Lady Gaga’s “Perfect Illusion”: Review Revue

Robbie Daw | September 9, 2016 4:21 pm

Is Lady Gaga‘s brand new single “Perfect Illusion” a Monster hit with the critics? Here on Idolator, we had our say in our weekly Pop Perspective. But what did the rest of the Internet have to say?

Below, we rounded up some opinions on the first, rock-oriented taste of Gaga’s upcoming fifth LP — and they were across the board. Have at it, pop fanatics!

:: Entertainment Weekly gives the song a B: “The quick, repetitive hook doesn’t achieve the desired liftoff, building toward a climax that doesn’t come; even with a disco-flavored key change near the end, the song hits its peak just as it’s getting started.”

:: The Guardian is less kind: “The first thing you notice about ‘Perfect Illusion’, the disco-rock lead single from her upcoming album, is that there’s zero pitch correction on her vocal. Gaga’s taken a page from Sia’s book, and amidst pop radio’s artificial perfection it’s a bold move. Gaga wants you to hear the blue notes, the cracks in her voice. Unfortunately the cracks are all you hear.”

:: Digital Spy is more upbeat about Gaga’s latest: “This isn’t the overwrought, ear-bashing and sometimes confusing bluster of her more recent incarnations, with their Jeff Koons references, on-stage vomiting and forgotten iPad app. ‘Perfect Illusion’ is Gaga getting to grips with songwriting again – and she sounds all the better for it.”

:: The Chicago Tribune is also enthusiastic: “It’s no illusion, people: Lady Gaga is back.”

:: Says the NME, “It’s no ‘Bad Romance’ (what is?), but its booming disco influence and sheer force make it a formidable return from one of pop’s most exciting stars.”

:: The Telegraph raves, “It delights me to write that this is a return to ‘Just Dance’-era Gaga: a simple, infectiously catchy slice of floor-filling, stadium-cheering pop.”

:: Business Insider sums it all up with this: “The ’80s arena-rock vibe that owes something to both Bruce Springsteen and hair-metal as well as more straightforward pop of the decade, and those soaring, hold-nothing-back vocals, are vintage Gaga. And with the hooks on this brief earworm (‘It wasn’t luuuuhv‘), expect to hear this thing all over the radio or your friend’s playlist immediately.”

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