Lady Gaga is a 38 year old singer/songwriter, actress & Haus Labs founder from New York City breaking out into stardom in 2008 off her full-length debut The Fame after signing to Konvict Kulture & Interscope Records. Her debut EP The Fame Monster & the sophomore effort Born This Way later inspiring the name of the Born This Way Foundation marked her final offering for Konvict, remaining on Interscope for Artpop along with Joanne & Chromatica. Her previous LP Harlequin was better than Joker 2: Folie a Deux itself, coming off the disappointing film for her 7th studio album.
“Disease” draws from electropop, dance-pop, midtempo bass, French electro & futurepop singing about making sinners into believers whereas “Abracadabra” works in elements of dance-pop, electro house, electropop, acid house, hardbag & French electro facing the challenge of life, the challenge of the night & finding the magic in it all. “Garden of Eden” produced by Gesaffstein maintains the dance pop vibes mirroring Adam & Eve’s biblical paradise prior to “Perfect Celebrity” serving as the theme song of the current WWE Women’s Champion & former NXT Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton’s upcoming WrestleMania XLI match against 14-time WWE women’s champion, 2-time NXT Women’s Champion & WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Charlotte Flair making some stunning commentary on the manufacturing of those types of celebrities.
Moving on from there, “Vanish Into You” sings about wanting to merge into a singular identity of her partner’s in order to insulate herself from the worldly emotions just before the synth-funk “Killah” pushes herself out of her comfort zone swing herself as a killer both in a literal & metaphorical state. “Zombieboy” remembers her late friend Rick Gernest who passed away in the summer of 2018 with celebration of the nights when fun leads to feeling like a zombie the next morning, but then “LoveDrug” basically comparing the feeling of love to an addictive substance.
“How Bad Do You Want Me?” questions how much her partner loves her in the midst of him dreaming about another person while “Don’t Call Tonight” goes for a warm pop rock flare suggesting not to hit her line unless the targeted individual wants to cause her harm. The irresistibly catchy “Shadow of a Man” sings about not wanting to be under the darkness tonight & to have the light shown to her while “The Beast” shows her evil alter ego telling her partner to colloquially free the beast from within him.
The track “Blade of Grass” dedicates this moment to her fiancé Michael Polansky recalling conversations of proposals in their backyard & simply wrapping a blade of grass around her finger would be her act of grace until “Die with a Smile” featuring Bruno Mars ends fusing pop soul, pop rock, soft rock, adult contemporary & piano rock really crossing over “Shallow” off the A Star is Born soundtrack & Bruno’s work with Anderson .Paak of the duo Silk Sonic wanting to be with each other during the end of the world.
“Can’t Stop the High” starts the deluxe run mixes electro & grunge music for a harder successor to “Perfect Celebrity” while “The Dead Dance” meshes nu-disco, dance-pop, synthwave, synth-funk & electropop to sing about music’s ability to save the lives of others. The final bonus track “Kill for Love” finishes with somewhat of a spiritual successor to “The Beast” in the sense of the werewolf she was speaking of is replying back to her dismissing the idea of wearing it’s disguise.
Stemming from a period of deep introspection & personal challenges, Lady Gaga celebrates her love for music by bringing together a wide variety of genres, styles & different dreams from a place of joy. The production built around dance-pop, electropop, nu-disco, pop rock, synthpop, soft rock, adult contemporary & piano rock, synth-funk, electro house, acid house, hardbag, French electro, midtempo bass & futurepop results in the most memorable songs that’s she’s written in roughly 15 years embarking on a transgressive journey through genres reflecting her diverse musical influences & life experiences.
Score: 4/5
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