two records are just way better body of works. I do love many songs on ARTPOP but BTW & Chromatica have higher highs. 

[Pop Music 20,540]

ARTPOP

[RichAssPiss 4,916]

12 hours ago, KURUSHITOVSKA said:

ARTPOP had reused instrumentals that weren't even meant for the album, and it wasn't released as Gaga wanted to, so nope. Even if Born This Way had fillers, they were made for the album, not just an old instrumental from an unreleased song by some producer.

Literally "Judas" is made from a sound loop that circulated on a DJ sounds CD. And Gaga begged RedOne to give her writing credit on J. Lo's Invading My Mind because after Born This Way she worried Judas would be accused of being another soundalike. 

This is by far the weirdest reason to trash ARTPOP. So much pop music is built on ideas that circulated a bit, like "Sine From Above" is from an Elton / Ryan Tedder / Swedish House Mafia session that Gaga added to. Just because some songs were made from sounds other artists had worked on, that does not invalidate the album.

[KURUSHITOVSKA 20,451]

3 minutes ago, RichAssPiss said:

Literally "Judas" is made from a sound loop that circulated on a DJ sounds CD. And Gaga begged RedOne to give her writing credit on J. Lo's Invading My Mind because after Born This Way she worried Judas would be accused of being another soundalike. 

This is by far the weirdest reason to trash ARTPOP. So much pop music is built on ideas that circulated a bit, like "Sine From Above" is from an Elton / Ryan Tedder / Swedish House Mafia session that Gaga added to. Just because some songs were made from sounds other artists had worked on, that does not invalidate the album.

You're talking about "ideas" and i'm talking about a whole instrumental from 2 years ago being used on a new project. Mary Jane Holland and Donatella were pretty old already when the album was released. It's not like they only took a sample.

[socotra 3,310]

my favorite is ARTPOP. the best? BTW, objectively speaking

[RichAssPiss 4,916]

4 minutes ago, KURUSHITOVSKA said:

You're talking about "ideas" and i'm talking about a whole instrumental from 2 years ago being used on a new project. Mary Jane Holland and Donatella were pretty old already when the album was released. It's not like they only took a sample.

So much of pop music is top line writers and singers writing to a beat. Sometimes that beat circulates around before someone uses it. It's very normal and doesn't discredit the album. And we'll never know half the stories of how songs were made. It just happen sometimes we get details or leaks. I wouldn't use that as a measure to discredit music. 

 

[KURUSHITOVSKA 20,451]

11 minutes ago, RichAssPiss said:

So much of pop music is top line writers and singers writing to a beat. Sometimes that beat circulates around before someone uses it. It's very normal and doesn't discredit the album. And we'll never know half the stories of how songs were made. It just happen sometimes we get details or leaks. I wouldn't use that as a measure to discredit music. 

 

An album full of original music will always be better than one that has recycled music, sorry it's my opinion, I don't plan to have an argument.

[Ashley 9,371]

The fact that ARTPOP has more votes than Joanne 

But out of this group I’d say Born This Way is the superior album.

 

[Doot 2]

13 hours ago, Queen Bitch said:

Born this way🦄

See @Twitter, not only CC members can change the colors! REVEAL YOUR SECRETS.