When we covered Tyler, the Creator and Radiohead's crazily hyped new releases upon leakage, our initial takes had their rabid fanbases frothing at the mouth -- but reactions to both turned out to be mixed all around. Lady Gaga is the biggest pop star in the world, and biggest pop stars in the world tend to get violent reactions from the actual pop audience when they diverge. But then, Gaga has made a whole career of diverging, and people seem to already be tired of her shit, so who knows how this will go. Here's our first listen to Lady Gaga's new album, Born This Way:
"Marry the Night"
"I'm a warrior queen" and "Gonna make love to the stars" are two promises our queen boasts on this hour-long opus before the first four-on-the-floor even kicks in. Kinda power-ballady, actually. And when that beat finally arrives, a lot of Gaga's trademarks are apparent: "muh-muh-muh-marry the night" stuttering and cheap beat sounds recycled from 1997. One thing that interests me about Gaga is her total disinterest in sonic innovation -- has she even used Auto-Tune? She wants to be the most superficial artist in the world. I've never minded her pro forma synths, and this is catchy. But it's also monochromatic.
"Born This Way"
Unlike most, I actually find this nonubiquitous Madonna rip to be one of her better hits. The sonic coloring is metamorphic, which is neat up against the superfamiliar melody and clever-the-first-time "don't be a drag/just be a queen" chants. But Ke$ha's ad libs are actually surprising, and the only thing surprising about this album so far is the cover.
"Government Hooker"
Right, that last song was "political," too. And a lot of people have rightfully rolled their eyes at her attempt to tell gay culture what anthems it should co-opt. But I'm still glad our biggest pop star cares about saying something, even if it has yet to extend past the title and, now, a promise to make JFK squeal. "Government Hooker" doesn't appear to say anything about the government, but it is a bloopy industrial thing with a nasty version of the beeps from "Da Da Da." It's fun to hear her twist "hooker" into bendy melodic shapes here with censor bleeps at the end. One of her best so far.
"Judas"
This is breezing by, despite almost every song being a good minute longer than every song on Britney Spears' Femme Fatale. Like "Born This Way" only even better, I like this one more than her usual, so I was surprised at the lukewarm reaction to it as the second single. She's at her best in that synth-orchestral-stab-heavy Europop zone ("Alejandro"), but this still has a nasty edge in the bridge. She's getting a little hooker-obsessed, though. And spoken-breakdown-obsessed. "I'm in love with Judas" is kind of the ultimate in love-triangle confession/betrayals, though, no?
"Americano"
Awesomely campy Spanish musical intro, as if you were expecting something different from her long-awaited song about illegal immigration. Why didn't the album open with something like that? Because ultimately, she's interested in being a singles factory; the albums are just the grab bag from which to choose her next video. This is pretty overblown, like the disco equivalent of the White Stripes' "Conquest," but that's a plus because the music finally matches her persona.
"Hair"
This clip-paced ballad starts with four very familiar chords and a catchy "uh-uh" Greek chorus. "I'm as free as my hair" is a great hook; her lyrics are gaining in cleverness in abstraction, which reminds me of the leap in maturity for James Murphy on last year's LCD Soundsystem finale This Is Happening. Doesn't surprise me that Taylor Swift used this exact melody to better effect on "The Story of Us." But Swift's dance beat had better momentum. Redeeming factor: the bridge.
"Scheiße"
"I don't speak German/But I can if you like," our frosted fraulein intones. The chorus unravels more Eurosynth goodies, and she really could be mistaken for Madonna this time. This is a jam. The last album I heard with both German and Spanish tunes was the Breeders' Mountain Battles. Weird.
"Bloody Mary"
Where dubstep squelch-crunch meets pizzicato plucks. More crucifixion imagery: "I'm gonna dance, dance, dance/With my hands above my head." Am I a bad person if I prefer her paean to Judas? This is surprisingly restrained though, if you can believe that from the above description. Actually, maybe even a little boring.
"Bad Kids"
It's no secret that I love pop stars' expensively yet naively warped takes on rock guitar; Michael Jackson's "Black or White," a huge cornerstone of my youth, was always my fave. The chorus of this is pretty Jackson-worthy, as is the heavenly, synthed-up backbeat, which is constantly shifting gears to make room for the warped rock sounds. Easily her best production to date and possibly her best song (that isn't a single, anyway). Probably a lock for best thing here.
"Highway Unicorn (Road 2 Love)"
More hamhanded drama like "Marry the Night" and (sorry) "Bad Romance," though "Bad Romance" was a lot more steamrolling. But it's keeping up the momentum. High-paced filler is the best kind.
"Heavy Metal Lover"
Swollen synths, crawling stomp. She wants your pretty mouth. The real heavy metal lovers will backtrack to "Bad Kids"; this is getting a little samey again. Britney fans will find something to do with the "ooh-hoo" coos in the hook. Daft Punk fans will dig the breakdown.
"Electric Chapel"
More heavy metal. McTool riff. Synth strings. Harpsichord? Guitar solo putting me to sleep. All the four-on-the-floor is getting a bit wearying; how can people say she's so much better than Britney Spears when Spears has had to skate her vocals around skittering Neptunes contraptions and various Timbaland-style polyphonies? I mean, Britney's debut had a reggae song. Change it up, Lady.
"Yoü & I"
Finally, that other thing Gaga knows how to do: fake Elton john ballads. But this one has ginormous crunk claps (e.g. J-Kwon's "Tipsy") -- I laughed out loud the first time they came in. Song is pretty great '70s AM-radio cheese though. It even hints she could handle a country song. If only the lyrics didn't match: "There's something about/Baby, you and I." We know, hun; even Bad Company knows. She's really in love with the idea of "heavy metal," isn't she? The guitar solo is more appropriate here but we didn't really need it. Bonus: She takes Jesus' name in vain the same way those red staters do. This is far more subversive than "Born This Way."
"The Edge of Glory"
Finally, the high drama pays off! She steals "hanging on a moment with you" from Lifehouse, of all people. This is a finale both relaxed and intense in an almost Springsteenian way, except it's a rave ballad (with a Clarence Clemmons sax breakdown, if that helps you visualize). It helps that she sings her titanium heart out. This is a good album by a visionary with something to prove, even if she's still more of a fan (of heavy metal, Madonna, Elton ballads, Eurocheese) than visionary. And it's better than anything Madonna or Elton (or heavy metal) has churned out in a minute. That's just her youth, you say? We'll see.
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