Lady Gaga is back with her 6th studio album, Chromatica. Back to Gaga’s roots that the majority of her fans wanted to listen again.

Energetic and speedy dance-pop infused with some rock and underground elements. Medley of good songs. Strong presence even Ariana Grande fades away much behind Lady Gaga with “Rain On Me”. Dramatic sound production. Perfect track order of 16 songs without getting bored throughout the album. And needless to say, Gaga’s wonderful vocal performance that can even touch and melt the tough guy’s heart. Lady Gaga, please kick our ass! Undoubtedly, the best of Lady Gaga’s albums. Even better than her iconic first two albums, The Fame and Born This Way. The difference with those two albums paved Gaga’s stardom is Chromatica doesn’t have average quality songs.

The last 7 years was a confusing and disappointing period for many Lady Gaga fans including me. Songs were lack of impact and the tracklist was disorganized with her 3rd Artpop even that followed the same music direction with Born This Way, and Joanne (5th) was weak with a laid back mood though she was too early for that. New challenges were important but sounded like Lady Gaga was musically confused in those years, and I felt like I wouldn’t be able to listen to powerful Gaga I liked anymore. She gradually proved I was wrong with this new album.

Opening with effectively dramatic intro matched with Gaga’s world, “Chromatica I”, “Alice” gives her nervous fans a relief to know her original classic dance tune is there, then the first single “Stupid Love” gives them strong confidence that old Lady Gaga is finally back. Those two songs take an important role to maintain stability at the beginning of the album, resulting in a good first impression. Recent #1 single “Rain on Me” is the first highlight with more catchy and impressive melodies after the stabilized start. Duet with Ariana Grande ironically proved that the goddess’s vocal ability easily surpasses the young princess though they have a nice chemistry. On the other hand, “Sour Candy”, the duet with BLACKPINK, impresses sweet candy vocal of the Korean girl group on the contrary to Gaga’s poisonous vocal. This is addictive “sour candy’. “Fun Tonight” and “Plastic Doll” might sound like the ordinal songs, but those mid-tempo songs exploit Gaga’s dynamic and expressive vocal ability. “911” and “Replay” are the mechanical dance songs that have a similar flavor with Born This Way album. “Sine From Above” with Elton John was the best highlight. Elton John’s beautiful, clear, and powerful (plus ageless) vocal performance creates dynamic chemistry with Gaga. Both technical and emotional measurement. Gaga’s beautiful vocal performance doesn’t betray the listeners with the next song, “1000 Doves”. At last, is this only me thinking the last song “Babylon” sounds like Madonna’s “Express Yourself” again? Probably it is, purposely and positively.

Comparing with Lady Gaga’s first two albums+The Fame Monster EP, Chromatica might have fewer hit song potentials. But looking at the integrated chemistry of overall songs and whole quality, this album is more powerful than her previous products.

Another notable thing about the album is the super clear sound production. Theatrically (sometimes orchestrally) dynamic production with a lot of unforgettable baselines succeeded to pull the best part of Lady Gaga. Amazing work by a young talented producer, BloodPop. He knows what’s the best for Lady Gaga.

I remember that I used to listen to her first three materials over and over before. I think Chromatica will be the one, too.

RELEASE DATE (US): 05/29/2020

OVERALL POINTS: 99/100

Songs: ★★★★+3/4
Originality: ★★★★★
Thrills: ★★★★★
Song orders: ★★★★★
Vocal: ★★★★★
Background: ★★★★★
Sound: ★★★★★
Production: ★★★★★
Strong songs: “Rain on Me”, “Fun Tonight”, “Sour Candy”, “Replay”, “Sine From Above”, “1000 Doves”

EXTRA (NOT COUNTED TOWARD THE OVERALL POINTS)

Title: A
Album cover: A

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Lady Gaga is back with her 6th studio album, Chromatica. Back to Gaga’s roots that the majority of her fans wanted to listen again.

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