Would Chromatica have done better this year?

[ThisGuyTony 29,442]

Pop music is more dominant this year on the charts and many artists have adjusted and learned ways in how they do promo and perform during the pandemic.  

I know a 1 year wait would have killed us but maybe we would have a few more MV’s, performances, and street looks and it would’ve been worth it.

Of course, it would have been hard to manage an era around HoG filming…

[LaMaisonGaga 23,884]

yes

[badfaith 5,676]

Imagine Planet Her coming first to Chromatica, others would have came for her for copying

[PunkTheFunk 123,955]

Probably not, she would have had more competition.

[Sir 1,542]

As long as the journey ACTUALLY continues 

[WhereIsLG7 1,348]

Yes, had it been only stupid love released during vmas and few promo droplets (free woman promotional single x apple × garage band) in anticipation of the album release last april 9, 2021

*given that house of gucci filming and L4S had been rescheduled for a later release*

[Mister G 10,273]

Possibly but she would have had a lot more competition between Ariana, Billie, Taylor, and Doja. Although, I think it’s a testament to how strong women are with pop music in general.

[sexy 3,217]

I actually do think it would've done better in April/May 2021 than 2020 if for no other reason than that I think Gaga would've been in a better headspace for the album. It was abundantly clear that she was not interested in promoting this body of work after the pandemic ruined her original plans, and I don't blame her at all for that, I think it's probably the most frustrating thing in the world to create something that is going to serve as a comeback of sorts (her first true pop record in 7 years), only for it to get blown up by something completely out of her hands.

I also think her situation was a bit different than other big artists who were releasing around the same time, which people on this site always like to point out as, "Well, why couldn't Gaga have pushed through?" The two closest comparisons are Dua Lipa and The Weeknd, imo, but they differ in crucial ways, notably that both had already released their lead singles well before the pandemic hit. Heartless had debuted at #1 in 2019, and Blinding Lights hit #1 in February 2020. Don't Start Now was already Top 5 when everything shut down. For Dua Lipa, this was a make or break era – there was no way she could afford to halt her promo without killing her career. For The Weeknd, his era was basically already in full swing, and 2/4 of the singles he would release were already hits.

Meanwhile, Gaga got absolutely ****ed by the timing. Stupid Love debuted on the charts the week of March 13, 2020. California shut down completely on March 19. She was the only major artist who released RIGHT when COVID was bringing the world to a standstill. Not only that, this was an album created specifically for parties, clubs, dancing, big gatherings. It could not have been a worse combo.

And if you look at the Top 10 immediately after the pandemic hit, it wasn't just Stupid Love – hardly any new songs stuck from early March to early May. That Top 6/7 of Circles, Don't Start Now, Blinding Lights, The Box, and Say So was remarkably durable, and persisted throughout that initial wave of COVID.

So, the combination of the pandemic, the leak, and Gaga essentially abandoning the album after it was released makes me think that, at the very least, it couldn't have gone any worse in 2021 than 2020.

[KORG 4,756]

That's why they're going to restart the era in Autumn.

[js4754394o9823 6,882]

no

it was a perfect pandemic album

and did really good 

[JaysAMess 27,843]

Honestly, I don’t think the release date was the issue, the issue was Gaga promoting it. She had so many projects she was working on, she could only do so much for Chromatica.

[thehanyo 4,251]

1 hour ago, badfaith said:

Imagine Planet Her coming first to Chromatica, others would have came for her for copying

Planet Her doesn't exist without Chromatica.

[Nycboy 1,006]

I don’t think so. Chromatica’s 2020 release lead to 2 Grammy noms and one win. It’s a good thing that Chromatica won’t be compared to Olivia or Billie’s 2021 releases. Sour and Happier Than Ever are both trying to define the new course of pop with Gen Z superstars, and if directly compared to those albums, Chromatica would come off a bit overshadowed, less impactful, and reductive in that it celebrates Gaga’s original sound without offering much more and without capturing a younger generation. Although Chromatica did “compete” with Future Nostaligia, I think that their similar sounds helped lift each other up and paint a story of a “2020 disco revival” which gave Chromatica the sense of having a pop cultural impact in that regard.  

Even though 2021 has less covid restrictions than 2020, along with that comes higher expectations, and I think expectations unfortunately hurt Gaga. Chromatica had nearly ZERO expectations due to its covid release. It’s viewed as successful given that it had basically no promo. Only one song had a major impact (Rain on Me) and that felt good for a covid release. Had that happened today, maybe we’d evaluate it under a different lens. 

In the past few years, I think Gaga has shined the most with the general public from her fashion moments and acting — not so much the music (think: Met Gala, ASIB, recent NYC paparazzi shots). TBH I think her recent NYC looks, which are going viral nonstop on social media, are making bigger waves than Chromatica did and I’m okay with that. They’re ICONIC. Add the Tony performances and House if Gucci on top of that, and 2021 will be a MUCH bigger, MUCH more iconic, and more impactful year for Gaga than 2020 was. 

In retrospect, Chromatica was actually a nice project to release during the worst of the pandemic in 2020 to keep Gaga somewhat relevant and critically acclaimed, because it’s her 2021 projects that will really shine. 

[Anderson123 36,650]

This album and my family being safe were the only good things about 2020 so I don’t think I’d have been very happy if she decided to postpone the whole album for a year. I mean I’d understand if she did but it came out when we needed it the most. 

 

19 minutes ago, sexy said:

I actually do think it would've done better in April/May 2021 than 2020 if for no other reason than that I think Gaga would've been in a better headspace for the album. It was abundantly clear that she was not interested in promoting this body of work after the pandemic ruined her original plans, and I don't blame her at all for that, I think it's probably the most frustrating thing in the world to create something that is going to serve as a comeback of sorts (her first true pop record in 7 years), only for it to get blown up by something completely out of her hands.

I also think her situation was a bit different than other big artists who were releasing around the same time, which people on this site always like to point out as, "Well, why couldn't Gaga have pushed through?" The two closest comparisons are Dua Lipa and The Weeknd, imo, but they differ in crucial ways, notably that both had already released their lead singles well before the pandemic hit. Heartless had debuted at #1 in 2019, and Blinding Lights hit #1 in February 2020. Don't Start Now was already Top 5 when everything shut down. For Dua Lipa, this was a make or break era – there was no way she could afford to halt her promo without killing her career. For The Weeknd, his era was basically already in full swing, and 2/4 of the singles he would release were already hits.

Meanwhile, Gaga got absolutely ****ed by the timing. Stupid Love debuted on the charts the week of March 13, 2020. California shut down completely on March 19. She was the only major artist who released RIGHT when COVID was bringing the world to a standstill. Not only that, this was an album created specifically for parties, clubs, dancing, big gatherings. It could not have been a worse combo.

And if you look at the Top 10 immediately after the pandemic hit, it wasn't just Stupid Love – hardly any new songs stuck from early March to early May. That Top 6/7 of Circles, Don't Start Now, Blinding Lights, The Box, and Say So was remarkably durable, and persisted throughout that initial wave of COVID.

So, the combination of the pandemic, the leak, and Gaga essentially abandoning the album after it was released makes me think that, at the very least, it couldn't have gone any worse in 2021 than 2020.

This post makes a lot of points. I agree. 

[Lilmonzter 2,864]

I think so.

Pop has traction more now.