Tag: Lady Gaga

audio review : Fashion ( song ) … Lady Gaga

The drums and bass sound suspiciously, almost criminally, similar to Madonna’s Holiday. While it’s arguable which song is better, Lady Gaga easily outshines during the verses. “Walk into the light,” she commands, “Display your diamonds and pearls in light.” She should’ve said something about the jewelry being “bright” instead of using “light” twice, but the way she channels Lena Horne on Broadway makes it one of the two best parts of the song.

The second best part is that same section of the second verse, which she totally slays. “There’s a life on Mars where the couture is beyond beyond.” Fabulous, in my gayest voice. The verses are early peaks though. The chorus, on which she makes the mistake of trying to carry the same melody as opposed to coming-up with something different, is comparatively anticlimactic. When she does decide to make a change, during the ending coda, it’s a mess.

my rating : 3 of 5

2013

audio review : Artpop ( album ) ... Lady Gaga

audio review : Do What U Want ( song ) … Lady Gaga ( featuring R Kelly )

Janet Jackson said to “have your way with me” in her Want You ballad. Gaga gets a bit more explicit. “Do what you want to my body,” she offers to sex partner R Kelly as I imagine her sprawled nude on a bed. It, letting someone do what they want to your body, is the ultimate act of submission and that gives the song an extra kinky underlining.

I, for one, would love for a young lady with a body like Gaga to tell me that and mean it, though she might regret it before I’m done. That chorus is also the best part of the song. Flaws, such as the use of the word “party” as a metaphor for having sex and R Kelly pronouncing “want” in a way that doesn’t rhyme with “blunt”, are minor and few.

my rating : 4 of 5

2013

audio review : Artpop ( album ) ... Lady Gaga

audio review : Gypsy ( song ) … Lady Gaga

The final fifty seconds are awesome and exhilarating. If the whole song sounded that great, it would be a classic. It doesn’t. That bridge plays twice before, but the melody doesn’t change for the better until the end. The way she vocalizes the second “life”, it should sound that way every time. The final bridge is also the only one accompanied by a cutesy counter vocal. “If you go with me,” she sings, breaking the word “me” into two syllables because it sounds better that way, “See the world with me.”

It’s the final chorus though, the second of only two, that steals the show. “I’m a gypsy,” she insists, except that the words “I’m” and “gypsy” are repeated, before going on to identify with various nations from Russia to Norway. There doesn’t really seem to be any structural order or reason for her chanty declaration, but it’s fun nonetheless. Listen for the little random bass riff at 3:53. The first chorus section and most of the rest of the song; a Meat-Loaf-styled power ballad; is tame in comparison.

my rating : 3 of 5

2013

audio review : Artpop ( album ) … Lady Gaga

audio review : Artpop ( album ) … Lady Gaga

audio review : Artpop ( album ) ... Lady Gaga

If anyone knows about “pop”, it’s Lady Gaga. She released her debut album five years ago and has already become one of the most popular singers ever. That’s quite a feat. Whether it had more to do with talent or luck is a question this album makes it difficult to answer. It’s far from spectacular, but her hooks are generally better than average and catchy hooks are very important. I just wish she’d ride them out more. The Dope ballad, for example, sounds almost anticlimactic because the refrain never goes for longer than four bars.

The album’s best moments come via Gypsy, the final fifty seconds of which are awesome and exhilarating. If the whole song sounded that great, it would be an instant classic. The worst parts of the album can be found not in the music but in the lyrics of the songs. Venus has on it the kind of stale space-love lines The B-52s might’ve used. “Manicure” as a pun for “man-cured” is just plain stupid. For what it’s worth though, Lady Gaga’s music is aesthetically on par with, if not better than, that of Madonna, her most obvious influence.

my rating : 3 of 5

2013