Joanne and Chromatica lashings

[RochestrMonstr 3,199]

It’s just opinions.

I adore Joanne, but I can see why some people wouldn’t vibe with it. 

On the flip side, Chromatica is among my least favorite, but I can see why some people would love it. 

Mayhem, to me, makes me feel something I haven’t felt since Joanne, which I also felt during TFM, BTW, and ARTPOP.

Mayhem truly could be the Magnum opus. 
 

Edit: I only think it’s too much when people are overly disrespectful about it. Which I feel historically has happened considerably more from Joanne’s haters than Chromatica’s.

Edited March 11 by RochestrMonstr

[Ziggy 11,789]

Idk about lashings but I think it’s very fair for her to say that those weren’t fully her. Shes said about as much before in the creation of each and the quality and passion between mayhem and those two is night and day. She had to really pull those out of herself and work on the “brand” of both but mayhem was kinda impulse and truest to her. So maybe it doesn’t deserve any more lashings than the very fair and obvious critical assessment she’s given where she was at during that essentially half a decade of her life

[AVeryGagaHolyDick 25,259]

Chro meh tica 

[Nycboy 1,092]

I love Chromatica so much but I also agree that it sounds phoned in. It’s simply not up to Gaga’s standards. It’s missing the Gaga spark - an album that transports the listener to an alternate dimension, like LG1-4 does. It’s a jolt of energy, but almost exhaustingly loud. It could have used some lowkey vibey moments like So Happy I Could Die between all the belting and the house beats. That’s what Madonna’s Confessions does better. Her cheap visuals and Covid also didn’t help. Even though the music is good, I look back on this era with cringe because the visuals actually made the music sound worse than it is. But, Chromatica did give us the phenomenal Replay, 911 and Babylon, while ROM gave her a #1 hit. 

I actually like Joanne a lot. In retrospect, it’s a nice complimentary piece to ASIB, and as a fan, I don’t always want to listen to electropop. This album’s flaw, however, is that it over promised and under delivered on country, sincerity and personal storytelling. However, this album changed her trajectory a lot. She wouldn’t have DWAS and Shallow without Million Reasons.  

Honestly, I think what Mayhem has that Joanne and Chromatica didn’t have is simply Gaga’s weirdness, without being too much (ARTPOP) or tacky (Chromatica). It’s her style on the red carpet. It’s the Abracadabra and Disease MV. It’s her facial expressions when performing Killah on SNL.

Even though I think TFM is a pop bible, it was her LOOKS, VISUALS, and ATTITUDE back then that made the music sound 100x better. And she’s doing that again with Mayhem.

[Elderflower 413]

1 hour ago, RochestrMonstr said:

Mayhem, to me, makes me feel something I haven’t felt since Joanne, which I also felt during TFM, BTW, and ARTPOP.

I concur; I feel the same way. 

I enjoy 10+ songs from Joanne. I enjoy 10+ songs from Mayhem. I enjoy 5 songs from Chromatica, and one of those isn't really that good.

[ThisGuyTony 30,462]

I’m glad not everyone is a Joanne and Chroma hater. 

At the time, these albums were there for me as an escape and also relatable to my life at the time.

But I do know, and understand, she didn’t put her 100% into these projects as well. 

Same with MAYHEM now. I relate so much to it and see her passion and creativity this era more than I did with the other two albums.

But I won’t accept Chroma and Joanne slander 

[HotLikeMexico 5,173]

Can’t wait till we **** on Mayhem when LG8 drops. It’s tired honestly. 

[robotvoiceinalice 1,584]

Chromatica absolutely does NOT deserve any lashings. the era? maybe. but defo not the album or the tour. the music is great and its a solid album from start to finish, it felt authentic and no skips. you can tell how much the music meant to her when she performed them live and even took Stupid Love to her jazz shows. its full of Gaga classics. the era tho could have been handled so differently and so much better and i know the fans love to use the pandemic as an excuse but other artists managed fine.

joanne? it does deserve it unfortunately. its the one gaga album that doesn't feel authentic to me. i mean she said before that she made it to heal her dad which didn't work and when it didn't work she became depressed between Joanne and Chromatica. then the music literally feels like a bunch of demos. and ofc we all know that Joanne was not the music she was originally making at the time and rushed out a project that took her about 6 months to make. the concept was about "going back to her roots" but like nothing of it sounds like the Gaga we know and love (including pre Fame stuff), and then she named the album after someone who is dead and that Gaga never met. she also tried to detach herself from the outlandish Gaga we all know and love so none of it felt authentic or genuine really. There are some good songs on it but Joanne is her weakest one for me. Mayhem is what Joanne wanted to be

I mean there is a reason why she's performed songs from all eras EXCEPT Joanne and taken songs from her eras EXCEPT Joanne to her Jazz shows, and random tribute performances she performs You and I, The Edge of Glory, Hold My Hand or Always Remember Us This Way. 

Edited March 11 by robotvoiceinalice

[StrawberryBlond 14,830]

I like Joanne and this fanbase is so unfair to it just because it wasn't dancefloor pop. It was a major part of her comeback when she needed it most. She says herself that it was the album that got her the SB gig which was the most major decision that fully realised her comeback primed for ASIB to slay and beyond. It should be respected for that alone. But it also helped her image to show that she was more multi-talented and multi-faceted than just a popstar who makes electronic based work. To see her do slower songs, play acoustic guitar, sing a different genre and dress more "normal" helped the public see any feelings they had before of her being a one trick pony was inaccurate. This was the period whereupon people could no longer deny her talent any longer because even without all the bells and whistles of a popstar image, she was unquestionably talented.

As for Chromatica, while it wasn't terrible, it was Gaga's most generic and calculated project since TF and it just wasn't where she was in her career at the time. After showing what she could do with C2C and Joanne, to go back to GP-friendly electropop with very short tracks to make them TikTok-friendly and teaming up with currently popular acts like Ariana and Blackpink to win more chart success just came across as a bit of a sell-out. Over time, it kinda seemed like she wasn't as passionate about it as she initially claimed as well. I like ROM and I'll forever be grateful to it for giving her another #1 to keep her going especially during the pandemic but it's not a beloved album to me and not her most authentic. 

[PartySick 159,870]

Joanne absolutely does not deserve the hate but it's nothing new lmao.

Chromatica wasn't executed well and I've been saying that since my first listen of the album. It's arguably her worst project.

[Nagini 2,270]

I remember my first time listening to Joanne and Chromatica... the smile waning from my face with every track. It wasn't bad, but the songs felt lifeless, sanitized, lazy, and forced. Both albums are a 5-6/10 for me, though there some good tracks (Joanne Piano Version, Perfect Illusion, Rain On Me, Sour Candy). ASIB got me through this gap given the songs from that soundtrack were some of her best (Always Remember Us This Way, Shallow, I'll Never Love Again, Is that Alright, Look What I Found, I'm Gunna Cry or w/e that song is). 

TF, TFM, and BTW are all 8-8.5/10 for me with Mayhem at a 9. ARTPOP is a 7. 

[XxBones 1,191]

7 hours ago, SHALLOW said:

Joanne was great. Gaga was very brave with that one.

Chromatica, on the other hand, was nothing new or special so it kinda deserves it  (i loved the 911 MV tho, it's my fave)

These are my thoughts as well. Joanne was an unexpected risk and that's what makes it such a gaga album. She challenged what people thought she should do. That pretty much aligns with who she is as an artist. Chromatica wasn't bad but it didn't feel special or feel like a gaga album because it felt like any other artist could have done it. In like the overall view of her career Joanne is still very unique album in the same way that all her other albums were aside from Chromatica. I think if gaga stuck to that true 90s house music that were in the demos it might be much more unique.

Edited March 12 by XxBones

[Sneaky Oliver 22,109]

I love Chromatica but I have to say it ultimately lacks the classic element, idk how to explain, like I can see the music from Maybem still sounding exquisite 5 years from now, while Chromatica even though it’s still good, we think well…that’s definitely her early 20s record! 

At the same time it feels unfair to compare it to the Future Nostalgia sound / trend from that time, Chromatica is way more sonically diverse. I think they’re just trying to praise Mayhem so hard they can’t recognize Chromatica highs

[Sneaky Oliver 22,109]

9 minutes ago, XxBones said:

Chromatica wasn't bad but it didn't feel special or feel like a gaga album because it felt like any other artist could have done it

Yet we can’t name a single one who could, let’s not underrate the good old sis that much 

[Princess Zelda 726]

Logging back in after 483284823842 years and reading some comments I'm like "do y'all even LIKE Gaga?"