Joanne and Chromatica lashings

[ThisGuyTony 29,531]

Do you think the Joanne and Chromatica lashings are warranted? 

It’s not only Monsters talking negatively about the two albums/era on Twitter, on here, and on other pop forums, but also major publications and the GP (in the spoilers). 

Spoiler

NYT: “It’s considerably sharper than her previous two pop solo efforts, the tepid 2016 quasi-country album, “Joanne,” and her unfortunately timed 2020 return to the dance floor, “Chromatica,” a mixed bag that now sounds overly dated thanks to its embrace of pop’s then-trendy obsession with sound-alike house samples and beats. (Gaga recently admitted in a New York Times Magazine interview that she wasn’t operating at her highest level in the “Chromatica” era: “I was in a really dark place,” she said, “and I wouldn’t say I made my best music during that time.”)”

LA Times: “Also: “Mayhem” is better than “Chromatica” — more tuneful, more coherent, certainly more fun.”
 

I think we need to at least acknowledge these albums/eras helped her career, despite her admitting it wasn’t her best music and the Monsters trying to discredit these projects. 

So what do you think? Do Joanne and Chroma deserve these lashings? 

[Red 97,000]

I'm ignoring them cause it's always like this, this cult site suffers from Miley Cyrus syndrome of always criticizing the past era in favor of the current. When LG8 comes out, people will hate Mayhem and say Chromatica is a masterpiece. It's always like this. 

[Roboboy 3,720]

it's just the chaos of time, gaga slagged joanne off when chromatica came out and now mayhem came out she's slagging off chromatica. I don't really blame her cause it just seems like an impulse. for what it's worth I think chromatica is incredible and joanne is horrendous 

Edited 21 hours ago by Roboboy
clarity

[Alvitr 819]

I really don’t think the slandering is warranted… Joanne, Chromatica and Mayhem are ALL personal to HER. It’s like 3 stages of her development to find herself only to realise she’s everything, the past and the now. The albums were really needed not only for her career…  

I just think everyone should remember that music subjective and not be hurt if someone does not like something you like. Like discuss in a good manner and think about the word choices in subjective critiquing. 
 

Now when she has 3 albums that is more surrounding her and  personal life, I really hope the next one will be more about the collective, the world, nature, philosophical and esoteric themes. 
 

But for now, just enjoy Mayhem and if you don’t there’s a full catalog of Gaga songs you can listen to and be happy about

Edited 20 hours ago by Alvitr

[eifulien 2,810]

The critics' opinion is not any more relevant than the fans' one cause they're also full of scheisse and contradiction. Just look at the NYT quote: yes, Chromatica isn't her best work, many fans failed to connect but there's a significant chunk who put this album in their top 3. It's all valid. Now, if Chromatica was so bad as the NYT quote says, then why does it stand as her second highest rated album? See, even critics can't predict how it'll evolve and age.

In a nutshell, no, the lashings are not warranted. And it's high time we learn to show appreciation of a new project of hers without putting down her previous ones. 

[vmpiregrn 377]

I genuinely love Joanne. I feel like when you let go of your desire for electro pop, it’s a solid pop rock album that showcases range. With Chromatica I had to suspend some disbelief to really enjoy it, which I wouldn’t have done if I weren’t a serious Gaga fan. A lot of Chromatica’s styling and visuals seemed very cheap, save for high-budget publications and the photoshoots for the album itself. There was a lot of cringe to that era too that was hard to separate from the music as a devoted fan…like the Stupid Love video and the whole kindness punk thing. I don’t think Chromatica is aging well, unfortunately.

Edited 21 hours ago by vmpiregrn

[vmpiregrn 377]

Chromatica also isn’t aging well, imo, because it felt like she was trying to lean into tik tok pop trends — a lot of the songs felt so short as to seem underdeveloped and more concerned with getting a sound bite that could go viral 

[culturalbaptism 2,696]

16 minutes ago, Red said:

I'm ignoring them cause it's always like this, this cult site suffers from Miley Cyrus syndrome of always criticizing the past era in favor of the current. When LG8 comes out, people will hate Mayhem and say Chromatica is a masterpiece. It's always like this. 

Lmao. Not at all. It’ll be like TFM and BTW. No lashings to the previous one because the precisou one is actually good.

OT: Joanne and Chromatica do deserve all the past, present and future lashing they can get. Joanne goes literally nowhere. Chromatica tries to go but dies at the beach. A hard no. Imagina enjoying an album with A-NO in it. Truly piss.

[Anveeroy 58,312]

20 minutes ago, Red said:

I'm ignoring them cause it's always like this, this cult site suffers from Miley Cyrus syndrome of always criticizing the past era in favor of the current. When LG8 comes out, people will hate Mayhem and say Chromatica is a masterpiece. It's always like this. 

I agree with that, but you saw, BTW, The Fame, or TFM bashing. Don't you think Mayhem will be there with this trio? 

[nATAH 45,412]

anyone who thinks these "lashings" are warranted needs to visit a job centre and touch grass along the way

[Poltergeist 3,551]

I think preferring one album over another isn't a lashing, and in most situations that's exactly what I see.

If someone's just calling an album ****, that's another story

[TheMontebello 153]

I do think they're her weakest projects but I like both. I just think Joanne could have leaned in the direction of Perfect Illusion and it would've been 5 stars instead of 4 (in my personal opinion, of course).

My only issue with Chromatica is the production sounds like it's missing something in a few songs. I would rate it 4 out of 5 too.

TF, TFM, BTW, ARTPOP and Mayhem are 5 stars to me.

Edited 21 hours ago by TheMontebello

[huttont 5,128]

23 minutes ago, TheMontebello said:

I do think they're her weakest projects but I like both. I just think Joanne could have leaned in the direction of Perfect Illusion and it would've been 5 stars instead of 4 (in my personal opinion, of course).

My only issue with Chromatica is the production sounds like it's missing something in a few songs. I would rate it 4 out of 5 too.

TF, TFM, BTW, ARTPOP and Mayhem are 5 stars to me.

Exactly! There are some major gems on both albums. Those are my complaints about Joanne as well. The vibes are all over the place for me. 
 

And chromatica feels like most of the  songs have a missing element like vocal layers or odd song structures. 
 

As much as they are lower on my ranking, they both were very important to her and her career, and they also gave us Diamond Heart, John Wayne, Perfect Illusion, Rain On Me, 911, Enigma, Replay, and Babylon

[NemoMyName 228]

Joanne have some good songs, but some lyrics are very bad and very corny. To me Joanne have the worst lyrics of her career.

[Essence 223]

I think they’re both essential in her canon. We wouldn’t have MAYHEM w/o both of them. There is no world where those experiences didn’t shape her, even if they weren’t the most positive.

In retrospect, I think she was trying very hard on Joanne. It was still authentic, but a bit rigid sonically as she wanted to reinvent.

I adore Chromatica. I like how in the NYT interview she said that just because she doesn’t feel like she made her best music at the time doesn’t mean it wasn’t authentic. I think that album *authentically* captures what it feels like to be going through a mental health crisis. Even the more sterilized production feels fitting; it’s ‘medicated’ in a sense. I think that album is a beautiful time capsule of a tragic and complicated time. It’s one of my favorites.