Chromatica- Ranking, going forward and success

Music Review- Lady Gaga- Chromatica (2020)

After being released two months ago, the hype for Gaga's latest release has died to a complete stop. Now the dust has settled and we've collected ourselves, we can view Chromatica with clearer eyes and give a ranking of the tracks from best to worst with a brief explanation why. In addition, as Gaga has gone mute since the release it is fun to speculate how she'll go forward with advertising the album. Of course everything is up in the air because of Covid, but fun speculation never hurt anybody. Finally, we'll explore what the album should achieve by the end of the year to be considered an undeniable success.

Album Rankings

If you want a more in-depth reasoning behind the rankings, here is my initial listen review. Though some things have changed over time, the majority of the reasoning can be explored here: https://blodwin1998.wixsite.com/hashtagopinions/post/chromatica-pop-perfection-but-not-the-perfect-gaga-record

Excellent Tier

Replay- The gaga growls and swing the hips beat make it an energetic powerhouse track. It has the iconic gaga edge and fun word play as well as being a commentary on mental health.

Love me right- Should have been on the album. The catchiest chorus and most sing ready song. It is cheesy fun and impossible to hate.

Fun tonight- A complete grower as you learn to sing a long and feel her pain as the song gets better and better.

Sour candy- It's the weirdest edgiest track on the album and Gaga sounds sexy as hell.

Good Tier

Rain on me- Fun and gets better with age, perfect to dance to and sing a long. A tad too basic.

Alice- The bridge is iconic and the chorus is catchy as hell. But a tad too repetitive.

Stupid love- Grown with age. Iconic fun and great to let hair down. Chorus is more shout at top of lungs than sing a long.

Okay

Plastic doll- The growls on the chorus are great, but the verses are a bit dull. Intro and outro are too long and cringe.

911- Chorus is such a buzz kill and too repetitive, but the verses are great and fun.

Sine from above- Wish the end techno bit was found more in the rest of the track, needed a bit more edge. But fun and danceable.

1000 doves- Production is lowkey forgetable, but the lyrics are vulnerable and gaga's vocals are great.

Meh

Babylon- Not really into it sonically, but interesting word play in places.

Free woman- Dull, repetitive, doesn't hit hard enough and the lyrics are cliche/cringe.

Enigma- Too shouty and repetitive. Nothing worth replaying.

Going Forward

Because of the long delay in not saying anything, Gaga must come back big to restart any form of conversation. I think the only way she can do that is with a concert containing a performance of multiple album tracks. In the form of a TV special or any covid capable way, something like her Artrave Vevo special or Dive bar tour, to reclaim eyes to the album in a big way. Early august as a clear and distinct restart of the advertising campaign.

Performances with Ariana throughout august. Rain on me is not dead yet, still top 10 in UK, Canada and Australia as well as top 20 in many other markets, USA included. Though shes already got a number one single, some longevity and more weeks in top ten to make it an undeniable hit would cement it as a great comeback. So, performances with Ariana would reclaim hype and give the pop divas reason to interact on twitter the way they did during release week.

September time, release replay as a single. Lockdown has been a strain on many people's mental health as they are left replaying old memories and twisting them to nightmares, the track perfectly captures peoples current feelings. So, a dance ready fun track to get the world having fun but still poignant is gold. Also, the edgier lyrics work perfectly in the run up to halloween and releasing a sexy dark visual would make this a solid hit.

Give sour candy a visual as the last single. It was wise to release the song separately the day before as BlackPink fans have a way of lighting the internet on fire and creating huge first day streams that create big hype. Last singles are always difficult to try and create hype for as the music has been out for so long that very few people want to relisten. But, a music video with Gaga and BlackPink would do huge first week streaming numbers and create a cute peak on the charts and die down just as quick.

A sour candy video creates quick hype and then leaves room for a rerelease of the album. Releasing in November, just in time for Christmas sales and reasserts the album conversation during Grammy voting. With a couple more songs, Love me right and the Babylon Haus Labs remix, it would be the perfect time to get those extra sales. And, with tracks like Stupid Love growing with age and having the nostalgia factor of pre-lockdown, the whole album would boost in streams significantly. Then let a single from the rerelease carry the weight during grammy period.

Alternatively, release Fun tonight as an adult pop radio hit that will grow naturally with little promotion similar to Delicate by Taylor Swift and not have high peaks but be a decently certified hit. Then release a rerelease similar to The Fame Monster (a longer ep) next year in the run up to the delayed tour next summer. I think this is the problem for Gaga, she now has to elongate the era to next summer for the covid delayed tour and no one wants a tour of an album released over a year previous with no hype. (I would suggest releasing the Joanne tour footage on Netflix just before the chromatica tour in order to create hype for her live shows and have people going "omg I wanna see her live" to boost ticket sales).

Also, somewhere down the line, we need a performance with Elton John. Hopefully around Christmas time or Grammy period. But, their relationship is so cute and they've performed together so many times that it would be criminal to not perform their own song together.

Success?

Just a quick thought on what would be an undeniable success of an album for Gaga by the end of the year. (All peaks and certifcations USA)

Stupid Love: peak5, platinum, 300m spotify

Rain on me: peak1, 3x platinum, 500m spotify

Replay: peak3, platinum, 200m spotify

Sour Candy: peak5, 2xplatinum, 300m spotify

A couple gold album tracks

Album: peak1, 2x platinum, 1.5b spotify

Not a success: (because of the huge repeak and hype of Asib, Joanne numbers or only slightly better would not be considered a success)

Stupid love: peak5, gold, 200m spotify

Rain on me: peak1, platinum, 300m spotify

No more top5 singles or platinum certifications

Album: peak1, platinum, 1b spotify