Born This Way Album Review

[Ron]

It's now been over a year since Born This Way was released and I now have an entire opinion on the album. I shall now review.

Marry the Night - 9/10

The record starts off with Marry the Night, an autobiographical track detailing Gaga's emotions after she was dropped from her first record label. It's a song that could've been on The Fame or The Fame Monster and definitely is a strong start to BTW, with a hypnotic beat and addictive melody. However, I felt it started to drag on towards the end; it's one of the longer songs on the album at 4:25.

Born This Way - 10/10

A lovely song that definitely deserves to be the first single. It's addicting and you'll find yourself humming it for days to come. Personally, I don't see the similarities between it and Express Yourself, and the positive message is passes adds an extra flavor to it.

Government Hooker - 8/10

A weird song, but it's definitely unique and catchy in its own way. I don't think I've heard anything like it. The only thing I really don't like is it's title, really. I feel like it's random and serves no purpose.

Judas - 10/10

A strong track that delivers a good message (despite what many people may say, about it being entirely biblical) about betrayal and confusion. It's incredibly catchy, and simultaneously hard and sweet. This makes for a great combination.

Americano - 2/10

I did not like this song. It felt unneeded and I didn't think anything about it was appealing, but rather stupid and superfluous to the album. It's the same recipe as "Alejandro", just a hell of a lot less catchy and a lot more Spanish. My only liking to this song I've developed is the fact that it was featured in the trailer to "Puss in Boots", which I liked just because it was Gaga.

Hair - 10/10

After the brief jolt that was Americano, the album picks up again in a great way. Hair is catchy and plays into the BTW message yet again. The studio version is amazing, but the acoustic version is the cherry on top. A great song; it would've made a great single, too.

Scheiße - 9/10

I love this song so much. The message is relatable and the beat is so addictive. The thing I hate is the title. I HATE the title. This could've been a hit, but the damned title holds it back. However, that doesn't pull down the overall grade of the track; it's a lovely followup to "Hair."

Bloody Mary - 10/10

Another unique track that compliments "Government Hooker" well. Again, I haven't heard anything like it and it's catchy in its own right. However, it's a little forgettable and I felt that I wouldn't have heard it as much as I have had it not followed behind Schieße.

Bad Kids - 8/10

This song was weird. It started out awesome and had a lot of potential, but then the the chorus sort of went from badass to sweetass. However, I simultaneously love the chorus. Overall, this song was great, but its placement on the album was weird.

Highway Unicorn (Road to Love) - 5/10

Once again, I hate the title. Furthermore, the song was boring to me. It sort of built up a climax that never came. It was just a bland track that seemed to promise more than it could deliver with the fairly nice opening.

Heavy Metal Lover - 7/10

The third of the Government Hooker-esque songs. By this rate, after Government Hooker and Bloody Mary, I'm almost getting tired of them. It's a slow song with its own little flavors, and there wasn't much that was catchy about it. Still, it was enjoyable.

Electric Chapel - 5/10

Just like Highway Unicorn, this promised something it couldn't fulfill. It built me up, expecting something great, and then greeted me with a quiet, boring chorus. It's like the first half of the record was great with "Judas" "Born This Way" "Hair" "Marry the Night" and "Scheiße" and then it suddenly has this long string of meh songs (Bad Kids, Highway Unicorn, Heavy Metal Lover, Electric Chapel).

You and I - 9/10

She's doing country now? Oh well, it's a good song that certainly stands out against Highway Unicorn, Electric Chapel, etc. You'll hum it and sing it, because the lyrics are memorable and the melody flows well in its simple way.

Edge of Glory - 10/10

EOG tops off the album in an amazing way. I just wish we would've seen this earlier. It's an amazing song that truly shows off the BTW message (after foggy songs that seemingly have no relationship with the theme of the album: Bad Kids, Heavy Metal Lover, etc.) It ends the album in a great way!

Let's tally!

10/10 Songs: Born This Way, Judas, Hair, Bloody Mary, Edge of Glory

9/10 Songs: Marry the Night, Scheiße, You and I

8/10 Songs: Government Hooker, Bad Kids

7/10 Songs: Heavy Metal Lover

6/10 Songs: None

5/10 Songs: Electric Chapel, Highway Unicorn

4/10 Songs: None

3/10 Songs: None

2/10 Songs: Americano

1/10 Songs: None

Bonus Tracks

Black Jesus - 2/10

Hated this. Horrible. Thank goodness it's not on the main album.

Fashion of His Love - 2/10

Once again, hate. Horrible.

The Queen - 8/10

WHY was this not on the main album? I would've loved this in place of Highway Unicorn or Americano.

Overall Grade: B

I really wanted to give it an A because there are so many amazing songs on here, but there are also tons of horrid songs that drag it down to a B.

[Wumbo]

Black Jesus

Holy crap, that SOA reboot has a lick of context now!