Between the been there done that “Bad Romance” and the extended genius of “Telephone”, Lady Gaga’s The Fame Monster is, at forty minutes or so in length, much more than just an extended mix. It is what I claimed “Bad Romance” wasn’t. A step forward in her dominance of the world.
It isn’t that the Fame Monster is better that The Fame, it is that The Fame rested so heavily on novelty hits such as “Paparazi” and “Pokerface” the question ended up being was she a one trick pony, especially since “Bad Romance” was more of the same? The answer is no she isn’t, she is the real thing. From the cover on down the EP is Lady Gaga without the Gagagames: the cover is a black and white picture with Stefani Germanotta reverting to her naturally dark hair, her eyeliner gushing down the right hand side of her face, her bangs covering her left eye. It lets you in and lets you out at the same time and I am not suggesting a woman who just yesterday played her piano while it gave the appearance of being on fire is toning down, I’m suggesting her tricks, her stunts, her ‘tude, don’t hide her growth as a songwriter. “Speechless” , her piano on fire song, in a power ballad par excellence waiting to be covered by just about every mid thirties cabaret artist trying to preserve their cool.
The “Bad Romace” remix is better than the original, (so is the “Telephone” remix which hasn’t been released yet), “So Happy I Could Die” is a sexually ambigious love song that would sound great on acoustic guitar.
The “T” on the cover is in the shape of a cross, and Germanotta, similar to her influence and mentor Cicione, is a good catholic girl gone bad. Madonna’s influence is, if anything, even more apparent on The Fame Monster. The intro to “Teeth” -another knockout, is pure MC (though the vocal more Annie Lennox). Good – it is about time somebody got Madonna right. And I know I claimed last week Britney was Madonna’s heir apparent, Monster is such a MONSTER I’m not so sure any more.
Really, everything is great here and if it isn’t all on a par with “Pokerface” at least some of it sure is.
Comments are closed.