New album out - my review as of June 10

[Boberama]

I'm probably going to take a lot of flack for this, but "meh".

I bought Lady Gaga's new album Born This Way. It was available on iTunes for $0.99, but I didn't jump, because I think special offers like that don't give the artists as much money for their work.

I waited and bought the special edition from HMV. It came with 2 discs. The second disc is simply a few remixes of tracks on the first disc, so I won't bother to review it. What the special edition has over the normal CD is 3 new songs.

I have been a fan of Gaga's work since her first major album The Fame; however, I found that this album was harder to get into. It's quite different, including electric guitars, a country song, and even a saxophone solo.

Bizzarely, Gaga chose to put the title track Born This Way in second place, and to open the CD with the track Marry the Night. This would have made no sense to me, had I not watched the documentary Lady Gaga: Inside the Outside, in which she states that Marry the Night has the most significance to her, and is her favorite song.

The CD has several very good songs. In fact, I like them all. Yet some clearly stand above others. I will review my favorites here, because I am too lazy to give reviews of all 17 songs.


I'll start with Marry the Night. The song starts out with almost completely unaccompanied vocals. This is a good thing, since Gaga has a great voice. The chorus is amazing, and really shows off Gaga's talent, and the song continues with a strong beat until the end. The chorus is the best part of this song.

The next track, Born This Way, has become something of a LGBT anthem. It was even sung to Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper by a 10-year old girl. The track has a great message of self-empowerment, and is also quite catchy. I like it.

The third track is called Government Hooker. This one is a bit strange. At first I skipped over it. However, after listening to it a few times, I found I really started to enjoy it. I had acquired a taste for it. The best part of this song is when Gaga sings mournfully "I'm gonna drink my tears and cry".

The fourth track is Judas. Quite controversial to mention the words "Jesus" and "Condom" in the same song, eh? However, this track is the "Bad Romance" of Born This Way. It's a fantastic song with a catchy melody and great vocals. One of my favorites.

The sixth track is Hair. I skipped over the fifth because it didn't stick out enough, Hair is another great track. It is doing very well on the airwaves. It's another win for Gaga and keeps in line with her current "Born this Way"  mantra.

The seventh track is Scheisse. Like Government Hooker, I didn't like it at first, and now I am listening to it day and night. The spoken word "faux-German" was putting me off. Great song.

The next track is Bloody Mary. It sounds like ABBA. Apparently, Jesus wants us to dance with our hands in the air. This track is excellent, and sounds like no other Gaga song. Check it out.

The next track is exclusive to the Special Edition. It's one of my favorites. It's called Black Jesus † Amen Fashion. This is one of my favorite tracks in the album. If you have to listen to just a few, tick this box!

Next comes Bad Kids. It opens with electric guitar riffs and a bold declaration of independence. Highly reccomended, although the chorus seems a bit "detached".

The next track of note is Highway Unicorn: Road to Love. IT's another track that sounds nothing like previous Gaga songs. I love the introduction to it.

Then comes Heavy Metal Lovers. This song is a bit "techno" or "electro". I don't know the term for it. However, I like it, especially when driving. It's an earworm for sure.

The next track is Electric Chapel. Another one of my favorites, this song opens with (you guessed it) an electric guitar. It's repetitive, but in a very good way.

The last track is The Edge of Glory. It's a love song and the chorus is quite good. Very good. Excellent, in fact. The saxophone solo is a bit odd, but also sounds good. It's been a long time since I've heard a sax in modern pop music.

So that's my concise review. Can you tell I was getting tired of typing? :)


Check out this album.

Paws up, guys! (''')(''')

Boberama

[Scout26]

Welcome back.  You didn't get a proper greeting when you popped in last March, so let this be your offical "Howdy".  New kid buys the booze and ammo.  So I'll take a Red Stag on the rocks and some 185gr JHP .45ACP.

Not sure how many Gaga fans you'll find here.  I find most recent "music" to be meh.

[Sindawe]

Born This Way?  Meh...  While I find Gaga's work to be occasionally interesting; sometimes worthy of serving as seed for remixes or even outright parody; her work is just too derivative of others past efforts for my tastes. As you noted...

The next track is Bloody Mary. It sounds like ABBA

It does indeed, like Alejenadro has strong flavors of Ace of Base in its composition. Telephone was nice though, contrasting the styles of Gaga and Beyonce as it did.

I find most recent "music" to be meh.

Same here.  Although one does occasionally stumble across pearls in the manure.

[Jamie B]

I find most recent "music" to be meh.

As do I - Pass on Gaga.

I'll take Rush any time.

[Vodka7]

I bought Lady Gaga's new album Born This Way. It was available on iTunes for $0.99, but I didn't jump, because I think special offers like that don't give the artists as much money for their work.

Just to save you the money next time, that's wrong. Amazon and Apple still have to pay Gaga the normal amount for her music. It was estimated that Amazon lost millions on the deal, but it was millions they were willing to spend to get people using their cloud music service (which is great, btw.)

[Boberama]

Born This Way?  Meh...  While I find Gaga's work to be occasionally interesting; sometimes worthy of serving as seed for remixes or even outright parody; her work is just too derivative of others past efforts for my tastes. As you noted...

It does indeed, like Alejenadro has strong flavors of Ace of Base in its composition. Telephone was nice though, contrasting the styles of Gaga and Beyonce as it did.

Same here.  Although one does occasionally stumble across pearls in the manure.

Yeah, I liked Beyonce in Telephone. The only "Beyonce" song I have heard, actually...apart fom Video Phone, which featured Gaga.


Ifind that Gaga's music has matured. I didn't like alot of the songs at first, but now I'm listening to them all day.

Iespecially like Black Jesus † Amen Fashion, Bloody Mary, BAd Kid, Scheiße, Hair, Judas, MArry the Night, Highway Unicorn, ElectricChapel, and Born this Way.

Right now I also really love her  Songs I like it ROugh, Disco HEaven, and Rock Show, as well as Starstruck.




Any other fans on APS?