Lady Gaga - Joanne

Joanne is the fifth studio album by American singer Lady Gaga, released in October 2016 via Interscope Records.

Lady Gaga frequently cites the steady diet of musical theatre and classic rock she was raised on during her formative years in Lower Manhattan. Joanne is the record you’d expect from an immensely talented theatre dork with a penchant for rock music.

Undoubtedly Lady Gaga’s most impressive work, it arrives after a canny rehabilitation campaign during which she abandoned media stunts and instead put her vocal gifts on display. Her history of shenanigans explains the shock that followed a stunning Sound Of Music performance at the Oscars in 2015.

Her taste as an artist is another matter entirely, which rightly gets called into question over and over again. Joanne is unlikely to sway critics and fans for whom the well has long been poisoned. Proudly uncool, the album at times hews closer to the tradition of Heart or Elton John than modern pop sensibilities. This exploration (and elevation) is a feature rather than a flaw. Joanne hopscotches across oft-dismissed styles - bombastic pop-rock (“Diamond Heart” and “Perfect Illusion”), heartfelt twang (“Million Reasons” and “Sinner’s Prayer”), showstopping Broadway (“Come To Mama”), cheesy 70s duetting (“Hey Girl”) - with reverence and glee. Does the album cohere into an airtight whole? Nope. In fact, the record’s breathless runtime can result in genre whiplash.

But Joanne finds Lady Gaga, the artist, at her most genuine and comfortable in her skin. Warmth radiates from her stark lyrics and the album’s expert production. Melodies burst from these indelible tunes, crafted by Gaga and her motley gang of co-songwriters. Vocals soar from a singer who, no longer interested in self-imposed chilliness, has unloosed her battering ram of an instrument.

If this were the debut album from a promising rock band, with Stefani Germanotta as its fabulous lead singer, Joanne would probably be hailed for its audacity. It goes from punchy (“Diamond Heart” and “A-YO”) to lovely (“Joanne”) and back again at a breathless clip. The album reaches full thump on its middle dance-rock trifecta (“John Wayne”, “Dancin’ In Circles”, and “Perfect Illusion”) before careening into softer, and odder, directions. “Million Reasons” is a gorgeous country-western ballad, which gives way to the bouncy two-step of “Sinner’s Prayer”. Jazz hands lift the euphoric “Come To Mama”. Florence Welch shimmies into the easy sisterhood throwback “Hey Girl”. Joanne concludes with the devastating, if inscrutable, “Angel Down”.

Joanne represents a striking course correction for Lady Gaga. By abandoning the dance club for the dive bar, she may have tossed aside her status as a pop star once and for all. But Gaga has emerged as something better and truer. Stefani Germanotta is a theatrical rock goddess. And, baby, she was born that way. 

This double album 2LP record set is a Deluxe Edition on black vinyl housed in a gatefold sleeve with printed inner sleeves and three bonus tracks, pressed in Europe via Interscope Records.