Usually, when Little Monsters think of “albums that deserved better”, the first thing to come to our minds is ARTPOP. However, there is another album we should consider: Joanne.

This album quite possibly may have been Gaga at her most personal. From her raw vocals on the disco-rock track “Perfect Illusion” telling us about her experience with a relationship that wasn’t all she thought out to be, to her smooth vocals on the country inspired ballad “Million Reasons” begging her lover to give her a reason to stay in spite of the million reasons to go.

However, it was paid dust. Why?

Perhaps it was because it wasn’t what the monsters wanted. The album prior to this, Cheek to Cheek, was a jazz cover album in collaboration with Tony Bennett, substantially different than the pop albums her fanbase was used to. And many monsters nowadays don’t even recognize Cheek to Cheek as part of her catalog.

So when instead of another Fame Monster, we got a very personal album that was much more sonically variant and diverse and not what we were expecting or even hoping for, many of us were left disappointed.

But that’s truly unfortunate because I think Joanne is Gaga at her lyrical peak. If Speak Now was Taylor Swift’s best-written album, then Joanne was it for Gaga.

From the Springsteen-esque sound of Diamond Heart dealing with her past, her present, and her future, to the Jazz inspired sound on Just Another Day in which she sings about her need to be more easygoing and treat every day as “just another day”, this album truly was a full-on masterpiece.