Now, I haven’t been that keen on Lady Gaga ever since “Poker Face”, “Bad Romance”, “Born This Way”, and “Alejandro”, which are considered the best of her songs. Oh, and that one featured in that “A Star is Born” film. I changed my mind about the 21st-century Madonna after hearing her duet with the great Tony Bennett. After hearing that, it showed me that she was more than just a generic yet eccentric pop star. She did shine for me on those recordings and gained some of my respect. 

Indeed, she is versatile in her fashion and music and has probably outperformed her predecessor, Madonna, in the art of shock. Remember that Gaga has been inside an egg down the red carpet and worn a dress made entirely of beef. She has done jazz, as I mentioned, with the great Tony Bennett, which, for me, was the turning point in bringing her music to those who can’t stand generic pop and appealing to a much more mature audience. She made a country-themed album which is entirely about her auntie, who died before she was born, and then she branched out into film, where she did the soundtrack and was the lead role in 2018’s “A Star is Born”. Some may compare her to being similar to the late David Bowie, but although I agree, I still stand by my stance of her being a Madonna for the new millennium.

Some critics have said that “Chromatica” is her return to form and is more in line with her pop music, but I will have to disagree with them as I found the record was laced with 1990s house. While making notes for her sixth album, this is what I discovered:

Three short songs make up “Chromatica”, just stringed instrumentals resembling something you hear at the Albert Hall in London during the Proms, so basically classical, but certainly ideal for the big screen and the big classical music halls. Some have described ” Alice ” as disco, but I wholly disagree. This ode to Alice in Wonderland is very much house from the 1990s. One critic described it as her take on garage, which left me entirely surprised.

“Stupid Love” is your typical Lady Gaga song and sounds like “Born This Way.” “Rain on Me”, which features former teenage actress Ariana Grande, sounds like the sort of track that Mylo or Diplo would produce. “Free Woman” sent me right back to those 1990 raves (Although for me, it was more raving at School discos, parties and youth clubs.) with its substantial house bound production. “Plastic Doll” seems to be a warning to any male who wants to mess her about and treat her like shit, “Sour Candy” features Blackpink, which is aptly named and yet another track inspired by house.

“Enigma” is house with its classic piano riff and very soulful vocals and is perfect for when the clubs eventually open their doors again, “Replay” uses a sample from a Calvin Harris hit of which I can’t remember the name (It goes, “ooh, ooh ooh, ooh ooh, ooh, ooh” if that helps?) “1000 Doves” is yet another track that takes inspiration from the 1990s club scene with a piano wrapped around dance beats and electronic drums. You may wonder why I haven’t included the song with Elton John. The reason for that is that, disappointingly, Elton opts for autotune rather than using his natural vocal ability. The final song I will touch on, which closes the album, is the Madonna-esque “Babylon”, which, to me, is the 21st-century version of “Vogue”, with Lady Gaga even using spoken word like Madonna did on her 1990s hit. It even has that classic piano riff from “Vogue.” the only thing that doesn’t feature is the strings, but unlike Madonna’s song, Gaga’s has a beautiful saxophone solo.

Recommendations: “Alice”, “Free Woman”, “Sour Candy”, “Enigma”, “1000 Doves”, “Babylon”.

9/10