Upon its release 10 years ago today, Lady Gaga’s third studio album, ARTPOP, largely divided critics and fans of the then-ubiquitous pop star. With its eclectic amalgam of electronic sounds, and its markedly frank and occasionally absurdist exploration of fame, sex, and technology, most criticized the album for its lack of thematic coherence and sloppy production.
One reviewer called it “a farce,” accusing it of being “both dry and ridiculous, vaguely utopian but overly confident in the liberating power of technology.” Another lamented that it’s “hard not to feel underwhelmed,” calling it “a bizarre album of squelchy disco,” and “sexual but not sexy.” Another critic similarly opined that Gaga’s “robotic” vocal delivery made the project’s most sexual moments “seem grimly denatured.” Even this very site insisted that ARTPOP “wants to be everything but is nothing at all.”
Before continuing, I must admit that ARTPOP is my favorite Lady Gaga album, to the point that I not only have listened to it more than any of her others, but that I have become a bona fide ARTPOP stan. An insufferable troll, I’ve been known to start arguments at parties attempting to convince people that ARTPOP is a masterpiece and Gaga’s magnum opus—knowing full well that no one will agree.
