If there is one thing a person should know about “ARTPOP,” it’s that there is almost nothing good about it. As a Gaga fan since “The Fame” and the re-released “Fame Monster,” “ARTPOP” did nothing for longtime fans, especially fans of the original music.
When Gaga came out with “The Fame” in 2008, she revolutionized the pop charts. She drew in people who didn’t even know they loved pop music with singles like “Just Dance,” “Paparazzi,” “LoveGame” and “Poker Face.” All four blew up the Billboard Top 100 charts and pretty much every other pop chart out there. Even when played today, these singles still elicit the same sing into a hairbrush, dance around the house attitude. They were fun, upbeat and worth dancing to. That’s why they were made. All of the singles on “The Fame” stood as individual units placed into a fantastic album.
Then came “Born This Way” in 2011. This album brought a significant movement towards social justice awareness, specifically the backing of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender movements towards equality. “Born This Way” featured chart topping singles like “Born This Way,” “Marry The Night,” “Judas” and “The Edge of Glory.” Each one of these could get you out of your seat to dance. They were great as individual singles as well as components on the album. These four singles both opened and closed the album incredibly strong. Many of the songs in between tended to blur together. I would often find myself checking the track number to see if it had changed or not.
Now, comes Gaga’s third studio album, “ARTPOP.” This album hands down took all of the bad things from the previous albums and composed them into one. It’s almost as if Gaga sat down and wondered how bad an album could be and whether or not she could still sell the music. It’s terrible.
The first four songs of the album, “Aura,” “Venus,” “G.U.Y.” and “Sexxx Dreams” all blurred together into a mega song. There are no transitions and no distinctions are made between the four, as they sound exactly the same. Musically, they are just all around bad.
“Jewels ‘n’ Drugs” comes next on the album. This single features T.I., Too Short and Twista. This is the equivalent of Miley Cyrus’ “23.” You can’t just team up with people known in the rap world and release a rap single and think it’s going to be good. Just no. Stop. Stop. Neither one of these singles should have been released ever. They are both like, “Hey, I release pop music but I want to try so hard to release a rap single because I want some street cred, but I can’t. At all.”
The rest of the album is just kind of a waste, especially “Fashion!” and “Donatella.” Both essentially have Gaga talk about how great she is. … What? She used to be good, but she doesn’t deserve two singles on her album promoting egotism. She’s not that great. “ARTPOP” was a flop. She tries so hard to get noticed and be known; she’s probably just hiding behind her own insecurities.
Debuting singles from her album on the first ever “iTunes Music Festival” and “Saturday Night Live,” both performances were disappointing. Disappointing being an overstatement. Her vocals were not similar to those on her album, her stage show wasn’t traditional of her and she just seemed tired and annoyed that she had to perform.
For longtime fans of Gaga, “ARTPOP” is a terrible album and definitely not worth the investment. Maybe down the road when that album is in the $1.99 bin at Hastings, it might be worth it. The album will most likely be in there a lot sooner than one might think. I give this album one star out of five. It’s just full of ego moments for Gaga and songs that mesh together in the bad way.