The album just came exactly when I went off on a trip of vacations, and I was able to listen to it these 4 days. I've been only listening to ARTPOP (though I have to admit that I did play some of Born This Way because I wanted to grasp the growth of her creativity and overall artistry).
All I have to say is that this is absolutely the best album of the year. I have never EVER stumbled upon an album I was able to listen to from beginning to end without finding a weak song. I have to say that subjectively Fashion! is not my cup of tea, but objectively, it is not a bad song. Also, when I came home today I went straight to the laptop and played the APPLAUSE video and listened to it and suddenly all the details surfaced in a different scope. I was able to view the video in a different way. It makes so much more sense to have APPLAUSE as the lead single, even more than the title track. APPLAUSE is a masterpiece and all the people who doubt it are just blaspheming.
All the references to the Renaissance she seems so invested in I was able to recognize too. For example, the Daphne and Apollo one she slips in MARY JANE HOLLAND which is coincidentally part of the album cover (the sculpture) and how AURA can stand for awrah (the supposedly arab word for *****) and also the Greek Goddess of breeze who was covered by a velificatio, or veil (guys, she still went away with it in a way). I'm fascinated by the amount of Greek mythology references on ARTPOP and also how she is using astrology too (by the tweet of Mercury going retrograde on the day of the artRAVE).
I'm so excited and amazed by this era, and I feel it just has started.
