Lady Gaga was Always Born This Way

Who wants indie cred? This underground hidden gem known as Lady Gaga is SO unknown, SO indie that she belongs on an Artist of the Day Feature written in a friend of the artist's blog. Lady Gaga may get a bit more popular with this latest album, but she'll likely remain a hidden gem for hipster enthusiasts.

Because of this, it is cool to like Lady Gaga. Almost as cool as it was to like The Arcade Fire in 2007, or Modest Mouse before Float On.

Ok, enough of that. Born This Way is orgasmic slut pop at its absolute best. And everyone who knows a little about pop music, understands that Lady Gaga is the biggest, most bombastic, and exciting act in pop music in the last decade.

These are big claims. Almost as big as Lady Gaga saying this will be the best album of the decade one year into its existence. What does this say about pop music post-2010? That it will be total shit or that Lady Gaga is the pinnacle of hooks, fashion, and image? This album is good. It truly is. Lady Gaga knows how to write lyrics that are vague and interpretive enough to add a frosting of charm to the package. She's an exciting act...I'm trying so hard to keep the main focus on the music.

Speaking of the music, did you see the cover to this record? The one where her head is attached to the end of a motorcycle? It's so abysmally bad, my little sister actually made a superior version in word-paint by copying the ACTUAL cover and drenching it in red marks. It gave it a sort of charm.

The "little monsters" will adore this album, undoubtedly. And by "little monsters," I'm referring to her fans, who are just about the entirety of the mainstream music masses, who are now apparently singled into one group. Isn't this sort of...unnecessary? Isn't the point of naming your fans about being in pursuit of an individuality and uniqueness that is a specialty amongst fans of that specific artist? Can the mainstream masses be considered a special type of fan?

I realize I'm sounding like a pretentious douche. Let's keep that in check. The music, of course. We all heard Judas and will likely hear it throughout the rest of the year. Some highlights include the German Scheisse which sounds like a techno pop version of a Rammstein tune. Electric Chapel is actually quite elegant and empowering, something I didn't quite expect and shines as a precursor to The Edge of Glory, the most superb slice of transparent gaga triumph I've heard from her.

Lady Gaga said she is done with making soulless pop music. This album is soulless pop music. Born This Way is drowning in bumbumbum drum tracks and a verse-chorus-verse-bridge that beats the pop sensibility with a hammer.

Music doesn't need soul to appeal to the dance crowd, the mainstream crowd, or fans of catchy high-quality pop cache. See all acts in the Top 40 Billboard charts to see the soullessness within all the "variety."

But what is Lady Gaga so embarrassed about? the crowds love her, her videos are phenomenal, and she has a rocking body?

When I digest pop music, I want a rocking body, an inoffensive voice, and dance-hooks to appease a full hour of an album.

It's hard to remove Lady Gaga from her music, and have the contents of the record stand on their own. For most artists, this is a problem. People are boring, unintuitive, and atypical pieces of AP and Rolling Stone magazine fodder. Behind the music is a bunch of shameless bros or a hard-headed producer. And yet, in this case, behind every pop hook and every vicious verse, is a woman so convoluted, so alluring, and so sensational, she has become a mega-Queen in the music medium. And more power to her.

The music? Oh yeah, the music. It's good. it's fun. Who cares? Give me a dance song and show me a rainbow dress shaped like a taco. Lady Gaga's here to stay for more reasons than Born this Way or Bad Romance or making 3 albums in 4 years. She's here to stay because she has built an image of pure bedazzlement, the music being a by-product of class and mystic. because of this, the songs become a background.

8/10

Keepers for the IPOD

Marry the Night

Judas

Scheisse

The Edge of Glory

Electric Chapel