ARTPOP: Did you always know?

[Galvon 1,857]

Not really but I didn't hate it either. Years later I started to really like it.

[President Biden 5,898]

It made me a stan at age 13. ARTPOP was my first introduction to adult life of sex, drugs, depression, etc.

 End of story

[Anderson123 31,137]

No. After The Fame Monster I was like "There's no way she can top this album" then she came up with Born This Way and exceeded my expectations. Then when she said she was working on ARTPOP and the way she described it I thought it'd really be experimental (more like Swine, Aura, Heavy Metal Lover, Government Hooker, still pop songs but not the average ones) so I was pretty excited about it. 

Of course Applause came out and I love it now but I kind of felt disappointed. It wasn't really the sound I expected but came to realize that I also didn't love Born This Way (the single) at first, took me a few listens. So I expected Applause once again to be the marijuana to the heroine of the album. Then it came out and listened from start to finish but it wasn't like listening to BTW for the first time. I was trying to find a song that blew me away and there wasn't any. It was sad because I remember everyone going crazy about it in here, everyone loved it. Took me a few months, probably years to really appreciate it, I guess Chromatica made it a full circle. I honestly forced myself to love it because it's Gaga but it's a very polarizing album and it's ok.

Being said that, none of the ARTPOP songs are in my Top 10 or even Top 15 Gaga songs ever except for Do What U Want.

[Agunimon 20,248]

It didn't make me bandwagon out. I was still pretty obsessively waiting for new content and was way more into the era than I am today (whereas now I'm more of a casual fan who just so happens to be on a Gaga stan site).

I did find it tremendously disappointing after Born This Way and that took a while for me to separate myself from the sound from that. It's a fun album, but that's about it for me. I don't view it as having impact, potential, successful experimentation and superior quality like you said in your original.

She hyped it up too much for me to view it that way when it was just an EDM album. She may have experimented with her sound compared to other albums she put out and it may have been the path less traveled by within the influences in EDM music for pop records, but it was still an EDM record pretty typical of the time within those sounds.

[TheSlash 14,539]

I never HATED it, but it took a few years for me to really appreciate it  

[Prostitute Barbie 4,013]

I absolutely loved it then and I do now. I’m so happy it’s getting attention again after all these years old even if the petition doesn’t achieve it’s original intent. Aura, Sexxx Dreams, MJH, Gypsy, GUY, Venus. It’s everything I could have hoped for as a follow up to BTW and it was the last time for several years Gaga would do a proper pop/dance album so I lived with it for a long time. The initial reception was a bit disappointing but it didn’t detract from my own satisfaction with it at all. 

[SerbianChromatican 725]

Absolutely, it helped me a lot during a very difficult period of life! 

[Esteban 2,294]

I'll try to express what was my state of mind in 2013, try to not cringe too soon 

Back in the day I was an edgy technoid hipster, always at parties and proud to know really great underground electronic musicians so my expectations were VERY high. For example, to show you my pedantry  I considered Tommorowland's artists sooo mainstream and I hated mainstream dj's like Guetta, Solveig, Avicci ... (mainstream was my favorite word) For me it was like saying Avril Lavigne was punk rock back in the day  
I lived only for the underground bass music scene. With a huge preference for english dj's. 

So I expected something very experimental and fresh because Gaga hyped me so much during the pre-promo and she was the girl who released some of the edgiest electronic pop music of 10's with "Born this way" for god's sake!!  Plus, she was talking about "rave" so I was like "Yes mom! Bring me that molly album that I want so badly!" 

Then, when I listened to the album for the first time I was very disapointed because all I heard was a mainstream production, with mainly cheap tomorrowland edm production... (Aura, G.U.Y, Donatella, Swine, Sexxx Dreams, Gypsy...)
I was a "drop' fetichist too, so when I heard Swine it wasn't pleasant for me at all and reminded me of the awful flat drop of "Right Now" by Rihanna and produced by Guetta. To be honest all the drops lacked of depth and fell flat for me ( Jewels and drugs, Swine, Donetella's outro)

The only songs that I loved instantly were "Do what you want" and "ARTPOP"  because the production is timeless, "Applause" and "Venus" because they are pop bops   In fact it was the contrary of my expectations!  

But then, production aside, I started to like some melodies and lyrics because it still Gaga, so I put my expectations aside and I took that album for what it is, a good pop album, not an underground mixtape of bass music..  
Sure I won't have uk garage, dark techno, techstep, breakbeat, future bass, happy hardcore and tech house songs like I wanted but I listened to that album a lot though. And most of the songs grew on me. 

It's definitly not my favorite Gaga album because she played on a territory where I'm too demanding, but it's not a bad album and "Do what you want" and "ARTPOP" still in my top 10.

In fact, I think I hoped she released songs like Partynauseous ( Artrave 1rst  version ), so that's why I still curious to listen to Act II, I'm sure it was more the kind of album I wanted.

Now, drag me I deserve it 
 

[JohnWayne92 2,082]

I’ve always said ARTPOP will be looked at as one of her bests when people look back at her career. 

[HausOfAntonio 7,821]

7 minutes ago, Esteban said:

I'll try to express what was my state of mind in 2013, try to not cringe too soon 

Back in the day I was an edgy technoid hipster, always at parties and proud to know really great underground electronic musicians so my expectations were VERY high. For example, to show you my pedantry  I considered Tommorowland's artists sooo mainstream and I hated mainstream dj's like Guetta, Solveig, Avicci ... (mainstream was my favorite word) For me it was like saying Avril Lavigne was punk rock back in the day  
I lived only for the underground bass music scene. With a huge preference for english dj's. 

So I expected something very experimental and fresh because Gaga hyped me so much during the pre-promo and she was the girl who released some of the edgiest electronic pop music of 10's with "Born this way"!!  Plus, she was talking about "rave" so I was like "Yes mom! Bring that molly album that I want so badly!" 

Then, when I listened to the album for the first time I was very disapointed because all I heard was a mainstream production, with mainly cheap tomorrowland edm production... (Aura, G.U.Y, Donatella, Swine, Sexxx Dreams, Gypsy...)
I was a "drop' fetichist too, so when I heard Swine it wasn't pleasant for me at all and reminded me of the awful flat drop of "Right Now" by Rihanna and produced by Guetta. To be honest all the drops lacked of depth and fell flat for me ( Jewels and drugs, Swine, Donetella's outro)

The only songs that I loved instantly were "Do what you want" and "ARTPOP"  because the production sounded timeless, "Applause" and "Venus" because they are pop bops   In fact it was the contrary of my expectations!  

But then, production aside, I started to like some melodies and lyrics because it still Gaga, so I put my expectations aside and I took that album fom what it is, a good pop album, not an underground mixtape of bass music..  
Sure I won't have uk garage, dark techno, techstep, breakbeat, future bass, happy hardcore and tech house songs like I wanted but I listened to that album a lot though. And most of the songs grew on me. 

It's definitly not my favorite Gaga album because she played on a territory where I'm too demanding, but it's not a bad album and "Do what you want" and "ARTPOP" still in my top 10.

In fact, I think I hoped she released songs like Partynauseous ( artrave), so that's why I still curious to listen to Act II, I'm sure it was more the kind of album I expected.

Now, drag me I deserve it 
 

I won’t drag you because I understand where you came from. Tbf I feel like many people who are really into edm went into the album without acknowledging it being an experimental POP album, but pop first and foremost. That was the beauty of it for me, how she merged the gap between very mainstream, digestible pop and her reverence for rave and edm cultures. Many people did think it came across as cannibalistic but I think her intentions were honest and she delivered something only she could. I don’t think she went into it thinking her music was gonna be “techstep” or “breakbeat” but rather how to push the boundaries of her music and still being firmly rooted in pop. 

[Gaga Goddess 215]

ARTPOP was the album that made me stan Gaga, I have such a deep connection with that record 

[IllusionLover 6,194]

It was the first album of Gaga I heard in full and yes I loved every single second if it. It was also my first era as a stan and it was magical.

[S0436 10,215]

I don’t see the big drama about it being so OTT and experimental.  The songs are pop electronic songs with melodies at the end of the day.  Although Chromatica is more easy to listen to for radio, at least all the songs of ARTPOP have two verses, choruses and bridges!

[Monsieur D 2,878]

 I NEVER UNDERSTOOD THE HATE 

some people are just...

tasteless  

[Esteban 2,294]

1 hour ago, HausOfAntonio said:

I won’t drag you because I understand where you came from. Tbf I feel like many people who are really into edm went into the album without acknowledging it being an experimental POP album, but pop first and foremost. That was the beauty of it for me, how she merged the gap between very mainstream, digestible pop and her reverence for rave and edm cultures. Many people did think it came across as cannibalistic but I think her intentions were honest and she delivered something only she could. I don’t think she went into it thinking her music was gonna be “techstep” or “breakbeat” but rather how to push the boundaries of her music and still being firmly rooted in pop. 

I think she really did what you describe in Born This way, Judas for example is the best example. A cute bubblegum pop chorus taken in sandwish between hard basses and an edgy garage bridge, that's why it's one of my favorite songs. The production of ARTPOP is still too generic for me, we can hear the sound of 2010-13 big edm festivals. It wasn't out or ahead of the time or timeless but right in the time, so it sounded dated for bass music lovers even when it was released.
BUT now it's a good commentary about 2010 - 2013 edm music transformed into pop. I just wished the influences were more assumed. 
And of course she was honest, she always is musically and I'll always love her