album review: lady gaga, born this way
On May 23, 2011, the world changed. Lady Gaga released her much-anticipated second studio album, Born This Way.
As you all probably recall, my love for Gaga runs deep. I had written at the end of that piece that I hoped her sound would reflect a change towards more piano-driven rock-and-roll, like what she performed on the Today show last summer. Fast forward one year to lead singles ‘Born This Way’ and ‘Judas’ and the zipline-induced performance on Good Morning America last week, and we see this isn’t the case.
Gaga is not making the shift I predicted at all – instead she’s challenging our expectations by going somewhere even deeper into the dance beats and pop music. I can’t say I think this is where she should go as an artist and musician or where I think the bulk of her talent lies. But, it’s damn catchy.
What’s amazing to me is that the album isn’t as easily digestible as most other pop music right now. Gaga has created a sound on Born This Way that must have caused some very talented sound engineers sleep loss during its production. From a technical standpoint, the way the album varies from strict house techno like on the half-German ‘Scheiße’ to the operatic touches on ‘Americano’ and ‘Government Hooker’, to my personal favorite Bruce Springsteen Jersey Shore sound on the acceptance anthem ‘Hair’ to standard dance beats on ‘Marry the Night’ and ‘The Edge of Glory’ is really amazing. It’s a rollercoaster of an album that when listened to the whole way through, sounds like a post-apocalyptic rock musical. This postmodern masterpiece is an amazing pastiche of Terminator and the big band sound of The Boss, with theatrics that rival those of Queen or even The Who’s Tommy.
But it wouldn’t be Gaga’s style to merely imitate those who have inspired her. She’s not only the first female of our generation to produce something as ambitious as any of the artists above who make up her pastiche, but also her style deserves to be recognized. The production on this album only goes to prove how many steps she is ahead of the curve. She’s adding synth beats and drum loops where you least expect it, like on the studio version of ‘You and I’, that make us question our notions of what good pop music is. Added to that, she’s a firecracker performer who leaves every last bit of herself on stage. Instead of getting lost in the hoop-la, somehow Gaga uses these theatrical elements to further showcase her talent to the global network of adoring fans.
Nielsen Soundscan recently reported that Born This Way has sold over 1.1 million copies worldwide in its first week, putting Lady Gaga in a realm of fan-driven pop superstardom that includes acts like *NSYNC and Taylor Swift.
I can’t say it’s shocking that she’s up there, but we must look at how Gaga doesn’t represent the kind of teen ideal that Taylor Swift does or Justin Timberlake once did. She shows her camaraderie with communities that are heavily prejudiced against or thought of as hideous or not human by extorting her own physical appearance. One of the cover photos on Born This Way is a postmodern centaur type creature, consisting of an angry Gaga face with a motorcycle as a body. I still haven’t decided exactly what that means. Is she playing with conventional gender roles? Making a comment about technology and our society’s obsession with it? Did she decide that day she wanted to see what she looked like as a cyborg? Did she make herself so unattractive that all that’s left to hold your interest is her talent?
The bottom line is: who cares what she’s doing? She’s got our attention and knows how to hold it, and the music is good enough to back it up. I have to be honest that once I realized she went further down this rave path than anywhere else, I didn’t want to like Born This Way. Yet here I am just one week later, switching sides. I love it. The album has the kind of powerhouse anthem quality filled with messages of love and acceptance of all kinds of people that makes it relatable on a universal level. Just when you think she couldn’t get any bigger or any weirder, she’s managed to do both. You go, Gaga, I am forever in your awe.
