Like it or not, the world cannot escape the whirlwind that is Lady Gaga, especially since the release of her new album “The Fame Monster.”
“The Fame Monster” is Gaga’s second studio album and was originally just supposed to be a re-release of her first album “The Fame,” with one new song.
It was not until later that Gaga decided to make a full-length album, which deals with the dark side of fame, unlike her first album, which dealt with the money and the glamour aspects.
Since the album is dealing with the dark side fame, a lot of the compositions are heavily influenced by gothic music.
The first song on the album, “Bad Romance,” has an industrial goth beat, but at the same time sounds like a song that could be played at a fashion show.
The musical composition for the song is very reminiscent of the band Depeche Mode, and the lyrics make some references to elements of gothic culture.
She sings a line “I want your Psycho, your vertical stick,” which are both references to the Alfred Hitchcock films “Psycho” and “Vertigo.”
“Bad Romance” is definitely a song one would play at a party to get everyone on the dance floor.
The next track, “Alejandro,” incorporates the techno musical style of Ace of Base with a hint of ’70s pop, like ABBA.
On first listen, the lyrics sound like Gaga is in Mexico trying to escape a harem of crazy Latin men by the names of Alejandro, Fernando and Roberto.
However, like all of her lyrics, there are much deeper meanings. The lyrics in this song are based on Gaga’s fear of commitment, to the point she can’t even remember the name of the man she is with: “Don’t call my name Alejandro/I’m not your babe, Fernando/don’t call my name, Roberto.”
The song also kind of plays on the phrase “What happens in Mexico, Stays in Mexico,” when she sings the line “Hot like Mexico rejoice.”
“Monster” is a song produced by Gaga’s long-time collaborator, Space Cowboy, who also worked with her on her first album.
Musically, the song contains stuttering synths and instrumentation from heavy drums. The lyrics are based on love, but not just any love: zombie love.
The song begins with Gaga singing and repeating the line “He ate my heart” and eventually leads into the zombie eating more of her body parts: “I wanna just dance/ but he took me home instead/Uh-oh there was a monster in my bed, we French kissed on a subway train/he tore my clothes right off/ he ate my heart then he ate my brain.”
While that may not be everyone’s idea of the ideal date, for a bizarre girl like Gaga this is probably the ideal date.
The next track, “Speechless,” is a rock ballad dedicated to Gaga’s father. In this song Gaga shows off her wide vocal range and piano skills. The song has been compared to the works of Freddie Mercury.
Gaga said that the song is specifically about one night she visited her father in the hospital where he said he was giving up on life.
She said she felt so much hurt she just did not know what to say: “I’ll never talk again/oh boy you’ve left me speechless.”
However, her father did not give up, and according to Gaga, is doing much better and looks like he is going to make a full recovery.
“Dance in the Dark” is probably the darkest song, as the lyrics reference a young woman stuck in relationship where her boyfriend does nothing but criticize her: “She looks good but her boyfriend says she’s a mess.” It eventually leads to her ending her life early.
The song also references many other famous females who lost their lives early, like Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, Sylvia Plath, Princess Diana and even JonBenet Ramsey.
The last two songs of the album “So Happy I Could Die” and “Teeth” are both highly sexual. “Teeth” makes many references to vampires throughout, like when Gaga says ” Your teeth are sexy,” and “Take a bite of my bad girl meat.”
Ironically, the style of the song is almost gospel-like, while the lyrics are written in true S&M style, talking about how Gaga likes to be bitten and tied up.
“The Fame Monster” is a work of musical and theatrical genius and is sure to be one of the biggest albums of the year.
