What Is Gaga's Best Concept Album?

[Future Lovers 7,684]

Well she’s never made one. 

An album in which a handful tracks brush against a general, undetailed theme does not a concept album make.

The Fame does not really deal with fame for the majority of it’s runtime and does not offer much actual commentary on the songs it does.

ARTPOP isn’t really about any one thing. No artistic expression and the melding of art and pop (whatever she meant by that) is not a theme. 

Joanne isn’t about any one thing in particular either. 

Chromatica is very loosely about trauma and depression sometimes but is not a unified concept or theme in any way. 

MAYHEM has a theme but the theme is applied to the sound of the record, not what the songs themselves are actually about (the actual tracks are about a variety of disconnected topics).

BTW is the closest she’s ever come to one but it also isn’t really one. A lot of the tracklist loosely revolves around the idea of freedom and expression but it’s never really tied together or presented as any sort of real throughline and several songs aren’t even within that theme at all. 

Edited 4 hours ago by Future Lovers

[Concertaholic 6,592]

Joanne. Maybe not the best but certainly the most cohesive. To me she played the role of wannabe crossover country/Americana artist consistently throughout the entire album/era and had the most dedication to just one theme/vibe out of all the eras.

[Future Lovers 7,684]

I feel like several of you are approaching this as “cohesive sound = concept album” when that is…not what a concept album is. 

A track list of songs that have a similar sonic identity is not a concept album. That’s just what an album is babes. 

[Blackout19 15,877]

born this way & chromatica

[Taumaturg0 1,368]

To me, a concept album is an album whose tracks tell a story collectively, and only Chromatica fits that in her discography, there's a very clear storyline in the tracklist, with he rother albums, you shift song order, and it doesn't change much. 

if the question is which album fits its concept better, then probably The Fame monster and Mayhem 

[Taumaturg0 1,368]

2 hours ago, Future Lovers said:

 

Chromatica is very loosely about trauma and depression sometimes but is not a unified concept or theme in any way. 

 

I disagree, there's a three act structure that follows a more or less clear progression. It's not the clearest, but a visual album would've made the concept clearer

[TAIPEI 3,348]

THE FAME + FAME MONSTER

BORN THIS WAY

CHROMATICA

MAYHEM

all the album concepts above are great.

[nATAH 57,316]

do we mean our favourite album's concept or our favourite concept album? cus lowkey she doesn't really have one but ARTPOP could have been if she was allowed to retain her vision

[Oriane 22,797]

ARTPOP is the one that is closer to the original definition of a concept album and the songs are in that order in the tracklist to tell a story.

I can share my analysis if I can find it (it's the first post I ever made here which used to be easily accessible but now you can only go a year back )

Edited 1 hour ago by Oriane