The Main Problem with Chromatica

[YASKALE 350]

On 11/29/2020 at 1:26 PM, GovernmentGaga said:

Was it the pandemic? No, it was not.

You don't know that. You cannot claim to speak for anyone's mental health during this period. At all. It's not that simple just because some other pop girls seemed to be succeeding. (Also, how do you know that any of the other girls aren't quietly dying on the inside?)

A lot of sh*t went down this year.

[popatemyshart 94]

At least we’re ending the year with a bang, i mean with some cookies lol

She thinks as highly of us as she does her daddy i guess

[KillerMonster 2,360]

Gaga would NOT put out something she doesn’t love. She is a perfectionist.

I sense it’s her mental health that is preventing her from doing a lot of things. I used to love playing guitar but my depression has literally made me lose interest in everything. 

[Guest SetMeFree]

She is more committed to the wellbeing of people during this pandemic than cheaply attempting to promote her album. Her work will be celebrated in due time, but I think her genuinity got the best of her and really doused a lot of the promotion we were all anticipating. 

[Wet Fire 5,686]

On 11/30/2020 at 12:43 AM, HausOfAntonio said:

So what we’re saying is had she promoted the album would be better? Because that is the only thing that indicates commitment or belief in your art? Its clear that some of y’all aren’t artists and still view the artist as a businessperson and their art as a commodity. Don’t even get me started on your lack of understanding of mental health. 
 

At the end of the day, you don’t know her. You don’t know what she think and feels and all you’re doing is speculating, and that shows a fundamental lack of concern with her humanity because you expect a cookie cutter album cycle in order to justify liking the music or seeing it as genuine. Gaga never said Chromatica cured her mental illness. The only thing she implied is that at a moment where she was AT HER LOWEST, it saved her. And thats fine. We need to stop demanding that she does things a certain way just so we can validate the way we feel about her career. 
 

She really meant it when she wrote Plastic Doll. She really ****ing did. 

well said.

[ORLA 19]

Many, many valid points. But still. it's a matter of perspective. "Lack of commitment" is an OPINION. I personally would love to see more promo, cause I love watching Gaga performing and talking and living. I also love it when she gets some recognition. BUT! what happend, IMO is not about commitment. The commitment you're talking about is still there. every lyric, every melody, every word she sings, is so well done professionally, but moreover, it's well done emotionally and artistically. To me Chromatica is the only present. and it's more then enough. since 2008 I relate to many of Gaga's content, and today, more than a decade since I fell in love with her, she's still touching my heart. Strongly. 

I think many fans really need to re-explore who Lady Gaga is. she is a WHOLE human being. she's not just a singer, a performer, composer, daughter or a friend. she's a lot. infact, my seminar project (Sociollogy domain) is about her as a political leader, which I prove by her actions in the "Dont Ask, Don't tell" policy saga. My point , after years of being a super fan and after a few months of research, is that she is really a one of a generation kind of person. she's rare. her activity with BTWF is a lot. she reads Psychology, Sociology and other humanistic domains. she ****ing wrote an article with Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus- the director-general of the WHO, for The Guardian. she has goals, meetings, needs, aspirations, private life and etc... 

So speaking from a more macro point of view, she is a very strong force that helps the Emotion Revolution to go on, she is one of the biggest cultural leaders of our time, she is a musical and artistic phenomana, a philanthropist and much much much more. She said it herself- the pandemic made her want to focus on the world, on the society, and less about her own career.  she raised money with the global citizen org and WHO, was very active during the elections saga ( I mean, which other musican mentioned by Trump during his speech exept Bon Jovi, huh?), and also has much more going on than I would know.

so please, be patient. be grateful for living during the times of Lady Gaga. Gaga is trying to make the world a better place. and please, listen to Mother Monster and spread kindness and compassion. 

"Who's that girl... Malibu Gaga,

looks so sad. What is this saga?"

well, do you stan gaga only if she's a commercially-chart-blasting-Plastic-doll?

guys and dolls, Paradise in in your'e hands. Chromatica can be a huge hit in your own personal dimension. 

 

[goodjujuvibes 73]

On 12/4/2020 at 11:29 AM, ORLA said:

Many, many valid points. But still. it's a matter of perspective. "Lack of commitment" is an OPINION. I personally would love to see more promo, cause I love watching Gaga performing and talking and living. I also love it when she gets some recognition. BUT! what happend, IMO is not about commitment. The commitment you're talking about is still there. every lyric, every melody, every word she sings, is so well done professionally, but moreover, it's well done emotionally and artistically. To me Chromatica is the only present. and it's more then enough. since 2008 I relate to many of Gaga's content, and today, more than a decade since I fell in love with her, she's still touching my heart. Strongly. 

I think many fans really need to re-explore who Lady Gaga is. she is a WHOLE human being. she's not just a singer, a performer, composer, daughter or a friend. she's a lot. infact, my seminar project (Sociollogy domain) is about her as a political leader, which I prove by her actions in the "Dont Ask, Don't tell" policy saga. My point , after years of being a super fan and after a few months of research, is that she is really a one of a generation kind of person. she's rare. her activity with BTWF is a lot. she reads Psychology, Sociology and other humanistic domains. she ****ing wrote an article with Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus- the director-general of the WHO, for The Guardian. she has goals, meetings, needs, aspirations, private life and etc... 

So speaking from a more macro point of view, she is a very strong force that helps the Emotion Revolution to go on, she is one of the biggest cultural leaders of our time, she is a musical and artistic phenomana, a philanthropist and much much much more. She said it herself- the pandemic made her want to focus on the world, on the society, and less about her own career.  she raised money with the global citizen org and WHO, was very active during the elections saga ( I mean, which other musican mentioned by Trump during his speech exept Bon Jovi, huh?), and also has much more going on than I would know.

so please, be patient. be grateful for living during the times of Lady Gaga. Gaga is trying to make the world a better place. and please, listen to Mother Monster and spread kindness and compassion. 

"Who's that girl... Malibu Gaga,

looks so sad. What is this saga?"

well, do you stan gaga only if she's a commercially-chart-blasting-Plastic-doll?

guys and dolls, Paradise in in your'e hands. Chromatica can be a huge hit in your own personal dimension. 

 

 

On 11/29/2020 at 1:13 PM, HausOfAntonio said:

So what we’re saying is had she promoted the album would be better? Because that is the only thing that indicates commitment or belief in your art? Its clear that some of y’all aren’t artists and still view the artist as a businessperson and their art as a commodity. Don’t even get me started on your lack of understanding of mental health. 
 

At the end of the day, you don’t know her. You don’t know what she think and feels and all you’re doing is speculating, and that shows a fundamental lack of concern with her humanity because you expect a cookie cutter album cycle in order to justify liking the music or seeing it as genuine. Gaga never said Chromatica cured her mental illness. The only thing she implied is that at a moment where she was AT HER LOWEST, it saved her. And thats fine. We need to stop demanding that she does things a certain way just so we can validate the way we feel about her career. 
 

She really meant it when she wrote Plastic Doll. She really ****ing did. 

 

Two of the best posts I've read in my 9 years here.

 

[Donatellah 919]

On 11/29/2020 at 2:37 PM, ApplauseftAdele said:

Very true... with every Pop era up until now, Gaga always remained “Gaga” but would change the sound, visuals and aesthetic. With Chromatica, she went back to the old classic Gaga, but instead of doing a reinvention of Pop-Ga, she kinda did a cookie cutter version of Gaga - Radio friendly edm hits with house / vogue beats and soaring vocals, edgy outfits, and big music videos, but nothing to the level of GUY, BR, Marry the Night etc. Chromatica was good, but there was just nothing innovative or new about it, and a huge reason is because she wrote the songs but gave the producers the reins.

 

If you listen to her older songs then Rain On Me (& Chromatica as a whole), it’s honestly a huge downgrade. Its just lacking the camp and individuality of her previous work - hell, Rita Ora or Ava Max could sing songs like Free Woman or Plastic Doll. I feel like she felt pressured to play it safe this era, which makes complete sense, as it was her “big return to pop”, and it also gives me hope for the future that now that she’s re-established herself in the pop game she will now go into more experimental routes. You can tell that Interscope put a lot of planning into Chromatica and even may have pressured Gaga to go in this direction against her will, and it’s starting to make sense, because I feel like this is one example where the music doesn’t necessarily speak for itself unlike Folklore. Chromatica is literally the cookie cutter example of what we expect and want from Gaga album - deep lyrics with fun beats, with trendy features, and as a result it is basically guaranteed to do well commercially... but it lacks the camp and “fun” her previous albums had, and as a result, didn’t do as well or make as many cultural shockwaves as a Gaga pop record should. People WANT camp and silliness from Gaga - all the Gaga related trends on tiktok are her older songs, and the silly lyrics of Poker Face or LoveGame. And I feel like Gaga wants to do this too, but Interscope may have pressured her into the sound & aesthetic of Chromatica instead. 

 

(This sounds a bit mean but the GP still view Gaga as an oddity that writes catchy songs and campy lyrics, so the idea of an album about her personal struggles doesn’t draw much interest. I hope that her next era she takes it less serious and puts more “fun” into the lyrics and production. )
 

 

On a side note, I still hope Gaga plans more visuals or we at least get the ChromBall, but I’d be happy if Interscope delays the “epic rollout” for her next era. I feel like the constant media attention on Gaga (we got a glimpse of the hate on twitter after the VMA’s) would only hurt her career since people would drag her for releasing a bland album, hopefully they promote the **** out of her next album since I’m assuming she will go in a weirder direction, and hopefully she writes a record that she is actually invested in. 

Not trying to be mean I assure you but Gaga did that with ARTPOP and it underperfomed, even more, one of the reasons why her fans/people/critics believe that the record flopped it's because people got tired of her weirdness afaik 

But it's okay, because it's unique from her to do that even though the GP didn't care about WeirdGa anymore (then)

[Gorehound 2,103]

On 11/29/2020 at 6:26 PM, GovernmentGaga said:

Chromatica, by all accounts, is not a bad album. In fact, it has been rightly classified by many fans and critics as one of Gaga’s most sonically-cohesive bodies of work. So then, what’s the problem?

There may be some who do not think there is an issue with Chromatica, but objectively speaking, you’d be misguided to deny the facts.

The A Star is Born era saw Lady Gaga once again at the top of the game. Shallow became one of her longest charting songs, and the most award song of all time to boot, while her image was elevated to a status that hasn’t been seen since the early days of her career.

Praise was around every corner. Awards were showered. Covers were made around the globe. Gaga was re-peaking. So then, a follow up album could not have been better positioned than Chromatica. But, what happened?

Was it the pandemic? No, it was not. Many artists this year made considerable impact with their albums, Taylor Swift being one of the most prominent. But what was the difference between Chromatica and Folklore? I argue it’s not a matter of quality but a matter of commitment.

Taylor is committed to Folklore. She believes in it as a body of work. She’s willing to dive into it with her fans and strip back the album lyric by lyric.

And while Gaga has made small attempts at conveying her care for Chromatica, her absence speaks volumes. Regardless of what the reasoning may be for long blackouts during the middle of a so-called era, the end result is the same. Lady Gaga is not as committed to the Chromatica project as she could be and should be. 
 

Gaga tries, with every album, to insist that each record is some type of saving grace for her mental health. But how much truth is there in this assertion? A person who is saved by something is almost always the biggest advocate for it. But who is Chromatica’s advocate? It’s certainly not Gaga.

There is a strong fundamental disconnect from how Gaga originally sold the album to how she treated the album. If this record truly saved her and she truly believed that it could save others (the validity of this claim isn’t the question right now), then why would she bury the project soon after its release?

True commitment is never thwarted by external circumstances. No matter how severe those circumstances appear. If Gaga was not as committed to the project as she should have been, then releasing during a time of great trial was not the right move. Simply because it only revealed that she wasn’t as committed to the project as she had convinced herself that she was.

Do not be surprised if, in the future, she speaks on this project with a form of regret; that she references Chromatica as an album that was the product of false commitment and not a genuine labor of love (in which she was ready to share it with the world). 
 

The biggest indicator that has formed my opinion is her “I Learned to Love Myself Again” interview. That interview was conducted with absolutely no confidence on her end. In fact, the man who interviewed Gaga, has interviewed her at least twice before in which she had the exact same angle of “this album saved me” only to then say the same thing during the next era cycle.

Gaga is at a crossroads where her commitment to her music, as a commercial artist, is at an all-time low, and that is of great concern. 
 

Chromatica feels like a project of self-directed obligation, and that is its main problem. 

Thank you for this! x

This really summed up my feelings towards this topic perfectly x

[Gorehound 2,103]

On 11/29/2020 at 6:37 PM, ApplauseftAdele said:

Very true... with every Pop era up until now, Gaga always remained “Gaga” but would change the sound, visuals and aesthetic. With Chromatica, she went back to the old classic Gaga, but instead of doing a reinvention of Pop-Ga, she kinda did a cookie cutter version of Gaga - Radio friendly edm hits with house / vogue beats and soaring vocals, edgy outfits, and big music videos, but nothing to the level of GUY, BR, Marry the Night etc. Chromatica was good, but there was just nothing innovative or new about it, and a huge reason is because she wrote the songs but gave the producers the reins.

 

If you listen to her older songs then Rain On Me (& Chromatica as a whole), it’s honestly a huge downgrade. Its just lacking the camp and individuality of her previous work - hell, Rita Ora or Ava Max could sing songs like Free Woman or Plastic Doll. I feel like she felt pressured to play it safe this era, which makes complete sense, as it was her “big return to pop”, and it also gives me hope for the future that now that she’s re-established herself in the pop game she will now go into more experimental routes. You can tell that Interscope put a lot of planning into Chromatica and even may have pressured Gaga to go in this direction against her will, and it’s starting to make sense, because I feel like this is one example where the music doesn’t necessarily speak for itself unlike Folklore. Chromatica is literally the cookie cutter example of what we expect and want from Gaga album - deep lyrics with fun beats, with trendy features, and as a result it is basically guaranteed to do well commercially... but it lacks the camp and “fun” her previous albums had, and as a result, didn’t do as well or make as many cultural shockwaves as a Gaga pop record should. People WANT camp and silliness from Gaga - all the Gaga related trends on tiktok are her older songs, and the silly lyrics of Poker Face or LoveGame. And I feel like Gaga wants to do this too, but Interscope may have pressured her into the sound & aesthetic of Chromatica instead. 

 

(This sounds a bit mean but the GP still view Gaga as an oddity that writes catchy songs and campy lyrics, so the idea of an album about her personal struggles doesn’t draw much interest. I hope that her next era she takes it less serious and puts more “fun” into the lyrics and production. )
 

 

On a side note, I still hope Gaga plans more visuals or we at least get the ChromBall, but I’d be happy if Interscope delays the “epic rollout” for her next era. I feel like the constant media attention on Gaga (we got a glimpse of the hate on twitter after the VMA’s) would only hurt her career since people would drag her for releasing a bland album, hopefully they promote the **** out of her next album since I’m assuming she will go in a weirder direction, and hopefully she writes a record that she is actually invested in. 

Hi just wanna say I love your points and totally agree xx

Also what hate did she get on twitter after the VMA's? I didn't hear about that

[Suuus 5,632]

On 11/30/2020 at 7:01 PM, Nycboy said:

I agree with many of your points, however I would argue that the problem was due to both quality and commitment. The quality (lyrically) is average at best and doesn’t possess much deep meaning. As a result, she can’t fully stand behind the artistry of this album, and so she’s less committed to it. The album feels as much as a side project as haus labs. If she truly thought believed in quality or message, she’d stand behind it more.  
 

and when we say problem, we all know it’s not really a problem lol. The album sold well, was nominated for 2 grammys and had a #1 single. 

Wow ive never seen so many lies in one comment the lyrics do have meaning your just not seeing it 

[TheOriginalOne 8,202]

I liked Chromatica (and still do) and was too distracted by real life to have any actual issues with promo 

Maybe because of that, I don’t see most of the issues being brought up here. And you already know, had Chromatica smashed all year and if promo was nonstop then most of the same people would be out here praising it how it’s her most innovating work yet and how great and artistic and deep it all is. 

[Gorehound 2,103]

On 11/29/2020 at 9:58 PM, TimisaMonster said:

Even ARTPOP was traumatic for her in different ways...Joanne was about healing her Trump supporting dad through an album named after her dead aunt she barely knew...and Chromatica yeah...we get the pattern...its like her last album she enjoyed making was BTW

I disagree. I'm not so sure about Joanne but it was very very clear that Gaga was extremely passionate about ARTPOP. She hyped the s**t out of it for months and months before it dropped, full of excitement saying it's the best work she's ever done, and she got incredibly involved with all aspects of it, working with top modern artists like Jeff Koons and Marina Abramović etc. It was an extremely bold and ambitious project and you could tell she was having so much fun making it. It was the hell she went through with it after the album's release that killed ARTPOP for her which is incredibly tragic. ARTPOP was full of love and passion for her craft.

[deletedacct 32]

Lady Gaga put out one of, if not the best, album her career. She's a phenomenal, world renowned talent in all areas of performance. She's one of the most gifted songwriters of all time.  You're questioning her commitment? OK. Enjoy your time.

[Nycboy 560]

27 minutes ago, Suuus said:

Wow ive never seen so many lies in one comment the lyrics do have meaning your just not seeing it 

I guess what I’d like to see from Gaga in the future is good storytelling through her lyrics. This is something that Taylor, Beyoncé (Lemonade), and Adele have accomplished very well. It really puts the listener in the artist’s shoes and allows the listener to connect with the artist on a deep, human level. I want Gaga to take me to a moment in her life and make me feel like how she felt. I’d argue that even Ariana’s TU,N had some degree of personal storytelling and that’s why fans connected with it. It was honest.

Most of Gaga’s iconic lyrics to date have been playful metaphors and silly camp. They’ve been about nothing and everything at the same exact time. This worked really well in 2008-2011 as some of the overly sexual lyrics were seen as “shocking” and the campiness came off as weird, different, or just plain cool (ie, what’s a disco stick? Hitchcock references in a pop song? Woah.) As we all know, 2011’s BTW us combined her previously campy lyrics with political ones — and it served a great purpose in doing so. I’d even argue that back then, Gaga couldn’t write personal stories because she didn’t want to reveal the lady behind the Gaga. The lack of a human element actually contributed to her cool factor. (Is she an alien? Haha)

But what about her lyrics since then? 

Although I love Joanne and Chromatica, they’re billed as personal albums and it’s very hard for me to see them in that way, with the exception of a few moments. What are Sinner’s Prayer, John Wayne, and AYO really about? Does calling herself an Enigma really reveal more to us about her as a human? How are Stupid Love, 1000 Doves, or Sour Candy lyrically superior to any other pop song? Even the songs on Chromatica that do go deep, don’t reveal much. Her struggles are hidden behind metaphors and double entendres rather than taking the listener to a genuinely honest place. “I’d rather be dry but at least I’m alive” and “pop a 911” are about serious subjects — but that’s about as far as she goes with them. I commend her for bravely speaking about these subjects, but unfortunately I don’t see how she communicates the emotion or story behind waking up every day and dealing with such issues.

We all know that Gaga is amazing at writing formulaic pop songs that could be about anything (maybe that’s what she meant by my ARTPOP can mean anything!), which isn’t bad, but I just wish she went deeper rather than hiding behind metaphors all. the. time. Also, as we all know, sometimes Gaga songs require an explanation for her fans to “get” the meaning (perfect illusion is about social media? TEOG is about her dying grandfather?). I genuinely believe that she does connect these songs to specific moments in her life, but are those songs really stories about those moments? 

I guess where all this is coming from is that I’ve been doing a deep dive into Taylor’s work for the first time ever, and I’ve realized how refreshing it is to hear an artist sing about actual, tangible things they’ve endured as a human being. For all the hate that Taylor got for singing about exes, I find it very interesting that you can tie her songs to specific moments in time and to real people. On the contrary, Gaga’s songs don’t reveal much about what it was like to love any of the men she’s loved. Not saying Gaga needs to write about that, but that’s just one facet of herself that she could explore. I mean, Beyoncé wrote a whole album about what it felt like to be cheated on by her husband.

It’s just my wish that Gaga, being my favorite artist of all time, could take me on a similar sort of a trip into her inner world as a devoted fan. I know she’s capable of it. She is brilliant & talented, after all. I absolutely love all of her music and wouldn’t change a thing, and I’m not complaining. This is just me analyzing her music from one very specific lens and offering my opinion on where I think she could go from here.