The music (I've since realized how badly mixed a lot of the songs on the record are and barely listen to anything outside of Applause & DWUW anymore). Her messy image. Management. Pretty much everything was a disaster in late 2013.
I mean, the average person doesnt know **** about Troy Carter. And I think the media thing was hardly actually that bad, I mean you mention the Katy Perry rivalry... that was a stan thing, it didnt hit the mainstream lol.
An era is pretty simple, it mainly comes down to the music as well as the image (and how both are promoted/marketed). It's quite simple to say that people did not hugely connect with either. The campaign was not strong.
This isn't about the music as much as it is about the era and public perception of Lady Gaga. Considering the media barely spoke about the album in comparison to the other topics I mentioned.
A combination of both. Also she was mentally and physically going through a tough time. She suffered a hip injury in the beginning of 2013 (she didn't even properly heal until 2014 and still goes through pain) and ended the year with major depression. She was treated so horribly, it's ridiculous.
Both.
Management made the era a mess....they rushed her back onto the scene when she wasn't ready, there were last minute single changes, scrapped videos, messy timing of promo, messy promo spots (the Muppets), etc.
The media but a bad vibe on the entire era....there were countless news articles saying how big of a flop the album was, when it really didn't do badly (Sure it was a decrease from her previous album, but a flop? Not by any means).
Gaga herself was also not in a good state when the era started, physically and mentally. She didn't have time to get her ideas in order and have a cohesive era, some of her ideas were shot down, etc. She was extremely depressed and hurt by things going on behind the scenes....she felt like a cash cow and realized that some people she thought were close to her, only cared about the money she could make them.
