chromatica first listen, let's GO

the opening instrumental is absolutely gorgeous and very unexpected, let's see how this flows and connects through the album

the transition into Alice's synth pop is EXCELLENT

cute house-y track, feels very classic Gaga, I can bop to the chorus, giving me Natalia Kills vibes, in the best way.

not sure about the bridge and it's a tad short but a STRONG opening

Stupid Love still isn't doing it for me but the rough synths hit a bit harder in lossless than they did on youtube

transitions so far are FLAWLESS and much more deliberate than in most pop albums nowadays

Rain On Me is excellent of course

you can tell she chose the tracklist very deliberate, at least as far as I am into the album now. introducing into and removing elements from her songs progressively for larger album flow. looks like she thoughts of this as an ALBUM first, not individual songs

the glamorous orchestral feel of the opening into the soft synths of alice into the rougher synths of stupid love before all of it combines in rain on me. that's a STRONG opening section

ok, the transition into Free Woman feels a bit more random. cute track though. nothing special but well produced and catchy. it's nice to just hear a mostly unpretentious straight up pop album from gaga again. and so much house piano in these tracks. yesssss

oh the second verse of Free Woman SLAPS. the fuller backing, the RAW vocals

Fun Tonight is the first track that feels a bit like an afterthought. just quite generic. doesn't seem to have a POINT to it in the album. but cute enough. a solid 3/5 pop track. so far I am IMPRESSED by this album as a lapsed former gaga stan.

I do love ending the song on a fakeout chorus though. Drives home its message. And transitions neatly into Chromatica II. (another gorgeous interlude, this time with darker undertones)

OH FUCK THIS TRANSITION INTO 911?!?

CHILLS

the vocal processing on 911 is excellent and neatly distinguishes the second segment of the album from the first along with the tempo and some other genre influences coming in here

oh my GOD these transitions! Plastic Doll begins just as naturally and smoothly

these HEAVY slightly offset percussive beats she got going on this part of the album

FUCK

I love this album

What the fuck

I haven't loved any body of work from Gaga in over a decade

Sour Candy had me at the bass line

easily the best BLACKPINK track, the girls are all serving attitude in their sections and the production is fucking TIGHT

and that pre-chorus is a massive earworm

wish it was a bit longer but it uses its time well

oh FUCK those last 30 seconds

DAMN

that is how you build on an established beat

I'm glad I waited for a lossless rip. A lot of these songs wouldn't have impressed me nearly as much if I hadn't had a chance to hear the production this clean and crisp.

Enigma is powerful, too. love how those synth strings are brought in on the left

and some BRASS? Enigma is the track where she joins the instrumental elements of the interludes with the house-heavy synthpop sound of the core tracks for the first time and...YES?!?

vocal performance, production and direction on this album is consistently top tier

this entire album is testament to how thinking of an album as a larger piece of art can improve on the individual songs. the transitions, the interplay of the songs. it adds such a level of quality and meaning.

Replay is the most interesting song on here so far, composition and production wise, and it feels very deliberate, as the last upbeat track (presumably) before the final section of ballads. It just goes CRAZY and throws everything against the wall. as the title implies.

Chromatica III is as stunning as expected and I love the rain coming in there, signaling the framing device falling kind of apart.

damn another flawless transition into Sine From Above. expected a ballad here but I guess we're just getting some more emotional, slightly less upbeat house

oooh we are getting cathartic euphoria?!? YES. give us those cathartic closing moments!

DAMN when that sine from above drop hits it hits HARD

the ending of Sine From Above WHAT?!?

that's a fucking fall from grave

that's a fucking avant garde moment on a pop album that had no such pretensions for 13 songs straight before

and it WORKS? it has emotional impact??? the return to self-doubt? fuck.

1000 Doves is strong, too. Gaga really crafted an emotional and thematic narrative from the first seconds until the end of the album. this is her strongest record. a true album of the kind most pop stars NEVER release.

and on to Babylon...I am so excited for what she has in store for the finale

oh DAMN we are getting a voguing anthem as the finale? an affirmative vogue anthem? FUCKKKKKKKKKKK