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Born This Way (Album Review) – Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga’s much anticipated sophomore release (or third album if you count The Fame Monster as her second) will be released on Monday, May 23rd.

The album opens up with “Marry The Night”, a song about Lady Gaga’s love for her native New York. Fusing electronic beats with interesting lyrics about belonging, her vocals are not drowned out and the production is quite good on this, especially after the bridge.

“Marry The Night” is a decent album opener, followed by her mega-hit “Born This Way”. And while I believe the song itself was driven more by hype than quality (It has become Lady Gaga’s biggest hit but I don’t think it’s her best song), it sets the tone for the message Lady Gaga wants to get across with this album: embrace who you are, regardless of who that might be.

“Born This Way” is followed by “Government Hooker”, arguably one of the most hyped about tracks of the album. Starting off with a very interesting beat, Government Hooker has a brilliant line on the bridge: “put your hands on me John F. Kennedy.” But is this the monster song of the album? No. It is not something I can find myself repeating on end although I can definitely see it being played at some night clubs courtesy of its stunning beat.

And then comes “Judas”, probably the most controversial song on the album. Discussing the struggle between love and sin with a religious twist, “Judas” was the album’s second single but failed to become a mega-hit on pop radio, even though it follows the “Bad Romance” style closely. What “Judas” and “Government Hooker” have in common is their similarity is their euro-pop roots.

“Americano” is a song that fuses latin beats. It is the “Alejandro” of the album, but unlike “Alejandro”, “Americano” doesn’t pack an extra-punch that would make it a viable radio single. “Americano” is a song about a lesbian romance in L.A. This is followed by “Hair”, a song that I feel belongs on the album of a much younger artist than Lady Gaga. The lyrics on it are corny and sometimes ridiculous. Some are saying this is her song for the tween audience, but I think it could have been so much better. For my full review of Hair, go here.

“Schiße” is a track incorporating German lyrics that I don’t understand. The beat is interesting, however. “Bloody Mary” is another song with religious inferences but it is a very interesting song. Do not be fooled by the song starting off with music reminiscent of Broadway musicals, the beat that comes later on is as grinding as the other songs on the album.

“Bad Kids” is the anthem to anyone who hasn’t grown out of misbehaving. It is her homage to the NYC Club Kids era. “Highway Unicorn” is a song about driving down on the highway in a convertible, another song about freedom and being born to be wild.

“Heavy Metal Lover” is Lady Gaga’s take on fetishes and it is more hardcore than Rihanna’s S&M. While I’m definitely not in this song’s target audience (the genre referenced in the title isn’t something I normally listen to as well), some people will like it. Different strokes, I guess. The song has, however, very cool vocalizations in the background.

“Electric Chapel” is an over the top song, driven by electronic beats where she tells the guy not to be a “holy fool”, a lyric also used in “Judas”, and meet her at the electric chapel. The song, like the many songs before it, also incorporates elements from 1980s music, albeit fusing them with sci-fi elements that lack in other songs.

“You and I” is the first track off the album that people heard when it was performed live last year. This is a piano-driven ballad with electronic beats as well, making for a rather unique sound. The album concludes with Lady Gaga’s current single, “The Edge of Glory”, about being on the edge of something great, be it love, life… the lyrics to this are good, as well as a brilliant saxophone breakdown. However, as I said before, I would have liked it to be slower.

“Born This Way” is an album that can’t be separated from hype because hype existed before the album was even conceived. Prior to its release, Lady Gaga had declared that this album would be the “greatest album of the decade”. I’m sorry, Lady Gaga. While this is a good album, it is not a classic that will go down in the books as the best album of the 2010s. Sure, it is different from most of the mainstream music currently being played, but it doesn’t stray far from that. After all, there isn’t a song on this that doesn’t have an electric beat, even the one that was labeled as a ballad.

So overall, horrible cover and Madonna-comparisons aside, this is an album that holds its own in a music climate where doing so isn’t enough. Yes, it will sell millions of copies and bring in millions for Lady Gaga and her label, but will it be enough to take award-gold? Some award shows will honor it. Others won’t. This is will be far from a clean sweep. But kudos for Lady Gaga on making a record expressing what she believes in, regardless of how radio-friendly it may sound (and on most songs, it actually is radio friendly). However, will this the coveted Album Of The Year at the Grammys? I’m going with no.

Remind Me (Single Review) – Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood

To say the hype for this duet was great is an understatement. Everyone (and yes, I do mean everyone) who had heard the song was gushing about how brilliant it was. Some even called it the best thing to happen this year. So naturally, that sets the bar very high for the song. Does Remind Me deliver?

It does. On every single account!

Appearing on Brad Paisley’s upcoming album, This Is Country Music, to be released on Monday May 23rd, Remind Me is a song about a couple wanting to rekindle their romance. They reminisce over the days where they used to kiss in public, not caring about what people said, when the woman missed her flight because they lost themselves in each other’s embrace… but their fire is dying and they want to find that spark again. (For the full lyrics, click here).

So naturally, a song with Remind Me’s context demands vocalists who are capable of delivering the message credibly. And what better than country music’s leading vocalists to deliver the song. To say Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley do not shine on this would be a travesty. They excel on a topic that is way outside both of their comfort zones.

I have never heard Carrie Underwood sound more vulnerable on a song before – and she has had many songs dealing with vulnerability. Brad Paisley is the perfect counterpart for Carrie in this song. He exhibits restraint as he tries to seduce Carrie’s character. She whispers back the words “remind me” on the first chorus with impeccable falsetto, penetrating your heart. You feel her longing to her significant other to remind her of how they used to be. The nuances she gives the song are truly stunning as well. It is no wonder Brad Paisley called her today’s best singer in any format of music.

Remind Me is a give and take song between both characters, uniting them both on the song’s bridge, right after a brilliant guitar breakdown, where they tell each other that if “you still love me, don’t assume I know”, remind me. The song is also very real. Every couple has been through that exact same circumstance. Be it after seven weeks, months or years, each couple gets to a point where they feel the need to remind each other of what once was. The imagery the song uses (waking up in the guy’s old shirt, turning out the lights and not sleeping…) is very raw and helps get the song across.

When you listen to Remind Me, you will know that this song will burn through the country charts left and right, up and down. There’s no way this won’t be this year’s biggest hit and win every single award imaginable next year. And people had said both artists were past their prime. This song is there to remind everyone of the caliber Brad and Carrie are made of. And if they keep on giving us music like this, let them keep on reminding us.

You can listen to Remind Me here:

Hair (Single Review) – Lady Gaga

As a follow up to her Edge Of Glory iTunes promotional release and leading up to her album release next Monday, Lady Gaga has released a new song off her album, titled “Hair”. However, unlike Edge Of Glory, I don’t see pop radio jumping on this one and having it labeled as her next single, after Judas failed to do well on radio.

Produced by RedOne, the person responsible for Poker Face, this is basically a song that brings back Lady Gaga to her dance music self. However, and I don’t want to sound like a broken record with this, is it really as good as her previous dance-music songs? Is this as good as Just Dance and Poker Face?

The answer is a succint no.

The message behind the lyrics is quite simple. Girls can definitely relate more to the comparison she draws in the song but she’s basically inviting people to be as free as their hair, which I’m assuming is when your hair flies in the air, not caring the direction it goes in.

Now, the message itself is empowering: be whatever you want, don’t care about what other people think, etc… and it fits with the “Born This Way” brand she’s been trying to sell with this album. However, I just felt the whole comparison of freedom to hair, although it gets the message across, to be simply ridiculous. Wasn’t there something else she could compare having a free opinion to?

Moreover, I do not really feel the beat of the song. I think it takes away from the lyrics, regardless of how corny those lyrics might be. Lady Gaga even sounds a little drowned out at some points. And I believe the track was overproduced at certain points, especially with the overuse of beats and auto-tune.

The strength of “Hair” is that it’s a relatable song. We’ve all been through events where we wanted to make our decisions freely and had people breathing down our necks to go one way or another. “Hair” fails, however, in being more than a song getting this message across. And there are plenty of songs out there that have a similar theme. So you’d expect that, when you want to rehash a topic, to make your work stand out and offer new things to the table. The Edge Of Glory had great lyrics and an awesome saxophone breakdown. This, however, doesn’t have anything that could make me want to play it willfully. I just hope the album has better songs where Lady Gaga doesn’t want to “lots of friends inviting her to their parties”.

Listen to Hair here:

Brothers – Movie Review

Brothers is a war-drama movie centered mainly about the importance of family, specifically brotherhood, when it comes to severe hardships.

Sam Cahill (Toby McGuire) is a Marine soldier set to be deployed to Afghanistan. His brother Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal) is imprisoned for an armed robbery and is released shortly before Sam’s deployment. Tommy isn’t liked by almost anyone in the family circle: his own father, Sam’s wife Grace (Natalie Portman)…

While on his mission in Afghanistan, Sam’s helicopter is hit by insurgents and it crashes. Supposed to be dead, his family back in the US begins its mourning process. And soon enough, his brother Tommy decides to take up the mantle to redeem himself in the eyes of those that matter to him.

However, Sam isn’t really dead. He’s been captured, along with another soldier, and they are both submitted to severe torture methods, be it mentally or physically, so when Sam is rescued, he has to deal with the demons of his capture, putting a strain on his marital and familial life.

The performances in this movie are top-notch. Toby McGuire really impressed me, especially since the last movie I watched in which he had a leading role was Spiderman 3. He completely gets rid of the Peter Parker persona for this and assumes his character with strength. He is absolutely frightening at times.

Jake Gyllenhaal and Natalie Portman are, naturally, also very good at what they do. Gyllenhaal’s shift from irresponsible to responsible is done extremely well, while Portman is so subdued as the wife that it’s sad sometimes to watch.

The movie itself is enjoyable but not ground-breaking. What works for it is that it focuses more on the family dynamics of the story, more so than the war aspect, similarly to The Fighter (you can read my review of that here).

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The Adjustement Bureau – Movie Review

The Adjustment Bureau

The Adjustment Bureau, starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt, is a movie that tackles mainly the theme of free will and fate. Do we have them both or are we simply adjusted to believe we do?

Matt Damon stars as David Norris, a young politician with dreams of becoming a senator, the youngest senator, in fact, that New York has known. On the night of the elections, he meets Elise (Emily Blunt) and sparks fly. Time goes on (and you are going to have many time jumps in this) and David encounters Elise serendipitously while going on the bus to work. However, it is revealed that he shouldn’t have gotten on the bus. He shouldn’t have met Elise again. He should have spilled coffee on his shirt while going through the park on his way to take the bus and gone back up to his apartment to change it. And so, it is revealed to David Norris the existence of an adjustment bureau that makes sure things go according to the plan set forth by the “Chairman” and according to his plan, David should not be with Elise.

Damon and Blunt have remarkable onscreen chemistry. I was surprised to see their characters blend so well together and on top of the “philosophical” aspect of this sci-fi movie, present us with a credible portrayal of a romantic relationship that transcends the obstacles thrown at it.

I appreciated The Adjustment Bureau. But I thought it lacked in punch. The issue discussed by the movie, free-will, is at the heart of many studies that are taking place today. Therefore, the premise upon which this movie is built is highly interesting, however I thought the execution rendered it meaningless and corny. The movie jumps around a lot, especially in time. You’d expect a movie to have one time jump. This movie has a bunch of them: 3 months here, 3 years there… so in this one hour and a half movie, you are taken almost through 4 years of events, all centered around the attempt to build this relationship between David and Elise, ultimately becoming a little tired of them trying to make it work.

What hurts the movie as well is a definite lack of mystery. Almost everything is revealed in the first twenty minutes and the rest of the time the characters are simply reacting to those twenty minutes. It is revealed that David’s family all died and in many instances of the movie, it is inferred that the bureau might have had a hand in their deaths. Why wasn’t the issue pressed further? There are a lot of points in The Adjustment Bureau that feel underdeveloped. Even the bureau itself loses this element of mystery because you know almost everything about it early on.

The Orwellian issue has been often discussed in cinema. And while I think it is a highly interesting topic that needs to be discussed even more and in other fields, I feel that The Adjustment Bureau doesn’t add anything new to the discussion, making it an enjoyable movie that comes off at times as kind of preachy. It does have interesting visual effects though. I mean, a door opening in your bathroom that takes you to central park is neat, no?