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In the course of a year, Lady Gaga’s gone from newcomer to globe-straddling pop megastar. But is Gaga’s new record, The Fame Monster, just a Christmas cash-in or something more? We threw on our Monster Beats to find out…
The luxury deluxe version of a major album just in time for Christmas is fast becoming a tradition. But while some of her rivals (Alesha Dixon, we’re looking at you), have simply tacked on a few off-cuts and the odd tedious making-of documentary, The Fame Monster is an 8 track addendum to Lady Gaga’s debut album, The Fame.
Hold on until December 15 and you’ll be able to grab The Fame Monster and The Fame in one package but if you’ve already grabbed Lady Gaga’s debut or are just intrigued, The Fame Monster is a good introduction to Lady Gaga’s odd world.
It’s easy to dislike Lady Gaga: there’s the bizarre paparazzi baiting outfits which look like fetish wear designed by H.R Giger on an off day, and the fact that she’s taken her publicity seeking approach straight from the Madonna playbook. But in pop charts dominated by singers who don’t write their own songs, she’s a self-made star.
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In The Fame Monster, Lady Gaga reveals a twisted and dark approach to making pop music that was hinted at with earlier songs like Paparazzi (“I’m your biggest fan/I’ll follow you until you love me…”).
Bad Romance which kicks off The Fame Monster finds Lady Gaga coming over like a bizarre robot version of Ivana Trump (“I want your la-ve, lah-ve, lah-ve…”), her bizarre punctuation combining with a hook that’s difficult to shake, and a pounding electro backing.
Lady Gaga doesn’t know how to write a bland lyric, as The Fame Monster frequently demonstrates. On Teeth, she eggs her suitor on to cannibalism (“take a bite of my bad girl meat…”).
Meanwhile Dance In The Dark begs “inject me” and features a roll call of famous dead female celebs with Marilyn Monroe, Sylvia Plath and Princess Di all making an appearance.
The Fame Monster goes further into dark territory with Speechless, a 70s glam track that touches on violence with a slightly frightening reference to a “half-wired jaw”. But it’s not all dedicated to Lady Gaga’s darker impulses.
There are plenty of fluffy pop moments on The Fame Monster but ultimately even then, Lady Gaga’s incapable of being boring, dragging in zombie attacks and lesbian crushes on her friends.
The Fame Monster is a fun record from an artist with a compellingly twisted eye. While Britney Spears toys with talk of threesomes and hints at sexual freakery, Gaga goes all out with dirty electro pop so full of hooks it’s hard not to sing along.
Lady Gaga is making exactly the kind of pop music we need: totally insane and proud of it.
Buy Lady Gaga’s The Fame Monster from iTunes
Buy Lady Gaga’s The Fame Monster (Deluxe Version) from Play.com
Buy Lady Gaga’s The Fame Monster from Amazon.co.uk
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