Was Joanne Ahead of Its Time, too?

[Naak Le Vaar 1,221]

Sorta. I think a year or two after that more albums like Joanne came out. Maybe not ahead of its time, more like ahead of the curve.

[kenmonster 208]

Gaga has always been the blueprint for the girls

[ProfessionalClown 10,640]

53 minutes ago, androiduser said:

no, not at all... it's a classic sound that a lot of artists have done before and after.... the term "ahead of its time" gets thrown around a lot, because often there is no objective proof

i don’t think people are saying the sound was ahead of its time but the idea of what Joanne was. The closest release to it was Younger Now by Miley and after Joanne it was pretty much the trend to make albums that were very introspective and a lot more personal when it came to mainstream pop. I feel like Joanne, out of all her albums, was kinda the most “ahead of the curve” album she put out. Even though today people are still trying to release their “chromatica” and i have no doubt when LG7 comes out, it’ll do the same 

[pachinko 10,040]

Let it rot. 

[just another gay 830]

Joanne is on its own being timeless. 

[Anderson123 36,088]

I think it maybe influenced other popstars to come up with their “personal”, “serious”, “chill” album as opposed to what was the trend back there. Anti, Rainbow, Younger Now. Maybe it did, maybe it didn’t.

They were trying to make Gaga do more I Wanna Be With You songs on ARTPOP because Adele was dominating with the piano ballard and she changed it to make it very depressing into Dope. Pop music was going that route I think. 

As for the singles, I still believe Perfect Illusion was the right choice. Fand would’ve FLIPPED if she went straight into A-Yo but Million Reasons would’ve been an interesting choice too. It’s a beautiful album but took me a while to appreciate it, almost forced myself to like it because it’s Gaga. 
 

[Tyler1992 2,169]

I wouldn’t say it was “ahead of its time”, but it did come right before the wave of stripped down pop music made its impact. 

 “Ahead of its time” is when the project is misinterpreted upon release, and reevaluated later on to the standards of the musical landscape that caught up. 

Gaga has a good sense of where the pop music landscape is moving sonically, and capitalizes on it. I think she has a plethora of concepts, themes, and genres she would like to explore, and executes accordingly. 

Gaga has talked about an album like Joanne since the early days of The Monster Ball, and implemented it while the iron was hot. 

[Cavadour 2,025]

I don't think it was ahead. It was just another musical path for Gaga. Like it or not, Joanne remains a wonderful piece of music and her voice shines in the whole album. Style and arrangements are different from her previous work and most of her early career's fans don't like it.

Being opinionated is a common reaction when something you feel comfortable with is subject to change. Often I'm not far removed from reacting that way. But if there is something I learned pretty early on and relate strongly with LG, that's her versatility on top of everything she does and I love her for that no matter what.

AHS Hotel and Joanne were my access card to Gaga. The way I fell for her at that time, musically and as a person, hadn't happened to me in twenty years or so...

[Bronco 6,871]

Honestly it would have done really well during Covid I feel. It would have resonated with the rise of the cottagecore cult. 

But Joanne just isn't her best work at the end of the day. So I don't think it was ahead of its time. It always feels like 2 competing album concepts to me. 

You get album direction 1 with the country adjacent indie rock of Diamond Heart, AYO, John Wayne, Dancin in Circles & Perfect Illusion. A full album in this direction would have done brilliantly in 2016. 

And then she kind of drops that entirely for a blues & folk album direction on all the ballads. This sound would have killed in Covid when you look at how well cottagecore americana did for a period of time with Folklore/Evermore, Preacher's daughter, Lana Del Rey's everything since NFR lol

[Killa 15,884]

Its a sort of prototype, not very successful formula though.  

[MessyTop 14,319]

4 hours ago, Chlorine said:

No, it was not ahead of its time. The only benefit of releasing it today is that she would still have the opportunity to scrap it. 

[phantasmas 9,970]

maybe a little but now it's Cowboy Carter that's ahead of the curve 

[yungpancake 593]

I’ve always thought of Joanne as her most “forgettable” album, but with very few memorable songs (Million Reasons, Joanne, Angel Down). I think it wasn’t created to be ‘ahead of its time’ because it was  instrumental to the successful return of Gaga in the mainstream. It was her reintroduction. I think it was supposed to fit into the 2016 landscape very well. 

[Starmie25 13,986]

My wish for its 10th anniversary is that it gets a remaster/remix, mainly the uptempo tracks. 

 

[TimotheeChalamet 4,912]

No but it certainly was Gaga's best career choice that reminded everyone how great and deep her music is regardless of its genre and aesthetic. Pop stans don't (and will never) understand that. 

Edited July 13, 2024 by TimotheeChalamet