GAGA. Heady fusion of retooled ’80s dance music and electronica.
With the release of “Born This Way,” Lady Gaga returns with an album whose music is as big (and loud) as its themes—and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
The 25-year-old singer’s sophomore effort bursts with exhilarating dance tunes (the unshakable “Electric Chapel,” “Bad Kids” and the scorching title track) that are guaranteed to chase your worries away.
From the moment she calls herself a “warrior queen” who’s a “soldier to my own emptiness” (in the thumping opener, “Marry The Night”), Gaga demonstrates the unifying power of her glitter rock-inspired genre, which boasts a heady fusion of retooled ’80s dance music and electronica (“Highway Unicorn,” “The Edge of Glory”).
Revenge
The lineup’s attention-grabbing riffs, thematic pertinence and Gaga’s sassy countenance will keep you listening and grooving—from the mordantly satirical “Judas,” about love, betrayal and revenge (“I’m in love with Judas/ I’m just a holy fool/ I am beyond repentance”), to the punk rock-meets-New Wave theatricality of “Government Hooker” (“Put your hands on me, John F. Kennedy/ I’ll make you squeal as long as you pay me/ I’m gonna drink my tears tonight/ ’Cause I know you love me“).
It’s hard not to notice the parallelisms between pop music’s foremost provocateur and her ’80s predecessor, Madonna: Notice the “Vogue”-like swagger of “Scheibe,” the “Express Yourself”-like sensibility of “Born This Way,” the curious references to JFK, their forays into Latin-flavored themes (“Americano”), their visual flair and outré fashion sense, their tunes’ hook-heavy appurtenances, etc.!
The grinding, pounding and shaking hooks and beats don’t let up until the album reaches its 13th cut, “You and I,” an arena ballad that beautifully shows Gaga in moments of revealing vulnerability—though, “Live to Tell” it isn’t.
Advocacies
Is “Born This Way” “the greatest album of the decade,” as Gaga boldly declared recently? Not really. We love the singer’s advocacies in support of the Little Monsters in all of us—but, the collection lacks thematic focus, and some of its songs are too idiosyncratic to be appreciated by everyone.
Moreover, in the real world, there are no glistening unicorns, electric roses and chrome daisies that would help us get through life’s inconveniences.
Just the same, in the dance-music arena, “Born This Way” reigns supreme—and Lady Gaga is its proud queen!