Joanne is Lady Gaga's fifth studio album that was released on October 21, 2016 by Streamline and Interscope Records.
Tracklisting[]
- Diamond Heart 3:30
- A-Yo 3:28
- Joanne 3:17
- John Wayne 2:54
- Dancin' In Circles 3:27
- Perfect Illusion 3:02
- Million Reasons 3:25
- Sinner's Prayer 3:43
- Come To Mama 4:15
- Hey Girl (featuring Florence Welch) 4:15
- Angel Down 3:49
- Grigio Girls 3:00
- Just Another Day 2:58
- Angel Down (Work Tape) 2:20
Chart Performance[]
"Joanne" debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, moving 201,000 album-equivalents units (of which 170,000 were pure sales).
It was the second highest debut of 2016 by a woman in the United States after Beyonce's "Lemonade" album opened with 485,000 copies which made Lady Gaga the first woman to have four number-one albums in the United States in the 2010s.
The album was certified platinum for selling over a million equivalent units in the United States; as of February 2019, it has sold 649,000 units.
Critical Reception[]
"Joanne" received a weighted score of 67 out of 100 from review aggregate website Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews", based on 27 reviews by music critics.
British music journalist Neil McCormick gave the album a four-out-of-five-star rating, in his review published in The Daily Telegraph and complimented the old-fashioned songs on the album.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave it a three-and-a-half-out-of-five rating. In a positive review he wrote that unlike Gaga's previous endeavors where she appeared as a "high-wire act", Joanne was more "earth-bound" and is a "record made by an artist determined to execute only the stunts she knows how to pull off ... Gaga's feet remain firmly planted in dance-pop even when she brings in a number of collaborators".
The same rating was given by Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield, who described the release as an "old-school Nineties soft rock album, heavy on the acoustic guitar". He complimented the understated production by Ronson and the other producers.
Writing for The A.V. Club, Annie Zaleski commended the "genre fluidity" of Joanne. Rating it a "B", Zaleski noted that songs like "Diamond Heart", "John Wayne", "Sinner's Prayer" and "Hey Girl" are the album's best tracks and highlighted Gaga's vocal prowess.
In a three-out-of-five-star review for Slant Magazine, Sal Cinquemani criticized the album for its oversung ballads and lack of strong hooks but deemed it more consistent and focused than "Artpop."
Maeve McDermott of USA Today complimented Gaga for "expanding her artistic vision and toying with different genres [on the album], while still recording the customary pop tracks listeners have come to expect".
Andy Gill gave the album three out of five stars in a review for The Independent. Gill commended the album's rock-leaning tracks, and Homme's work on "A-Yo" and "John Wayne" as highlights, but called "Perfect Illusion" dull.
The Guardian's Caroline Sullivan considered Joanne a "brave move" for Gaga and rated it three-out-of-five-stars. She explained that "Gaga's huge voice adds a self-protective veneer, as does the presence of the other musicians, but at least she's done the groundwork for future albums that might show her with true transparency".
Digital Spy's Lewis Corner wrote: "Joanne is clearly Gaga's most personal album, popping aside the synthetic personas for something more honest and, well, human. Mother Monster may be retired for now, but Lady Gaga's sheer musical brilliance still shines through."
Evan Sawdey of PopMatters said the album (with its "flaws and all") was a correct musical step for Gaga, which he believed would make "fans and observers once again rethink what they know about the daring diva."
Amanda Petrusich of Pitchfork remarked how Gaga explored an alternative path musically, diverging from "visual provocations" that permeated most of her career.
Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times felt that most songs on the album "lacked strong stories" and were "mere stylistic exercises" on Gaga's part.
Rich Juzwiak, who reviewed Joanne for Spin, did not find the musical evolution that Gaga presented on the album authentic.
Rating the album two-out-of-four stars, journalist Greg Kot wrote in the Chicago Tribune that "[Gaga] sounds like she's just trying too hard" with Joanne. He also criticized the social commentary-filled lyrics on songs like "Come to Mama" and "Angel Down".
Jon Caramanica of The New York Times noted the album's elemental sound did not come as a surprise and felt that it was not "daring or radical — it's logical, a rejoinder to her past and also to the candy-striped pop that surrounds her".