Writer Girl's Review of: The Fame Monster

Greetings, readership!

In today's tasty morsel of opinionated awesomeness, I'll be giving my track-by-track review of an album that really shook up the music industry and raised the bar for musicians everywhere. And by raised the bar, I mean raised the bar on craziness, theatrics, and symbolistic epicness.

That's right, ladies and gentlemen: today I''ll be tackling

THE FAME MONSTER

by LADY GAGA

A Bit of History: The Fame Monster was originally intended to be a part of the re-release of Gaga's last major mainstream album , THE FAME. However, Lady Gaga felt that the re-release was too expensive, and she felt like the material for the THE FAME MONSTER was too different from the material on THE FAME to actually need to be on an album with it. So, she announced that the material would be released on a standalone album - and thus, THE FAME MONSTER was born!

The Track-by-Track:

1. BAD ROMANCE - Bad Romance is a truly amazing song. The song tackles, in my opinion, the true and honest feelings behind a relationship that's both healthy and unhealthy, and yet Gaga manages to tie it up in a package that glistens with both pop sparkle and true artistic grit. Definitely one of the best songs on the album!

Best lyrics: "Je veux ton amour, et je veux ta revanche. J'veux ton amour, I don't wanna be friends!"

2. ALEJANDRO - Another strong success for the FAME MONSTER. Alejandro comes off at first as a simple pop anthem with crafty violins, but quickly turns into something much more interesting and sinister as the songs weaves a tragic and somewhat cryptic tale. A DADT anthem, anyone?

Best lyrics: "Don't wanna kiss, don't wanna touch - just smoke my cigarette and hush."

3. MONSTER - Eh. This is where Gaga takes a turn for the worst. As a mindless pop song, this isn't bad. But it really didn't strike me as anything special. I interpretted it as being about either rape, or something just plain creepy. It's not bad, it just leaves you with the feeling that Gaga could've done something much better.

Best lyrics: "I asked my girlfriend if she'd seen you 'round before. She mumbled something while we got down on the floor."

4. SPEECHLESS - Alas, another winner! Speechless is easily my favorite song in the album, a departure from Gaga's usual electro-pop sound. Instead, SPEECHLESS is a simple piano ballad with beautiful lyrics, heartbreakingly gritty vocals, and a haunting premise that will stick in your mind for long after you first hear the song.

Best lyrics: It's a tie between "..and I know that it's complicated, but I'm a loser in love, so baby, raise a glass to mend all the broken hearts, of all my wrecked up friends" and "Could we fix you if you broke? Or is your punchline just a joke?"

5. DANCE IN THE DARK - This song is a close second in the category of, "Best Song on the Album", with an infectious beat and gorgeously tortured lyrics. The meaning of this song is much debated, ranging all the way from fear of sex to relationship abuse. To me, it really does sound like an abusive relationship, emotional or physical, leaving 'Baby' battered and insecure, and yet still, "Baby loves a dance in the dark, 'cause when he's lookin' she falls apart".

Best lyrics: "Marilyn. Judy. Sylvia. Tellem' how you feel girls! Work your Jean Benet Ramsey. We'll haunt like Liberace. Find your freedom in the music - Find your Jesus, Find your Kubrick."

6. TELEPHONE - See, this is another one those songs that strikes me as 'could've been better'. Not only does Beyonce really kind of ruin the whole song, (Does she ever NOT ruin the song?), but I also felt that the song was really kind of shallow. As a dance song and nothing else, TELEPHONE is pretty decent, but don't expect anything deep or meaningful from this one.

Best lyrics: "Stop callin', stop callin', I don't wanna think anymore. I left my head and my heart on the dancefloor."

7. SO HAPPY I COULD DIE - Though not the strongest on the album by far, I found that SO HAPPY I COULD DIE was actually a fairly good song. It had a contagiously brilliant beat, a gorgeous rhythm, and it really struck me as one of those songs with a deep meaning that could easily be missed on the first glance (alcoholism, maybe?)

Best lyrics: "Just know when that glass is empty, that the world is gonna bend."

8. TEETH - Definitely the weakest track on the album. It's fairly straight to the point about what the song is about, (Seriously. The opening lines are, "I don't want your money, I just want your sex") and I suppose it had an okaaay beat. But it lacked that poise and symbolistic subtlety that I really look for in a good Gaga song.

Best lyrics: "Just tell me it's alright. Tell me something that'll change me. I'm gonna love you with my hands tied."

OVERALL RATING: 5/8 stars.
STRAIGHT TO THE POINT: It was a good album! What it lacked in some less-than-great tracks, in made up in the phenomenal ones. It really carved Gaga her own little niche in the business, and it cemented her as a bonafide superstar.

All in all, you can expect amazing things from Lady Gaga. I can honestly say that I'm really and truly waiting for her next album (Born This Way, 2011) with bated breath (As long as Beyonce isn't on it. Yikes :/ )

Until Next Time!

- Writer Girl <3
(Song On My iPod Right Now: Summertime by My Chemical Romance)