Chromatica - Lady Gaga: Review
Review By Lavender:
If you are around my age then you have not only grown up with the music of Lady Gaga but have grown up in a world where it was inescapable. From the nauseating Born This Way to the creative but messy Artpop and even to the genre shifting Joanne commercial success has followed Lady Gaga like a shadow. While Lady Gaga hasn't put out a record I truly loved since her debut classic The Fame there is no denying that points across her discography stand out as still pretty solid releases specifically The Fame Monster EP and the aforementioned Artpop. I was nervous about Chromatica despite enjoying all the singles at least a little bit because Gaga always has the potential to dive into a world of intolerable camp. Thankfully the record is a more faithful to it's dance pop roots and even when Gaga is stumbling producer BloodPop is always there to help pick it up.
The trio of singles released before this record featured some marquee collaborations but none of them completely won me over. Stupid Love was the lead single and I'm still conflicted on the song today. The nearly industrial instrumental is one of the best things I've ever heard on a Gaga single and the songs soaring hook is dancy and fun. I know lyrical quality is at a minimum in the world of pop music but across this record Gaga is frequently going below the bar and Stupid Love is no different. I think if you turn your brain off and allow yourself to dance aimlessly to the tune it definitely works and I think that is intentional. The song Sour Candy dropped just before the album itself and has also failed to completely win me over. The crossover with BLACKPINK isn't perfect and despite how short the song it it sounds like a pretty good BLACKPINK song paired with a just okay Gaga hook with the only thing tying them together is a decent piece of tapping percussion. My favorite of the singles was the surprising Rain On Me which once again features a pristine instrumental and is hard-hitting despite the relatively simple formula, Gaga is definitely good on the track but I find myself even more blown away by Ariana Grande who has managed to fit herself perfectly into a track that isn't in her wheelhouse and that is spectacularly impressive.
Alongside Stupid Love and Rain On Me the album gets off to a hot start with Alice. The first vocals we hear from Gaga on the entire record is one of the albums best moments. The soaring vocal harmonies on this track are a huge highlight and maybe the most memorable hook on the entire album. Not to mention the beat on the song is slick and instantly ear grabbing as it dives into the world of classic dance floor music. One of the issues I have across this record are some weird bridges that seem different just for the sake of being different but they rarely last all that long and usually set up for a great hook and this track is exactly that. The record doesn't keep up its perfect streak from here but there are still a few songs across the record that I loved. Fun Tonight is a bit of a change of pace from the songs here that sees her delivering a direct and passionate vocal soaring over much of the song but she also does it with some of her most clear and concise lyricism. The song is a break for the club bangers and I like it quite a bit.
911 is kicked off by a slick transition from the interlude that precedes it and never looks back. The song sounds like a mid 2010's Soundcloud dance track from when we were all obsessed with the future but with a vocalist of Gaga's caliber over the song it becomes a real treat. I do have to say the bridge of the song is once again kind of stupid but the rising wall of percussion that follows it leads up to the best rendition of the songs hook. Replay has some of BloodPop's best production on the entire record and despite once again having a bridge that I don't love it once again sets up another killer hook. Gaga cries out with her rough vocals over the chorus and the pairing of pounding percussion and sliding synths is amazing. Finally Babylon is the closing track and it has to have been destined for a RuPaul song at some point. Despite a few lyrical shortcomings the song has some runway grade percussion and a slick charismatic hook that ends the record off on a high note.
Free Woman has some spectacular production once again and while Gaga is commanding in her lead vocal performance the hook of the song is wildly vapid and almost completely meaningless to the point where I'm not sure what to make of it. When the lyrics are the focus there is almost no instrumental presence whatsoever and as soon as the great instrumental re-emerges the track hits the breaks and wanders aimlessly until the post-chorus refrain. The track isn't a total mess but some strange songwriting decisions kill the momentum for me. 1000 Doves may be the only song on the entire record that I would describe as forgettable. The lyrics do very little for me and while Gaga's vocals are good the pretty typical synth lines on the song sound like radio grade EDM music and don't do much for me which makes the track not particularly memorable. Enigma is one of the only points on the record where the instrumental is a let down for the most part it is just comfortable taking a backseat to the emotional power of a great Gaga vocal performance. She steals the spotlight on this track and I wish it has as good an instrumental palette as some of the other tracks here.
Plastic Doll is the opposite because BloodPop really hit it out of the park with his instrumental on this song. The track has a puncy blend of bassy percussion and an impossibly catchy synth grove. Unfortunately the songwriting suffers a lot as this track has the weakest chorus on the entire record with some annoying spot and start singing. Given how uninteresting the verses are in order to build up to the hook I think the resulting track is kind of a mess. The worst track is definitely Sine From Above which shoots for epic with its M83 style synth chords that sound sooooooo bland. I hate the dry borderline ballad songwriting that they try to stretch out over 4 boring minutes. And while neither Gaga or Elton John's vocals are terrible on their own when the pair come together to harmonize it is actively headache inducing as their voices come together in a terrible way. The whole song reeks of Gaga's label wanting a high profile collaboration on the record and not really caring much for how the actual song came together.
Chromatica takes on a handful of emotionally dense topics but you wouldn't know it from listening to the record. Despite some of the weakest lyrics you'll hear on a pop record this year the album is much more focused on getting you to dance than getting you to feel. In this view BloodPop takes the spotlight as he crafts one punchy explosive dance floor ready instrumental after another and this feels like a major coming out moment for him as a producer. Deep cut highlights on the record like Alice and 911 make up for some shortcomings in the singles and I think this is on the better side of records in Gaga's discography. While throwing it back to her earliest sound doesn't work every single time it is clear that Gaga's desire to play with these sounds is genuine and when she pairs a great performance with a hard-hitting instrumental from one of the many big time producers that worked on the record the result is fireworks. But with some weaker ballads and some orchestral interludes that paint an illusion of grandeur she is hesitant to fully commit to the unique sound she has developed. 6.5/10
Album Cover Review By Tyler Judson:
Gaga has always been good with visuals and era aesthetics. While Joanne was a little subpar on the overall themes visually I think she went above and beyond on the branding for Chromitica. The sci-fi cyberpunk style is cohesive from the PAPER Magazine spread before the album to the music videos, this cover encompasses it all. The composition is recognizable and there's a simple color palette. There are so many details hidden around that makes it more than just a cover but also a great photograph. The lack of type is helpful as the symbol is integrated into the picture. This is a great visual to fit into her discography. 9/10
For more pop check out my review of Dua Lipa's Future Nostalgia here
