Lady Gaga’s fifth studio album, “Joanne”
Don’t count her out just yet. Lady Gaga may have fallen victim to her balloon-popping excesses in 2013’s “Artpop,” but the 30-year-old pop provocateur certainly knows how to “diversify” in ways that would impress even pop music’s “queen of reinvention,” Madonna.
For proof of this, revisit Gaga’s polarizing but Golden Globe-winning foray into acting (via “American Horror Story: Hotel”), her crowd-pleasing romp with the Muppets (in 2014’s “Muppets Most Wanted”), her show-stopping tribute to “The Sound of Music” at the 87th Oscar awards, her chart-topping collaboration with Tony Bennett (in “Cheek to Cheek”), and her participation in Bradley Cooper’s revival of “A Star is Born,” in the coveted role previously portrayed by the stellar likes of Janet Gaynor, Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand. If that isn’t versatility, pluck or flair for innovation, we don’t know what is.
With hotshot producer Mark Ronson helping her realize her vision, Gaga returns to form in “Joanne,” her fifth studio album, which bows at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart this week. (Michael Bublé’s debuting “Nobody But Me” settles for second place.)
In “Joanne,” Gaga consolidates her hard-earned gains and delivers a repertoire that delights as much as it dazzles. The album’s disparate music-making elements don’t always coalesce cozily, but when they do, they’re fascinating as heck.
Make no mistake: Gaga still knows how to provoke—just listen to “Dancin’ in Circles,” her reggae-and-ska-inflected ode to “sexual self-help” cowritten by Ronson and Beck: “I fool myself/ Swirl around as if I’m someone else/ Your hands are mine/ I do a trick/ Pretend that I am you until it clicks/ [And] I come alive.” Get it?
But, she’s just as compelling when she tackles subject matter that demands closer public scrutiny: In “Angel Down,” Gaga sings about her Roman Catholic faith as she riles against the tragic murder of African-American teenager Trayvon Martin in 2012 and other unprovoked deaths committed in the name of law and order, and the growing apathy in the age of social media:
“ I confess I am lost in the age of the social/ Shots were fired on the street/ By the church where we used to meet/ Angel down, angel down/ But the people just stood around.” Can anybody be more succinct than that?
If musical diversity is what you’re after, you’ll be swept off your feet by the Motown-channeling charm of “Come to Mama” and the female empowerment anthem, “Hey Girl,” which she exquisitely sings with Florence Welch (of rock band Florence + the Machine).
The token dance numbers don’t disappoint, because they aren’t just about the devil-may-care inanities often associated with the rich and famous: “Diamond Heart” is a reference to her engagement ring from fiancé Taylor Kinney: “A cruel king made me tough/ I might not be flawless, but you know I’ve got a diamond heart.”
You’ll also enjoy the feisty “A-yo,” the blue collar love-seeking “John Wayne,” and the pounding dance-floor hooks of “Perfect Illusion.”
If you’re drawn to variety, there are even “countrified” pop numbers (“Sinner’s Prayer,” “Million Reasons” and the autobiographical “Joanne”) garnished with a heady mix of funk and rock ’n’ roll that adds texture and vibrant color to Gaga’s continually evolving musical palette.