Lady Gaga’s ARTPOP era is the most misunderstood and underappreciated musical moment of the 2010s.
The majority of reviews for the album upon its release were mixed to negative. According to Metacritic, the average score it received is 61 out of 100.
I believe these criticisms came from a lack of understanding of what ARTPOP is as well as a false idea of who Gaga is.
Her previous album, “Born This Way,” touched on political and social issues such as LGBTQA+ rights, immigration and sexism. Much of the general public was expecting these darker and more serious themes to continue in her career.
That’s not what Gaga had in mind — she prefaced the era by saying the album will be more fun and less mature.
“I feel that when I wrote ‘Born this Way,’ I demonstrated a sense of maturity,” Gaga said. “I feel that, on the next album, there’s a lack of maturity, it’s a tremendous lack of maturity or sense of responsibility.”
Having said that, she still explores serious themes, just with more vibrant, modern and explosive production than that of “Born this Way” — which had an R&B feel to it.
A less intelligent person would hear songs like “GUY” and assume it’s about sex — given it’s an acronym for “girl under you” — when, in reality, it is a song about third-wave feminism. When Gaga sings “I smoke Marlboro Reds and drink Champagne” on the song “Donatella,” some would assume she’s just bragging about an over-the-top life with her friend, Donatella Versace — when the song and the lyrics are actually facetious in nature.
It is worth noting that it takes a certain level of intelligence and sophistication to understand the metaphorical and, oftentimes, sarcastic nature of the record — and I understand those are not characteristics everybody possesses.
However, there are songs that you can take at face value, that commoners and intellects alike could appreciate — such as the song “Sexxx Dreams.”
“’Sexxx Dreams’ is about sex dreams,” Gaga said of the fourth track on the album “Shocker!”.
When Gaga released the first single to ARTPOP, “Applause,” on Aug. 12, 2013, critics and fans alike praised its production and lyricism.
“As always, Gaga has turned a lofty idea into a jingle for the masses,” Jason Lipschutz, in a review for Billboard, stated.
However, the reviews written about the whole album upon its release in November 2013, were not reflective of the praise that the first single received.
Caryn Ganz, a music critic for Rolling Stone, gave the album three out of five stars.
“It’s a bizarre album of squelchy disco,” Ganz said. “It’s sexual but not sexy.”
As an apology for the unnecessary criticism of ARTPOP and of the heinous way Gaga was treated during that era, I call upon you to stream the album on whatever streaming service you use in honor of its seventh anniversary on Nov. 6.
Aaron Bharucha can be reached at [email protected]