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Lady Gaga's new album JOANNE out now (if anyone cares) |OT| It's not about the charts

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E

enigmatic_alex44

Whenever a game uses "middleware," I expect mediocrity. Just see how poor TLOU looks.
Gaga's taken a country turn this era. It may or may not be your thing but it's a new direction for the mega-star. Surprised there wasn't an OT for the album yet. The whole thing has been so low key considering she was everywhere last year (acting award, Sound of Music tribute, etc.).

She's stated she's not interested in the charts this time around. Considering her lack of promo so far, I believe her. That isn't stopping first week estimates for the album ranging from 155,000-190,000. Looks like Stefani has yet another #1 in her near future. Queen.

1neEgpT.jpg


A couple of the songs:

Perfect Illusion (lead single)

Million Reasons

A-YO

Full tracklist:

STANDARD:

1. Diamond Heart
2. A-Yo
3. Joanne
4. John Wayne
5. Dancin’ In Circles
6. Perfect Illusion
7. Million Reasons
8. Sinner’s Prayer
9. Come To Mama
10. Hey Girl feat. Florence Welch
11. Angel Down

DELUXE EDITION:

12. Grigio Girls
13. Just Another Day
14. Angel Down (Work Tape version)
Click to expand...

The rest are on iTunes or Spotify if you don't want to drop any coins.

My own opinion? These recent projects are cute, but I really want another dance album from Gaga like Fame Monster or Born This Way. Something big and theatrical to suit her incredible voice. Not a fan of country at all, so if you love the country genre, you may like it more than I do. The lead single is okay (I cooled on it once the initial hype wore off), but the only song I really love off the album is Hey Girl she did with Florence. It feels like it was meant for another (better) album and worked it's way into Joanne somehow. I've had it on repeat, it's a complete slay.

My personal album review:
dbUgjcJ.gif


On a positive note, it is nice that Gaga doesn't grow stagnant and tries something new each era, you never know what you're gonna get. Maybe she'll try rap next. She's versatile, a little bit like the Queen of Pop (Madonna) now that I think about it. Also, I like the meaning behind the album title, named after her late aunt Joanne. Gaga's been quoted as saying:

"I’m not sure I’d go into detail about it but Joanne gave me strength to live the rest of the life she didn’t get to have. Calling it Joanne is, I guess—I think, if I can heal one person, maybe I can heal two, five, ten million. If I could just heal my dad, then maybe might heal someone else.”
Click to expand...


She also stated the album helped heal her dad's heart from a lifetime of pain after the loss of his sister Joanne decades ago. Even if the album isn't what I expected, it's nice to have Lady Gaga back in the limelight again. :) I wonder which Joanne tracks she'll perform at the Superbowl next year.

Post your thoughts and impressions. Album of the year material? Your favorite song?

Better than ARTPOP? Worse?

xNtmdPX.gif
 
M

Meowster

Member
It's a better album than Artpop. I particularly like John Wayne, Dancin' in Circles, Sinner's Prayer, and Grigio Girls.
 
G

Garrett Hawke

Member
the worst thing about it is that given the collaborators it should've been a candidate for aoty, not some mixed reviews diluted country pop album 2/3s of the length it should be.
 
E

enigmatic_alex44

Whenever a game uses "middleware," I expect mediocrity. Just see how poor TLOU looks.
Garrett Hawke said:
the worst thing about it is that given the collaborators it should've been a candidate for aoty, not some mixed reviews diluted country pop album 2/3s of the length it should be.
Click to expand...

I do wonder what went wrong. Maybe she'll re-release Joanne 2.0 with added DLC just before the superbowl. 👀

Then again, maybe not since we never got the rumored ARTPOP Part 2.
 
R

Ric Flair

Banned
She's too talented for an album to only be this good. I'd give it a 7 out of 10 after first listen, I can't imagine she's peaked already, I always pictured her having a bowie-like career
 
T

Timedog

good credit (by proxy)
Perfect Illusion hook is just Papa Don't Preach. Why does she keep copying Madonna?

Artpop is miles beyond this garbage but people were too dumb to understand it.
 
H

hythloday

Member
It's alright. A-YO has really grown on me, and I like Perfect Illusion.

Maybe I'm just weird, but I really loved Artpop. It had 4-5 tracks on it that I still love listening to. On Joanne, there's... the two I just mentioned. Some others are alright but they haven't hooked me.

I think my tastes lately have just veered to the upbeat, repeatable, catchy pop tunes from prior albums, like MANiCURE and Bad Romance, and not the sad or emotional stuff. Lady Gaga's voice is out of this world, and her songs are good, but I can't listen to music that bums me out too much!
 
E

enigmatic_alex44

Whenever a game uses "middleware," I expect mediocrity. Just see how poor TLOU looks.
Timedog said:
Artpop is miles beyond this garbage but people were too dumb to understand it.
Click to expand...

A misunderstood, ahead-of-its-time album you say?

Tell me how you feel about Born This Way. 😎

hythloday said:
Lady Gaga's voice is out of this world, and her songs are good, but I can't listen to music that bums me out too much!
Click to expand...

Agreed. She's well ahead of the Britneys and Beyoncés of the world. Vocally I'd place Gaga more in Whitney's league.
 
E

enigmatic_alex44

Whenever a game uses "middleware," I expect mediocrity. Just see how poor TLOU looks.
Looks like reviews for JOANNE are better than expected and stabilizing in the green at around 68.

lwvAaDn.jpg


Pretty good score considering it dipped into the low 50s (yellow) for a bit. Same score as Rebel Heart!
 
L

Lights and Waves

Member
"If anyone cares" says the title, when the album is going to debut #1, has beaten all sales expectations (is going to be the second highest female debut of the year - and the numbers in the OP are wrong) and has 3 songs charting really high on iTunes (Million Reasons at #3 already!) and all this with no song being played on the radio and the debut single being a massive flop.

She's a fucking badass and I'm glad the GP likes her again. This album is excellent.
 
L

Lijik

Member
As a weirdo whose favorite Gaga tracks are Blueberry Kisses and that piano version of Poker Face she did on BBC radio1, Just Another Day feels laser targeted at me and its easily my favorite track.
 
highrider

highrider

Banned
I like her dance/pop much more than her recent stuff. She's so much stronger vocally and musically than most it really set her apart.

She's interesting, her career will be I think.
 
G

Garrett Hawke

Member
Lights and Waves said:
"If anyone cares" says the title, when the album is going to debut #1, has beaten all sales expectations (is going to be the second highest female debut of the year - and the numbers in the OP are wrong) and has 3 songs charting really high on iTunes (Million Reasons at #3 already!) and all this with no song being played on the radio and the debut single being a massive flop.

She's a fucking badass and I'm glad the GP likes her again. This album is excellent.
Click to expand...
sure joanne
 
C

clemenx

Banned
Man, I'll love Gaga forever and I do think this album is good but most of it is something worse than bad: Is just boring. I can't see myself ever blasting this album repeatedly like I've done with all of her other albums, other than a couple of songs,

But I'm a weird person that loved Artpop at first listen and never understood the hate so what do I know.
 
K

Kito

Member
Disappointing lyrics and boring production. Next time make an album with more weed and less Mark Ronson.
 
A

Ahasverus

Member
I've had the title track on repeat for almost 2 weeks. It's chorus is so good, and it's a sweet song. I love it.

Diamond Heart is also a great song to walk to. Million Reasons is good, John Wayne is OK, Sinner's Prayer would sound badass in the desert, and Angel Down is heartbreaking.

I really enjoyed this album as much or more than I did BTW back in the day. That its lyrics are not idiotic is a great plus.
 
D

Deleted member 465307

Unconfirmed Member
The more I listen to it, the more I like this album. But I also don't mind the country and folk influences that this album bears in parts. I also like quieter acoustic stuff generally, so I don't mind it here when it shows up. Not every song is a knockout, but I appreciate it a good amount and am finding more and more to appreciate. I like some of the storytelling and significance of the lyrics, too. Coming off of Britney's Glory, the variety of themes and seriousness of aspects of the album were refreshing.

I think the album itself is organized in kind of a poor way, and I'd have swapped some of the main album songs for the bonus tracks, but overall, pretty enjoyable. I might have cut "Perfect Illusion" entirely, as I don't feel like it matches the aesthetic of the album and isn't particularly enjoyable. The album feels like a half-step in a new direction, as I think perhaps some sounds and themes conflict. Very curious where she goes from here. I'm also really curious what the sound of the canceled RedOne tracks were and how it compares to what was released.

The album feels short, so I'd be down for a re-release with more tracks, perhaps with those RedOne songs.
 
B

blame space

Banned
I'm gonna have to listen to this

i see fox is already playing perfect illusion on their nfl promos.. gotta start that hype machine for the super bowl.
 
K

Korey

Member
Tried listening to this on Spotify and gave up after 5 tracks or so.

So awful.

Any reason why she doesn't want to go back to making hit pop songs?

Why disappear for 3 years and then come back with this irrelevant shit?
 
B

BlueBadger

Banned
I don't mind Joanne that much (I find myself liking A-YO more and more every time I hear it). And I am someone who tends to listen to country music, so I don't mind the tone she's taken too much.

Having said that, I really, really, reallllyyyyy miss her Fame Monster days. Like, there wasn't a song on her first two albums that I didn't like. And for some reason I still keep hoping that she'll come out with something similar again, but I find that she's straying further and further away from it LOL
 
P

Phreaker

Member
The album is great, it's just missing more gay anthems.

Better than ARTPOP? I am not sure yet, I really enjoyed ARTPOP.

My favorite song off Joanne is probably still Perfect Illusion. The song is my jam. I'm a long time Pat Benatar fan and I still hear her a bit each time I listen to it. However, I really enjoy most songs on the album with the exception of Angel Down (nice message, just don't care for the song) and Just Another Day.
 
S

Soulscribe

Member
I'm convinced the public doesn't know what they want from Lady Gaga. Her last album was an attempt at recreating the dance-pop confections of her debut material while trying to bridge the gap between her bizarre fashions and cookie-cutter music. That was a common critique of her at the time. Suffice to say people hated that album and wanted her to tone down the artifice, or try something fresh, or focus more on the music. Here she is with the artifice gone, new musical territory explored, with (very solid) music at the forefront. Now people say they want something more derivative.

If I were her I'd be really confused by the mixed signals. Also, people only really appreciated Gaga's old music in hindsight, so maybe we'll be beckoning her to go back to that Joanne sound when she drops her next album.
 
C

Couleurs

Member
Joanne is decent; it's not as good as The Fame/The Fame Monster/Born This Way since there doesn't seem to be anything extremely catchy like those albums, but I like it better than Artpop at least.

I don't mind Gaga going for a more mellow-ish sound, so maybe Joanne will grow on me as I listen more.
 
P

Pamplemousse

Member
I like her first album and the EP extension of it. She needs her old production team back if she wants to have the success she enjoyed back in those days.

If she's happy just doing what she wants to do, more power to her, though.
 
B

BlueBadger

Banned
Soulscribe said:
I'm convinced the public doesn't know what they want from Lady Gaga. Her last album was an attempt at recreating the dance-pop confections of her debut material while attempting to bridge the gap between her bizarre visual and cookie-cutter music. That was a common critique of her at the time. Suffice to say people hated that album and wanted her to tone down the artifice, or try something fresh, or focus more on the music. Here she is with the artifice gone, new musical territory explored, with (very solid) music at the forefront. Now people say they want something more derivative.

If I were her I'd be really confused by the mixed signals. Also, people only really appreciated Gaga's old music in hindsight, so maybe we'll be beckoning her to go back to that Joanne sound when she drops her next album.
Click to expand...

I can definitely see where you're coming from with this, I think. But.. I dunno. Maybe I'm the weird one, but I didn't find ARTPOP to be that similar to what she used to do (with the exception of maybe G.U.Y. and another song or two). But again, maybe that was because she was trying to sort of hybridize her own vision with it.

Again though, I really don't find Joanne to be as bad as some people say it is. I do prefer her as a dance pop artist, but there's some catchy-ass jams on this album too. I was listening to A-YO on the way to work today and it was a one-person party in my car.
 
T

Timeless

Member
1. DANCIN' IN CIRCLES
2. JOHN WAYNE
3. ANGEL DOWN
4. DIAMOND HEART
5. JOANNE

Dancin' in Circles and John Wayne might be able to hang with some of her classic dance tracks, but the rest can't. I'm saying that in terms of raw quality, not genre. Obviously Joanne is not a dance track. Dope and Gypsy are strong competitors to Angel Down as well.

Still waiting for a follow up to Born This Way, an album which Gaga will probably never be interested in making. Born This Way said so much, and The Fame, The Fame Monster, and to a lesser extent Born This Way had such great pop dance sensibilities. I want Gaga to explore identity further, but I'm not sure if there's anywhere to go.

Man, Born This Way is such a masterpiece.

I sent Angel Down to a friend because I love its imagery, and it's a bit of a departure for Gaga. (Close to The Edge of Glory and Dope/Gypsy, but a little different).
It's such an emotional scene. An angel is down / dead, and everyone sees it, and knows, but does nothing. They stand around and don't care. It's the dichotomy between what everyone recognizes as an injustice, and what everyone chooses to do / not do about it.

Re: "People said Gaga should try something new!" -- I never really thought this. People who ride pop waves and maybe get sick of her on the radio might want something else, but I love the Gaga identities, and thought Born This Way was exceptionally authentic to what it means to be human. She also addressed her identity with The Fame Monster. (Monster, Dance in the Dark, So Happy I Could Die). I also thought Artpop was good, but full of filler. It was 1/3 brilliant, 1/3 good, and 1/3 okay. Here's what my playlist looks like these days:

#01. Aura
#03. G.U.Y.
#04. Sexxx Dreams
#07. Do What You Want (Feat. R. Kelly)
#10. Donatella
#11. Fashion!
#13. Dope
#14. Gypsy
#15. Applause

It took me a long time to get to this point ^. It used to be

#01. Aura
#03. G.U.Y.
#04. Sexxx Dreams
#07. Do What You Want (Feat. R. Kelly)
#13. Dope
#14. Gypsy
#15. Applause

Lately, I've found the haunting vocals of Fashion, and the smug humor at the start of Donatella to be worth hearing.
 
S

Soulscribe

Member
BlueBadger said:
I can definitely see where you're coming from with this, I think. But.. I dunno. Maybe I'm the weird one, but I didn't find ARTPOP to be that similar to what she used to do (with the exception of maybe G.U.Y. and another song or two). But again, maybe that was because she was trying to sort of hybridize her own vision with it.

Again though, I really don't find Joanne to be as bad as some people say it is. I do prefer her as a dance pop artist, but there's some catchy-ass jams on this album too. I was listening to A-YO on the way to work today and it was a one-person party in my car.
Click to expand...

You don't think a lot of these tracks are still on brand for her tho? Diamond Heart, John Wayne, Perfect Illusion and Come To Mama feel very reminiscent of Born This Way. Dancin In Circles could have easily passed as a Fame Monster track. Just Another Day is pure early Gaga pizazz to me. There's definitely a lot of folk/Americana flavor in the other tracks but overall the Gaga DNA seems generally retained imo. If anything the dressed down style is jarring to us coz we're so used to her bombast. :p
 
B

BlueBadger

Banned
Soulscribe said:
You don't think a lot of these tracks are still on brand for her tho? Diamond Heart, John Wayne, Perfect Illusion and Come To Mama feel very reminiscent of Born This Way. Dancin In Circles could have easily passed as a Fame Monster track. Just Another Day is pure early Gaga pizazz to me. There's definitely a lot of folk/Americana flavor in the other tracks but overall the Gaga DNA seems generally retained imo. If anything the dressed down style is jarring to us coz we're so used to her bombast. :p
Click to expand...

Well it still definitely sounds like her. And I will definitely agree with John Wayne and Diamond Heart sort of taking that shape as well. But I still don't know if the album as a whole is completely on brand for her. But it could be less about the songs and more about the slight country twang that I definitely hear in her voice this time around. It never used to be there before, IMO. Either way, her voice is still amazing. And I still like Joanne. But when I put my headphones on, I definitely don't consider it the dance-pop album that I remember the first 2-3 albums being. And that's OK. All I'm saying is that her early dance-pop stuff was my personal favourite. :)
 
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