02 Jun 11 - CD Review

Born This Way
Lady Gaga
http://www.ladygaga.com

....if you're a strong female, you don't need permission...

First it was all about her rist to (The) Fame until adding some bite to her second release, The Fame Monster, that start a phenomenal fan following. Now, she's revealing to the millions of loyal lil monsters the real reason for her outrageous yet uniquely eclectic (and sometimes eccentric) sense of fashion and style because she was Born This Way. Only one artist could do that while breaking Twitter/Facebook records ...creating a grand egg-tastic entrance and being very vocal with her social activism in LGBTQ issues (i.e. "don't ask don't tell" repeal campaign). Believe it or not, even Broadway once said she'll never have a singing career with a voice like hers. SouthSide could only be describing Mother Monster herself, Lady Gaga, blogspot readers. And she's back rockin' the mainstream airwaves (as well as YouTube vid) with her third album, Born This Way, featuring her monster hits, title track, Born This Way and Judas.

This rockin' 2 Disc CD features a slightly but completely different look for this artist and disco pop sound in which she ventures more into an Euro techno dance groove (in track 7 - Scheibe) with a taste of industrial and electric/cyberpunk vibe (in track 13 - Heavy Metal Lover and track 14 - Electric Chapel). Plus she also rocks the album with a fiery Spanish bolero sound as heard in track 5 - Americano (even though SouthSide feels there should have been some mariachi sound within the song). Meanwhile on Disc 2, there are 4 remixed tracks by DJ White Shadow and Fernando Garibay which also includes Lady Gaga's country/western version of Born This Way. And surprisingly, this artist could easily switch to country if she ever wanted to ditch the pop scene for her next album. SouthSide and the test audience (Vyolet and Sunday) personally recommend listening to Americano and Scheibe in which both songs get constant airplay rotation on the DVD stereo player. Personally, SouthSide found herself immediately drawn to Heavy Metal Lover and Electric Chapel liking how Lady Gaga isn't afraid to venture out her "norm" for something darker ...leaning towards industrial/cyberpunk/electric rock to mix with her danceable disco/pop. Other songs worth listening include track 3, Government Hooker (she promises to be anything and everything as long as you pay her), track 8 - Bloody Mary (listen to Judas first before listening to this track to understand it's almost an continuation of that song) and track 9 - Black Jesus + Amen Fashion (Jesus is the new black for 2011, blogspot readers). The test audience highly recommends watching Judas (a modern day re-telling of Jesus Christ Superstar but from Mary's point of view ...they loved the bike gang image for Jesus and his disciples) and Born This Way (lots and lots of Clockwork Orange references and other things) videos on YouTube.

Even if you're not a true "monster" fan of Lady Gaga, this double disc CD has something for every music taste and deserves a spin on your stereo player.


Until next time, support your local scene,
SouthSide