Lady Gaga Gets a Little Bit Country and a Little Bit Messy on Joanne
I liked nine of the 14 songs on the deluxe version of Lady Gaga’s fifth studio album, Joanne well enough, and will listen to three or four of those with some regularity over the next few months. And you know what? Three or four is pretty good! Or, at least better than ARTPOP (the only song I still revisit is “G.U.Y.”) and Born This Way (which has “Edge of Glory” and “You and I”). So in that way, Joanne is a major success. But the album, out Friday, is a jarring experience, one that showcases what she does best (by stripping down her vocals) and worst (by trying to convince us she’s crafted something thematically significant.)