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Lady Gaga stormed onto the music scene in 2005 with The Fame and its singles ‘Just Dance’, ‘Poker Face’, and ‘Paparazzi’, certified her popularity. The follow-on EP The Fame Monster, with tracks ‘Bad Romance’ and ‘Alejandro’ only furthered her success. The released singles were catchy chart-toppers, but I found the album and EP altogether slightly disappointing – they failed to maintain momentum, causing many songs to be skipped every time.
The new album Born This Way has finally dropped, after the release of its title track, follow-up ‘Judas’ and then ‘The Edge of Glory’, and ‘Hair’, courtesy of the iTunes countdown to the album’s release. These teasers of Gaga’s next release showed that the new material greatly differed from the electronic/techno, auto-tuned sound of the Fame era. Despite the title track’s different sound, it remained energetic and upbeat, and became quite addictive, but it’s follow-up ‘Judas’ failed to captivate me, appearing too try-hard; as though it was supposed to be a hit through the forced controversy rather than its sound and lyrics. ‘The Edge of Glory’ exhibits Gaga’s ballad-esque side (well, as ballad-esque as Gaga can go) and ‘Hair’, again, takes a slower pace, with more focus on the lyrics than instrumentals. These pre-release tracks made Born This Way a difficult album to predict for fans, critics, and everyone in between.
While the singles did not quite sustain my interest, the collective whole works quite well. Gaga’s more mellow, toned-down sound results in a nicely-paced album. All of the tracks fit together harmoniously with no obvious examples letting the ensemble down. The Mugler mix of ‘Scheisse’ is particularly remarkable, since the designer was banned from using the chorus in his show, and its captivating sound – despite being limited to the opening verses – is worth checking out. The Fame may have catapulted Gaga into the charts and public consciousness but Born This Way will strengthen her position. Even if you aren’t a Gaga fan, the album is still worth a listen!