Lady Gaga and the shadow of Bad Romance

For better or worse, Bad Romance has been the disco-stick by which all of Gaga’s other releases have been measured. Despite the runaway commercial success of Born This Way, which most critics deemed too preachy, those in the music journalism industry seem to have turned away from Gaga, deeming nothing she has written or produced since as worthy of note. Rolling Stone loudly declared that Bad Romance was “relentlessly catchy” and in possession of a tone that was both “melancholy” and “joyful” at the same time. This high praise has seemingly enshrined the song and everything she has released since in a musical limbo, one that critics and some members of the public seem convinced she is unable to escape. Reviews of the album Artpop have been apathetic to Gaga’s return to EDM after Born This Way and its flirtation with a rockier and more mad-cap sound.  But, what if I were to tell you, that since the release of Bad Romance, Gaga has released ten tracks the absolute equal of her journalistically proclaimed masterpiece? Some of these are singles, but some (frequently the best) are found nestled deep in her albums. So, in no particular order are 7 tracks as good as (or better than) Bad Romance.

Do What U Want ft. Christina Aguilera

The troubled second single from Gaga’s Artpop has been handed around like an unloved child over the past few months. It was designed as the centre-piece collaboration for the album- a show-piece for Gaga’s voice, supported by an ascendant R. Kelly. It was naïve of Gaga to think that her listeners would overlook the more than questionable history of Kelly and pretty weak sales have reflected the public’s reluctance to embrace this song, despite its killer hook. The R. Kelly involvement thematically made sense, with lyrics reflecting Kelly and Gaga’s shared wariness of the press (“…but then you print some shit that makes me want to scream,” etc. It just ended up making people feel uncomfortable and it didn’t make me especially proud to count myself as a Gaga fan.

However, in a clever act of re-positioning (slash back-pedalling), Gaga has recorded a new version with Aguilera which has steadily been climbing back up the charts worldwide. The cynic in me kind of knows that it’s a patch-job, but the music fan delights in their collaboration. The performers share a similar vocal aesthetic, soulful and embellished with lots of ornamentation that make them a wonderful fit. Rumours of strife between the pair always made collaboration seem unlikely, so this duet is a pleasant surprise. Instead of the contrast between Gaga and Kelly in the original version, there’s a wonderful melding of their similar styles that pushes through the underlying cynicism of the origins of this new version of an already pretty great song. Let’s hope the pair work together again soon (and release a video soon, please).

     The Edge of Glory and Gypsy

Lady Gaga includes a few songs like these on each of her albums. I suppose they could be classified as rock ballads, but I think of them more as Gaga’s Springsteen tributes. They’re full of drums, guitar and wailing saxophone and lyrics clearly flavoured with a sprinkling of knowing Springsteen references:

“It’s hard to feel the rush, to brush the dangerous

I’m gonna run right to, to the edge with you

Where we can both fall far in love.”

Or, even more Springsteen inspired lyrics from Artpop’s Edge of Glory equivalent Gypsy:

“Pack your bags and we can chase the sunset

Bust the rearview and fire up the jets

Cuz it’s you and me!”

So, yes- I’m a huge admirer of The Edge of Glory and its little sister, Gypsy. Another unknown tidbit about Glory that strengthens the Springsteen connection is that the E Street Band’s Clarence Clemons recorded the sax solos featured in this song and Hair, as well as appearing in the video for Glory shortly before his death. I’ve included the Kermit the frog duet version of Gypsy because it’s just adorable.

Scheisse

If you took a straw poll of a hundred Lady Gaga fans, this is the track that most of them would say should have been pushed as a single from Born This Way. Despite not being promoted as a single it managed to make a dent in the US charts. It’s the most overtly European of her tracks and is clearly going for the European dance hall audience. A frequent point of criticism seems to be of Gaga’s German accent, but those people are tireless nitpickers unaware of just how gloriously silly the song is supposed to be.

Its pulsating rhythm lulls the listener almost to a trance like state and its clumsy feminist lyrics are engaging enough once you’ve been worn down by the addictive beat of the song. Gaga also does it brilliantly live.

Venus

This is the kind of Gaga I love. Songs about nonsense astrology, delivered while making puns about Uranus. This track sums up how much fun she had writing and producing Artpop. It bleeds enthusiasm and joyfulness. It’s a little over-produced, but as Gaga’s debut into producing a track completely on her own, that’s more than forgivable considering how compelling the central melody is. It’s a track that owes a lot in terms of vocal delivery to Bowie and I’m sure this blatant tribute was intentional. This incredibly playful track is a highlight of Artpop for me and a promising hint at what future independently directed productions might sound like. Gaga’s recent twitter styling as “The Goddess of Love” hints that Venus might be getting the nod for single release. It deserves this promotional push and a suitable elaborate video to go with it.

MANiCURE

When Gaga goes a bit rocky, she starts to sound quite a bit like Courtney Love (except with a better voice than Love). That tendency is very prominent in this song which everybody’s favourite person Adele has cited as the best Gaga has written in years. I prefer Venus and Edge of Glory personally, but there’s a lot to recommend this track too. It’s short and sweet and has one of the most addictive choruses on Gaga’s Artpop.

ARTPOP

“A hybrid can withstand these things”, Gaga sings near beginning of this song, laying out her musical motives- hybridisation of rock and dance, and a whole load of other things too. This song is lyrically nebulous, swaying from idea to idea- “My Artpop could mean anything,” she sings. A lot of people have flagged this lyric as an admission to the shallowness of Gaga’s work, but that’s a fairly lazy reading of her work. Surely art (or pop) that allows for multiple readings is a good thing? Anyway, this is a fun, low tempo track and came as a complete surprise as the title track from this album.

If any of my three readers has some differing thoughts or would like to disagree, sound off in the comments.