Album Review: Lady Gaga - Born This Way (2011)

Yes, I'm writing a review for a contemporary album from a contemporary artist.  And a very favorable one at that.  Many of you who have read my reviews will probably be looking out the window expecting to see the odd airborne pig or two.  And that would be understandable - I'm not a huge fan of contemporary music - for the most part, it's been shit since at least 1998.  There have been some exemptions to this - The Darkness, The White Stripes, Franz Ferdinand and Gnarls Barkley, to name a few artists who emerged since then and whom I thought were just the bee's knees.  I must say though, I am especially fond of Lady Gaga's output - in an era of music that seemingly caters primarily to tone deaf teenagers, Lady Gaga comes across as an artist who puts everything into her work and in the process has actually made what in the traditional sense could be called 'music.'  Her beginnings weren't rooted in made-for-TV pop idol auditions - that rubbish is only good for watching big-headed tryhards make fools of themselves on national television - Gaga feels like an actual artist.  Right now, I'm reviewing Born This Way, which was released in 2011, and damn, is it a good album.  It really is a quality record - not overdone, not pretentious, not stuffed with fillers - all negative attributes that even my beloved eighties selections could not be completely absolved of.  I love the synth work on this album - and I love my synthesizers - again, being an eighties kid, my ears could start bleeding with the likes of Van Halen's "I'll Wait", but they feel so tempered and so much more appropriate here. And the singles here - all good, and if you add "Heavy Metal Lover", "Electric Chapel", and "Government Hooker", you really can't go wrong.  This is an excellent album by any standard.  You absolutely must listen to it, even if you're a stickler for the classics, like me.  A