Lady Gaga, Born This Way, Album Review. Released May 23rd 2011.

Lady Gaga, Born This Way, “Interscope Records”.

If someone told 3 years ago that a pop artist would be one of my favorite artists ever, I’d have thought they were mad however Lady Gaga has done this. The pop sensation has now released her second studio album and is basically ruling the world, especially the UK. This album has sold more than all the other 29 albums in the album chart put together.

Having such high expectations and hype for this album after having the quickest selling debut album ever, the pressure must have been high for Gaga; however I think she has aced it. I think the most impressive thing about this album is the fact it’s an excellent album and it was written while she was touring, which is different to the typical album where people would hide for a year or so.

Born this way, the title track was the first thing we heard from this album and gave me the same reaction as millions of people, “I can’t wait for this album”, this song hit number one in over 20 countries, and it deserved it. This is the perfect pop song that still has good lyrics that are enough to make anyone feel great. This song starts off with Lady Gaga’s little motivating speech, which then dives into a great beat that is almost impossible not to move to. This has a very good chorus, which has a good balance between being memorable but not to repetitive. The highlight of this song, is Lady Gaga’s clever lyric “Don’t be a drag just be a Queen.” This has been too many people’s facebook status for my liking.

My favorite song on the album and one of my favorite singles this year is “Judas”.  Which unfortunately only hit number 8 in the UK singles chart however was successful in South Korea where it hit number 1. This song is my favorite because I feel it that one of the best chorus’ in pop history, it’s enough to make anyone sing along. It has such a fast flowing beat which slips into dubstep, and is a great song for clubbing. I also like the fact that people could listen to this song and love it without realizing the clever meaning of the song hidden within the biblical reference of “Judas”.

Another song on the album is “The Edge of Glory” I first heard this song on TV when Lady Gaga played “Radio 1’s Big Weekend”, she slowed down this song and sung it beautifully on the piano, I believe this is how this song should have been recorded. This song has a lot of meaning to Lady Gaga as it is about her Grandfather, this is why I believe it would’ve been better and suited the mood better if it was a very slow song on the piano. This song has a lot of emotion and passion within lyrics and her voice which doesn’t suit the fast flowing music around it. This is an excellent choice of song to end the album on.

The song that most fans believe stand out is Hair, I believe it is a very good song however I don’t think it is up to the standard of Judas. I do think this song is the best

Lyrical song on the album lyrics like “I've had enough, I'm not a freak.
I just here trying to stay cool on the streets.” I feel this song represents Lady Gaga as a person and is aimed at everyone who doesn’t like Lady Gaga for her individuality and crazy antics, this is probably why this is her fans favorite song on the album and can reach out to anybody who wants to be something and is judged for what they are.

The album is started with “Marry The Night” which I believe is the worst song on the album, it isn’t a bad song, it just seems a bit boring and effortless and sounds a bit too much like too many other songs in the pop world and just isn’t up to the standard of the other songs on the album, but is okay to get the album started as it is quite fast flowing and is quite a feel good song.

The song I believe is the best instrumentally on this album is “You and I” which includes guitar by Brian May, this probably being why it is the best instrumentally, this song has a “Queen” feel to it, the clapping beat sounds like it could be in a”Queen” and the backing vocals give me the feel that it could be a “Queen” song as well, and any song that sounds like a song by “Queen” is bound to be incredible, making this my second favorite song on the album.

I think Lady Gaga has done an album that is almost as good as the first; however I think the first album had more singles that would be released and do better in the charts, and are bigger “Pop anthems” were as the songs on this album are as good but would not be considered “Pop anthems” and would not do as well in the charts, the first album was Lady Gaga being clever and knowing exactly what to do to hit the charts, this album I believe is Lady Gaga being herself.

Rating: 8.5/10.

Songs to download: Born This Way, Judas, The Edge Of Glory, Hair, Fashion Of His Love, You and I.