What went wrong - Chromatica?

[Anveeroy 58,949]

After the release of MAYHEM, I have observed a rise in ANTI-CHROMATICA opinions; suddenly, fans are not very fond of 'Chromatica' anymore. I did not notice this before the release of MAYHEM. 

I understand there is a lot of trauma, promises were broken, and except the interludes, the songs weren't produced by GAGA, which is very noticeable. Issues with the album are extreme, and I do not neglect that, but why this sudden negativity? 

Does anyone care to explain?

[RochestrMonstr 2,770]

I think Mayhem just reminded everyone how much better she could do! 

[Lord Axel 783]

everyone's memories of 2020 were wiped, its the only way to explain the unwarranted Chroma hate 

[Rahrahbitchson 18,004]

Chromatica is such a good, fun album to vibe, i really like it, one of my favorites and one of her best tbh

People just want to hate on it for no reason but when we were in the middle of the era they were like "I need replay music video OMG one of her best songs!!! She needs to release the sour candy music video to smash!!!" 

When LG8 is released they will be trash talking Mayhem, period. Sometimes gays can be so messy...

Edited yesterday at 03:30 AM by Rahrahbitchson

[He8MyHeart 9,656]

I like Chromatica but I find the themes to be a bit depressing.

[OliviaRodrigoStan 5,274]

It's been long enough, so we can stop pretending now . I don't hate the album though, I think it's fun, amd I could tell she had fun recording it. 

It really just has very few songs I enjoyed from it. "Rain On Me", and "Plastic Doll", that's it. 

It is not a bad album, it just feels unremarkable to me, if compared to the rest of her material. Personally, I have no bitter feelings about it being a "short" era, there was a global pandemic, it was not her fault 

[Ladle Ghoulash 19,443]

IMO it’s the production. It’s very clean, but lacks edge + grit + texture. I was honestly thinking about how much it would slap if Cirkut, Gessafelstein, and BURNS got together and reworked Chromatica 👀

[PartySick 153,111]

I haven't cared for the album since its release. It feels sterile and devoid of the soul that's in every other bit of her work.

You only need to compare Free Woman's demo to the final song to see why.

That demo had so many unique sounds and depth to it just for the final version to sound like it fell out of Bloodpop's 2016 reject samples folder.

I appreciate the dude's talents, he co-produced my favorite album after all, but making him the lead producer was a mistake.

[MACATL 1,271]

I actually loved Chromatica.  It scratched my 90’s house/dance itch.  Very well done and a bright spot in 2020 for me. (And a single won a Grammy!) That said, it’s pretty much a “concept” project compared to Mayhem.  

[PartySick 153,111]

Just now, Ladle Ghoulash said:

IMO it’s the production. It’s very clean, but lacks edge + grit + texture. I was honestly thinking about how much it would slap if Cirkut, Gessafelstein, and BURNS got together and reworked Chromatica 👀

Omfg if they reworked Chromatica songs for the Mayhem Ball I would pee ngl

Rain on Me, Fun Tonight, Enigma, or Replay would all slap so hard with better production behind them

[Bobina 1,999]

Mostly Covid as far as promo goes. The album itself is just very sterile despite the lyrics being some of her most personal. Though, I have come to love it for what it is over the years. 

[LG2008 4,595]

I love Chromatica and the concept but the production was way too clean for Gaga  To me, it almost didn't feel like it was her project at some point... I think I've said this many times but Bloodpop def took over and it shows, it should've been Gaga pulling the strings of her own project

And they basically abandoned it multiple times after restaring the era. Many things were going on back then 

Edited yesterday at 03:39 AM by LG2008

[OliviaRodrigoStan 5,274]

1 minute ago, PartySick said:

I appreciate the dude's talents, he co-produced my favorite album after all, but making him the lead producer was a mistake.

I don't appreciate his talents, and I think he is GaGa's worst musical companion TBH . I think his style doesn't work with her, he lacks drama. 

[REALITY 75,344]

1 minute ago, RochestrMonstr said:

I think Mayhem just reminded everyone how much better she could do! 

This 1000%

I like Chromatica, but I think MAYHEM is superior in almost every way. They're both albums where she's supposed to "return to her roots," but MAYHEM is far more effective. It truly feels like a return to her roots, but with an updated twist. In comparison, Chromatica feels a lot safer and less interesting. 

It also didn't help that Covid halted pretty much all of her promo. That's obviously not her fault, but I think the lack of content contributed to people's feelings on the album. 

[PartySick 153,111]

3 minutes ago, OliviaRodrigoStan said:

I don't appreciate his talents, and I think he is GaGa's worst musical companion TBH . I think his style doesn't work with her, he lacks drama. 

Idk what exactly he did but he's got producing credits for Joanne so I at least appreciate that he didn't screw that album up at a time when he was releasing songs like Bieber's "Friends"...which itself sounds like it would fit on Chromatica  

His work sounds very "relic of the mid-2010s" to me which was an era that I despised and Gaga was the only reprieve from all the terrible music being released  

As a note, Dawn of Chromatica provided several much needed fixes for songs and remixes in general went crazy for that era