| re: Born This Way | |
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Posted by: |
steven_stuart 12:11 am UTC 05/29/11 |
| In reply to: | Born This Way - RepeatandFade 02:02 pm UTC 05/23/11 |
| Thanks for posting the review. I quoted it above. I wonder if Gaga has ever said who her influences are. > Thought you guys would enjoy this article authored by Tris > McCall and published in my hometown newspaper, The > Star-Ledger... > > Just finished my first bewildered listen to "Born This > Way," the latest album by Lady Gaga, and I've got a > question: > > Did Jim Steinman work on this record? > > After hearing "Born This Way" (the single, not the album), > I expected the shadow of Madonna to hang over the set more > than it does. It's there, but "Born This Way" (the album, > not the single) is more likely to evoke memories of a > different over-the-top '80s pop singer: Bonnie Tyler. Lady > Gaga's heart never goes into total eclipse, and she's not > exactly holding out for a hero, but there are moments on > many of these overstuffed pop songs where she shoots the > works as melodramatically as Tyler ever did. (Sometimes > she even sounds like Tyler.) The production on this > flashing carousel of an album is outsized, cartoonish, > relentless, and ultimately exhausting. Imagine Meat Loaf > sped up and welded to Eurodisco beats, and you've got a > pretty good idea of what "Born This Way" sounds like. > > This is not exactly a problem. The main shortcoming of > Eurodisco is that it can be faceless. Lady Gaga is > anything but. She's a massive presence on these songs, and > she revs her chrome-plated chopper and rides straight at > your eardrums at top speed. It has been said -- sometimes > by the star herself -- that Lady Gaga is loud and brassy > to compensate for her personal insecurities. She's > certainly compensated here. > > I'll have much more to say about "Born This Way" in > Sunday's paper, but this isn't the kind of album that > leaves a listener short of words. Everything about "Born > This Way" is meant to provoke a reaction, and as such, it > is a perfect expression of Lady Gaga's attention-hungry > public persona. Those who were disappointed by the > derivative title track and disjointed second single > "Judas" will be pleased to know that there are much better > songs on "Born This Way." The world has already heard one > of them -- "The Edge of Glory," which features Clarence > Clemons on saxophone. (He sounds pretty surprised to be > there, to be honest.) > > Hold your horses, though; don't queue up at the f.y.e. in > the mall just yet. "Born This Way" also contains some... > um.. challenging music, too. "Americano" out-sillies > "Alejandro" by miles, and proves that Gaga can be just as > goofy in Spanish as she is in her native language. The > incomprehensible "Government Hooker" might be the most > annoying song to hit the American mainstream since the > last M.I.A. album. "Bloody Mary" is a new thing under the > sun: a Lady Gaga song that's genuinely dull. Throughout > the set, synthesizers whir and drums pound, and weird > electro breaks jump out of the mixes like Gaga is > determined to cure you of your hiccups (no word on how to > cure hers.) While she is an electrifying singer, Lady Gaga > is a terrible rapper, so she should really cut that the > heck out. She also seems to be suffering from Taylor Swift > syndrome -- all of the songs on "Born This Way" go on too > long. Massive worldwide success grants an artist license > to exile her editor to Siberia, and there's scant evidence > that anybody but Gaga herself is making the decisions > here. > > Which makes "Born This Way" an interesting contrast to the > other major pop release of 2011: Britney Spears' "Femme > Fatale." On that sleek, automated set -- as impersonal as > a business handshake and about as emotional -- the star > barely shows up. She's a brand name attached to high-tech, > super-modern, forward-looking productions, feeding her vox > into a giant processor and drifting off to narcotic > slumber. Almost everything about "Born This Way" looks > back to the '80s, and there's nothing sleek about it: it > keeps popping out at you like a whack-a-mole, or a > jack-in-the-box with a busted lid. Spears' album is > infinitely replayable, but leaves the listener with > fleeting impressions; once heard, "Born This Way" is not > likely to be forgotten. Only an intrepid pop warrior or a > hopelessly smitten Little Monster is likely to sit through > this experience many times. > > Yet the final contrast with "Femme Fatale" is the most > important one. Whatever vocal acrobatics Britney Spears > had at her disposal on "Oops... I Did it Again" and > "Toxic" have been left behind in the locker room. Gaga, by > contrast, hits the mats with a triple backflip, and the > floor exercise doesn't end until the music stops. She > remains the best and most flexible singer on the pop > charts, and she's a generous one, belting through "Born > This Way" (the album, not the single) like a kid at an > audition convinced that she's positively going to die if > she doesn't get the part. Even when this album is taxing, > as it often is, it is always a thrill to listen to Lady > Gaga's gleaming-dagger voice. The more the electric mayhem > abates, the better able she is to flex those pipes. Power > ballad "Yoü and I" and dancefloor thumper "Scheiße" give > Lady Gaga room to do what she does best, and > unsurprisingly, they're two of the most rewarding songs on > the set. I agree with my colleague and editor Jay Lustig > that it would be great to hear Lady Gaga do an unplugged > set. Tonight, in the midst of this glittering, grabby, > screwed-up, overdriven carnival of beats and blurps, that > seems about as likely as a Trump presidency. > | |
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