DUKE

I don't like this one top five users online feature at all. There is a reason why I choose to log in anonymously.

Well, her silence says a lot more than words ever could. I wonder what her problem with the Kardashians is.

I like how the mentioning of "Artpop" kind of sets a frame for the album, like during the first song, "Aura," and the last one, "Applause," of course. I know I said this last night already, but I really really love how well-balanced this album is! Besides, I'm surprised she decided to have real horns in "MANiCURE" instead of synthesised ones.

Here's a random review I typed up just now: Unlike popular opinion, I think that Born This Way was a fantastic album. Even though not every song became my all-time favourite, I still think that it is technically an album packed with great songs, each of them polished to absolute perfection. That is when looking at each song in isolation. Needless to say, this album was created under entirely different conditions, yet, in retrospective, it doesn’t quite work. It really lacks a fresh breath of air here and there, amidst its seemingly never-ending tour de force of songs clamped together. On ARTPOP, it seems, she selected fifteen out of those ninety or whatever songs supposedly written during its making, and moulded them into one all-encompassing work. This is where it shows that she has learned tremendously as a producer. Not only is ARTPOP giving us a break once in a while, but it’s also less of an overwhelming fix at first listen. It logically divides into segments: inviting the listener to “peek underneath the cover” in “Aura,” exploring the etymology of sex and sexuality throughout the ménage à troi (no pun intended) consisting of “Venus,” “G.U.Y.” and “Sexxx Dreams,” and taking a surprising turn to urban music with “Jewels N’ Drugs” and “Do What U Want.” She cryptically, or not so cryptically after all, unfolds the ARTPOP philosophy in the title track. She has her most personal moments during the last half of the album, notably on “Dope” and “Gypsy.” ARTPOP is indeed, as multiply stated throughout the past weeks, a musical journey allowing quick halts at completely different sonic settings. Even though the jumps she makes are relatively rapid and abrupt, ARTPOP doesn’t channel a sense of restlessness, particularly sonically, like Born This Way did. Besides her contemporary experiments with electronic music, or EDM as some people like to specify, the most interesting and fascinating music happens when she leaves this very territory. Analogue-sounding synths accompanying her dominant piano playing on “Dope” evoke the idea of Bowie and Brian Eno recording this song with Gaga 1977 in Berlin. “Fashion!,” although drawing on contemporary music, recalls David Bowie of the late 1970s. “MANiCURE” sounds surprisingly convincing for a self-acclaimed pop artist. It is refreshing to hear that this time, she is willing to have an evident sense of humour. “Donatella,” for instance is, as a matter of fact, pretty hilarious through being an unapologetically shallow ode to Donatella Versace, even though it is not entirely all fun and light-hearted. There are moments throughout the song where it takes a surprising spin into an almost melancholic and thoughtful direction. This change of musical motif is nevertheless quickly outweighed by its seamless return to being “a fun pop song.” “Gypsy” and “Mary Jane Holland” represent deep confessions. Instead of pandering to the seriousness nature of their lyrical content, Gaga manages to save both songs from sinking too deeply into a black sea of depressing melodies by adding some glitter to them. The result is a remarkable mixture of styles. It is a quality that applies to all songs on ARTPOP: none of them is either too shallow or too deep. It is the balance she keeps that makes the album listenable and conclusive in its entirety. Besides unfortunate ambient noise levels on some tracks and one unfortunate mistake made in vocal editing on “Mary Jane Holland,” Gaga and her producers really deliver a phenomenally produced record that features rich sound production, supported by dynamic compositions and neat song writing with truly outstanding moments, and there’s plenty of them. It is nice to hear that her singing is finally becoming more cavalier and offhand, just like at the live shows.

I want this emote so bad. And don't you minify your efforts.

I'd rather die then. Choking on the tea Madonna and I will be having tomorrow.

I don't know if it's because of Lorde's inferior ranking, but if it saves my and Madonna's life I can honestly admit that Night Time, My Time and Pure Heroine are nearly touching. Pure Heroine is the A.U.N.T.M.T., so to speak. The Album Under Night Time My Time, obviously. They are so close, in fact, that one might call it filthy. Not sure if a music album actually has a gender, so I can't give a pornographic niche. I'll leave that to you. The album is good, in my opinion, but the reason why I'm over her and the album is completely separate from the music. Ever since she brushed off the European tour cancellation with a few sentences and dedicated yearning requiems to the US tour postponement, not to mention the reason why everything turned out the way it did, I'm just so over her that there needs to be a new word for it. I'm going way off-topic with that, so let's focus on Sky and this wonderful emote created by Rafael. And let's force this forum's Emoticon Manager to finally make it happen by overusing it.

Since it seems to be a popular thing to do: Night Time, My Time > Pure Heroine > [life > solar system > galaxies > universes > anything superior >] True Romance and the face associated with it

Thank you very much, I really appreciate it.

I've been trying to get my head around the album since Tuesday. I don't really know where to start because Night Time, My Time is an outstanding debut album in my opinion. Cohesive sonically and unfussy lyrically... it's kind of hard to state proper criticism and praise when a work is so well-engineered and closed. It's like [here comes the metaphor] describing the edginess of a ball. It kind of sounds like post-grunge on ecstasy, doped up on juicy synths and hyperglycaemic [yes, I went there] melodies. I adore "Night Time, My Time" for its uncanniness, makes a perfect album closer, "Love In Stereo" for its innocent naivety, "Omanko" for its sparkling acerbity... I could go on and on. I have never heard a 1980s rehash executed as meticulously as "24 Hours," not to mention the overwhelming energy of "Heavy Metal Heart." I have to admit that, when I heard the album from start to finish for the first time, I felt like being run over by a bus. Everything is just so gapless, gliding, yet raw and plain. It's neither too narrow, nor too loose - a perfectly aerial album. At this point I also need to acknowledge her remarkable vocal performance! I certainly haven't waited as long as some of you have. Jordan has done his very best through the years to make me pay attention to her, but it's only been about a year ago that I actually ended up taking proper notice of her. Anything pre-Ghost just felt passively contrived to me. It's not news to anybody that she went through dozens of transformations initiated by her record label. I guess you could say that it was hard for me to see through to her. As far as I can figure her out [creep creep creep], Night Time, My Time really captures her in such a candid and honest way. Yes, I think it is a very honest debut album, indeed. Something she should be very proud of and I believe that this remarkable outcome has certainly smoothed the way for an equally remarkable musical career. Despite all excitement and appreciation, there something - even though it's just a few bars of absolute silence - that irritates me to the very max. In "Night Time, My Time," when the song climaxes and her vocal track slowly echoes into silence, that reverb is abruptly interrupted by an unaesthetic cut and there's twelve seconds of bounced [as in exported from the production software] silence. I don't know if this is a production mistake or an intentionally included impurity element.

Anyone repeatedly listening to files of that quality...

So that's why she followed him on Twitter a while back...

Yeah... but buying second-hand copies doesn't really support the artist, frankly. I get your point but saying that is just plain wrong.

Goodbye.

I just remembered that the first song I heard by Sky was her cover of "Animal." I called it a beautifully interpreted song, not knowing it was a cover at all. Long time after that, I heard "Red Lips" - a song that I praised for its brilliant video. Oh Jordan, we've come a long way so far... Now I am suddenly having butterflies in my stomach on the verge of album release. And it's all thanks to King of the Bird Condo a.k.a. .

Oh my God. I am so incredibly happy for you, @SitarHero. Reading through all that made me so happy and made a semi-shitty day so so much, much better! Thank you so much for forwarding all those letters (not that I wrote one but I am in sentiMENTAL mode as I type) and being overly kind enough to accept my album inquiry. I'm so glad you had a great time and got to talk to her, etc. You really deserve it!

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Austra - "The Future"

I just returned from Venus and realised that, once I put my feet back on planet earth, Night Time, My Time is coming out tomorrow. The cover, I think, is a highly rememberable one. At least I will remember it each time I see it on my wall. Signed.

I just pre-ordered the premium bundle... November will be an expensive month. I'll just wait and see if there will be a physical copy available in the end. If not, I'm going to cancel my pre-order on Amazon.

Is there a specific reason why you're telling me this? Not quite getting the implicature.

I rename the song titles before importing them.

You have got to be kidding me.

Don't get me started. There is a reason why I seek refugee in the English language. I can't even describe how terrible German looks and sounds. If I had the chance to not be German, I'd take it in a heartbeat. Alone for the sake of escaping the language...

I don't know if they will be doing a separate master for its digital release (I don't think so, honestly), but this might explain why its digital release on Amazon got postponed. That iTunes theory, however, sounds very plausible. Considering that iTunes arguably has the monopole in digital sales, it's smart to make it exclusive to iTunes for the album's first sale week. Not only does Apple make sure to hear this more often, but it's also lucrative from Sky's and Capitol's point of view since Apple in exchange offers proper promotion and highlighted positions in the store (I hope).