LADY GAGA: The Fame Monster (HardCandyMusic.com Review)

The true test of a pop artist destined for longevity is shown through their follow up release to such a successful debut. LADY GAGA departs from her obsession with fame and fortune and moves on to the darker side of slick produced pop/dance music on The Fame Monster. Overall the album sounds reminiscent of Britney’s Blackout with a much darker twist. Her vocals sound much more consistent than the previous album.

While she could easily have cobbled together a re-package including just one or two b-sides, Gaga thankfully did not choose that route – instead putting together a solid album consisting of 8 new tracks.

We’ve all already heard this one – a catchy pop track with a flashy and super creative music video to boot. Great first single, this will go down as one of her best.

The strings that open the song could have been the soundtrack the Paparazzi video. A few beats in, after a spoken word intro the track turns into an homage to Ace of Base. Can’t get this one out of our heads.

Get ready for this one, it’s hot – and should be the second single. U.S. audiences/radio will probably not enjoy it as much as the rest of the world, that is for sure. A vocoded ‘he ate my heart’ floats through the track as Gaga sings ‘that boy is a monster’. Too bad it isn’t summer for this one. ‘french kissed on a subway train…he ate my heart then he ate my brain’. With ‘Space Raiders’ style sound effects adding a futuristic element to the track we can only imagine the video for this one!

Gaga slows it down a notch for her first bluesy big band takeover. This one will take a few listens to stick inside. Love the end where it fades out and she brings it back again. Beautiful raw vocals.

The Lady takes on her own version of Madonna’s classic ‘rap’ from Vogue and a shout out to Diana in the breakdown of another solid pop tune. Very Euro. ‘Silicon, saline, poison….inject me baby i’m a free bitch.’ Abba catchy-ness meet the synths of Depeche Mode… another highlight from the album.

I guess sitting next to each other at the MTV VMA’s this past year sparked conversation between Gaga and Beyonce as they’ve both featured one another on their new releases. Pretty sure this will be the second single from the album in the U.S. This is the most urban track on the album. With this up-tempo number you will hear shades of Timbaland’s The Way I Are. With added Gaga disco claps ‘a la’ Madonna’s She’s Not Me. This song made me us want to go and hit the clubs. Another video we’d like to see – Gaga and Beyonce running around a club leaving their men behind. Beyonce kisses her boyfriend, Gaga rips his head off.

So Happy I Could Die
Does the world need another ode to masturbation? I guess so! This one continues the flow to a more urban end of the album, as the track ends it starts to morph into a Danja inspired beat (think Britney’s Get Naked meets Touch Of My Hand.)

The most creative and interesting track brings the album to a close. It’s an all out old-fashioned ho-down where Gaga screams ’show me your teeth‘. A bit repetitive but glad to have it. Slightly reminiscent of Jump Around by House of Pain bass heavy and on this one Gaga gets Crunk!

The Fame Monster will be released physically and digitally on November 22nd as a single album, a 2CD bundle which includes debut The Fame and of course the $75 Deluxe Edition including the bits of Gaga’s wig (Oohh la la!) and photo book.

Thanks to Think Tank for the listening party invite!

- Matt Belanger + Camille Backer for HardCandyMusic.com.