I'm loving this discussion here rn so lemme just build on what I've been saying with an analogy
So most
like, acclaimed albums don't have euphoric, anthematic, glorious songs back-to-back, each with a perfect formulaic structure. For those to actually be celebrated
moments, a good album will generally pepper it with a bunch of different tracks and ideas. Generally, you'll stick a ballad in, or you'll try out a really melancholic song, or you'll stick in a track that doesn't conclude itself, or you'll place some acoustic tidbit in there. Moving the analogy back to music in general, you can't just write over the same chord - you've got to write over both minor and major, dissonant and harmonious sounds in order to reach a beautiful climactic moment. And when you hit those euphoric 10 golden seconds in a song (
think: Whitney's key change and "and I......will always love you" moment), you don't then replay the song and go back through wishing they'd changed every other chord in the song to achieve that moment. That's because most of us have an understanding that there's a natural synergy between what makes that incredible moment, and the dissonant chords that had to be placed around it in order to achieve it. A musical can't have 10 back-to-back fully choreographed, catchy group numbers. To appreciate them, it must be surrounded by different material. A movie can't consist entirely of those final "I love you! Don't get on that plane to live on the other side of the world forever!" moments. Again, it ought to have come after a variety of other sequences. Now let's take this and apply it to Gaga's life - so when you're thinking of Gaga's career and discography (perhaps with delight, or concern over it's future), consider this: it's entirely fruitless to have one homogenised, glorious major chord (figuratively speaking) that runs through the tracks that will shape her greatest hits compilation, from 2008 to 2098. We
need those other moments to shape it, to delve into, to be painful, to be dissonant, in order to resolve - and that's where the magic happens.
Based on the way things are sounding - my best advice to make
'Joanne' a wonderful listening experience is to not expect the songs to be VMA-world-stage-performance ready. Let here take you to a desert rave in one song, then to the 1am NY-rooftop blues club, then to her family's thanksgiving by the piano, then to the underground rock club and then to a sunny afternoon in Hyde Park sitting on the grass, bathing in the sun and thinking about the week that's just been. Let it be unpolished and raw, and deliver a stream of consciousness. She's had, and will again have, her perfect musical moments - you know, the ones delivered at those like Oscar and Grammy performances with perfect choreo and a beaming final note, delivered to standing ovations and thunderous applause - so let's see her pencil around it with the inglorious moments and the contemplative ones. Because that is what makes for a
shining discography and a truly illustrious career.
and I'm not even high! 
