Born This Way Review [Working Title Article]

I originally wrote this article to be published in my college's new magazine, Working Title, but the Editor felt that a paragraph (change to italic writing in this post, in case anyone's interested) could be cut out to make it shorter. This review was written about a month ago now but I've decided to post it on here (with a picture of my article's mock-up!) so that people can read the full thing, even though the amount taken out wasn't extensive.

The latest album from the meat-wearing powerhouse of pop, Lady Gaga’s ‘Born This Way’ was released on the 23^rd of May worldwide and, needless to say (especially for those who know me) I made sure I bought it the very day it came out and, honestly, I was very far from disappointed.

Starting with the most obvious thing, the cover art, we see Gaga depicted as half human, half motorcycle and not quite in the same way as Beyoncé was a few years ago, we’re talking about the full body works with her head between the handlebars. Quite unusual indeed but, really, what else did you expect from the woman who wears lobster hats and Kermit the frog? Jokes aside, though, this cover perfectly represents one of the ideas that the album should be listened with: Live constantly between reality and fantasy. With that in mind I put the CD in, turned the volume up and entered a world of unicorns, motorcycles and high fashion.

The first thing I noted about the album, overall, after listening to it was that Gaga’s vocals are- for the most part- more natural, raw and untouched than her previous albums, something that makes the songs feel a lot more powerful and dramatic. Something else about the album that I noticed was that, unlike her previous work where the songs could be easily classified into ‘ballads’, ‘pop’, ‘dance’, ‘acoustic’ etc., the songs on Born This Way have very mixed genres. Distinct elements of rock (quite a lot, actually) are present alongside dance beats, classical instruments, jazz solos, mariachi bands, electro-pop themes; the entire album is this conglomeration of many different genres that, on paper, shouldn’t really work together at all…and yet, somehow, they all fit together and compliment each other extremely well on Born This Way.

The opening song, Marry The Night, makes a good introduction to the entire album. It starts off with a slow build up of dance layers with simple vocals before suddenly breaking out into a huge chorus, complete with traditional Gaga hooks and subtle guitar parts mixed in with heavy bass beats. Most of the songs on Born This Way carry out in the same format in that there’s a gradual build up to a spectacular chorus with the ‘sledge-hammering beats’ that the Lady herself promised there would be. The songs themselves all have different themes to them as well ranging from Religion (always controversial but- not forgetting- a big part of any part-Italian Catholic’s life) which is a theme in songs like Born This Way, Judas and Bloody Mary, to Identity (Bad Kids, Hair, Born This Way) and Equality (Americano and Scheiße).

The whole album is a lot darker and different than anything that Gaga has released previously, I felt, and the songs themselves are hugely symbolic and interpretive of, not just the world around us right now, but this idea that throughout life you can be reborn and constantly change until you’re comfortable with yourself. A great listen and fantastic food for thought, Born This Way is an album I’d recommend to anyone without a doubt, its hybrid genres and infectious lyrics make its audience practically universal and at a very affordable price. Don’t just take my word for it, though, experience the ‘cultural baptism’ that’s taken over the world for yourself, I can assure you that you won’t be disappointed.