Chromatica For Me Is Flat

[palma 7,846]

compared to Mayhem it's bland tbh. Alice, Babylon, Replay, 911 and Enigma are the only songs I go back to once a week or something - even ROM feels overplayed. It does have its moments but ultimately doesn't feel like a Gaga album because it lacks the brilliance and uniqueness her other releases have. 

I too, like most of the fanbase, blame Bloodpop. First he dumbed down Joanne into a pop-adjacent yeehaw album when she could've had a more authentic work w/ Mark Ronson (see, ASIB), and then forced a dance-pop album out of her when her heart was clearly not there. It was nice and exciting at the time but Chromatica won't stand the test of time I fear.

Not the worst album I've heard (quite consistently 7/10), but when you hear Gaga is coming after a 7-year break from dance-pop with a 90's house album that explores mental health topics and tangles with sci-fi world building, Chromatica falls very short of the promise because Gaga wasn't very involved in the production and Bloodpop made a Gagafied commercial pop record in her absence. 

[Controversiaga 11,369]

Chromatica has some great highs, but many mids and lows.

for me the best have always been Alice, 911, replay, and enigma 

[MountainMonster 791]

As is often the case for me, Chromatica starts with my favorites that I still revisit and ends with things I never want to hear again. 
 

I still listen to Alice, Stupid Love, Rain on Me, and Chromatica 2 into 911. Still angry with how the production of Free Woman turned what was incredible from the demo into lukewarm garbage. 

[Roboboy 3,773]

little monsters broadly disliking chromatica is one of the most bizarre things I've ever come across in pop music discourse. it's like her undeniable best album by leaps and bounds and strides to me 

[Blackout19 12,111]

30 minutes ago, MountainMonster said:

the production of Free Woman turned what was incredible from the demo into lukewarm garbage.

[retrosexual123 934]

Chromatica for me, to the touch, is glossy and smooth.

Mayhem has more texture. 

[SidewalkUnicorn 38]

Replay is my 3rd favorite Gaga song (for the moment anyway).  Rain on Me is my favorite duet.  

I could write a 10,000 word essay on why Plastic Doll and Fun Tonight, in particular, get so much, imo, undeserved hate, but  I got s*** to do.

That said, Chromatica is very middle of her discography for me overall.  Sometimes I think it will have its ARTPOP moment as some say it will, but Chromatica actually received largely positive critical reviews and the GP weren't actively sick of and dismissive of Gaga in 2020 the way they were in 2013.  I don't think AP was ahead of its time or blah blah blah, I just think that people were overly critical of/dismissive of it and Gaga in 2013 and that blinded them to the fact that the music on the album was mostly good.  

[Ladle Ghoulash 25,617]

19 minutes ago, Roboboy said:

little monsters broadly disliking chromatica is one of the most bizarre things I've ever come across in pop music discourse. it's like her undeniable best album by leaps and bounds and strides to me 

I mean, I certainly wouldn’t go that far lmao. It’s a very good album (imo, she doesn’t really have any bad albums), but I think compared to MAYHEM, TFM, BTW the production and attention to detail are definitely a bit underwhelming. MAYHEM to me has a lot of what was missing on Chromatica: harmonic layers, layered vocals, intricate/detailed instrumentals…Chromatica’s songwriting is strong and good for what it’s going for, but I think production is really where it suffers. 

[Anderson123 38,535]

Chromatica is a great pop album that served it's purpose as an incredible collection of dance songs that came at the right time when we needed it. For Gaga's STANDARDS, yes it doesn't come close to what she has done with The Fame, The Fame Monster, Born This Way, maybe ARTPOP and now clearly with Mayhem. We know she hasn't been in the right place for years and she still managed to record some great music here, very painful lyrics but with the help of good friends and yes I am talking about Bloodpop. We would not have this great album without him and I think they all deserve credit.

Joanne, Chromatica, A Star Is Born, Harlequin, Cheek To Cheek and Love For Sale may not be the average fans' favorites but I am for sure Gaga put so much passion into all of these, especially the jazz ones. But I am really grateful now that we have Mayhem that you can see, hear and feel that spark back again.

[Juniper 976]

The lyrics on Chromatica are some of her best. I agree with the album being like 7-8/10 all-through. Mayhem on the other hand to me has some real highs but also songs that I consider some of her worst. I would say I skip half the album generally. On Chromatica I don’t skip anything besides Fun Tonight. 

[Economy 49,917]

8 hours ago, Bronco said:

I loved Chromatica at the time. But I feel like its been aged badly by the release of Mayhem. 

Contextually, Chromatica came after we hadn't had "popGa" in nearly a decade. It hit the addiciton we all needed to feed. 

But now we've had Mayhem? Now Chromatica feels like the dollar store discount brand coke and Mayhem is the glass bottled mexican coke.

[LauraPalmer 1,132]

Chromatica’s production is too “safe” for me. for an album with some heavy themes and thereturn of the concept of her inner demons being referred to as “monsters”, i would have liked the production to reflect that more. that being said, it’s still a solid pop album

[Lucas 27,184]

Agreed! Except Stupid Love which is a low low for me, the entire album is like a straight continuous line.

[LadyEnigma 1,245]

I love Chromatica, but I know what you mean when you say it’s flat and it’s all on the production for me

[Taumaturg0 571]

I thought I was gonna have to lash out, but I do agree. The album lacks a resting moment imo, but it's a really good album