Lady GaGa - ARTPOP

I don't care for much of what GaGa does and honestly once "Born This Way" ran its course I wasn't interested in the singles that came after it. The best song on the album being "U and I" which was buried as far as single releases go and is completely shameful considering its a brilliant slice of pop music. When GaGa was playing deeper in the EDM dance inspired material of her debut album she was far more interesting. Now with saying that ARTPOP leans heavily in the same direction of the debut album and that's obvious after hearing the opening track "Aura" which reminds me of my favorite Eurythmics track "Beethoven (I Love To)" and hits the perfect spot for why GaGa is interesting musically.

That excellent track continues with another nod to "Poker Face" which I was very pleased by and my interest in this album grew exponentially. ARTPOP at this point is almost recomendable but she falls flat with a couple of filler tracks called "Sexxx Dreams" and "Jewels N' Drugs" both that are verging on pathetic when compared to the excellence we know she's capable of writing. The ship doesn't flip over upside and gets some balance with "Manicure" a fun bouncy cheerleader beat romp that is sure gonna fill up some dance floors in the coming months. I don't care for the R. Kelly duet myself but it is getting some traction which the kids and GaGa queens picking up on it.

As with dance/digital albums there isn't much to be said about the production but the sound is full and has some wonderful bottom end. The big bomp bomp of the title track is almost worth listening to just to give your sub woofer a nice workout. The song itself is a reworking of "Love You Like A Love Song" by Selena Gomez and it is obvious immediately. ARTPOP drops a gigantic disco track that has the potential to be an epic dance hit called "Swine". I think this song is one of the best things she's ever written but it takes up to the motorboat rev for it to showcase its grandness. Overall a pretty slick number that just sounds awesome the louder it is.

She once again pays homage to Madonna with the song "Fashion" and then you get what comes off like a left over from the Born This Way album. A couple of Cher sounding numbers clog up what so far had been a pretty good album then her big single "Applause" and it is accompanied by three remixes of itself.

Overall this is a better album than her previous one and she is at her best when she's at her most odd and that's on the first track "Aura". This album is easily recommended listening even though it has some throwaway tracks.