CD Review – Lady Gaga: Born This Way

Lady Gaga
Born This Way
Interscope

We all know that Lady Gaga’s Born This Way probably has the worst album cover ever designed. Whatever was going through her head at the time can never justify how ridiculous it is to graft Gaga’s head onto a motorcycle. Yet even the most ridiculous decisions seem to make sense once you actually look at the process that led to it. Born This Way is an extravagant 80s-inspired mess, and its cover is really just another extension of its musical aesthetic. From the church organs on “Marry the Night”, to a sample of Queen’s “We Will Rock You” drum beat on “You & I”, the album never slows down, often feeling like Gaga literally grafted her own head to a motorcycle, her vocals sounding strangely mechanical – yet not autotuned – behind her signature dance beats and 80s-inspired synths. The album may not be era-defining like her 2007 EP The Fame Monster, but its consistent disorder and extravagance will never appear out of place in Gaga’s career.

Jonathan Petrychyn
Contributor