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A backlash against Lady Gaga was inevitable, and with ARTPOP she’s almost dared it to happen.
Gaga’s third album is cluttered, weird, self-indulgent, too long and far less giving with its hooks than 2008’s The Fame or 2011’s audacious Born This Way and is, thus, well placed to take a beating from those who would like to see the diminutive pop titan finally fail. It’s a fascinating and luxuriantly overproduced mess, however, and packed with more genuine personality in even its weakest moments than chart-topping contemporaries like Katy Perry and Rihanna can ever hope to muster over their entire careers. ARTPOP is actually catchier than it first lets on, too, as it takes some time for the brain to process all the sonic bric-a-brac smothering the tunes.
Even before you get that far, however, there’s no denying that this is a righteously sexy (and thoroughly oversexed) beast of a dance album. One shouldn’t overlook the sometime Stefani Germanotta’s pivotal role in dragging “EDM” into the North American mainstream, and this time around she’s got a coterie of hot producers — Zedd, Infected Mushroom, DJ White Shadow, RedOne and the ubiquitous will.i.am among them — working to ensure that things keep banging away with dizzying consistency, from the stomping opener “Aura” right through to the infectiously joyous disco-diva anthem “Gypsy” and likeable lead single “Applause[1] ” at the end. There are sounds on “Swine[2] ” and “Donatella[3] ” that’ll turn your brain inside out with the right set of headphones.
True, the sawing 4/4 grind gets a touch exhausting towards the one-hour mark and ARTPOP might have been better served by less of the same and a few more stylistic digressions like the seismic Prince worship of “Sexxx Dreams[4] ,” the ABBA-on-steroids glee of “Mary Jane Holland,” the glammed-out Bowie disco of “Fashion[5] !” and the Rick Rubin-produced oddity “Dope,” a piano-and-burbling-electronics power ballad that functions as this album’s “Speechless” or “You and I.” It’s also a lot of fun to hear the pathologically self-possessed Gaga sparring with the boys here, irresponsibly inviting R. Kelly to “do what you want with my body” on “Fashion[6] ” and trading verses with T.I., Too $hort and Twista on the menacing hip-hop throwdown “Jewels ’n’ Drugs.”
Indeed, ARTPOP on the whole is a lot of fun, which should be reason enough to justify its existence. A pop album needn’t be expected to change the world. Lady Gaga’s already done that; present-day pop music has pretty much reformed itself in her image. For now it’s okay to just dance.
DOWNLOAD: “Swine.” Big ‘n’ dirty.
References
- ^ Applause (www.youtube.com)
- ^ Swine (www.idolator.com)
- ^ Donatella (www.youtube.com)
- ^ Sexxx Dreams (www.youtube.com)
- ^ Fashion (www.youtube.com)
- ^ Fashion (www.youtube.com)
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