ARTPOP vs Chromatica: Who Aged Better?

[LadyLuca 2,585]

ARTPOP is my fav Album 

[Bronco 15,701]

36 minutes ago, TimotheeChalamet said:

While I do agree that the production on Chromatica sounds a bit generic, I think a lot of fans don't like the album (now, back then they were all jumping and screaming "yaaaas queeeen") because they still want Gaga to be gay, chaotic and less serious with her lyrics. Personally, I like her personal stories about mental health more than when she pretends to have sex with Greek gods, but that's just me apparently. I wonder if when LG8 drops y'all will hate on Mayhem as well 😂

Oh some fans will absolutely flip if LG8 does better chart wise 😂

 

[Guille 1,581]

It is fashionable to hate on Chromatica, but that album has always been way superior and has aged like fine wine 

Edited November 26, 2025 by Guille

[AVeryGagaHolyDick 27,956]

6 hours ago, Bronco said:

I mean you can definitely pull out cheesy/corny/bad lyrics from Mayhem tbh.

Not a quarter as much as Chromatica, and not a quarter as bad 

[AVeryGagaHolyDick 27,956]

2 hours ago, Bronco said:

Oh some fans will absolutely flip if LG8 does better chart wise 😂

 

I’ve hated Chromatica since day 1 

[Guille 1,581]

Just now, AVeryGagaHolyDick said:

I’ve hated Chromatica since day 1 

I didn't know COVID could last that long, I mean, because of your lack of taste

[PartySick 164,895]

4 hours ago, TimotheeChalamet said:

While I do agree that the production on Chromatica sounds a bit generic, I think a lot of fans don't like the album (now, back then they were all jumping and screaming "yaaaas queeeen") because they still want Gaga to be gay, chaotic and less serious with her lyrics. Personally, I like her personal stories about mental health more than when she pretends to have sex with Greek gods, but that's just me apparently. I wonder if when LG8 drops y'all will hate on Mayhem as well 😂

 

3 hours ago, Bronco said:

Oh some fans will absolutely flip if LG8 does better chart wise 😂

 

Anyone who trashes Mayhem when LG8 comes can rightfully have their opinions ignored 'cause Mayhem is literal perfection in every way  

[PartySick 164,895]

1 hour ago, AVeryGagaHolyDick said:

I’ve hated Chromatica since day 1 

That was a rough day  

Stupid Love was kind of a banger, RoM was good, and we had the Free Woman demo...all three working to set expectations for that album and then sitting and actually listening to the full thing? God  

It's the only project of hers I didn't even remotely like immediately  

Every pop album, the jazz albums, the soundtracks, all knocked out of the park. But with Gaga (apparently) not at her best and a subpar producer like Bloodpop in charge? Flop album  

[Lucas 28,713]

None 

ARTPOP sounded dated on release and it's probably one of my top 5 least favorite albums from all all my faves.

Chromatica is full of songs that are catchy on first listens, so you listen to them on loop for a while, but once they lose their catchiness from being overplayed, they lose all their value as a song, nothing interesting is left. The songs relied entirely on being catchy imo.

[Gorehound 4,920]

13 hours ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

No skips and yet SHICD is on it. Huh…

I love TFM (top three for me for sure), but I’d honestly rather listen to the “skips” on BTW than the weaker tracks on TFM. 

This SHICD slander is unacceptable. It's lush af.

 

[Ladle Ghoulash 32,998]

14 minutes ago, Gorehound said:

This SHICD slander is unacceptable. It's lush af.

 

It’s a very good song, it’s just not really one ai listen to anymore unless I’m listening to TFM all the way through 🤷

[Gorehound 4,920]

Just now, Ladle Ghoulash said:

It’s a very good song, it’s just not really one ai listen to anymore unless I’m listening to TFM all the way through 🤷

Thats fair, but for me the song is a very rare example of Gaga doing a more chilled, mid-tempo, hypnotic song, and singing in a softer way which I love. I wish she'd do more of that.

[TheFrenchGuy 2,352]

10 hours ago, Bronco said:

I mean you can definitely pull out cheesy/corny/bad lyrics from Mayhem tbh.

Gaga will always be camp and cheesy. But on Mayhem the camp is on purpose, there's intent behind the choices so it's fun and immersive. On Chromatica it's just sooo literal and barebones. 

 

You love the paparazzi, love the fame
Even though you know it causes me pain
I feel like I'm in a prison hell
Stick my hands through the steels bars and yell

vs

I look so hungry but I look so good
Tap on my vein suck on my diamond blood
Choke on the fame and hope it gets you high
Sit in the front row watch the princess die

 

Those lyrics say pretty much the same thing but one is clearly superior because the POV is clear and the metaphors are a lot more interesting 

[Bronco 15,701]

1 minute ago, TheFrenchGuy said:

Gaga will always be camp and cheesy. But on Mayhem the camp is on purpose, there's intent behind the choices so it's fun and immersive. On Chromatica it's just sooo literal and barebones. 

 

You love the paparazzi, love the fame
Even though you know it causes me pain
I feel like I'm in a prison hell
Stick my hands through the steels bars and yell

vs

I look so hungry but I look so good
Tap on my vein suck on my diamond blood
Choke on the fame and hope it gets you high
Sit in the front row watch the princess die

 

Those lyrics say pretty much the same thing but one is clearly superior because the POV is clear and the metaphors are a lot more interesting 

I'd argue they're not saying the same thing because they represent totally different emotional responses to the topic. 

They're 2 sides of the same coin, but like any coin the 2 sides aren't identical and tell 2 stories. 

One is significantly more personal, comes from suffering and pain. It's emotional story is totally different to the one that almost angrily confronts the cause of the pain and suffering.

One is Stephanie almost crying for help, the other is Gaga going on the attack. 

You literally can't have had the lyrics written from a position of strength & confrontation without the lyrics that represented the position of weakness and helplessness. 

[Gorehound 4,920]

I have learned to love Chromatica overall. (I didn't hate it on first listen but I did feel underwhelmed). There's great moments/potential scattered across the album, but it's heavily marred by the "below 2 minutes per song" trend (which I f*cking hate), Bloodpop's annoying lack of any real imagination or innovation, and the unavoidable, self-pitying gloom Gaga has throughout. No offence but at times it gets kinda insufferable. And while the seriousness and sadness is touching at times, there’s a distinct lack of any real passion or vitality which makes Gaga's music so enjoyable. A lot of Chromatica feels like not being able to cum. Even critics at the time said that Gaga felt bored on this album. Pity the reigns weren't given to the likes of SOPHIE or Arca imo.

 

ARTPOP on the other hand is a hot mess, but at least Gaga was f*cking trying. The passion is there in floods and you can tell that she really believed in this album. And the production is great and imaginative. It's explosive, intense, ludicrous, pretentious, silly and sexual etc, and anything but safe. Every song, good and bad, still feels like you’re on a rollercoaster and it's just good fun. She did warn us that there was a lack of maturity on the album, and was focused more on being “dirty dance music” and that’s what we got. The EDM genre may be trapped in 2013, but at least each song hits hard and climaxes. Everybody absolutely loves to use the term “cohesive” when talking about albums as if it’s the number one rule, but that can quickly become boring (cough-Chromatica-cough). ARTPOP was always meant to be more abstract as an album and “genre-trip”. If anything I think it deserved to be even more incoherent and dive into a greater plethora of genres. (Tho Jewels N’ Drugs is far too jarring. Ratchet would’ve worked better imo). I could go on and on but ye, I love ARTPOP the same as the day it was released. It was Gaga in her prime for me.