The Main Problem with Chromatica

[SchwineLove 1,366]

9 hours ago, 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. 

folklore is an album full of artificial characters' narrative, while Chromatica is an honest and calculated pour of her most deep traumas. and you expect Gaga to perform it in multiple occasions without proper preparations? for me the music is enough. if you really need extra hype from the promo and performances, clearly the album and songs themselves don't resonate enough to yourself. you only care about Gaga performing, not Gaga as a human. of course if in future she decides to do a proper promo and performances, I will be extra happy.

[pachinko 9,459]

Yes, I agree. She lacks commitment and comes off as lazy compared to her peers. It hurts to stan sometimes. 

[rasclautmangos 2,740]

I think Chromatica is fine, I just still feel like a different set of producers maybe could have handled the sound she was going for way better. 

A couple of the songs also sound a bit regressive for Gaga as well. Sour Candy for example. I like the song, its fun! It just doesn't seem very fitting lyrically or production wise for legend status Lady Gaga in the year 2020.

I feel like Chromatica was made mostly to promote haus lab products/the brand at times.

[Concertaholic 4,903]

The production and cohesion is honestly just a little messy, not as messy as ARTPOP, but still messy. I find myself listening to Heaven and Hell by Ava Max more just because the production is cleaner and the songs are catchier.

[HausOfAntonio 7,821]

7 hours ago, KEVIN STEVE said:

Well, she also literally said that she didn't want to make music when she was doing Chromatica

As an artist have you ever been so overwhelmingly depressed, suicidal, apathetic and disillusioned with the state of the world that even your art doesn’t feel important anymore? Yeah. Imagine the overbearing sense of guilt you must feel about disappointing all of your supporters. And then imagine having to reconcile that with the fact that you’re literally physically incapable of getting out of bed. But that doesn’t negate the fact that the art you DO make can be genuine, inspired and ultimately GREAT, which is exactly what Chromatica is.  We need to let go of this ideal of the artist who puts their art above everything else in their lives. Gaga has a shitton of stuff to deal with, and that doesn’t make her art any less valuable.
 

I don’t think people realise the extent of the pain and turmoil that this woman goes through. Imagine making demands from someone who on top of physical pain has to endure intense psychological negativity DAILY. How could anyone do that? Let her do things on her own time! How are we supposed to measure and evaluate “commitment” from a person who has openly talked about going through chronic clinical depression and suicidal periods? I don’t think thats fair. 

[Franch Toast 25,220]

I'm all for constructive criticism, so I don't mind posts like this unlike some here, but I will just say that Chromatica is a dance album, and it's totally the wrong kind of album to be promoting during a pandemic––it's really the kind of album meant to be enjoyed in clubs and large group settings. Too bad this wasn't her Joanne era instead. This isn't Gaga's fault but bad luck. 

I also think it's a little creepy when people try to infer her mental state or that she's lazy or too busy trying to persuade Michael to settle down (which, frankly, smacks of sexism) to promote her album. The truth is, we don't know what she's doing. 

I'll admit I wish the album had more promo and performances, but I'm not in an entertainment field, and I trust that she and her team know what they're doing. And if they screw up and the era ends up flopping, that's on her and them, not on us. I love her music and what she stands for, but I have my own career. Maybe they're slowing down the era and hoping to restart it next year once the pandemic is hopefully resolved so that excitement will be fresh for the Chromatica Ball. Who knows. But again, I do think people should have space to vent their disappointments and frustrations, especially when they're expressed in a constructive manner. 

 

[Serial Chiller 8,044]

52 minutes ago, vitoburrrito said:

This is the stupidest effing post I’ve ever seen

multiply it by 10 with a variety of toxicity and entitlement and you have GGD the past 2 months. 

[vixdean 1,061]

18 minutes ago, HausOfAntonio said:

As an artist have you ever been so overwhelmingly depressed, suicidal, apathetic and disillusioned with the state of the world that even your art doesn’t feel important anymore? Yeah. Imagine the overbearing sense of guilt you must feel about disappointing all of your supporters. And then imagine having to reconcile that with the fact that you’re literally physically incapable of getting out of bed. But that doesn’t negate the fact that the art you DO make can be genuine, inspired and ultimately GREAT, which is exactly what Chromatica is.  We need to let go of this ideal of the artist who puts their art above everything else in their lives. Gaga has a shitton of stuff to deal with, and that doesn’t make her art any less valuable.
 

I don’t think people realise the extent of the pain and turmoil that this woman goes through. Imagine making demands from someone who on top of physical pain has to endure intense psychological negativity DAILY. How could anyone do that? Let her do things on her own time! How are we supposed to measure and evaluate “commitment” from a person who has openly talked about going through chronic clinical depression and suicidal periods? I don’t think thats fair. 

Can’t stand this type victimization that fans do on behalf of Gaga. 

“Have you ever been overwhelmingly depressed, suicidal, apathetic and disillusionedwith the state of the world.”  Yes, and half the world probably feels like that right now. 

Go read the many mental health threads in this forum. People may feel like that but they get out of bed and go to their jobs because they have bills to pay and food to put on the table.

In the wider scheme of things, Gaga is in a much better and privileged position to deal with the many challenges life presents than any of us. There’s no need for the constant excuses of Gaga’s behalf.

[Serial Chiller 8,044]

48 minutes ago, pachinko said:

Yes, I agree. She lacks commitment and comes off as lazy compared to her peers. It hurts to stan sometimes. 

Why does it hurt? Do you have a financial stake in her career and commercial performance?

Her peers? Like who? I swear to god who do you even consider to be her peers? Ava Max Dua Lipa Doja cat? Cuz that’s where I see the “promo” comparisons end up. Like take a step back and see how ridiculous it is that you’re drawing a comparison between rising artists and someone who’s been in the game for 10 years.

The only “peer” who’s released music this year is Taylor, and where’s her extensive promo? The rollout was perfect but how much promo was actually there after release? If you need a reminder, Chromatica was released 4 days after George Floyd’s murder. 4 days. The weeks and months that followed were extremely politically charged. How tf did you expect her to parade in a leather thong singing “at least i’m alive”? when people were being tear gassed, beaten and murdered by police all across the country.

You people really need a reality check. 

[shane_c 480]

I think the pandemic was a big a factor because this is a dance album during a time when all the bars and clubs.... are closed. I think that discouraged her and she sort of said F it to the universe.  I think she's also sort of glad to put this negative stuff behind her so that also made it easy to just move on. She has movies lined up etc.... The negative themes may not be very commercial either. And I wonder if some of the songs turned off... adults namely Sour Candy w/ Blackpink, Plastic Doll.... which may make it hard to know who the album is for.

I am very hopeful though because like I said this stuff is behind her now and the next album marks a completely new, third imo... era in her career. 

[yes and 4,884]

I run through some comments. I agree with some of them. Chromatica is definitely Bloodpop's vision, not Gaga's. Obviously, there is also a lot of Interscope's influence. Gaga probably doesn't really relate to this album so much as to her previous ones. 

Comments saying ''Gaga should do a ballad album...''' sound ridiculous. Shallow is not a good example for it. GP obviously associate the song with the movie, not with THE Lady Gaga who sang Poker Face and Bad Romance. 

Anyway, she can and should mix different genres in one album. A lot of artists do that. She can add a few radio-friendly songs to the first part of the album, and then a few rock/country/ballads which she is into to the second part and it would be perfect. 

[AJRocketMan 2,684]

Be careful what you put out onto the internet, because in the end, it’s all just speculations. What if you’re wrong? What if Gaga truly is passionate about Chromatica (I definitely think she is)? What if she reads this? She would be hurt by all the judge mental responses on this thread. Her fans ALWAYS criticize her in EVERY campaign of hers. From ARTPOP, to Joanne, to ASIB, to Chromatica. Fans have ALWAYS critiqued her more than they praised her music. It seems like Gaga isn’t for you anymore. Move on please.

[Where is LG7 3,720]

so what is the SIDE problem?

[giskardsb 12,565]

isn't this like the 12th thread this week with the same theme?

 

we get it, a bunch of you think Gaga isn't putting enough effort in.

ok then thats nice.  

 

[SchwineLove 1,366]

2 hours ago, vixdean said:

Can’t stand this type victimization that fans do on behalf of Gaga. 

“Have you ever been overwhelmingly depressed, suicidal, apathetic and disillusionedwith the state of the world.”  Yes, and half the world probably feels like that right now. 

Go read the many mental health threads in this forum. People may feel like that but they get out of bed and go to their jobs because they have bills to pay and food to put on the table.

In the wider scheme of things, Gaga is in a much better and privileged position to deal with the many challenges life presents than any of us. There’s no need for the constant excuses of Gaga’s behalf.

In that perspective, there's no sense for Gaga to do it extra hard because basically she's already secured financially. So why bother? There's no urgent/financial reason to fulfill whatever the "fans" want her to do. The album is doing fine, she already has her legacy. If that counts as laziness, well so be it. Why is that our problem? I enjoy Chromatica in daily basis and personally that's okay. I mean, don't even stress yourself more in this pandemic times. If Gaga cannot fulfill your expectation, so be it. We have to be stoic in these times.