Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
Miss Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta shifted space withARTPOP.
Or get fucked.ARTPOPhas, for nearly a decade, occupied a peculiarspot on the pop-disco shelf.
In many ways, the album reinvented electronic-pop music.
Its hot, its fashion, its robotically synced to Lady Gagas artistic intentions.
Its also some of the singers most revealing work.
Her passion and sorrow are exhumed in Dope, as Stefani sings about her addictions at the time.
The only awards nod the album ever received was aBillboardMusic Awards nomination for Top Electronic/Dance Album.
Itd probably win a Grammy today.
She thanked her fans with a simple message: Paws up.
Art that was ahead of its time without trying to be.
I listen toARTPOPand I hear hype and experimentation, rules broken so that another musical pathway could be forged.
I get to feel the full spectrum of emotions again: sad, joyful, energized, horny.
Written with will.i.am, Fashion!
is just too slow.
ARTPOP is oddly sequenced as the No.
7 track on the album; its more of an anticipatory experience than a mid-record hit.
Jewels N Drugs ft.
Produced with Zedd, the rude-but-wise attitude imprinted on the listener is unmatched.
That its also a rose-colored ode to self-love, buried beneath a shallow riff on fashion, is clever.
Nonetheless, its fresh, smart, and cheeky.
(The background noise reminds ofBorn This Ways Scheie).
Venus
APHRODITE LADY SEASHELL BIKINI, GARDEN PANTY.
Gaga sings her next unforgettable verse, calling out the planets Neptune, go / Now serve Pluto!
Dope
Lady Gaga has possibly never been more candid than she is on Dope.
She grabs our hand and were taken on her journey, filled with ache and demolition and acceptance.
The dark process of healing is presented beautifully in Gagas words.
Aura
If any one song onARTPOPtricks you, its Aura, and its an exhilarating roller coaster.
The opener answers the question: What happens when pop is flipped upside down?
/ Do you wanna peek underneath the cover?
/ Do you wanna see the girl who lives behind the aura, behind the aura?
The song hints at a veil concealing … something, but Gaga never really tells us whatitis.
Its also just an incredible banger.
With an immediately recognizable, high-speed intro, its a metaphorical mind-fuck that splashes your insides.
Applause was the green light intoARTPOP, and an archetype of this junction in Lady Gagas career.
MANiCURE
MANiCURE may be an unexpected No.
This falls in line with the message ofARTPOP:less structure, more risk, and reward will follow.
Gypsy
This might be the most sacred song on the record.
Gypsy is about finding and falling in or out of love.
And its about being stuck and being alone and floating in mystery, confusion, or unknowing.
Gaga sings, And what about the future plans?
Those are the kind of questions we never want to ask ourselves.
Gaga makes her listener, too, feel safe, and, even if for one night, okay.
Though its also important to note Gagas use of the term gypsy and its negative cultural connotations.
In the end, Lady Gagas Gypsy recognizes the freedom that comes with being on your own.
The penultimate track onARTPOP, Gypsy is an excellent time capsule of Lady Gagas emotional expeditions.
An acronym for Girl Under You, this song is one of Gagas best, ever.
The heavenly gates ofARTPOPseem to open as G.U.Y.
Who elses mind could do it like this?
Sexxx Dreams
PerGaga Radio, Sexxx Dreams was supposed to beARTPOPs lead single.
Sexxx Dreams, the albums fourth track, is ranked first on this list for a number of reasons.
It explores sexuality by way of inclusive partying a rave anthem!
while maintaining the same universal thrill as any of Gagas most successful radio hits.
It pulses with energy, but with enough hesitation and foreplay to make eardrums frenzied with pleasure.
Above all, the songs playback shelf life has no expiration date, the way all Gaga standards do.
Run it back, forever.
