Lady Gaga goes all-American with ‘Joanne’

Now that the rest of the songs have been released, we have a more complete picture of the dreamy country twang Joanne has to offer.

“All they did was release some nude pics of me, which is nothing because, I don’t know if y’all know this about me, but I ain’t shy”, Jones told “Weekend Update” co-host Colin Jost.

Lady Gaga’s SNL appearance as the show’s musical guest Saturday night has been receiving rave reviews.

That’s a good way to bounce back from the least-inspiring album of her career, 2013’s “Artpop”. Featuring a scatting Gaga and jazz legend Brian Newman on the trumpet, it isn’t the strongest song on the album, but it does the job of closing the record on a more hopeful note.

The through line of “Joanne” is Gaga’s singing. When she isn’t donning a cowboy hat and acoustic guitar, Gaga’s pop sensibilities become overproduced. If Dancin’ In Circles feels like Sia grafted onto La Isla Bonita, with sex deployed more directly than anywhere else here, it still falls between stools. Though Gaga had every chance to make “Joanne” her most daring to date, her team and the hype around it fall flat. Albeit a little too ingrained in the show tunes sound, these tracks effectively showcase Gaga’s talents as both an instrumentalist and a singer-songwriter. One is hard-pressed to see what Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker added to “Perfect Illusion”, Joanne’s first single and a rather tepid, radio-ready club burner that is sorely lacking bite.

Her duet with Florence and the Machine’s Florence Welch is another highlight. Gaga remains about as rock’n’roll as One Direction or Pink.

Fans have been surprised that the singer’s father agreed to get a matching inking with his daughter, as she has previously admitted he asked her not to overdo it when it came to her already impressive collection of body art.

The least successful aspect of the album is Gaga’s attempt to cross over into country.

Kreps notes that while “A-YO” and “Million Reasons” are wildly different songs in terms of sound and theme, Gaga managed to give distinct yet equally impressive performances for each of them. In this track, Gaga sets the mood of heartbreak that transpires throughout the remainder of the album; she belts out a story of an “asshole” that “stole her innocence” over Josh Homme playing guitar, which makes you feel like you’re driving an old Chevy pickup with a Budweiser in between your legs. “Joanne” is an emotional ballad where Gaga sings directly to her aunt.

There are still minor inconsistencies that Gaga seems to be working through.