Lady Gaga: "Hair" Review

Newly release Lady Gaga "Buzz track" Hair is a song that deals with the themes of acceptance, repression, freedom and creativity all via the metaphor of the songs namesake.
Though not exactly Shakespearean in its lyrical composition, the song still has a solid narrative to it that is both endearing and impressive- especially when compared to the poor way similar themes were handled on the terribly literal Born this way.

The RedOne production follows the style of past singles Born this way and Edge of glory in being 80's inspired in its melody and structure, whilst taking its club beats from the early 90's. The resulting sound is dated and awkward in its execution but its neither unbearable or offensive. Thankfully the saxophone that mired Edge of Glory, has been pushed far enough into the background as to not be too off putting on the track.

Gaga's voice is again on fine form on the track, with nice mixture of vocal stylings and textures to suit the backing track accordingly. The song also features, towards the latter half, some of her most coarse, raw and unpolished vocals on a record.

What's becoming clearer with every song released is that Gaga and her producers are creating a sound that is made with the stadium in mind; after all live performances are her strong point. The songs released so far have all had the expansive, euphoric feel and structure that is so reminiscent of the stadium-filling, soft-rock acts of the 80's that the initial promo shot for Born this way alluded to. With this new epiphany, I now reserve the right to amend all my previous opinions on those past releases, until said time that I am able to hear them played at ear slitting levels. ;)

Summary:Vengaboys' We like to party + Alphaville's Forever young+ Brian Adams' Summer of 69 =Hair.

Probably my favourite Gaga track released from Born this way so far.

Ratings:3.5/5

Other Lady Gaga Posts:

• Lady Gaga's Vocal Range
• Born this Way Single Review
• Born this way Video review
• Judas Single Review
• Judas Video Review
• Edge of Glory Review

Does Lady Gaga's "Born this way" rip-off Snsd's "Be happy"?

Did Gaga copy SNSD?

Another  potentially uncredited, shall we say, "influence"- in addition to Madonna's Express yourself- on Lady Gaga's Born this way  has surfaced online viaYoutube. Admittedly the song Be happy, by South Korean girl-group SNSD, does bare a striking similarity  to the electronic backing track of Gaga's mega hit; but it could just as easily be argued that SNSD ripped off Madonna's Express yourself too,hence the similarities between all three tracks.

Perhaps worryingly for Gaga, having recently heard Born this way, the producer of Be happy has decided to contact the singers' management for "further information" about the track. It's not clear what "information" he's trying to gather but it may be in anticipation of future legal action against the singer.

If he was a smart man he would be downplaying the similarities between the songs, because if Madonna does decide to come-a-knocking on Gaga's door claiming she was plagiarised then she'd only have to follow the breadcrumbs from Gaga door back to his own home in South Korea to serve his arse too. 

Listen to the comparison of Born this way and Be happy below:



I really hope Gaga's next track Judas will wash the taste of Born this way outta my mouth.

Lady Gaga "Born this way" video

Lady Gaga in Born this way

I've just watched the video for Gaga's Born this way and don't want to make the same mistake I made by reviewing Britney's Hold it against me without letting the video truly sink in. Instead I'll post the video here, for you guys to check out, while I watch the video a few more times and ruminate on my thoughts.

Look out for the Madonna reference at the end!

Review: Lady Gaga "Born this way" at 2011 Grammy awards.

2011 Grammy awards: Lady Gaga and her giant Egg

Lady Gaga toned down the weirdness, at least by her standards, and gave her hotly anticipated first performance of new single Born this way at the 2011 Grammy awards. But could the live performance be strong enough to convert me to being a fan of the song?

In a nod to the song title the singer started her performance being born as Lady Gaga- oppose to her human self, Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta- from a giant egg  that she claimed to have been in for days. She'd also arrived on the red carpet being carried in said egg, much to the bewilderment, and I guess annoyance, of the other celebrities who had never been upstaged by a giant egg before.

Conceptually the egg thing wasn't a huge leap for the singer, the words "born" and "egg" are pretty much synonymous if you're a bird, and so even though it wasn't particularly weird or outlandish on the Gaga scale of weirdness- remember the blood and the hanging from the chandelier at the VMA's- it was the "weirdest" and "Gaga-est" part of the performance. From that point the gimmicks were ditched and Gaga focused squarely on dancing, singing, and playing the piano to gain the adulation of the crowd.

The performance featured slick choreography, simple staging, a mini organ solo of Toccata and Fugue and a powerful, emotive vocal that communicated a passionate conviction, that is sorely lacking from the studio version, in the songs meaning.

Lady Gaga's performance of Born this way  may have been underwhelming for those who expected Gaga's usual antics, but to me it highlighted how the singer doesn't really need to rely on big production values to impress or amaze. Despite still not liking the song (see my review here), I can't deny Gaga her props as a world class performer.

Watch Lady Gaga perform Born this way live below

"Born this way" Vs "Express yourself"

For those who can not hear the similarities between Lady Gaga's Born this way and Madonna's Express Yourself a kind Youtuber has created a video to aid the journey towards awareness of this fact.

Let me just say I am totally aware that pop music often borrows from what came before, but Born this way is just a lazy version of  a great song. I don't think I would have minded so much if Gaga had improved somehow on the source material but as it is it's just disappointing and anaemic.

Still, seems like I may be in the minority as Born this way has been getting good reviews and is breaking sale records. Just how much of the sales is hype will be evident as the weeks go on. I just hope this derivative, manipulative trash isn't a sign of things to come from Gaga...  

*skulks off to listen to the fame Monster* :( 

Do you hear the similarities? Comment here! 

UPDATE: PRODUCER OF KOREAN GROUP SNSD IS ALSO CLAIMING SIMILARITIES BETWEEN HIS TRACK BE HAPPY AND BORN THIS WAY! LISTEN HERE

Review: Lady Gaga "Born this way" So bad it's terrible!

The hype for Lady Gaga's new single Born this way has been building steadily for months. A hype I readily admit being caught up in, and finally today, after it's release date was pushed a week forward, we got a chance to hear a song that, according to Elton John, would "obliterate 'I Will Survive'". High- having now listened to it- unworthy praise indeed!

Alarm bells should have been heeded about the potential crumminess of the impending Born this way when the childlike lyrics were released a few weeks ago. Nevertheless, being a fan and wanting the song to be as epic as promised, I swept the bad lyrics under the "commendable message" carpet and trusted in Gaga's strength of melody and music to carry the song to the promised greatness.

Depressingly, Born this way doesn't just fail to live up to the hype, which to be honest was never going to happen, but more worryingly for what's to come with the album, it fails to succeed in even being a good song. The production and melody- which was going to be its saving grace- sound mediocre at best but even worse is how it sounds like a gayer- who would have thought possible- rehash of Madonna's classic Express yourself (listen to the similarities here)

Young fans may hear Born this way as something new, fresh and exciting and good for them, it can be their generations poor version of Express yourself. But to an 80's baby- like Gaga herself- this is a weak 1990s B-side of a track that doesn't live up to the hype or the best of the decade she's trying to pay homage to.

Oh Gaga, why have you forsaken me!

Comment here and tell the world what 
you think of Born this way

Listen to Born this way below

Lady Gaga "Born this way" Cover art 2011

"BORN THIS WAY" Review!

Lady Gaga Born this way Cover

Lady Gaga has revealed, via Twitter, the cover for her next album entitled Born this way. It features Lady Gaga, from behind, wearing nothing but a denim jacket  which bares the album title and a unicorn rampant.

Having Madonna as one of her idols, its no surprise Lady Gaga would take a leaf from her book and reinvent herself with the new album. The question is which direction is Lady Gaga going to take on Born this Way.

If we were to infer a direction just from the cover it could be that Lady Gaga is moving from the processed, electro-pop,and highly polished visuals of her last album towards a rougher 80's rock-pop sound and visual that was favoured by the likes of Gun and Roses and Bon Jovi.


Hopefully Lady Gagas' previous hints at her rock influences- albeit in an Elton John vein- with songs such as Speechless and Again and Again, may soften any impending change enough to avert a potential genocide of "Little Monsters" around the world.

Here's hoping that this new style is amalgamated with the electronic sound we've come to expect from the singer and is not a total departure into unknown territory.

However, this is all pretty poor speculation and I could be totally wrong about the whole project, asLady Gagais still working with her previous producer Redone, and as such there is still a chance she may return with another electro-pop album! Only a little longer till we all find out! Exciting!

What Lady Gaga has said previously about the new album Born this way

I promise you, I'll never let you down. And not for nothing: The album's finished and it's fucking really good. So whatever this is, whatever you just did for all of us…I promise to give you the greatest album of this decade, just for you. The funny thing is that some people have reduced freedom to a brand. They think that it's trendy now to be free. They think it's trendy to be excited about your identity. When in truth, there is nothing trendy about Born This Way. This connection that we all share is something so much deeper than a wig or lipstick or an outfit, or a fucking meat dress. Born This Way is about what keeps us up at night and what makes us afraid.

—Lady Gaga, MTV

"Born this way" Single cover.

You and I from Born this way