Album C-View: Lady Gaga - "ARTPOP" | CCTV: The Nonstop Pop Show

ARTPOP...ARTFLOP?!

On this episode, we take a closer look at Lady Gaga's album "ARTPOP" and deep dive into the production, visuals, lyrics and performances. Despite the album's mixed reviews and commercial struggles, it remains a fan-favorite and an iconic part of Lady Gaga's career...though some do call it "ARTFLOP"!

In this track-by-track review, we explore the different themes present in the album, the collaborations with top producers and artists, and the unforgettable performances at the VMAs, AMAs, and SXSW. We also discuss the rumors of a potential part 2 of "ARTPOP".

"ARTPOP" Tracklisting:

Aura
Venus
G.U.Y.
Sexxx Dreams
Jewels N' Drugs feat. T.I., Too $hort & Twista
MANiCURE
Do What You Want feat. R. Kelly...or Christina Aguilera
ARTPOP
Swine
Donatella
Fashion!
Mary Jane Holland
Dope
Gypsy
Applause

References:

"Aura" Live at Jingle Ball: Link
"Aura" Live at ARTPOP ArtRave Album Launch: Link
"Venus" Live at ARTPOP ArtRave Album Launch: Link
"Venus" Live at Thanksgiving Muppets Special: Link
"Venus" Live at The Graham Norton Show: Link
"G.U.Y" MV: Link
"Sexxx Dreams" Live at iTunes Festival: Link
"MANiCURE" Live at iTunes Festival: Link
"Do What U Want" with Christina Aguilera Live at The Voice: Link
"Do What U Want" with R. Kelly Live at the AMAs: Link
"Do What U Want" Live at Alan Carr: Chatty Man 2013: Link
"Artpop" with Elton John and The Muppets Live at Thanksgiving Muppets Special: Link
"Swine" Live at SXSW: Link
"Fashion!" with RuPaul Live at Thanksgiving Muppets Special: Link
"Mary Jane Holland" Live at ARTPOP Tour: Link
"I Wanna Be With You" Live at iTunes Festival: Link
"Gypsy" with Kermit the Frog Live at Thanksgiving Muppets Special: Link
"Applause" MV: Link
"Applause" Live at the MTV VMAs: Link
"Applause" Live at Good Morning America: Link
Alaska Thunderf*ck - Justice for Artpop: Link

Transcript (from YouTube):

that's nasty that's so nasty I still think it's gross I am a little sad it wasn't a single purely because I would have wanted a music video an electronic Gothic industrial hump Fest and I'm here for it art flop viewer discretion is advised your fave will be criticized that sand that's Chris welcome to CCTV the non-stop pop show and today we're going track by track through Lady Gaga's album art pop [Music] looking for an awesome Global pop music podcast well look no further because Shannon and I have the inside scoop with extensive experience performing on stage and working at record labels we review and deep dive into your favorite artists songs and careers and also interview music industry bigwigs including artists producers choreographers and everything in between so join us on patreon at patreon.com CCTV pops and become a part of our amazing crew which includes less said Lily Emily Kevin and Juliet subscribe now and let's explore the world of pop music together all right today we're talking about Gaga herself yeah it's exciting to talk about her because we haven't on our show really maybe like yeah as like a comment but never as a full episode so it's nice to get into it yeah so are you a big fan of her um I got into it when I was like I was elementary high school age um I think I'm a fan I don't know because we constitute as fandom for people is different like me I support the music I can't pay for anything I'm broke as hell I've always liked her and I've always come to her defense so I think yeah people didn't get her when I was a little it was younger I think I liked her a lot because at the time she came out K-pop was becoming a lot more um Electro pop if you will yeah so a lot of the Silhouettes and the sounds were essentially kind of copying her like the whole girl crush concept can cause from Ariana Grande and other stuff like that you know her seven rings and whatnot but this was like Euro pop and you didn't really hear that K-pop so when she came out that was happening and I was like whoa cool I like them both yeah I like her yeah she's a big influence on K-POP I think so that yeah totally makes sense yeah I'm a big Gaga fan from the beginning really like I remember when Just Dance and Poker Face were coming out and yes really sure who she was and why she was called Lady Gaga and then I went to her show like very early on kind of when those first couple singles were going on so yeah kind of been there from the beginning um it actually did work with her marketing team at Interscope it was one of my first internships was during the whole Born This Way era in 2011. um lots of stories there which we can get into when we do the porn this way album I guess um but yeah I think in general she is just one of the best pop stars of Our Generation she's so well-rounded a beautiful voice a great performer um and she really has done some of the best performances of our time totally just so many iconic moments yeah and across very different things as well she has the Jazz stuff she has the pop stuff she's now acting as well so yeah it's kind of crazy how much she's done already and yes definitely a legend yes indeed I agree so let's get into this true pop star and her album art pop art pop is Lady Gaga's third studio album and was released in November 2013. following an injury in a much darker concept with the Born This Way album Lady Gaga decided to change her sound and push the boundaries on her art and ended up creating an album that she caused a celebration and a poetic musical Journey with intentional lack of maturity and responsibility we love a good bit of bacchanalia yes though the album received mixed reviews from critics and fans alike it did actually go to number one in many countries around the world but it is still considered to be less successful than most of her other albums and a lot of people refer to this whole era as art flop which I disagree with but we'll get into that um the iconic album artwork which features a sculpture of Lady Gaga with the blue gazing ball was created by Jeff Coons and there's also parts of famous artwork in the background as well so yeah we're now at almost 10 years since the release and the album has stood the test of time definitely at least among her fans and many have acknowledged that it's a very creative album and they're hoping for the long rumored part two as well so yes we will now go track by track and discuss the production vocals and lyrics and give our ratings for each song play along with us if you want to see all your ratings as well you can comment on everything at CCTV pops and the first song on the album is Aura by Zed Lady Gaga Anton zazlas Infected Mushroom which consists of a meat duvendani and eres Eisen and it is reported that Lady Gaga I wanted this song to beat the first single but the label did not decree and she ended up leaking the song under its official Park she said that the song's concept is about how her Aura represents her creativity which she has described as Insanity which is why the song sounds very insane yes this song is brilliantly weird um it definitely has grown on me quite a lot I remember the first time it came out when it was leaking or when it leaked and that was I mean I think the general reaction was what is this like what is going on um because yeah it's definitely insane I think that's a good word for it though there's a lot of warping synths in it and it's all just very intense and chaotic but when you actually listen to it very closely it actually builds really really nicely there's a really cool drama to it and I love The Melody of the chorus as well I think it's great as an intro to the album but fully agree that it should not have been a single oh well I heard this song because of the movie Machete killed um around that time like the whole like Rob Zombie like Death Proof those kind of stylist styled movies were really popular so this is one of those other movies that came in with machete kills and machete was like attached to the by kids lore so I was like oh invested um but yeah I like this one because it had like this little weird sound um it's not it's it's interesting to kind of hear it in comparison to what's happening now with music uh makes me realize how simple American pop has become and I wouldn't say simple I just feel like maybe more minimalist and uh inspired by other things and not so Euro pop influence as it once was um the lyrics are sad ish I'm very introspective but the production makes it sound sounds as if she is going mad I like I like the first lyrics about her murking her former and leaving that version of herself behind on Highway 10. it makes me think of um a telephone when she's with uh Beyonce and they drive off in the sunset I'm like does she murk herself on the road or does she get honeybee I'm joking but um it's just it's interesting to kind of hear that I think the live performances like a Jingle Ball and the iTunes performance uh was really interesting because she had that cage uh it was a little unnerving to see but it's really cool um and yeah shout out to her for leaking it um because you know at the end of the day I understand what labels wants to do but like she's an artist like a legit artist and she's like has a vision she's like f it so shout out to the app Boris is here all those years ago because she killed it with that one and I appreciate with the demo version that they took out the screaming and the shouting and having her kind of lower her tone and singing that way because it sounds very glowing and intimidating because it's just like she had a plan she was very clear and concise because people think that insanity is always yelling and screaming when sometimes it could be very very still so I like the whole you know Silence of the Lambs approach ability yeah I also think of the performance from the album launch in New York where she's in that all-white Ensemble with the face and then she's next to the Statue from the album cover as well and she's like fighting through the audience such a chaotic performance but also perfect for the song as well so it's brilliant um and yeah I think as I mentioned it does just set up the album really well you know we're gonna get a little deeper with the lyrics in this one she's gonna go a bit more personal we get the peek at the girl behind Aura so I just love that as a concept yeah sets it up well so what do you write this one it was sitting at 7.5 I think I'm I'm gonna I'll give it an e is 7.5 is fine I think 7.5 is good it's not bad but it's not great considering it's okay okay yeah as a song I'll give it a seven yeah all right moving on to track two which is Venus which was done by Lady Gaga and Nick Monson sunra madion DJ white shadow and Dino zizis and it samples rocket Number Nine by zombie zombie so this song was actually intended to be the second single from the album but do what you want was chosen instead following its positive reception when it was released as a promotional single so Lady Gaga has said that Venus is of course inspired by Venus the goddess of love and of course the planet as well but also just about sex in general and finding faith in different places and she was inspired by the futuristic disco and Jazz for this one this song is really cool I think hearing it live is interesting her art Rave performances make it feel like it's like a modernized ABBA song I would love to hear all of them singing it together it's just it's one of those things where it's like it's not okay but wouldn't that sound cool hearing them sing it like with their with their movements in there

um I sound crazy describing them but I think she produced it really well um and the song is interesting because at face value it is giving aphrodisi hookup right but it could mean something else like Could This Be Love um but I like that it had some type of symptom mental value oh to Gaga um she has said the song is about faith and also finding faith in other places in the Beyond and my experience with love being something that took me a really long time to find so it is about all that nest in this but it is also about something else too that means something to her um I think her performance with the Muppets is amazing um a roll call with the the balls the planet it was giving like uh the fashion like underground Ballroom version of the Sailor Moon roll call but then the dancers dancing with the balls and steps and yeah that was that was a lot it was funny though um and I think of this song I think of the song I can imagine her as like a space cleaner or at least being someone who is going to outer space to to to Venus like I can see her like reenacting Botticelli's Birth of Venus with a rocket ship fashioned into a clam shell or even the coons designed album art figure being the show but could you imagine like a sprawlers I mean she tried it with the drone at the art racing so I mean it's not too far from the truth maybe she would to quit that Jesus that was crazy looking I'm sorry this is probably one of the not the best idea yeah that was a fail for sure yeah it's I am a little sad it wasn't a single purely because I would have wanted a music video star like can you imagine how crazy the concept would have been like but I do not think it would have worked as a single either to be fair the rest of the songs that they did choose to be singles they also have their own issues but I don't think this one was the right choice either um but I love this song I think it's so silly it's so Camp um and despite being very silly in Camp the writing is actually very clever she uses she uses the word Venus in literally every single possible meaning and implication right we're talking about space we're talking about goddesses we're talking about love we're talking about female genitalia like it's like literally everything so it's just really really smart and that's throughout her entire discography how yeah beautiful her writing is that this is just a great example of how it's silly but also clever at the same time totally I agree and yeah I love the Abba idea because the harmonies and the chorus are really really fun it feels like a choir like it feels like a bunch of goddesses coming together you know to sing and it's it makes it ethereal and kind of dreamy but also very Space Age at the same time but then again also internal at the same time so it's really interesting um in terms of its layers uh love the call out to the different planets and Gods uh yeah and again yeah the performances definitely I agree the one with the Muppets is definitely the best one um I was watching some of the other promo ones too and her whole kind of Aphrodite Venus outfit is so just 70s hippie you know you get the big curly brown wig you get a very not cheap looking but just like not classy looking kind of Declaration of Venus it's the Botticelli inspired kind of thing because the shell yeah so that's right it's like not The Classy version like we're not talking Kylie's Aphrodite here where it was all very epic right yeah this was very like a bunch of hippies high and floating around Roman Romans had orgies too so yeah it's just the other way of looking at it right so I love that um and yeah shout out to one of our listeners Murphy who said her Venus is her favorite song of the album and she loves the unpredictable structure yeah good try Smurf all right so for me reading this song I would give this one an eight I'm gonna give this one eight because I did like it I did like it because my first time I was like what the hell is going on yeah but I was here for it oh the bridge definitely took me home too so what about you I'm here for it too this one's a nine for me oh next we have GUI done by Lady Gaga and Zed this is the third single from the album and it did not do very well disrespectfully um it peaked at number 76 at the Billboard Hot 100. um DUI was an acronym for girl under you and she has described this song as being about third wave feminism saying we don't feel the need to be on top all the time or be in charge or take control Like a Man I'm a power bottom I like to be underneath and the music video which is 12 minutes long when you include the credits also features other songs from the album including Art Pop manicure and Venus and also has cameos from Andy Cohen The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and also references the game Minecraft and a very popular gamer at the time uh in Lego it's a random bunch of random pop culture fun things in there so you yeah kick us off man let us know how you feel about this interact that was disrespected yes I do love the production on this I think this is Zed at his best he's kind of known for really powerful synths um and this one's just layered really really nicely a really great depth in it and the chorus production especially so full it's such a satisfying song in the headphones this one yeah um and the bridge there are really good bridges in this album but this one is so effective um just really stands out super memorable um and I love the continuation of the Venus planet metaphors throughout the whole thing like the whole sequencing of this album is really really smart and again the song is written in a silly way that doesn't take itself too seriously so I really I I love that she's one of those people like as an artist and I'm so glad she gets money for her budget because she deserves it yeah I think she pays for it a lot on her own actually yeah I mean I mean listen with all the money that she did make I was just because she has a vision and when you if you can do it do it as my saying because she'll she'll definitely get it back she's someone who would get it back um because she is that good um I do enjoy the whole idea of everything being put together for GUI um I remember liking the song a lot as a kid I guess my inner self knew that I was a power I knew I I knew it I was like you know I am bossy but I'm the right man change my mind um but yeah no I'm joking but definitely I maybe I had taste in Avon I pop at the time I don't know but like as a younger person I remember being like this song or class and say no it's not blah blah it's not like poker face or like Just Dance what the hell is she even talking about guy because at the time she had all these rumors um about you know having both genitalia and all those I mean she didn't care fans didn't care but of course the media and the average Joe from the Midwest and even Long Island gave a crap about what was happening down her pants right so I think it's interesting that she had to UI be a song and to refer as her man as a girl even though she explained what it was um it's still like this is bold um I like the song for like the Baroque nist of it it's like an electronic Gothic industrial hump Fest and I'm here for it um you know I think it was interesting and going back to what you were saying about the lyrics I thought the touch me touch me please be don't be sweet in the yeah please retweet I thought that was hilarious because I mean if you look at it like face values like haha sign of the times but also like hey if I feel this way about you do you you know is it required that kind of thing you know so I like that um yeah she does a good job of picking all these sounds and being very deliberate with direction that she's taking them in so I appreciate that mm-hmm so what do you think of the music video oh the videos um again going back to what I was saying she deserves all the money that she gets for these videos um but yeah I think it's interesting to see the whole thing put together uh like the beginning with her being like the Fallen Phoenix excuse me being shot down by by men interestingly enough powerful men quote-unquote powerful men so I think it's interesting to have that because toward the end like when she gets rebirth as her goddess self um she is gathering an Army of Lovers essentially creating a factory of her own kind of guys um and she's extracted the kindness and love from different figures like I think it was Jesus Gandhi I think Michael Jackson was in it at one point I saw some clips here and there um but yeah it's interesting to see that and then she and she ghosts the company takes over and injects everyone with kindness so again she's like in bringing this new Gaga World Order which is in Disco world order so but yeah I think it's interesting to kind of have her reclaim that power but do it with love but also do it with like a I mean listen you gotta be a lover and a fighter because you gotta fight for your love and that's what she's kind of like doing and I appreciate that for sure that was really interesting it's a beautiful short film and she calls it yeah yeah just I think the beginning images of her is kind of the fall in Phoenix or fallen angel or whatever those are so beautifully done um the housewives and Andy Cohen is just so Camp it's like the housewives are hilarious they like none of them have rhythm they don't know how to play the instruments they're holding that's absolutely hilarious um and yeah I appreciate kind of this second layer of commentary on just corporate greed or human greed um on top of the idea of the song I think it just adds an interesting layer to it that I would never ever have thought of otherwise yeah um yeah another shout out to one of our listeners so this song is Marissa's favorite and she loves the lyrics of the song she loves that she's singing about being submissive but she's dominant and wants to be submissive so that's a very different way of looking at things and it's very unique as a song all right so for this one oh I will give it an 8.5 oh yeah see I might be bugs I love this song very much um I'm gonna give this one like a 9.5 because Judas is like like sadly this song was trying to do something similar to that I could kind of like okay yeah like Jesus could be high for me all right in terms of like what this kind of sounds like to me uh so yeah I give us a nine point fun okay I'm biased all right next up we have sex dreams which was done by Lady Gaga DJ white shadow Steve a guess DJ Snake and Tommy and at one point this song was considered to be the first single from the album and she was inspired by her fantasy of infidelity with someone whose boyfriend is gone for the weekend and the song holds like a conversation she's having with herself like while she's streaming right off the bat the course is not my fave um the production is seductive in this clunky kind of way through the verse and then it turns into this Electro pop party in the chorus which is fine but the melody of the course does not do much for me the whole like sex dreams it doesn't really go anywhere like it doesn't I sing it really strange like that's not how it goes but just for me something about it is I identifiable in a way I'm like oh wow this is great I guess it's because she's saying ooh sex dreams he said sex dreams I guess some people kind of like oh yeah that's doing it for me but I just feel like in terms of like melodic kind of structure like Melody I'm not asking for anything too complicated it's just feel like it's almost too simple and it just was pretty like meh for me um but it doesn't mean the song is bad um uh the production again is good the Baseline the bridge is really cool it makes the song Sound a lot more like Chic in my opinion and the spoken part about her saying she's had too much to drink is great um oh yeah I think the whole the way the top line is with this song is probably why I'm a little bit like mildly underwhelmed by the chorus because I think it's very clever to have yourself speaking and singing and having the speaking voice having its own separate conversation than the singing voice because one is speaking to an actual person I speaking to the dreaming person so when you get to the chorus it just comes very it just Falls flat for me um but yeah again it's not terrible it's just nothing outstanding um I do wonder what would have happened if we've got would have gotten the version that Rihanna was rumored to have been on because she had made a tweet about like I just made a song my favorite artist and then like texted tweeted something about like sex dreams and then Gaga said something else and then nothing happened I wonder if the song would have gone elsewhere with her vocal as the chorus Maybe not maybe not but um yeah it would have been interesting to kind of hear this because Rihanna was kind of in her like rated R era already she's kind of doing her Bad Gal thing so she short hair short hair Rihanna is is Queen all right so she was kind of in that era at that point so it would have been interesting to kind of hear those two together for sure how do you feel about this one nice I like it more than you do I think um but I still at this point would not choose it as a single you know what I didn't really think about it what I would choose as a single because I'm just saying none of them could work but I don't think this one would have worked either to be fair but yeah I think the intro actually is one of my favorite moments uh in all of her discography I love the balance of the spoken lines with the dramatic vocals and it just sets up the song and tells the story very well um I actually like the chorus of this one um I think I was watching the iTunes Festival where she like was previewing the songs kind of a few months before it came out and it was missing all the backing vocals um and that's when I was like oh this sounds really bare but then once you get the full version with kind of all the layers and stuff I actually think it works I think it's very catchy and it's memorable and I think the production of the track is cool I think it's very dramatic of course which is what most of the album is but there's also this interesting era of darkness to it like there's a silliness mixed with the darkness like she knows that what she's thinking maybe isn't great but then since it's a dream she's kind of just going with it and embracing it and letting herself fantasize what she wants to fantasize so it's just interesting again just interesting layers to everything um despite kind of a very simple concept but yeah I like it um and I've seen her perform it now quite a few times at the various concerts I've gone to and it always goes off pretty well um it's a good song for the stage I think um so yeah I'll give it in 8.5 I will give it a 7.5 up next we have jewels and drugs featuring TI too short and Twista the song was done by Lady Gaga DJ white shadow TI two short Twista Nick Monson and Dino zeis she wanted to reach out to powerful rappers in the hip-hop world that would be open to being fearless and connecting to a new community so essentially she wanted to say hey hip hoppers are you willing to make music for the gay parties yeah yes let's do it so yeah this song is interesting it's such an outlier on the album um like it really doesn't fit on it but then that's kind of why it fits on it just given kind of how chaotic this whole project is in a good way um this is another one kind of like aura that has grown on me quite a lot over time I think when I first heard it I just I just was thrown off by it I was like this why are you doing this um and I did not like TI's verse that I still don't love TI's first because it feels like he just took it from some other song and kind of just slapped it on the track like there's nothing unique about it the lyrics have nothing to do with what she's saying about um so that's always kind of annoyed me because of the other two rappers those verses are clearly inspired by Gaga's verses and kind of her whole concept of the song so yeah that that's just always annoyed me about the song and that kind of brings it down a little bit and even production wise like too short and twist as versus they get unique production you get some kind of like interesting sounds interesting drums and stuff that go along with their flow and T.I doesn't get any of that but so anyway I just didn't feel like that that well that was balanced well um but I love I do love Gaga's Parts in this I think there are great Melodies actually in her in her sections and the lyrics are interesting she's spoken a lot about how money is not her motivation in general and then she gets into it more in other songs but the whole drug habit that she had at the time when she was recovering from the injury and everything you know drugs were a really big problem for her so then her equating drugs to love at some point is also very interesting um so yeah I think it's a cool song that has taken me years to appreciate um you know personally for me I don't care for the song's production um the typical brassiness and strings that was common in the genre it feels like stock music um I haven't worked with a lot of stock music it sounds like something I would cut together for like a commercial um and I know that the sound was trendy at the time because of like songs like Bugatti by Ace Hood and future or like no games by Rick Ross with also features future like that whole brassiness was very common in southern rap um like Maybach Music if you listen to that time and I get it but it's a very generic introduction I guess it could be generic introduction excuse me for those who aren't hip-hop fans or don't know the artists I've just mentioned um which is fine but then if you get someone like me who's listening to it you're just like come on because I've heard her do hip-hop and r b a lot better like she did chilling with Wale she sounded good on that even video phone you know she she has a way of writing beats a lot better than she did with this one um and going back to what you were saying about the rapper is the best flow was probably twist I mean twist has always been really good at riding the beat Too Short it's very old school 80s early 90s California rapper very hypey kind of Beats so the beats that he had didn't quite fit his voice and then T.I as you mentioned didn't really try but the sound is Common from the area that he's from which is Atlanta which is like crunken crunk kind of hip-hop with that brassy sound um but I don't like that brass uh in any kind of hip-hop K-pop does it now bothers me for every kind of dance break for a festival yeah um we get her singing Melody of this like the singing parts of the of the song are not bad melodically I just feel like production again just does not match what's she singing she sung she sung songs way better with hip-hop beats she's um she's the melody doesn't fit for me I feel like this is one of those times where it's like it's okay to kind of take influence from a different kind of singing style and go for there's nothing wrong with you switching it up if you're gonna have all these random rappers because as sweet as the the concept is and I get what they're trying to do it still feels very random um like no offensive Twisted but he was not he was kind of mildly like fading out by that time um but like I said it shows potential because they were actually trying to kind of go outside what was happening on the album and DJ um not whites that's called White Snake DJ white shadow um no offense to him but he's had better after digging around the time like Mass appeals that he was doing for Mass Appeal so much better so much more potential and then they're more hip-hop focused EDM focus and then when he brought like very gaga-esque since then people were like yo this should have been on our pop so I'm like eh I get the intention but the execution is not there for me completely so my rating is going to reflect that um if you want to go first though because I'm curious to know how much you yeah um yeah I'll give it a seven I give this one a 6.5 all right so that next track is manicure which was done by Lady Gaga DJ white shadow Nick Monson and Dino zizas and she said this song is about getting ready to go out and catch a man or a woman to fool around with you know this is funny um this is a I love a good stomp stomp clap track you know this is a stadium anthem for the man-eaters okay um I think it's interesting um how a lot of people use uh certain vices for relief for Solace um instead of saying she's going to use alcohol or drugs this time she's saying hey everyone I just kind of get laid and there's something wrong with that but again this song obviously covers it because she says manicure you know be cured by a man or cure a man whatever either way someone's gonna get fixed today um but yeah I think it's I think it's interesting to kind of have that be a song it's really fun though I wasn't expecting this kind of like I don't know it says this pop song but it just feels not like something she's done before it just feels very bright and like yeah about to go get laid so I like that it's fun um it's probably more lighter topiced or lighter kind of song the kind of compliment uh guy as well um because Venus is Venus is Venus but you know something that sounds a little bit more like oh this could have been a single this could have been a single I feel like because it's interesting it's I feel like Katie could have been doing it but they were beefing at the time so I won't say that because it kind of blasted me at this point but Katie could have done this you feel me like I feel like it would have been okay for a release you know so yeah what do you think about this and why I love this song it is the perfect karaoke song it will always be in my karaoke set list it is so much fun to sing yeah it is amazing it's the lyrics are super clever the whole thing you're like screaming it um and and yeah I think the song comes alive when performed live I think on the record it's fun to listen to for sure but when you see her perform it and she's just jumping around you get a live band in and she's just putting her absolute all into it it's so much fun and I think it needs to come back in a set list in the future for sure um I love the breakdown at the end it does have a kind of rock influence and I wish the guitars were slightly louder but I think after the electronic sounds from the previous track so far it's nice to have something that's just sonically very different um it's also interesting listening to the version performed on the iTunes Festival because the whole structure of the song was different like the bridge was actually a post chorus so she actually sang it like three or four times throughout the song um and it just didn't have as much of a build as the current final version does so it's an interesting study of just how a song can evolve um into its final version but yeah I love this one yeah I'm gonna give it a nine okay I'm going 9.5 up next we have do what you want featuring R Kelly Lady Gaga wrote This One with DJ white shadow DJ Snake Steve guess and tummy I refuse to say that man's name guys I think if you've ever been here I've called them different things

I refuse oh but yes this is the single second wow this is the second single from the album and in the lyrics She compares the idea of letting the media talk about however they want to with giving romantic consent you can take everything from me but you will never have my voice in mind so this song was not intended to be an official single but it's sudden critical Acclaim after its initial release prompted the change a music video with R Kelly was filmed that was never released likely due to the questionable concept and R Kelly's controversy when promoting the single on the voice though Lady Gaga performed the song as a duet with Christina Aguilera which is available on all stream we love Christina Aguila aguela they say it properly in Chile I heard her perform recently they said it properly I was like that's how you're supposed to say about that um but yeah so there's no version with um our smelly any longer because in 2019 following the highly publicized documentary surviving are smelly which has since led to our smelly's arrest and 31-year jail sentence for charges including child corn and um smex traffic uh Lady Gaga apologize for what she called her poor judgment regarding our smelly's involvement and announced that she would remove the song from All Digital streaming platforms and for those who are listening on the podcast platforms I'm sorry for the change of words but YouTube likes to demonetize when they hear certain words we trying to get that coin here on CCTV um but so what do you think about this track yes I love referring to him as our smelly I think you should stick with that nickname for sure um but yeah even way back when I was not happy with him being on the track and the second we got the Christina version I replaced it on my own so I'm glad that ended up happening uh in real life anyway um but yeah as a song it's a nice song it I like the r b influence of it I like that it's a little less intense compared to the rest of the album and her vocal is really good it's very vulnerable but strong in the choruses um and just a great example of her range um yeah the chorus is is super super catchy and looking back though it's just she has said how twisted it really was to have our smelly on it and it's I'm glad she realizes that because even back then there was backlash against it because he was on it yeah with those lyrics like do what you want with my body you're really having him on it like you're really taking it a step too far um and also just to think about back at that time that was when people started doing all those like pre-release singles on iTunes and then when you downloaded those those songs would shoot up the Billboard charts so you have all these random album tracks that charted at the time you know like the whole switch to digital was still kind of being figured out at that point so was this song actually as popular as they thought it was to turn it into the second single I don't think so but it's interesting to look back on it I think they should have just stuck with the Christina version after they had it um but I think by that point it was probably too late a little bit um but yeah the version with Christina though is great and there was so much buzz when they performed together um great chemistry and I'm glad that at least that version of the song is still available for everyone yes yes I agree I agree I think the song is good um in terms of what it means um the whole I mean for her to be someone who's a pop star she's she's going to be in the media right and then she crafted her own image right and of course the only thing you can do as an artist is give and whatever people receive and then perceive it's not up to you and it's so hard to deal with that so hearing this is as a Psalm making it sound a little bit more like you know what lover you can have me at the end of the day I'm still my own kind of woman that's a nice little double meaning um I do appreciate that so I think I appreciate it a lot more having two women sing that who have both been scrutinized in the media for are you skinny half or possibly being um transgender or right as if it mattered like it's a song It's a song still not good is the music still not good it is uh so I do appreciate that especially with uh you have um Christina who is inspired by r b uh singing so I mean when she sings on that you're like oh there goes that run oh there it is and you have both things together you have you have Gaga who sings In This Very lyrical soprano kind of way and you have uh Christina singing this very R B Spot inspired way so it's really nice to have because they're both very powerful women um I think it was interesting to have our smelling on there in terms of like it was a move I think she may have been trying to be shocking who knows what she was thinking at the time um but I mean it made sense for not only for his own allegations but also because of his his reputation as being like an r b like Titan in terms of like songwriting um like if he was not as disgusting as he is his music and time Timeless and just baby making music I believe I can fly all that crap like that so yeah I guess it made sense in the sense of like my body because he made baby making music but again I don't like that anyway I think what really caught my attention with the song I didn't even know existed until the AMA performances I didn't see I didn't know the song existed and this whole like Lewinsky Monroe inspired skit thing he was I wanted he goes I want that Italian I want that Italian I'm like that's nasty that's so nasty I still think it's gross even regardless even if it wasn't him it could have been yeah yeah yeah yeah like come on and she said no yes oh yes I'm like Lord get me out of here um but yeah again um the performance was was great she did a good job and oh yeah she killed that I know she was saying I just don't like that he was the president pretend that he didn't know her again Ray Lewinsky Monroe of them but yes yes that yeah that performance is uh it's it's a weird one because she killed it but the concept at the hall was just a weird choice and it feels really gross watching it back now especially knowing yeah well especially now that he's finally been convicted yeah um I will there are some great performances of the song though of course the Christina one on the voice but also the acoustic version that she did on one of the British TV shows oh my God it's so good because he has like an iPad or something it's like on her dress it's really good I was like wow that was one of the best acoustic performances I think I've ever seen of hers so I will link that in the description if you want to check it out she's good she's one of those people that kind of made people like oh pop stars can actually sing um so yeah how would you rate the song all this stuff like aside um yeah I'm just taking that out of there um well it's a hard so I actually don't like art smelly's verse regardless of who he is I actually don't love his verse he must refer Christina's version right so if I'm raiding Christina's version I would give it a nine if I'm rating the version with him on it maybe an eight yeah I'm sitting on like oh 7.5 because again he's like an rbr it's almost too r b for this I feel yes we're now at the title track with Artpop which was done by Lady Gaga DJ white shadow and Nick Monson and Dino zizis and she wanted to keep the production simple on this one and intended for it to not really go anywhere or have a climax giving it a more quote-unquote infinite tone and she performed the song with Elton John and the Muppets on her holiday special which is a great performance you should definitely watch that so this one's interesting I like that she has Art Pop can mean anything in this in the word um the the song itself but yeah also what the album represents like the ethos of the album yeah um sounds like this make me happy because again things like this make you realize like you could take pop artists seriously I think after around this time when people were like oh yeah pop artists can actually have have emotions outside of I love you you love me you hurt me and it Tearing Up My Heart you know saying like this one's a little bit more like tongue-in-cheek pop she's clever um but yeah I could hear Annie Lennox on this one like it sounds like here comes the rain um a little bit to me now I'm like oh my God it's a carbon copy but in terms of like what it did sonically and like the the distant sound and very distant relative by the way just like that but it'll be a fun collaboration to hear anniana it'd be great to hear those two together because they can both sing and they both have like this very like haunting kind of sound sometimes um so yeah I think uh it's interesting um as a track and gotta confirmed during like her own track by track commentary on Sirius XM that the song was known as her like a swan song and it was the first song written for the album and the one that she worked on that took the longest out of the other ones which is interesting considering the sound of the full song you don't think you would think something like DUI or you know the drugs and the drugs the drugs in the jewels song you know saying the durgas and the Jewel song was something to worry about right no it was this one so that says a lot I wonder what that what was stopping her from like completing it and making sure that it was perfect considering it was a title track so yeah very curious about that yeah it's cool I know she mentioned she she wanted it to be understated but the production still has some really cool moments too yeah like there's really interesting things that come in and out of it and I like that it does sound like just kind of like a weird experimental track from the 70s and 80s I that does keep it very Timeless I think which is cool um I appreciate her vocal on this she sounds very warm almost like an alien welcoming you into their planet or their home or something um which is cool uh so yeah I think the whole idea of Art Pop is is awesome you know music is Art but many people don't really think or they don't equate music with physical call Art um and so she's been kind of doing that since the very beginning right like when I went to see the fame ball like there was I was like I don't know what's going on even if I put some of the stuff that she has on stage and what she's wearing and what she's saying and it was all like it was weird but it was performance art you know um yeah so yeah I think it's just a great culmination of her philosophy as an artist so I kind of love that she refers to it as her swan song that's very interesting I will give it a 7.5

you know I was sitting at an eight because I have my hands ready to go but yes I don't find five actually sounds a little bit better so sorry Gaga sorry monster I know I feel like we're giving like kind of low ratings even though I really like this album but I think I don't know everything's just like a little odd and then in her discography there is better than a lot of these songs I don't know but yeah Gaga fans little monsters let us know in the comments below how you feel about the tracks we've talked about so far and if you haven't already be sure to subscribe and if you want us to review any other Gaga albums or even her whole career let us know in our patreon because if you come up CCTV producer you get job choice and priority darling all right so let's get into that next song and up next we have Slime by Lady Gaga DJ white shadow not snake Dino Zeiss zeesis and Nick Monson and this is an intense song that was inspired by a sa that she experienced and the rage she feels about the experience and how people use others to get their way how to get what they want um so yeah what are your thoughts about this song um I mean I guess you can kind of approach it with the whole context of it or even just kind of like first listen not knowing what it's about how do you feel about it yeah I mean I think the whole thing is very chaotic um given the context you definitely understand the song a bit more for sure uh but yeah I think the production is very very cool on this it's noisy but it all still feels very full and every element still kind of has its place uh she called the tour the art Rave I think she called like the album launched also the art Rave and this song is just perfect for that idea like it's very intense um and you can kind of just imagine a mosh pit of like people in I don't know like glitter or something like listening to this song um my favorite part in this is when the piano takes over for the second chorus it just brings a little lightness to the whole thing yeah a slight vulnerability on top of kind of all the intensity and her vocal is really really good on this she's angry it's intense it's powerful but it's not to despite her kind of screaming and kind of yelling a lot of it it still feels very full and not too that it's still like Pleasant on the ears I guess you could say um and yeah there's been some really interesting performances of this one as well which kind of stand out in my mind most notably the South by Southwest one with the mechanical Pig and then that woman who um vomits on her that's very interesting oh yeah I mean I can get into that a little bit just to kind of maybe give you a perspective or whoever didn't really get it either because that is a very strange thing to look at you're like oh what the heck but uh yeah I mean I like the I like the song um I like the hiccups and the song and the why are we sin and I will say I was driving when I first heard this song which is when we started doing this review so like a couple weeks ago I started listening to it and usually I've never heard this before that I don't think I have unless I did like I think I may have seen the South by Southwest performance in terms of like the virality of what happened as opposed to like the whole context so when I heard the song I was when I'm driving I'm usually in the car for quite a long time so my thoughts start to wander that's when I was listening to this I heard you're just a pig inside the human body and the first thing I thought was a man no offense to men out there I'm pretty sure there's a lot of nice ones out there but the whole Not all men thing doesn't count here when you've been hurt by someone that's the first thing you're a pig or you're a dog like that's the first thing you're thinking right like I said just think about it just felt like dehumanization of someone in general um I just thought meant because my own personal reasons but it feels very like dehumanizing and um you know I was like wow okay yeah where's this going and then the wind up before the swine streak that she does I was like what the heck see now I'm a head-banging kind of person when it comes to EDM like I will legit like thrash my whole head and body I don't like really do the drugs and I'm gonna do gas or whatever but this song made me do that when I was in the car I was like yeah yeah um but you know when in terms of the context of it or even just the meaning of it uh when you go through trauma sometimes the only thing you can do is get aggressive and expel the energy how you see fit um and I think it's interesting that she mentioned that uh at the end of the song like paint your face paint her face and be fine for the weekend uh and it's interesting because it's like your dirt made me dirty and now I'm no better than you and that's what really happens with a lot of people who have experienced essay or any kind of trauma that they're involved in there's it's like a a filth you can't wash off um and you especially if you feel like you can't fight back it's like what else can you do and sometimes in this case you create or if you're someone who uses vices you drink or all the other stuff like that like for me like I heard this song like when I'm upset about something or when I have been upset I would go to I would legit go to parties and just jump around shake my yams throw the throw my yams into outer space if you will and make it bounce like a bad check um so everyone has different things right I think the vomiting at the South by Southwest represents that um I mean in terms of like vomiting maybe it's something that she did personally like she felt so sick to her stomach she did that you can't you can't wash it off you can never wash it off um but I feel like maybe if she would just have something sexual kind of being simulated and didn't spilled on her that would make a little bit more sense maybe a little bit more comfortable but it's not about being comfortable and the song is not meant to make you feel comfortable so I think that's really like uh interesting and kind of might may or may not sway my score but aside from the context of the song um I like it just personally for my own taste I'm gonna put this one kind of close to guy for me I'm gonna give it a nine because I personally like it for my own personal taste for sure got it I will go with the seven all right with track 10 we have Donatella which was done by Lady Gaga Zed and it has a sample of karma [ __ ] by Anjulie and this is about being a Fearless female and not caring what people say about you much like Donatello Versace yes I love it okay okay loving is not the right word I just think it's so funny because when I think of donate it's a Versace if you listen if you don't know where the Versace comes from you you need to go but yeah Donatella versus is everything um because she's she's kind of tall and she's blonde and she's skinny and she's honestly I heard the song because of that line I saw as a side that's what I love about the song is that first slack it was so funny yeah um and I forgot where I heard I think it's one of those like Twitter Stan memes or like Tick Tock got a hold of it either way I heard it and fabulous kind of rats and I'm a little bit of a I'm gonna say fish um but yeah I love this after swine um in terms of reclaiming Reclamation of oneself um because After experiencing any kind of like abuse or any kind of heartbreak or whatever you kind of want to come up you want to glow up whatever you want to call it and this song essentially does that so instead of being ashamed of being like fabulous and being upper class and being that Gossip Girl type you embodied Donatella versus or Versace if you will whatever um maybe come down until overseas herself and you oh yeah we all have someone that we embody right so I enjoy it I feel like Beauty beautiful dirty rich has a bestie in the song not a sister not a cousin but the bestie has a little bit more upper class that has the money that can pay for the club that beautiful dirty rich is trying to get into oh pay for all the bottles yeah I like that it's kind of like over the top and con considering like the state of a-listers at the time like socialites and media having a field day with them the song takes ownership of all that and it's it's fun I think it's it's fun to kind of stretch your stuff you know it sounds interesting because yeah I agree the sequencing makes it really cool because this almost gives it the intention means so much more coming after swine uh so yeah just do really cool choice in the sequencing for sure and yeah this one's fun I love the first part of the chorus because it is slightly whiny the way she's saying it I mean it's fit and it's it's funny it's done on purpose and again just very silly yeah I think that's what makes Gaga really stand out because I think especially in this time people were taking themselves really seriously in top and you had to in order to be taken seriously and she did not care she was just like yeah she was just having fun which we love uh I love the pre-chorus on this one um asked with all the questions what do you want to wear this spring it's just a nice build a nice melody and it makes you really want to get to the chorus so that's that's what makes a good pre-chorus A lot of the time and it just sets it up really well it's very satisfying um and again the lyrics are very very clever there's despite the song being fun and yeah just being about yeah upper class and all that stuff there's the references to the extreme eating habits that many models have historically had to endure um how uncomfortable fashion can be uh and it's all just very nuanced and again just adds a lot of little layers to things in a song where its concept could be very shallow um pun intended uh she has made it a lot deeper and I find that really really cool agreed so I will give this one in eight Fame I will give it an eight of next is fashion exclamation point done by Lady Gaga David Guetta DJ white shadow not snake well I am enjoyed all right this song is about her love of transformation and how her outfits make her feel help make her feel more confident and it's performed I'm sorry she has performed the song with RuPaul on her Thanksgiving holiday special which is absolutely fabulous

after watching that because I was like she should have just put RuPaul on the original version of the song that would have been brilliant um but that performance is great and RuPaul does an amazing job um also how random that will I am is on this song and it's the only song I think they've ever done together like it's very random because this is just not the sound I would have expected from him and according to genius he's actually the one saying all the French at the end yes that's interesting with all the the labels very random but I kind of love that kind of we love these little pop collaborations for sure yeah this song is is good I do think it's a little Hillary but I think her vocal is the best part of it it's very operatic and thick and it just makes it feel very warm and positive um and again if she had RuPaul on it I think I would like it more uh because now I just wish her voice was on it as well just to give it another level and dimension because they're like seeing the octaves together and I don't know it just it just was a little more full but again that build into the final chorus like the builds throughout this whole album are so so good with like the long notes and the tension of the looking good feeling fine and you can just like feel the the beat just like driving and getting bigger and more intense I love that so much uh but yeah this was a fun one but it does feel a little fillery amongst everything else I think yeah this one I felt was a little bit more safer um it's not bad it's just not as bombastic as some of the other tracks yeah uh I think some of the piano choices and the chorus remind me remind me of Kylie's Love at First side didn't yeah there's like there's a chord in this piano that sounds race uh in the song it sounds very similar to me a little someone not very muscle storage little similar and and even the way the intro comes in reminds me of wow by Kylie the way it comes in I was like why does it sound so familiar to me uh the notes are different but the way it kind of Skips and kind of plops into the pops not even where it kind of Skips into the uh to the song I was like oh interesting I think the whole like Ballroom disco-esque energy of it made me think Mark highly um but yeah there are some elements of it where I thought oh that sounds a little familiar but not in a bad way where it sounds like she's snatching and stealing so don't come for me in the comments or no uh but yeah it's a fun song and it shows that she can really handle the minimalist tracks um I think it's so interesting the way she is singing because it is very theatrical because she's giving up right and it's giving darling we on the world like delay people would talk you know and they're trying to be like with your impression of whatever they think that is um but yeah that's what she was singing like to me in my mind uh the bridge breakdown is is really great like you mentioned um it feels like uh the backstage prep before the final strut it definitely builds attention really well and then we get this awesome outro with that dubstep and all the other interesting things so I think at the end it does pick up and take everything up a notch and uh kind of ushers in the next song we're going to talk about well so I think in that sense it Chico's kind of Renaissance before Beyonce was Renaissance you know so I'm joking but yeah it's nice to kind of hear that ending for sure nice so yeah I'll give this one oh this is so hard I'll give it an eight yeah you know what I agree I think it's sitting at like a eight I was thinking 8.5 I think it's saying out of eight two all right moving on to Mary Jane Holland which was done by Lady Gaga and Marion and samples can't beat the machines by the good natured and this is about her Alter Ego named Mary Jane Holland who she becomes when she smokes weed oh my goodness right

um you know this one again there's going to become a zip comparison y'all listen I was a DJ in my past life you may not hear it y'all but I can hear it and it's fine um the way the song comes in it reminds me like an 80s fantasy action movie with all the like it sounds very like Tron soundtrack to me but it sounds mostly like Journey Separate Ways as like as an insole in the beginning

the synth that they play in their song reminds me of the one that I hear here um again it's not it's not exactly the same I get it's not a copy and paste but the reason it doesn't is because Gaga is a great musician dang it that's why and it was like a freaking rip-off uh you can hear the signature sound once you get past that little the little and I've been like tickling of the synth I don't even know what kind of adjective that would be a verb whatever but it kind of tickles in and then Gaga sound comes in and uh I read that she had uh stated that she wrote the song while abroad right and she was speaking to Maddie and mad madion about she was like tired of the world owning her blondness or who she was as a blonde right um so she went out and became Mary Jane for the night like literally was like I'm going out she went to all her favorite places I'm purifying I'm paraphrasing a lot um but I think it's interesting that Mary is her quote unquote normal self because her normal self is still very just like she's a force regardless of what kind of fastest she is in her life she has a personality she's not just like well I guess I'm going to be reserved when I'm at home or whatever no she starts a personality right you can see that um and the lyrics speak to that and I think it's the most obvious lyrics on the album like she literally says the lady of the Dom won't be a slave to the blonde she was literally an Amsterdam when she did when she debuted Mary Jane Holland so I mean like it's very obvious um and I love the ending it's very epic um because toward the end it sounds like the intro of an album or a concert so her introducing this character at the end of the bridge is like what that's crazy marriage I can't shout right now but yeah it's so fun and I'm like wow look at her giving herself a grand entrance as if she doesn't have I mean listen pop was going through a whole like Alter Ego he had we had a Roman uh Roman Roman uh Roman with Nicki Minaj uh uh Sasha Fierce um Gaga with I guess now Mary Jane but Gaga always had some whomever up inside her anyway right so pop was going through that face so for her to actually get actual stuff I think it's brilliant um so yeah I think the live performance is great her putting chairs on her body oh yeah um random but she had green hair she wasn't blonde so that's also fun too yeah this one was a highlight when I went to that concert this one really is really really fun one I love the choreo as well yeah um well it's interesting yeah Lady Gaga's all about alter egos Lady Gaga itself is an alter ego right so I find it really interesting just in her career so far that's kind of how she handles all the different aspects of her personality and creativity so for her to now have this other Alter Ego that's just for when she's high on weed and wants to escape from these other alter egos I just find that whole idea very interesting um and there's just a carefreeness to the way she's singing and to the way the lyrics are written and that again balances kind of the intensity of this production very very well I love the chorus to This it's so fun to sing along to and it's very hard not to chant along with her the name yeah it's so much fun and this is what I always look forward to like if it ever pops up like on shuffle or anything it's always a highlight of the day yeah I think yeah and just yeah great Electro pop and the drums are awesome as well the drums are super intense this is one I would love to learn there's just a lot going on um and it really builds the song in the different parts of it really really well and the drama of the bridge again is just perfect you get battery synths you get the really silly lyrics and yeah the drama of her introducing herself and the cheering that happens is hilarious absolutely yeah so for me I'll give this song uh uh I would give it a nine I like where it is kind of sitting in the other other songs I gave up there put up there yeah yeah I will also give this one a nine all right so up next we have dough by Lady Gaga Rick Rubin Dino zasis DJ white shadow and Nick Monson and this song serves as an apology to her friends family and fans after being addicted to marriage and durugas that she was taking while recovering from her hip surgery that she had um sustained while on tour um and an early ver an earlier version of the song with different lyrics titled I want to be with you was previewed at the iTunes music festival a few months prior to the album's release so fans got a little taste of it but was this was that the version that ended up being on this album uh Chris would you speak to that not at all the melody was the same lyrics were completely different the original version was very much um a very obvious or clear direct message to the fans I missed you while I was away healing from this injury I want to be with you that was kind of the original intention yeah the final version that adds this whole layer of her drug addiction and how that kind of turned her into a very isolated person and how she knew it made her very difficult to work with et cetera Etc as she was kind of going through all this um so yeah I appreciate the meaning of this song but this is far from being one of my favorite Gaga ballads yeah um I the melody just doesn't really do anything for me and her vocal performance I really don't like it um I don't like the slurring of the words I don't like the really throaty singing that she's doing it's just not very pleasant to listen to and it doesn't sound as vulnerable as I think it could have or our baby that I want it to uh so yeah just not for me and then the production as well I kind of wish she maybe just left it as a piano ballad or something or maybe just made it more rock influence because those buzzing synths and stuff kind of distract from the emotion as well so it's just it doesn't do what I think it was intended to do unfortunately and this is one that I don't ever really listen to yeah you know I think the vocal delivery isn't inspired by the state that one could be in one under the influence because I I heard that too and I was like oh girl you sound like you sound as you sound like what you what you felt what you're going through right now um so I get why she may have done that um and I'm pretty sure you do too obviously but I think that's maybe why she kind of just stuck with it and never got like past it um just to kind of show like the internal struggle and then it became like an actual struggle because even when she was hitting the notes it was like girl we've heard you scream and are like belt but this isn't it's giving hard time right now um but I mean hey this was just so she was going through a hard time right so um yeah those electric zippings zooms weren't not my favorite I don't know I thought if you're gonna put that in a song definitely have a switch up of some kind of tempo chain some type of like take the song up to the next shift the gear give me something give us some um but yeah uh this is the kind of the uh segue a little segue to what's it called tangent away from the song the cover art of this song makes me laugh the whole panelist Gaga and the teeth this was interesting but maybe that's what she felt like she felt like a monster you know a sexy monster I don't know but it was just like what's going on a lot of the artwork for these songs have been interesting we didn't really discuss it like we probably should have but a lot of the artworks for the songs have been great great this one including the one with Venus I'm not completely convinced I know the meaning of like Venus has like the Scorpion on her forehead I think it's inspired by another artist but this one fans in the comments let us know what it meant please uh but yeah I mean I guess it's just meant to kind of depict her being like a monster toward people and what she was going through and maybe to articulate why she was singing the way she was sorry this is a very sad track um but yeah the post chorus repeat is a little meh to me in the direction of it wasn't my favorite um I do um feel like she could have been a little bit better with the analogy I mean we get addiction and love are they kind of It kind of Hit the same spots of the brain so I get the whole analogy and the comparison um but I feel like she could have gone a little bit further with it give us some actual Sonic trippiness you know what I'm saying because of course was lazy a little bit bye girl I said I was lazy come for me monsters come for me little monsters but yeah I will forget this one a five um yeah um

um okay so moving on to number 14 we have Gypsy which was done by Lady Gaga made in or Madeon what do we know do we figure out what it is he's French right oh let us know it's and DJ white shadow and also red one is back for this song which is fun he he was gone for a minute there that's funny and Gypsy was written while out on tour and the song is about how she's traveling all the time and can feel lonely but her fans in each country are her home and she performed the song with Kermit the Frog on her Thanksgiving special which also is a brilliant performance one of my favorite Gaga performances ever maybe I like the song meaning um as a touring artist Gaga probably felt so alone at times I mean I even tell people this myself with me singing like I do everything by myself oh that's life I'm like yeah but you don't understand you're getting tired you get tired of being alone all the damn time and the song kind of talks to that um I mean you could be surrounded by a team my dancers and still feel very alone because you don't really have a home so you don't have a place to really lay down except a hotel as nice as it is as it is it's not the warm embrace of a loved one or even being able to talk to your fans who like really love you and want nothing but you you know your team is working with you they do love you but they're getting paid you know when the checks stop flowing and stuff what happens right no offense to her team I'm pretty sure they love her house of Gaga I apologize but um but yeah I mean having the little monsters and a hug a kiss from a true love whoever that was at the time um it's comforting it's comforting like in terms of finding love when you do find it um kind of just going to the true love part of the song you hope that the person that you're with understands that you have this dream you're still going to live it and that they support and care about you while they're still you know all you're still living your dream because you could possibly make them feel lonely too so there's a lot of things going on and I do appreciate that um as she's listening all these places she's been and going and and whatnot uh she mentions the German but also she says someday in Jakarta because at the time or a little bit before that time um the K the tour stop and Jakarta got canceled because of all the biggest uh groups so I think that's interesting that she put that in there just kind of let them know like hey little monsters I did want to come we all know what happened I still love you someday I will be there so I appreciate that I think that's really awesome um I think as a whole the song is giving Festival just awesomeness um I'm not sure how often she performs the song because I've never been to a tour or anything like that but this song is great I think it's a really big song and um it's interesting that you know she's she uh I don't say she's um saying Gypsy love but I've noticed that she during this time she was saying things that she probably could cancel for now and I'm so happy that she existed when she did because she gets to say what she wants and articulate in such an artistic way where you're like you know what a lot of gypsy even though there's that's not exactly like the right term for people who just wander because they're their own kind of like people yeah we get it we get it with this song you know and I get it like if you're a person with a gypsy culture and all that stuff like that I'm sorry but the song just makes sense in terms of what it was trying to do so I'm glad she existed when she did and she wrote the song when she did that's it I'm done yeah I love this song it's so joyful um and yeah she hasn't performed it that much she did perform it at the art Rave uh and I believe yeah a couple other gigs as well um and yeah this is one that I do think should have been a single I believe at the time it was a contender with GUI and I think they ended up going with GUI um which is interesting I'm curious how this one would have done um I personally think this one is a bit more accessible it's for the general public but I don't know uh but yeah I think this whole song is perfect I love that it starts quite mellow and the whole build into that that's like it's brilliant the whole first verse is is so awesome and there are just so many great sing-along moments including that one there's the I'm not I like it's so much fun to do and yeah the listing of countries ethnicities is fun it reminds me of the call outs and born this way and and yeah that I don't speak German but I try great Easter egg for the shetsa fans um I love that song on born this way as well so I love that call out and yeah this actually is one of my favorites in all of Gaga's discography including the stuff that was released later I just think it's just so happy while speaking to something um that actually is a little sad at the same time so there is still a Melancholy to it but she's almost seeing the good the silver lining of it yeah inside of it totally so I think that whole dynamic is really good you can feel that actually in the song which is brilliant yeah and so yeah this one's up there for me I will give this one a 10. yeah this one's a 10 for me too all right so here we are at the final track Applause by Lady Gaga DJ white shadow Dino Nick Steve guess Tommy Julian Arias and Nicholas Mercier this was the first single from the album and was a big hit across the world and it's about how the Applause and cheering of the fans is what kept her going when she's performing through her hip injury on tour which makes me so annoyed as an artist because I understand um and the music video was inspired by silent films and ladies Gaga's passion for her transforming and the different facets of herself as a performer this amount of Art and nizal just dig I didn't know any of the artwork I'm pretty sure there's a tumblr post somewhere of someone explaining all of it yeah but uh yeah hop right into it Applause love applies I I think it's another one that's grown on me through time I remember when it was first released I would slightly underweld and I think I wasn't alone in feeling that amongst her fans because before that the lead singles were born this way and Bad Romance and Just Dance you know like just really Timeless hits and this one didn't really feel that way and still doesn't really feel that way like this song is not as good as those but it is a good song um and I think seeing her sing it live and watching her perform it in all its different iterations she just emanates Joy when she's singing this song yeah so that has helped a lot in growing for me and that synth is so instantly recognizable like the second you hear that it's like oh like you know what that is so yeah it's always fun when that comes on but yeah I think the whole thing is just it's made to be performed for sure um it's another one that I appreciate a lot more visually than I do sonically uh but it's fun to sing and I love the spelling of Applause for some reason I love the spelling out of words in songs I've mentioned that before I forget what song we were talking about at the time but I haven't mentioned that I don't know why I love that so much um but yeah I think it's interesting she decided to end the album with this because I think overall everything is quite experimental for the most part on this album yeah but this one kind of feels safe it feels like the we need to write a hit we need to write the single it really does kind of feel that way um so I don't know it just feels slightly I don't know not forced but I don't know just just it just doesn't feel as deep uh as the rest of the album um yeah I think if this was supposed to be the next track to be like the oh she's the one that's saying born this way then it made it makes sense right it makes sense for someone who's just like who this oh that's a chick in the egg at last year's Grammy's got it you know that's kind of what it was serving I get that um the song so funny the bangbok oh that's hilarious um but yeah you know my silly kid brain like this chorus when I first heard it I know who the hell she say I still don't I refuse to learn the lyrics properly to this so I want to mindlessly senselessly without or even Mumble and sing the right notes you know um I love the operatic singing that she does I was like

you know what I'm saying I'm just back there like mumbling um I really don't know the lyrics if you guys actually right now Shan million dollars yeah yeah I'm not at billion On My Own lyrics um but yeah I love the r b d the moment at the end she goes

like I said there's so many moments of this song I feel like she she has a good time but there is no way she sat there and was like I'm not riding a freaking Bridge are you kidding me she could have wrote a bridge she could have but she did it she goes whoa whoa whoa whoa he's just wooed you know um but yeah I I think about the lyrics the one lyric I do know that we want to talk about just randomly singing he's the one second I'm the kuns then suddenly the [ __ ] says

I sing I don't even need a prompt that that and then the whole OMG you why I'll sing those kind of those parts of the songs without prom I don't know what it is I'll just be sitting there like for whatever reason I'll do that I'll remember hearing that I said did she say did she say this did she say the smart word but it's the artist yeah I was like girl I don't think I'm relates to your people but okay but now that I know it's the art because I was still young at the time but yeah I was like your time okay um but yeah that part always cracks me up um but yeah not like this song and the performances are great because she'll sit there and then I love the the stocking cap yep

the Aphrodite clip we got a lot of the costumes that she would end up wearing during art Rave and performances in this video so it was very much tied like she knew from the jump she was giving what K-pop gives now you know um yes but I mean as an artist conceptually she's always been like that but it's just so funny like I hear it and see it too so yeah I mean um this track was great um yes I have to shout out the performances for sure the favorite is The Wizard of Oz one on Good Morning America she mentioned that in Gypsy it's brilliant she mentions Wizard of Oz and Gypsy and I'm just like what is this what I'm doing anything and then now that I heard Gypsy yeah but like the fact that she did that for a good warning America where most people tend to phone it in because you know it's like at 7 30 in the morning and they just yeah you know just do the standard thing and she's like I'm building out the whole Yellow Brick Road and I'm gonna do four or five costume changes yeah three minutes off wigs no she has two three wigs one wig cap and then everyone in the audience had flowers on their heads yeah that's so brilliant yeah she said you want tickets to the show oh gosh and then to be amazed too with the the square oh my God and then she's like walking in the crazy eyes and the booing and stuff oh my God it's so brilliant that's what I'm saying this air was so strange I was like I'm here for this I don't know what it was it's so entertaining it's so entertaining we don't need to get it right yeah I feel the same way about the music video like I don't really know what's going on in it either but I'm entertained like my eyes are there I like have no idea what any scene is supposed to mean or anything but it's very memorable like this Black Swan um I don't know it's crazy I'm laughing hysterical I'm thinking about that freaking Square she had on her head yeah the Crazy Eyes is what brings that together too oh my God the square and the crazy it's the conviction it's a conviction I say the VMAs have not been fun since Gaga stopped performing at them I'm gonna be real with you Beyonce stop doing them and Gaga I have not had a performance I was like wow that blew my mind so you know Step It Up step your cookies up y'all all right um but yeah would you rate the song uh I'll give it an 8.5 I kind of want to shoot for nine because of the the Queens is next I love that love it nice all right so we're actually at the end of the album now and we're at the cut or keep section so if you had to cut a song off the album what would you cut goodbye Jules and guys that's fair what about you yeah that was on my list too but okay if you've taken that one then I'll do dope oh yeah you never need to hear that one again yeah we're doing the Phantom favor I'm sorry I do apologize if you do like this song and if you do like song please tell me what kind of value it has if you have like some type of value too we're like oh to save my life or something I respect that but it was just I like the beat no there's better beats all right uh okay so if I have to keep a song I would keep Gypsy for sure you know what I'm going to push personally for my own like I said for my own taste I cannot lie I really do like swine depending on who I'm talking to I'll definitely I would show that song to someone yeah for sure okay cool yeah cool manicure was the close second for me yes I figured that one for you for a second all right so what would you give the album what would you give it as an overall rating for this album and what are some of just your overall thoughts looking back almost 10 years you know what she was doing beforehand leading up into this and then what she ended up doing after like she completely was like screw this I'm walking away and did a stripped down version of it that's gonna be stripped down kind of like jazz but you have the capacity for it yeah sure but why right after your most one of your most personal okay you know so I feel like with the her momentum the the the the number one spot was warranted with the criticism that came with it at the time I can also understand that as well so I think Drunken Love had come out during this year as well um some other albums that come out that would pop albums it was true to her it was more artistic but in terms of like keeping her momentum up I can see why people were just like girl what girl girl because this is for fans who understood the camp who understood the random conversation and her and screaming on stage randomly because she's getting kidnapped by her dancers that's this out for those fans um so yeah I think overall though I like it so I'd give it like is sitting around 7.5 but I'm thinking more toward eight because I don't dislike it as much as I like it you know so I'm thinking sitting around like 7.58 ish for me so I'm kind of like in the middle so sorry for editing but yeah we'll see if it grows on me as I you know time goes by what about you yeah as a rating I'd probably stick with an eight I like the album as a whole as a larger concept I enjoy it but I definitely think there are some songs I don't necessarily love either so I think as a project it is interesting however I would never call it the art flop at all I really enjoyed being a fan at this time actually like she really you could tell that she really missed the stage so you could just feel the conviction and how how much love she was pouring into every single performance at the time so it was it was fun being a fan because she was really pushing the boundaries and really just doing the most you know um and that that was great as a fan to watch um again I do think some of the choices around single choices and things like that maybe weren't the right move and and I always appreciated her kind of you know sticking the middle finger up at the music industry sometimes right but um it just it was just weird timing as you mentioned yeah I think I think that would work more now for sure yeah um people are a bit more open now yeah um but again as a fan the Art Pop ball yeah concert yeah it was still maybe my favorite Gaga tour I've ever been to and I've been to all of them except for the Born This Way one because it didn't make it to the east coast uh and I went to the Roseland Ballroom closing as well uh and so that was all kind of this era and so I have good memories associated with all of it um and also I want to shout out Alaska Thunder beep the drag queen I can't say her actual name uh she did a show called Justice for Artpop where she performed the entire album and it was brilliant it was so good I'm so glad I got to see that so shout out to you and and yeah you know we're about to hit the 10th anniversary I'm curious what she's what Gaga's gonna do to celebrate it um you know she did the deluxe born this way with like Kylie covering song and yeah other people covering redoing remixes and stuff so curious how she'll embrace it and of course we have to mention the long rumored art top two right like DJ white shadow has talked about it quite a few times that they have a lot of material yeah prepped for it yeah um and I think the fans want it as well I think a lot of the true little monsters do view Art Pop as one of our best eras if not her best ERA actually um so yeah I'm very curious to see how she would Embrace this concept now 10 years on yeah totally I mean you have so many artists who are inspired by her like Ava Max I mean if you even listen to what's happening now with like the Rave scene like or even just like 100 gags no offense do you want to talk about noisy that's them you know there's no offense to them like at all it's just she was already doing it you feel me so yeah I think this would be fun if she kind of did it and also I mean come on I can't I don't have a big enough hole but I too would love to have an album that was this free and I mean at this point she has such a good reputation she can do what the hell she wants to do like I'm doing right now you're not watching currently you're listening to our podcast my face is currently through a hole

um in a tiny Square you already know but yes that concludes our Track by track analysis of the art pop album y'all rude all right so little monsters or non-little Monsters what do you all think of the album let us know what other albums you'd like to hear us review you can join us on patreon to hang out with us and please comment below and don't forget to message us at CCTV pops on all social media because we are there right or B squared and don't forget to like subscribe or turn on your notifications for our YouTube channel and if you're enjoying the show on a podcast platform please give us a follow rating and a review until next time that's Chris that's Jan and we are CCTV signing out!

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On April 19th, Webster Hall was filled with “FLO Lifers” eagerly awaiting the UK girl group FLO who are currently embarking on their “FLO Live” tour. Formed 2019, FLO consists of Jorja Douglas, Renee Downer, & Stella Quaresma. The group’s style distinctly derives from R&B and Hip-Hop from the 1990’s and early 2000s. For a more in-depth analysis FLO’s sound and trajectory watch here (https://youtu.be/i18hpBoW4EU)/ <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/i18hpBoW4EU" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Before FLO took the stage, Samaria, an Oakland R&B singer, opened the show. Samaria started with a simple backdrop featuring her name, keys, and drums. The audience seemed familiar with her music and if they were not, they were supportive and living in the moment. Samaria interacted with the audience well and related to them on the basis of terrible ex's and a journey through a toxic relationship. Samaria’s songs had interesting cadences, but what was missing for us was backing vocals on the track to delineate verses from choruses. After doing some research we found that the “Out of the Way” singer has a sound also inspired by 00s R&B, with a some tracks tracks full of fun guitar licks and drum patterns reminiscent of Timbaland, but none of those instruments were present in her performance. Her backline consisted of a keyboardist and a drummer. Although Samaria sounded good, at times the keyboard’s volume was overpowering. She worked the stage, nonetheless and good job. 7.5 out of 10 ! ()SCORE

https://www.instagram.com/samaria/?hl=en

samaria.lnk.to/shadyhills

Okland R&B Singer, Samaria as the opening act for FLO's tour "FLO Live." Samaria on stage singing with her band. Oakland R&B singer, Samaria performing on stage at Webster Hall as the opening act for FLO (Jorja, Renee and Stella) for their sold out "FLO Live" tour.

Next up was the much-anticipated FLO, and the girls opened with "Not My Job." They were all dressed in black with cute cutouts, and their outfits were shimmery (I love sparkle!) which was a welcome change from their wardrobe at the MOBO awards. Their faces were beat (we love a “natural glam”),

their vocals were tight, and their choreography was utilized well to highlight grooves. The chemistry between the girls was undeniable, and their vocal blend was seamless— absolutely chill-inducing. Jorja's thick vocal tone took the songs to a soulful place, and Stella's airy delivery allowed her to float at the top of the group's harmonies. Renee's smooth, warm alto voice added a coolness to their sound and gained a lot more stability in live singing. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention FLO’s band! The band consisted of some past schoolmates, which added another layer of charm to the whole set!

The absolute highlight of the show was "Losing You” In this live arrangement, the girls emoted and connected with the audience on a deeper level. Chris loved harmonized adlibs, brand new bridge and extra outdo including a guitar solo. As a special treat, FLO performed a cover of Jamelia's version of "Superstar" by Christine Militon. Even though a majority of the NYC crowd had no clue who Jamelia was and didn't know the song, the girls did teach the chorus before singing the song, so some fans were able to follow along. Chris and I certainly knew the song and even received compliments on synchronized impromptu choreography.

Speaking of choreo…

The girls' choreography was something we were curious to see, and they did not disappoint. They danced well, and they were given grooves as opposed to sharp movements that really complemented each member's personal style. In terms of technique, they aren’t K-pop idols so we weren’t expecting crazy formations and “point dances,” but you can tell they put in the work to provide another layer of entrainment to the experience. There was even some chair-ography for their performance of "Change," a new track about a lover's inability to "do the work" necessary to improve the condition of the relationship.

The girls did perform their latest single, "Fly Girl" ft Missy Elliot, and although Missy Elliot was present in the audience, she did not join the performance.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/flolikethis?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@flolikethis</a> big up to Flo out here in the states on the road working hard! Keep doing yall thizzzzle!!!🔥 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Flygirl?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Flygirl</a>💇🏾‍♀️💃🏾💅🏾 <a href="https://t.co/Qtgr2f2KBl">pic.twitter.com/Qtgr2f2KBl</a></p>— Missy Elliott (@MissyElliott) <a href="https://twitter.com/MissyElliott/status/1649101483621728272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 20, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Fans (the FLO Lifers) were absolutely living their best lives! They knew all the words to FLO’s songs—the BGV's and the ad-libs. It was a room full of genuine love and screams! FLO closed the night with their debut single, "Cardboard Box," and this performance featured a heavenly bridge section.

Overall, the show was good, and for this to be the group's first headlining tour, we were impressed with the girls’ improvement from performances like the MOBO Awards, where nerves played a noticeable factor. FLO is worth the hype for sure, and we cannot wait to see the new era of girl groups being led by FLO. For their NYC debut, we rate them a 9 out of 10! FLO Lifers left Webster Hall with unforgettable memories and high expectations for FLO's future performances.