After approximately two and a half years, Mother Monster returns with ARTPOP, the follow-up to 2011's Born This Way. ARTPOP has some real gems to offer listeners, but it is, unfortunately, Gaga's worst effort of the four albums so far. The main shortcoming is that it does not live up to its title. It is a great, fun pop album, but it would be a fantastic album for Britney, a low spot for Gaga, most of whose work in the past has been nothing short of innovative, artistic, and theatrical. This album doesn't seem too interested in enlightenment, merely entertainment, and that is disappointing. The album opens with "Aura," an ineffective way of opening the album, in my opinion. Originally titled "Burqa" when the demo version leaked this past summer, the song is an insane piece, and I use that word insane specifically because Gaga has called it insane herself. It is chaotic and all over the place, with Gaga laughing maniacally near the beginning of the song, and the song really reminds me a lot of "Americano" from Born This Way, both because of its instrumental accompaniment and its rhythm. The song has taken quite a bit of critical heat for its lyrical content. The chorus is as such: "Do you want to see me naked, lover? Do you want to peek underneath the covers? Do you want to see the girl who lives behind the aura?" I think that the fact that the word "aura" also sounds like the word "Awrah" is intentional, as the word "Awrah" is a term used to denote the parts of the body that the Islam religion deems as sinful to expose. Gaga seems to be attempting to empower Muslim women by saying that behind the robes is a free woman, a beautiful woman, and I don't agree with the criticism stating that this is offensive toward Muslim women, especially since Gaga is using this as a metaphor for her own state of being as a creative pop star who is constantly scrutinized. People try to decode who she is via her choice of attire, and she is saying that maybe, there isn't always a message; maybe, I am just being me. The song being on the album is ironic, though, because the album cover in middle-eastern countries is edited so that the bare legs of the sculpture are not bare but are wearing black tights.
The second song on the album is "Venus," which is one of my absolute favorite songs on the album, a definite high point on the album. Originally selected as the album's second single but foolishly replaced by "Do What U Want" (featuring R. Kelly) ("Venus" is now only a promo single), the song is high in energy and an electronic beat, with some of the best lyrics that the album has to offer, such as: "Let's blast off to a new dimension - in your bedroom!" The bridge in between the verses and the chorus ("I can't help the way I'm feeling…") seems a bit out of place in juxtaposition to its preceding verses and is a bit jarring at first, but I became accustomed to it in a hurry. The lyrics of the chorus are also memorable: "When you touch me, I die just a little inside; I wonder if this could be love, this could be love 'cause you're out of this world, galaxy, space, and time…" Lyrically, the song reminds me of "Another Race" by Theatre of Tragedy, as I believe it to be about space travel serving as a metaphor for sexual intercourse and, in this case, specifically sexual intercourse that is tied to love. The song has a psychedelic sound to it and samples "Rocket Number 9" by Sun Ra and "Rocket n˚9" by Zombie Zombie. I was very outraged when I read a comment on YouTube that stated that Gaga plagiarized the songs and that that is further proof that Madonna is the queen, not Gaga. That outraged me for several reasons. (1) She did not plagiarize the songs, as it is a mere sample, and Sun Ra is credited as a songwriter. (2) Madonna has done the same thing more than once. "Ray of Light" samples "Sepheryn" by Curtiss Maldoon, and "Hung Up" samples "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (a Man After Midnight)" by ABBA. Artists do this quite frequently. Rihanna's "S.O.S." samples Soft Cell's "Tainted Love." Flo Rida and Ke$ha's song "Right Round" samples "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" by Dead or Alive. Eminem's "Like Toy Soldiers" samples "Toy Soldiers" by Martika. Even though so many people associate it with "U Can't Touch This," the instrumental accompaniment to MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This" is from "Super Freak" by Rick James. The list goes on. (3) I am so tired of the war between Gaga fans and Madonna fans. I am personally fans of both artists, and I think that they are both musically intelligent on a very extreme level, and I just want the bickering and every song that Gaga releases being compared to Madonna to stop.
"G.U.Y." (which stands for "Girl Under You") is one of my three favorite tracks on the album (the other two being "Venus" and "Mary Jane Holland"). It begins with the spoken introduction: "Greetings, Himeros, god of sexual desire, son of Aphrodite. Lay back, and feast as this audio guides you through new and exciting positions." It is kind of a misleading introduction because the song does not really guide its listeners through "new and exciting positions" (essentially just one), but it works really well coming directly after "Venus" because Venus and Aphrodite are the same goddess, so it's as if "G.U.Y." is the offspring of "Venus." The song is heavy with electronic energy with a melody that reminds me a great deal of late 90s, early 2000s Britney. The main instrumental hook sounds very much like the "Judas, Juda-a-a, Judas, Juda-a-a…" hook from Born This Way's "Judas." Lyrically, the song is about being in control in the bedroom even when you prefer being underneath your partner. I love the song because much like Himeros (the god of sexual desire who was a bit androgynous), the song is a bit of a gender-bender. So many people tend to think of the one on top during sexual intercourse being the male, while the one on the bottom is the female, which is one reason why I have seen and heard so much homophobia display a double-standard of persecuting the guy who enjoys being at the receiving end of anal sex with much more severity than the guy who enjoys being at the giving end. This song is saying that a guy can be a girl and vice-versa; it is attempting to blur the lines that make up the picture that is sexual gender conformity. I find it to be a very LGBT-friendly song because of that message. Regardless of sex, one can be both the girl under you and the guy at the same time because just because he or she is a bottom does not mean that he or she is weak and submissive.
"Sexxx Dreams" (ridiculously titled "X Dreams" on the edited version of the album) is a disco-like track, fast-paced and high-pitched with two different personalities at work, one who is addressing her lover with an apology because she had a sex dream about someone else and one who is addressing the person about whom she had the sex dream, essentially recounting how much she enjoyed it. It's a fun song and kind of seems like a "Poker Face" part two in some respects because lyrically, The Fame's "Poker Face" has a somewhat similar story to it, as the speaker is pretending to be sexually aroused by someone with whom she is having sexual intercourse when, in reality, her mind is on someone different. The fifth track is "Jewels N' Drugs," and I am quite honestly not going to be spend very much time discussing this track because not only is it the worst track on the album, it is one of the worst (it's difficult to say the worst because of nightmares such as "Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe" and "Cake Like Lady Gaga") tracks that she has ever recorded, an opinion which I admit to at least partially holding because I am not a hip-hop fan. The song features T.I., Too $hort, and Twista and is a mess of rapping and Gaga's sassy vocals ("Don't want your jewels; I want your drugs…") over a gangsta beat and is a song that essentially celebrates drug-dealing. The bottom line is that I respect Gaga as an artist and, therefore, probably shouldn't say something so potentially harsh, but I wish that she would leave rap and hip-hop to others. "MANiCURE" is a song that I initially hated but warmed up to a little bit. It is still one of the low points on the album mainly because lyrically and melodically, it does little that is new and innovative. The title is capitalized the way that it is because there are a number of ways to read it. It could be "manicure," but it could also be "man I cure" or "man cure." I do think that there is a message to the fast, electro-rock song (which reminds me of oldies like "Vanity" and "Beautiful, Dirty, Rich"). When we think of a manicure, we think of color being added to nails, nails being polished, nails being fixed after being broken, etc. Essentially, something is fixed and made pretty, and I think that the song is referring to sex, like a manicure, as a luxury that can be therapeutic. It just doesn't do a whole lot for me, though, and, like I said, is a weak spot on the album.
"Do What U Want" features R. Kelly (whom I could do without) and is officially the album's second single. It is a catchy R&B track driven by melody that compares sex (a common theme on the album) to the press, as someone else doing what he or she wants with her body sexually is similar to the press saying what they want about her body, which Gaga has faced throughout the last couple of years. She has constantly been criticized because of fluctuations of her weight, which she has always seemed to respond to fearlessly. I like the song, but like I said, I am not an R. Kelly fan, so I wish that she had either done this solo or featured a different artist. I have heard a rumor (I have done a little bit of research, and the rumor appears to be true) that R. Kelly was once brought up on charges due to a sex tape showing him having sex with an underaged girl and urinating on her, and if that's true, it really disappoints me that Gaga would collaborate with him. Gaga is not the goddess of morality and ethics (she is a human being), and even if she were, musically collaborating with someone responsible for an act like that does not make her guilty of it herself, but I guess that I have just held her to such high professional standards for years and, therefore, expect her artistic collaborations to be very selective, but she has said that she is a fan of R. Kelly's work as a musician, so I shouldn't judge. I respect her, and I respect her artistic decisions even if I don't agree with them (assuming, as I said, that the rumor is even true). The eighth track is the title track "Artpop," a groovy, dreamy disco cut that is reminiscent of late 70s, early 80s Blondie; think "Rapture" meets Gaga, and it is not the first time that something that Gaga has done has reminded me of Blondie; The Fame's "Summerboy" reminds me of "Heart of Glass." "Artpop" compares an unlikely romance to an unlikely blending of art and pop culture. I like the song a lot, but the comparison fails when, in the chorus, the lyrics are as such: "We could, we could belong together (artpop)…" The word "artpop" is thrown into the chorus of the song needlessly and ruins the love metaphor. I really wish that the song were more abstract, especially since it is the title track of an album titled ARTPOP.
"Swine" is sort of like "Aura" in that it is pure chaos and insanity. It is definitely the messiest song on the record as far as that goes, lyrically and melodically alternating between dismissive snark ("I know, I know, I know, I know you want me…") and downright anger ("Squealer, squealer, squeal out; you're so disgusting…"). I wish that the version that she performed at the iTunes Festival earlier this year, on which she kickstarted the song with a slow introduction on the piano and electric guitar, more closely resembled the version on the album. This is another low point on the album for me, mainly because I am someone who strongly believes in the respect for and dignity of animals, and pigs being associated with disgust and repulsion is age-old and tiresome. Pigs are actually very clean most of the time; they do occasionally roll around in mud, but so do other animals such as horses and dogs; they are smart and know that it has benefits for their skin. I also do not understand the villainizing of pigs; they are actually very smart and usually very friendly, loving animals. The speaker of the song has been drastically offended by someone (I read that Gaga wrote the song about the feud that she had with Perez Hilton not too long ago) and, therefore, compares him to a pig. How original. The tenth track is "Donatella," a song written about Gaga's close friend Donatella Versace, Italian fashion designer and vice-president of the Versace group. Gaga, during a JustJared interview this year, described the song as such: "[It] is an incredible crazy fun pop song with really raising electronic beats that I did with Zedd." It is in the spirit of Born This Way's "Scheiße" in that it is about being a fearless woman who does not care about backlash that she may receive, whether it be from the media, friends, family, or whomever. The record moves into "Fashion!" which is a Bowie-esque piano pop/piano rock track about fashion being a personally liberating art, featuring a "Marry the Night" reference in the lyrics: "Married to the night, I own the world…" Gaga certainly does not hide her love for fashion (nor does she need to), as this is not even her first song with this title (the first does not feature the exclamation mark), and Born This Way features the tracks "Fashion of His Love" and "Black Jesus † Amen Fashion."
"Mary Jane Holland" is one of the three songs on the album that I consider my favorites (the others, again, being "Venus" and "G.U.Y."). The song is an epic electro-rock and electropop clash with a chorus that seems to be pleading with whomever is listening to allow her her fantasy of escaping fame and temporarily being someone else: "I think that I would be fine if I could be Mary Jane Holland tonight…" The song was written during a time when Gaga was addicted to marijuana (it's not a coincidence that the name Mary Jane kind of looks like the word) and was using it as a coping mechanism to escape fame. Lyrics such as "When I ignite the flames and put you in my mouth, the grass heats up my insides, and my brunette starts to sprout" make this obvious. During a Sirius XM track-by-track discussion of the album, Gaga explained that she would go out partying and would get high on marijuana, and one night in particular, she insisted upon being called Mary Jane Holland. The track also seems to possibly suggest that while under the influence, the speaker fantasizes about engaging in a threesome with two men and/or watching them have sex, due to a line that is a clever allusion to the Greek god Apollo (depicted as young and attractive), the god of many different elements such as music and poetry: "…So if you have fear, Apollo, sit on my lyre, and play him like a piano, man" (possibly an allusion to the Billy Joel song and/or album "Piano Man," as well). Although I do not use or condone drug use, I respect this song because I do know what dependence feels like and how amazing it can feel, and structurally and lyrically, the song is one of the album's highlights. "Dope," as Gaga explained in the Sirius XM interview, is sort of like a sequel to "Mary Jane Holland," the aftermath of the party after the party has hurt loved ones. "Dope" (released as a promo single) is the only time that the album slows down and gives us a slow, soft song. Played almost entirely on the piano (with a little bit of synth here and there), the song is a heartbreaking apology to those whom have been hurt by her drug use, and the chorus is my favorite part of the song: "My heart would break without you, might not awake without you. Been hurting low for living high for so long. I'm sorry, and I love you…" I love the song, but I prefer "I Wanna Be with You," the version of the song that she performed at the iTunes festival, and I kind of wish that that version had been recorded in the studio and shared with us.
Next in line on the album is "Gypsy," a fast-paced Céline Dion-esque rock track about life on the road, plane, etc. (a traveling life). Gypsies were Romani people that were believed to have been cast out of Egypt, and they did not have homes because they were nomads, traveling from one place to the next, similar to the life of a star who is constantly touring. The lyrics seem to be saying that the speaker does not want to spend her entire life without a traditional family (partner, potentially a child or children, a domestic home, etc.) but that for now, she is okay not having that because her fans are her family, and she has a home with them. This is the song on the album that I think most closely resembles the preceding album Born This Way, since I clearly hear echoes of songs such as "Highway Unicorn (Road to Love)" and "The Edge of Glory." "Gypsy" is a beautiful song that I think is going to end up being released as a single because of how often she chooses it when she only performs one or two songs. The album closes with its lead single "Applause." Lyrically, it is a great way to close the album, as it is a tribute and a "thank you" to the fans who have supported her, which is also an effective way of following up on "Gypsy." However, stylistically and melodically, the album is not effectively closed. "Applause," which is a synthesized dance track about how much appreciation that she has for the love that she receives from her fans, leaves the album feeling incomplete and unfinished, which could be intentional because apparently, on top of the Tony Bennett collaboration album titled Cheek to Cheek that is due on New Year's Day 2014, Gaga has an ARTPOP: Act Two, which will reportedly feature more experimental material as opposed to the more commercial material on this album, in the works, and I am really looking forward to both releases (Cheek to Cheek and the second volume of ARTPOP). ARTPOP is, overall, a decent pop album, but I know that Gaga is capable of much better because I have heard much better, and I hope to be further rewarded for friendly criticism but loyalty when the second volume is released. I have, however, warmed up to it a great deal since first hearing it.
It has only been two years since pop/rock star Avril Lavigne has released an album, 2011's Goodbye Lullaby, which, in my opinion, is a really fantastic album, even though I have heard some negative comments in regards to it. Avril is back with another set of tracks, her self-titled fifth album, and, once again, I am impressed. The only time that I have been disappointed with her (whom I have been loyally following for eleven years since her debut album Let Go was released in 2002) is when I heard her third album, 2007's The Best Damn Thing. The Best Damn Thing has since warmed up to me, but its style still does not appeal to me the way that the style of her other releases do. It is tough to identify the style of Avril Lavigne because it kind of goes back and forth between demonstrating sassy rebel and heartbroken pop princess. I would say, though, that it is a lot more mellow than I had been expecting it to be. I remember reading that it would be a departure from Goodbye Lullaby and be a lot more like The Best Damn Thing, more fun, but with some exceptions (such as "Hello Kitty"), I would disagree with that and say that it is definitely a lot more like Goodbye Lullaby than it is The Best Damn Thing. The Best Damn Thing served, in my opinion, as totally new ground for her, a complete and total departure from the angsty alternative Avril that I had known and loved from the first two albums (Let Go and Under My Skin) and ventured into a new preppy cheerleader Avril. Goodbye Lullaby returned to the alternative only without all of the angst and the edge. I think that this album is a culmination of everything but is less of The Best Damn Thing than I had been expecting, which I honestly really like.
The album opens with the poppy but edgy "Rock N Roll" which was released in August as the album's second single. This song is so much fun and makes me want to go outside and scream the lyrics to the sky. To me, it is lyrically about love feeling like rock & roll music, liberating you from authority and from having to conform to societal norms. It is definitely the anthem of the album, screaming to be heard. The song's music video, which features Avril as a soldier against a hybrid bear-shark species which has stolen rock & roll music, is probably my favorite music video to date, not just by Avril but ever. "Here's to Never Growing Up" is the second track on the album and serves as the album's lead single (which was released all the way back in April). The song is lyrically and stylistically similar to "Rock N Roll" (although I definitely prefer "Rock N Roll"), referencing the band Radiohead in its opening line: "Singing Radiohead at the top of our lungs, with the boom-box playing as we're falling in love…" It is a little calmer, more mellow, than "Rock N Roll" but has a similarly fun, upbeat energy, the lyrical content basically being: This is who I am. I can be immature. Deal with it. "17" strikes me as interesting because it is basically about looking back at that age with nostalgia and recalling pleasant memories, and Avril was seventeen when her first album was released, a detail which I find important to the album's theme in general.
The fourth track is "Bitchin' Summer" and is light and fluttery. Lyrics aside, it melodically reminds me of the teen pop that I used to listen to on Radio Disney. It also, however, kind of reminds me of the sound that is present on her first album Let Go, especially because of the "Nobody's Fool"-esque rapping near the end. It is, to be perfectly honest, one of the weaker spots on the album, but it moves into the beautiful Evanescence-esque "Let Me Go" track, the album's third single. I was skeptical of the song when I first saw it on the track-listing because it is a duet with Chad Kroeger (Nickelback frontman and Avril's husband), and I don't care much for Nickelback; however, his vocals work very well for the song, which is a piano-driven rock song that essentially washes its hands clean of an ex-lover of the speaker. The next track is my absolute favorite on the album. "Give You What You Like" is haunting, featuring a slow, steady clap-like beat. The song has a country-pop sound to it, but it is also dark and brooding, heartbreaking, in fact, because of the sweetly innocent and naïve attitude of the speaker, with lyrics such as: "When you turn off the lights, I get stars in my eyes. Is this love? Maybe someday. I've got this scene in my head; I'm not sure how it ends. Is it love? Maybe one day…" My interpretation of the lyrics is that she is being used by her partner. What for is unclear - security or sex, perhaps - but she feels safe and wants to believe that they are in love. Stylistically, it really reminds me of Hilary Duff's self-titled album, with a sound kind of similar to songs such as "Fly," "Hide Away," and "Dangerous to Know." It's not heavy, but it has a melodically dark edge to it.
"Bad Girl" is the song that I was looking forward to the most because it features guest vocals by Marilyn Manson, and I love Marilyn Manson. It, however, is not as good as I was expecting (or hoping) it to be. Manson essentially serves only to give an edge to the song, as he is featured only minimally at best. The song is a heavy rock song that is wrought with sexual references such as: (1) "Just put your head in daddy's lap" (2) "you can fuck me and then play me" and (3) "choke me because I said so." It's a fun song, fast-paced, loud, and heavy, but I wish that Manson took up more space of it. I think that the song might be a comical response (comical because he is obviously in on it) to something that Manson said in an interview about Avril as a response to the apparent rumor that they had had some sort of sexual relationship with each other (Avril and Manson, that is) (Check it out here.). Avril's vocals are echoed so that it sounds like she is performing the song live, which I think helps make the song work. The following track is a very fast electronic Kesha-esque song titled "Hello Kitty" and is definitely new for Avril. It's difficult to take seriously and is probably my least favorite song on the album, essentially about having an out-of-control slumber party because the parents are away. I doubt Avril intends it to be taken seriously, though; it is meant to be fun and silly, and it is. The following song is "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet," and no, it is not a Bachman Turner Overdrive cover. Melodically and stylistically similar to "17," it is actually one of only two songs on the album penned only by Avril (the other being "Falling Fast," while most others are co-written with Chad Kroeger and ex-Evanescence member David Hodges), about how being in love only gets better and better with each passing day.
"Sippin' on Sunshine" is similar to "Bitchin' Summer" in that it is kind of teen poppy and is also about enjoying the beauty of summer. The title, for me, is a euphemism for something personal, but that's all that I am saying in regards to that. "Hello Heartache" is one of my favorite songs on the album. The track is moderately paced with a lyrically bittersweet chorus that is backed by a fun.-esque "la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la" chant. "Falling Fast" reminds me of very early Avril, the demos from before Let Go. It is very light and acoustic and is lyrically about an attraction to someone that is quickly becoming love, and I almost want to hear it in a Disney film or a cheesy romantic comedy. The closing song is titled "Hush Hush" and is the song that most resembles Goodbye Lullaby (so much so, in fact, that I wonder if it is left over from the Goodbye Lullaby era). It is a great way to close the album, as it is a heartbreaking farewell to an ex-lover whom the speaker still loves but has to face losing. Lyrics are as such: "So, go on; live your life. So, go on; say goodbye. So many questions, but I don't ask why." The song reminds me of "Goodbye" (the closing song on Goodbye Lullaby), not only because it is kind of similar melodically but because "Hush Hush" is difficult for me to hear; I cry almost every time that I hear it because it brings back unfortunate memories, and "Goodbye" is even more deeply personal for me because of the "brown eyes" and "sunshine" references. "Hush Hush" is slow and sounds like a lullaby, as if the speaker wanting her ex-lover to move on is like putting him to sleep. Songs such as this and "Let Me Go" were probably written about her previous husband Deryck Whibley, but I don't like to reduce songs to nothing but what the artist might have written them about in relation to his or her personal life.
Different editions of the album have different bonus tracks, such as Avril's cover of "How You Remind Me" by Nickelback, her cover of "Bad Reputation" by Joan Jett (which I don't really understand because it was recorded several years ago during the Best Damn Thing era and is featured as a bonus track on the deluxe edition of Goodbye Lullaby), and "Rock N Roll" acoustic. The acoustic version of "Rock N Roll" is on the Target edition, which also has a much better album cover (as pictured below), as I am not too impressed by the standard album's cover. It looks like it was taken at night with a flash camera right above Avril's casket, as her face is whited out, and her eyes look lifeless; the white text does not mesh well at certain points because it blends with the color of her skin. The album itself, though, is definitely memorable, and I wish that (because of the summery songs such as "Bitchin' Summer" and "Sippin' on Sunshine") that it had been released in spring instead of autumn, and I wonder if, since the first single was released all the way back in April, it was originally intended to be released in the spring or summer but got delayed. It faced at least one delay, as it was originally supposed to be released in September and got moved to November, leaving room for three singles to be released before the album was even released, a rarity for albums and a definite first for her. It was worth the wait, however, as Avril Lavigne is a beautiful album, perhaps her most personal yet, as it demonstrates the evolution of a teenage girl to a young woman, and I, in fact, think that the album is self-titled because it is nostalgic of her earlier years as a musical artist and as a person in general, touching upon old territory while also venturing into completely new territory while being more her than her music has ever been. I just hope that since Avril once said that she was considering releasing a double album since she wrote that much music for this era, we will eventually get to hear the rest!
