All of Lady Gaga's Studio Albums, Ranked

Lady Gaga is one of pop’s most prolific artists, and she’s released plenty of incredible studio albums across her decade-plus long career.

In celebration of the “Stupid Love” singer’s kick-off of the Chromatica Ball tour, we’re taking a look back and seeing how all of her studio albums fared on Metacritic, which compiles reviews from journalists around the world.

Here’s how their ranking system works: “Creating our proprietary Metascores is a complicated process. We carefully curate a large group of the world’s most respected critics, assign scores to their reviews, and apply a weighted average to summarize the range of their opinions. The result is a single number that captures the essence of critical opinion in one Metascore.”

From her 2008 debut studio album The Fame up to 2021′s Love For Sale, here’s how Lady Gaga’s albums are ranked…

10. ARTPOP (2013)

Metascore: 61

Billboard wrote that “Coherently channeling R&B, techno, disco and rock music as a pop artist while discussing sex, drugs, lust, God, fame and creativity, Lady Gaga has offered fans her most sonically and lyrically diverse album to date.”

The Telegraph declared “She doesn’t do anything wildly original with them [musical genres], but she has fun.”

The Observer said “It’s no instant classic, then, but neither is it the calamity that some have foreseen, being a typically mixed Gaga outing with some ludicrous highs, questionable digressions (Jewels ‘N’ Drugs, in which three rappers add little to the mix; or Donatella, a charmless ode to the equally charmless Versace supremo) and plenty of not-unpleasant filler.”

9. Cheek to Cheek (2014)

Metascore: 64

Entertainment Weekly said of her collaborative jazz record with Tony Bennett that “The track list is, admittedly, a little dull. Luckily, the singing isn’t.”

The New York Daily News wrote “The match between Bennett and Gaga winds up quite differently from the one between the master and k.d. lang in 2002. Those two created a more sober and mature affair. By contrast, the duets with Gaga give Bennett a whole new hold on youth.”

Rolling Stone wrote that “She sometimes blasts away at these songs rather than relaxing into them. But on challenges like the subtle Billy Strayhorn ballad ‘Lush Life,’ the queen of the little monsters more than proves she can be a sophisticated lady too. ”

8. Joanne (2016)

Metascore: 67

Spin declared “It’s understandable that Joanne finds Gaga performing authenticity, if only because it’s the strongest way to convey artistic evolution to the masses in 2016. The image here–the illusion, really–is as imperfect as it is meticulously rendered.”

The New York Times observed that “While Joanne is elemental, nothing about it is bare. Instead, it’s confused, full of songs that feel like concepts in search of a home, small theater pieces extruded from other imaginary productions and collected in one miscellany bin.”

The Telegraph wrote that “While its modernity is expressed by mixing and matching genres or adding digital zing to familiar tropes, for all its bravura exuberance and pop slickness it is old fashioned to its core.”

7. Love For Sale (2021)

Metascore: 70

The Independent said: “Bennett and Gaga dance through [Cole Porter's] witty wordplay and bring nuanced humanity to the deft melodies he dashed off in his suite at the Waldorf.”

The Telegraph wrote: “It’s certainly delightful and delicious – as they croon on opening track ‘De-Lovely’ – although also decidedly undemanding.”

Rolling Stone noted: “A superhero team-up that has produced another album of rock-solid takes on the American songbook.”

6. The Fame (2008)

Metascore: 71

Billboard declared “the full-length The Fame proves she’s more than one hit and a bag of stage tricks.”

The Boston Globe said “Listen a little closer to the sly, snarky lyrics and glam grooves on this feisty debut and you’ll hear that this former downtown New York spice girl has at least a few things on her dirty mind.”

Entertainment Weekly raved, writing: “In this economy, though, her high-times escapism has its charms.”

5. Born This Way (2011)

Metascore: 71

On Gaga’s Born This Way, The Telegraph wrote that “Gaga goes over the top and keeps on going: exhilarating, exhausting blockbuster entertainment.”

MSN Music remarked that “This isn’t up to The Fame or The Fame Monster. But both of those keep growing, and with its mad momentum and nutty thematics, this one could too–despite being laid down on tour trailed by 28 semis.”

Q Magazine declared that “Born This Way feels like the first proper Lady Gaga album.”

4. Dawn of Chromatica (2021)

Metascore: 74

Clash Music said: “The main takeaway from Dawn Of Chromatica however is Gaga’s curatorial ability, and the even strength of talent on display. Capable of moving from Ashnikko’s playful digitalism through to the ballroom energy of the Jimmy Edgar and Bree Runway take on ‘Babylon’, it’s a relentlessly entertaining display.”

Pitchfork noted: “The most memorable revisions on Dawn of Chromatica create new links to other standout moments in the Gaga discography. … A few other highlights tilt in the other direction, teleporting Gaga into established worlds of sound with satisfying results.”

AllMusic added: “Presented as the daring and liberated sibling to a more traditional predecessor, Dawn of Chromatica unlocks an expanded world of potential and reminds her legion of Little Monsters that she still has a finger on the pulse and isn’t afraid to take risks once in a while.”

3. The Fame Monster (2009)

Metascore: 78

The LA Times wrote “In her music videos and live shows over the past year, Gaga has worked hard to demonstrate her creative ambition and stylistic range, and that project continues on The Fame Monster.”

Rolling Stone noted that “she covers her conceptual bets by rolling out sturdy club-thumpers, and this eight-song EP (included in the reissue and sold separately) is largely on point.”

NME remarked “Poker Face,’ pretty much the one song 2009 will be remembered for, are included on the original album, this becomes essential for anyone who even remotely likes pop. For the rest of us, it’s the moment Gaga cements herself as a real star.”

2. A Star Is Born (2018)

Metascore: 78

Rolling Stone said of Gaga’s collaborative soundtrack album with Bradley Cooper for their film that “The music Gaga helps write for this stretch in Ally’s career, where she’s still brunette and performing with a man she is falling in love with, is gorgeous–romantic without being trite and powerful.”

NME declared that “Overall though, A Star is Born is one of the best Hollywood soundtracks of recent years. Far from being Oscar bait, these are songs that could feasibly shine on their own–and ones that feel entirely believable.”

Pitchfork wrote that “Save for a digital flourish or two on the pop songs that make up much of the film’s back half, there’s very little here that would’ve sounded out of place on blockbuster film soundtracks of decades past. At its peaks, the album delivers on the promise of its star-wattage with some of the most affecting and emotionally overwhelming pop songs of the year.”

1. Chromatica (2020)

Metascore: 79

Variety declared that “Possibly, song for song, her best yet. … She sounds like she knows exactly who she is, what she wants to say and how she wants to say it — and with Chromatica, she’s laid a rock-solid foundation for the next phase of her remarkable career.”

The Telegraph wrote that “Chromatica offers Gaga at her most energetic and forceful, and that is something to behold.”

DIY Magazine said “Infectious, exciting and even a little hedonistic during some of the most confusing of modern times, now’s never been a better time to get lost in this new destination.”

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