Lady Gaga - Chromatica

Lady Gaga - Chromatica (Released 29th May 2020)

16 Tracks 

Dance - Pop

If there is one word to describe this album, it would have to be 'electrifying'.  From start to finish this album completely holds your attention, there isn't a single instance where you feel yourself losing interest!   

The orchestral interludes: 

Track 1. Chromatica I > Lady Gaga - Chromatica I (Audio)

Track 7. Chromatica II > Lady Gaga - Chromatica II (Audio)

Track 13. Chromatica III > Lady Gaga - Chromatica III (Audio)

A genius musical idea to include this into a very dance - pop driven record.  What Lady Gaga does so incredibly well is she takes a genre of music and completely makes it her own, she adds different distinctive elements that make it so recognisable as a Lady Gaga song. 

Track 2. Alice >   Lady Gaga - Alice (Audio)

The first of many dance/house influenced tracks, the perfect song to kick start this album.  With it's 90s house dance break, the disco house piano chords that are so recognisable and the pre-chorus is also featured heavily in 90s house music.  The music strips back to just vocals, long chords and a distant kick drum and then right into the chorus break, guaranteed to get you dancing.  The 2nd verse completely takes you by surprise with the distorted voice effect, you think shouldn't fit but it does fit and this is what Gaga does best!  

Track 3. Stupid Love 

The 1st single gave us a little insight into what we could expect from the Chromatica album. It is the perfect mix of pop and 80s disco, with a 80s style music video to accompany.  The perfect combination of colour, costumes and the Lady Gaga we have all come to love.  The song is not the strongest compared to other tracks on the album BUT it is a fun energetic song that oozes happiness.

Track 4. Rain On Me (with Ariana Grande)

Two pop forces coming together to create the ultimate party anthem. The 2nd single from Chromatica and what a follow up single!  This track added to the anticipation for the album.  Both their voices come together perfectly, the 'in the club' vibe with the return of the house piano on the lead up to the chorus break and the extremely familiar house drum patterns throughout.  Similar to Alice, the instrumental takes over at the chorus with the vocals sitting back in the mix. 

Track 5. Free Woman

  

If you still haven't fallen in love with Chromatica yet, then this track is sure to make you completely fall in!  Similar vibe to Rain On Me and Alice, a vocal and musical powerhouse.  Often when the vocals and instrumental are both equally as strong, the overall track can become overpowering and you find yourself struggling to focus on one or the other.  But not with this track, the instrumental and Gaga's vocals blend and mix perfectly allowing you to enjoy both her vocals and the instrumental without it being overpowering.  Definitely a sing at the top of your lungs whilst dancing type of song. 

Track 6. Fun Tonight 

This is more toned down instrumentally compared to the other tracks.  This song really focuses on the lyrics and her vocals, there is no big dance break at the chorus, it's just straight into the 2nd verse.  There is alot of emotion felt in this song, Particularly when the 2nd verse comes in "You love the paparazzi, love the fame..." you can hear it in her voice.  This is a great song lyrically.

Track 8. 911

This track is a little more grungy, a similar vibe to the Artpop album.  Compared to the other tracks, this song style feels a little out of place within the album.  However as previously mentioned, Gaga likes to throw you off just a little.  She gets you thinking it's going in one direction, then hits you with a curve ball.  There is influences of early 2000s bubblegum pop in the chorus, giving us those throwback feels!  An unusual song choice for this particular album, but it works!  and you would know straight away 'This is a Lady Gaga song'.

Track 9. Plastic Doll >  Lady Gaga - Plastic Doll (Audio)

Like 911 - but not as grungy - this song has a similar vibe to the Artpop album.  This track shows up Gaga's vocals incredibly.  Not much happening instrumentation wise, no big chorus building up into a dance break.  it's a straight forward track, in comparison to the others on the album.

Track 10. Sour Candy (with BLACKPINK)

The shortest track on the album (not including Chromatica I II and III interludes), this is just a complete 'to the dancefloor' track.  The most house influenced track on the album, with the prominent bassline throughout and the distinctive house drums.  As per usual Gaga proving once again that her voice mixes so well with other artists.  BLACKPINK - popular and talented in their own right - are the perfect group to feature on this track.  A straight up lets go dance type of track.

Track 11. Enigma 

This track really shows off Gaga's amazing vocal talent.  The song starts out pretty mellow and then we get to the chorus it turns into a powerful track, which showcases Gaga's vocals.  A great song to get up and dance too whilst singing at the top of your lungs!

Track 12. Replay

80s disco!  That's all just pure 80s disco vibes.  A great track showing how diverse Gaga's vocals are,  this whole song is just vibe, love it!  If this song doesn't get you on your feet dancing then  what will. 

Track 14. Sine From Above (with Elton John)

The 3rd and final track to feature another artist and what a feature to have!  Lady Gaga and Elton John together on one track, enough said! The violin pizzicato is a great touch - used heavily through out.  One thing that is noticeable in all the tracks with features, is that each are to the style of the featuring artist but also stick to the style of Lady Gaga.  The track starts out as a slow sort of piano ballad, then the upbeat change to a full out dance anthem and then a twist up to drum n bass at the very end.  A great song with 2 amazing artists.

Track 15. 1000 Doves > Lady Gaga - 1000 Doves (Audio)

Coming from Sine From Above into 1000 Doves, it's just one banger straight into the next!  (The whole record is banger after banger). the album has basically come full circle, returning to the similar vibe of Alice and Free Women.  Another dance floor anthem! (which seems to be a recurring theme throughout!)

Track 16. Babylon > Lady Gaga - Babylon (Audio)

The final track on Chromatica and what a song to end on! Another 80s disco dance floor vibe.  The Madonna 'Vogue' vibes are really coming through in this one, but done the Lady Gaga way.  Some similarities are the talking singing style in the chorus, where you can hear the Madonna influence.  This song truly ends the album on a high note. 

 

Lady Gaga has certainly come back with a bang on this album!  Definitely going back to the Gaga we all know and love.  Previous albums Joanne, Cheek To Cheek and A Star is Born are all incredible albums and show how insanely talented and diverse she is.  However, dance -  Pop is what she does so incredibly well and hopefully she releases more like this in the future.