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8.3
91189
8.3 |
Pretty Much Amazing
By abandoning the dance club for the dive bar, she may have tossed aside her status as a pop star once and for all. But Gaga has emerged as something better and truer
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8.0
91174
8.0 |
Digital Spy
Joanne is clearly Gaga's most personal album, popping aside the synthetic personas for something more honest and, well, human
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8.0
91252
8.0 |
Drowned In Sound
We’ve witnessed a lot of pop queens come and go, but despite some career setbacks, Gaga is intent on sticking around for the long run
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8.0
91269
8.0 |
NME
It’s a simple, warm and vital message from a high-concept pop star who’s reminded us that, if she’s definitely not like the rest of us underneath it all, she’s certainly all human
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7.5
91245
7.5 |
Consequence Of Sound
An inconsistent stab at genre promiscuity can’t hide the voice and the heart at the core of Gaga's talents
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7.5
91177
7.5 |
The Line Of Best Fit
There is so much warmth here, so much that's human, and a lot to love
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7.5
91336
7.5 |
A.V. Club
Joanne may not become the multiplatinum blockbuster Bella Donna was, but the record absolutely feels like Gaga is once again on an upward trajectory
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7.5
91555
7.5 |
Beardfood
Here she dabbles with country and rock and manages to make her own signature style
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7.4
91424
7.4 |
Gig Soup
She has come to terms with the fact music means more than just a one track, streamlined approach
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7.0
91599
7.0 |
musicOMH
The less is more production suits her, and for a first time we get a real and lasting glimpse of Stefani herself
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7.0
91631
7.0 |
Clash
Certainly not the all-conquering opus it was intended to be and will prove divisive, but it remains a daring and exciting record
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7.0
91164
7.0 |
All Music
Where previous Gaga albums were high-wire acts, Joanne is decidedly earth-bound, a record made by an artist determined to execute only the stunts she knows how to pull off
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7.0
91243
7.0 |
Rolling Stone
Joanne is Lady Gaga's best album in five years
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6.9
91256
6.9 |
Pitchfork
Now that her peers have caught up to her visual provocations, Lady Gaga seems less like an audacious pioneer than one among many, and Joanne feels tentative, an affront to the Gaga of yesteryear
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6.0
91283
6.0 |
DIY
A brave, if not entirely seamless, shift in tone from one of the world’s biggest pop stars
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6.0
91248
6.0 |
The Arts Desk
“Joanne”, the song, shows us she can do intimate, acoustic and confessional; Joanne the album suggests she needs more good ideas before it becomes a successful junction in her career
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6.0
91250
6.0 |
Exclaim
A dearth of memorable melodies makes Joanne's restlessness often feel aimless
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6.0
91233
6.0 |
The Observer
At its core is a career-extending, creative curio that, even in its weaker moments (Come to Mama is wretched), is never dull
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6.0
91239
6.0 |
PopMatters
Gaga’s greatest achievement is yet to come, and Joanne, flaws and all, feels like the necessary step to get there
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6.0
91176
6.0 |
Slant Magazine
While she may have eschewed the outlandish costumes, Gaga has replaced them with a different kind of pretense
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6.0
91154
6.0 |
The Independent
This Mark Ronson-co-produced effort effectively abandons the electropop dance arrangements of Artpop in favour of more stolidly rockist fare, as if pursuing rock’n’roll authenticity
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6.0
91156
6.0 |
The Guardian
Joanne stumbles a bit, and will be received with bafflement by everyone other than hardcore Little Monsters, but you can’t help admiring her boldness
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6.0
91157
6.0 |
Evening Standard
Gaga drops the strangeness for an album that could win her mainstream attention again
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6.0
91710
6.0 |
The Quietus
This probably isn’t quite the sound of the real Stefani Germanotta, but if you squint hard enough there’s a semblance of a real person in amongst the pop haze
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6.0
91740
6.0 |
Q
The derailed megastar wisely presses the reset button. Print edition only
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6.0
91340
6.0 |
Earbuddy
The creative juices were definitely flowing for Joanne but not always in a good way
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4.0
91470
4.0 |
NOW
The pop star ups the country and classic rock influences, and loses her endearing wackiness in the process
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4.0
91188
4.0 |
The FT
Ballads feature committed singing as the artist dials down her usual excess in a most personal album
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3.0
100962
3.0 |
Sputnik Music (staff)
Just about the worst album released this year
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