Lady GaGa - The Fame Monster Review

can admit when I'm wrong. On almost every Lady GaGa page on Wikipedia I'm quoted as calling The Fame "drivel," "obscene," or "trash"; I might have even used the word "monster" to describe the lady herself. But thanks to its string of knockout singles, the album turned out to be one of the most spun discs on my stereo this year (yes, I still use a stereo). I still think the album is patchy, garish, and grossly materialistic, and I find GaGa herself to be alternately the best thing to grace the late-night circuit since Madonna and insufferably self-important. But there's no denying her p-p-p-poker face—the sense that something real, maybe even poignant, lurks beneath all that gothic makeup and those elaborate headdresses, and if given enough time, she might even reveal it to us.

Originally conceived of as a bonus disc for the re-release of The Fame, the eight-song The Fame Monster is now being released as a standalone EP as well. GaGa probably should have tacked on a few more tracks (and if YouTube is any indication, she's got the material), titled the thing Monster, and released it sometime next year as her official sophomore effort. As it is, it's not a huge leap forward for GaGa (several songs ape the sound of her first two chart-toppers, "Just Dance" and "Poker Face"), but songs like "Bad Romance" and "Dance in the Dark" are stacked with towering new-wave synths and seemingly endless hooks; if melodies could be time-stamped, these would have "'80s" branded on their asses....full text Gaga is including locks of hair from her wigs in the deluxe reissue of 2008's The Fame. It's the Warhol-y thing to do. But she covers her conceptual bets by rolling out sturdy club-thumpers, and this eight-song EP (included in the reissue and sold separately) is largely on point. "Bad Romance" makes her name a Teutonic chant; "Alejandro" is a loving Abba spoof. Half the disc is Madonna knock-offs, but that's part of the concept — fame monsters needn't concern themselves with originality....full text The Black Eyed Peas sold more singles and Michael Jackson generated more headlines, but it was Lady GaGa who stomped all over 2009, leaving stiletto scars, glitter and mock outrage in her wake. Her sudden rise has been astounding but not unprecedented. After all, another small, moderately attractive Italian American once conquered the world with visual imagination, ferocious work ethic, shameless sexuality and - most of all - a handful of megatonne pop songs. You may know her as Madonna.

As for Stefani Germanotto aka Lady GaGa, it was in retrospect unimaginative to expect "The Fame Monster" to be a hastily assembled collection of outtakes and remixes designed to squeeze the last drop of commercial blood from her debut. Yes, it will soon be packaged as a double with "The Fame", but it also stands up as its own lavishly produced mini album. And how it stands up, a reminder of GaGa's ability to take murky sexuality, arthouse quirks and fiercely synthetic europop, and wrap them up in huge radio-ravishing tunes....full text