If I had to describe Chromatica in one word, “masterpiece” would qualify. An album that spans a total of thirteen tracks (plus three orchestral interludes) should come with some questionable moments. This one doesn’t.
Gaga’s approach, taking thoughts and insecurities that feel personal and private ... and turning them into music to dance to turns our traditional expectations of introspection inside out, as so much good pop music often does.
After stripping everything down on her ballad heavy Joanna, pop’s favourite kink, Lady Gaga, has returned to the electro-pop suite with Chromatica, a record no one could have expected even from someone who so full of surprises.
At 16 songs and a mere 43 minutes, Chromatica can feel a tad frenzied, but in the round marks a deft return to Lady Gaga’s club-pop roots, resplendent with much ’90s influence.
Stripped of the pretensions of her third album, Artpop, and the Meat Loaf influences of her second, Born This Way, it’s a non-stop pop rocket into space and a welcome reminder of the unlocked world we once knew.
Chromatica is her reclaiming her pop crown. It’s vulnerable, it’s free, and it’s undeniably Gaga.
Chromatica, her sixth album, brings back the spectacle, manifesting a parallel reality she’s had one foot in since childhood, centred on colour, kindness and connection.
Chromatica offers Gaga at her most energetic and forceful, and that is something to behold. But 12 years down the line and after everything we have just been through, it will be interesting to see how many are ready to follow her lead and just dance.
Chromatic is an extravagant, sometimes even overblown album – but I suspect it will keep revealing itself over time. And by that point, she’ll be onto the next era.
Mostly, Gaga has focused Chromatica’s spectrum on the kind of body-moving music that comes naturally to her. Dance music will always be her salvation, and her pop renaissance couldn’t come at a better time.
For more than a decade, Lady Gaga has encouraged us to 'just dance' regardless of the pain hidden deep within ourselves. While she may have veered off from her own advice over the past few years, Chromatica proves that Gaga is back and better than ever.
Maybe she's lost her appetite to be a weird provocateur, but she has learned how to sharpen and stylize her attack, and that focus makes Chromatica one of her most consistent and satisfying albums.
It’s official: Lady Gaga has returned to her club kid roots in her long-awaited sixth studio album, Chromatica.
For the most part, ‘Chromatica’ is the perfect antidote to a world ruled by negativity; a voyage into an alternate reality ready-made for enlightened “kindness punks”. Book your seat today.
Chromatica mostly succeeds as an engaging celebration amid strange times.
While it might not have the staying power to be revived in whatever post-COVID world people face, Chromatica is at least a sign that Gaga still knows how to have fun. She’s created a wild party for herself in the 12 years since her breakthrough, but she could still get lost with her little monsters rather than hover above them.
After the mainstream success of both Joanne and A Star is Born, Lady Gaga could have chosen to go any which direction she wanted next; that she chose to return to her dance-pop roots—and allowed us a better glimpse into her personal journey—indeed makes Chromatica her most personal record to date.
Chromatica is an enjoyable homage to dance-pop's most classic sounds.
She is a very talented pop songwriter and a strong vocalist, but sometimes her ideas sometimes get the best of her, and Chromatica is emblematic of that, in all its highs and lows.
Ultimately, Chromatica is a damn good—not great—album with many imaginative touches.
Chromatica has its moments, but it isn't an album to play on repeat.
It is a step away from the likeable pop experimentalism of her last album, Joanne, yet does not, unfortunately, have the sheer dancefloor heft of her albums Artpop and, especially, the bangin’ Born This Way.
Chromatica gives the impression that Lady is at a crossroads, because we feel at the same time the ambition to make an overly hyper-pop album, but on the other hand it's as if she doesn't really want to play the role of Gaga again.
Whether you like the character and her music or not, Lady Gaga has transformed the pop landscape considerably. It's hard to imagine what pop would be like without her, it's so immeasurable. And I don't think that's an exaggeration. In fact, what I've always liked ... read more
And with the bots...comes the fun police.
This is the fun police. I am here to tell you that this new Lady Gaga album could have been better. Stop having fun. This is...not...fun....Stop it......
Oh fuck it, I can't keep the charade up much longer! I liked this album, just a little!
Lady Gaga (even though my relationship with mainstream pop in my reviews has been...negative at best) is an artist that I really do genuinely love. Her presence, her live shows, her identity, her sound and ... read more
Even Lady Gaga has a bot clan now? Bruh..
But anyways, to keep it brief: Chromatica is eeeeeehhhhhhh quite bad. Which comes as really sad to me because this album has many admirable things going for it, and it's clear that Gaga really went ambitious with this one.
Mainstream Pop veteran Lady Gaga comes with a new project, relatively fresh off the A Star is Born thingy, and it's honestly what one would expect a 2020 Lady Gaga album to be like. Not to knock her abilities off the table or ... read more
Chromatica I + Alice - 8
Stupid Love - 7
Rain on Me - 9
Free Woman - 8
Fun Tonight - 8
Chromatica II + 911 - 9
Plastic Doll - 6
Sour Candy - 9
Enigma - 10
Replay - 10
Chromatica III + Sine From Above - 8
1000 Doves - 8
Babylon - 9
Album Name: Chromatica
Album Artist: Lady Gaga
Favourite Song: Stupid Love
Least Favourite Song: sour candy
Enjoyment Rating: 7.5/10
Album Rating: 7.5/10
Day 223/365 of my "Album a day challenge"
1 | Chromatica I 1:00 | 77 |
2 | Alice 2:57 | 79 |
3 | Stupid Love 3:13 | 74 |
4 | Rain on Me 3:02 with Ariana Grande | 84 |
5 | Free Woman 3:11 | 70 |
6 | Fun Tonight 2:53 | 66 |
7 | Chromatica II 0:41 | 81 |
8 | 911 2:52 | 82 |
9 | Plastic Doll 3:41 | 66 |
10 | Sour Candy 2:37 with BLACKPINK | 77 |
11 | Enigma 2:59 | 76 |
12 | Replay 3:06 | 84 |
13 | Chromatica III 0:27 | 73 |
14 | Sine From Above 4:04 with Elton John | 74 |
15 | 1000 Doves 3:35 | 68 |
16 | Babylon 2:41 | 84 |
#3 | / | People |
#4 | / | Dazed |
#5 | / | Billboard |
#8 | / | Consequence of Sound |
#11 | / | Rolling Stone |
#14 | / | DIY |
#14 | / | NME |
#15 | / | Clash |
#15 | / | The Young Folks |
#16 | / | The Forty-Five |