Will Katy Perry or Lady Gaga Have the Better Album?

Katy Perry has never been the most subtle artist. (Just ask her whipped cream-shooting boobs.) So it's of little surprise that the singer chose to announce her new album in the biggest way possible: With a huge, gold-plated semi truck.

Los Angeles residents stuck in traffic might have seen/cursed the truck, which was plastered not only with a color more suited for C-3PO (how out of this world!), but also the release date and title for Perry's new album: Prism will be released Oct. 22. Adam Lambert certainly saw the truck, tweeting a photo of it Monday night as it passed him by:

Lest you think it's a fake, Perry herself confirmed the date and title on her own Twitter feed Monday:

Of course, this means Perry's 40 million followers have suddenly found themselves with October plans. But it also means we'll see a face-off between two of the music industry's most relevant and beloved artists. On Nov. 11, just weeks after Prism's release, Lady Gaga's long-awaited ARTPOP will drop.

But who will come out of the album face-off victorious? Let's see where the deck stacks so far:

Fans

There's little doubt that Lady Gaga's fans are a faithful bunch. Hell, the Little Monsters even have their own moniker. Still, Gaga's inactivity since Born This Way's 2011 release has left her Little Monsters with no choice but to reel their claws back in. Which is strange, considering Perry's last album, Teenage Dream, hit shelves one year earlier, in 2010. But Perry's work in film in both Smurfs and Smurfs 2 and her own movie, 2012's Katy Perry: Part Of Me, has kept her fans alert. And, if we're looking at hard numbers, Perry's work in recent years has allowed her to outrank Gaga on Twitter, with 40 million followers to Gaga's 39 million. Will that extra million give Perry's Prism the edge?

Creativity

As much as we all wish we could borrow the whipped cream bikini for our ice cream socials, Gaga has always dominated in the creativity department. And that goes with ARTPOP too — though Prism might have its own truck, ARTPOP already has an album cover, which shows a commitment to artistry by being inspired by art itself. Add to that a new, toned-down look, and it seems Gaga is poised for exciting reinvention. As for Perry? Well, Smurfs 2 is hardly Molière.

Early Chatter

Despite the bright gold truck, Perry — who has gone through a divorce from comedian Russell Brand since Teenage Dream's release — intends to go darker with Prism. Speaking with press, Perry has said that she will not "try and duplicate what I did last time" with Teenage Dream, but has had a distinct vision for how Prism would take shape. "I have lots of songs and ideas, I know exactly the record I want to make next," she's said. "I know the artwork, the coloring and the tone, but I'm not in the studio yet ... I have to let the music take shape first." And it seems that her album has helped her survive some of her darker moments: "Writing is like therapy," she's said. "[My songs] stem from the truth inside of me. I just want songs to be relatable, and to be adopted as someone else’s soundtrack."

Still, we'd have to give the advantage to Gaga, at least based on German DJ and producer Zedd, who worked with the singer on several of ARTPOP 's tracks. "I'm really, really excited for people to hear what we came up with," the producer told Rolling Stone in June. "I just really can't imagine they would not like it, to just say it straight up. I think the stuff we've made is pretty fucking cool." Those are far more humble words than Gaga's insistence prior to its release that Born This Way would be "the greatest album of this decade" — a sentiment that many Little Monsters even disagree with — but, if Gaga has learned anything from Born This Way, it's that humility and underexposure goes a long way. Sorry Katy Perry — who isn't ready to welcome Lady Gaga back with ARTPOP after all this time apart?