The Fame Monster (2009)

By Fall of 2009, The Fame was still fresh in our minds, with "Paparazzi" being released just a few months prior. However, unlike many mainstream artists before her, Lady Gaga knew not to ride out the success of just one record for too long. When her Fame Ball Tour ended in September, she announced a new CD, entitled The Fame Monster. Though it wasn't a full-length album, rather it was originally meant to be a "DLC add-on" to The Fame, hence the similar naming scheme.

Though this is, by definition, an EP (including only eight songs), most people(myself included) consider it Lady Gaga's second album, so I will refer to it as such for all intents and purposes. It was packaged in a two-disc set, with the second disc containing every song from The Fame.

As the title might suggest, this record was meant to delve into the darker side of fame (though her first album did that at several points already). Once again, themes are rather varied here. Each song is based on a "monster" representing one of Gaga's fears. Filled with gratuitous reference to pleasuring oneself, "So Happy I Could Die" touches on the fear of alcohol and addiction. The smash-hit lead single, "Bad Romance" refers to the fear of love, and is her biggest hit song even today. Other themes explored include the fear of the truth ("Teeth"), insecurity ("Dance in the Dark"), and even sex and abuse in the title track, "Monster", which I feel is the album's strongest point.

Arguably, the biggest highlight of this CD was its second single, "Telephone", a song Gaga originally wrote for fellow pop star Britney Spears. It features long-time favorite, Beyonce, as a guest. This was Gaga's first time collaborating with a big-name artist, which was impressive back then, as she was still relatively new. The song itself deals with the fear of suffocation (not literally, mind you, more so that of a significant other who's always "in your face"), and the music video serves as a sequel of sorts to "Paparazzi", and had a ton of production put into it. Beyonce's verse is quite brief, but it adds to the song positively. Bey plays a much larger role in the video. Not one to forget where she came from, Gaga returns to her rock-piano ballad roots with "Speechless", a song overflowing with emotion that touches on the fear of death. It was written for her father. The final single, "Alejandro" covers one of the more interesting fears: that of man himself. It's symbolic, yet catchy, much like its predecessors.

In closing, I think this record offers a little bit of everything, which is what the Lady is usually best at. It served as a worthy successor to her debut album and, despite its small number of songs, proved good enough to stand on its own. If I had to harp on anything about The Fame Monster, it would be the choice of singles. The three that were chosen, while enjoyable, didn't seem as great as "Monster", "So Happy I Could Die", and the other non-singles. The inclusion of the extra The Fame CD was a good way for newer fans to give her older work a listen, as well as a way to show that the records made a fitting pair. As with her first album, if you want dance-worthy earworms that still have meaning behind them, this might be worth looking into.

Favorite track: Monster
Least favorite track: Alejandro
Overall rating: 9/10

The Fame (2008)

After several years of working in a studio independently, Stefani Germanotta, having now adopted the stage name of Lady Gaga (after Queen's song, Radio Ga Ga), was signed to Interscope Records, partially through the help of R&B singer Akon, as well as Cherrytree Records (a company that specializes in getting newer artists more known). With a big-name record label at her side, she was able to produce her first studio album, The Fame, and rocket herself to the top of the charts.

Though this album released officially in mid-2008, several other countries got it before the U.S., who ended up getting a modified release at the end of that year. Still, there was minimal advertisement for the album, so most people, myself included, hadn't even heard of Lady Gaga until the beginning of 2009, when advertisement became more prevalent.

As the title might suggest, many of this album's songs center around just that- Fame. However, this is hardly a concept album. Themes are noticeably varied here. Many of the songs featured here were ones Gaga had written before she was famous, during her short run with her independent record company, Team Love Child. This album features "Just Dance", a powerful lead single that's simplistic, yet enjoyable for the fun party song that it is. Her now iconic hit, "Poker Face", was her first real chance to be herself and show the music world what she was about, as the music video showcases her unique, outlandish outfits that she's now rarely seen without.
The sexually-charged "LoveGame" quickly became notorious for its explicit themes, but was a high point of the album nonetheless. One of the most notable songs from Team Love Child was undoubtedly highlight of the album, "Paparazzi". It carries a sultry beat and tells the story of an obsessed stalker, with plenty of complex, strange lyrics. I consider it her best single to date.

If all that wasn't enough, the album even switches up the genre from time to time, straying from its electro-pop foundation to the bittersweet rock ballads, "Brown Eyes", a relatable song about a lost love(and my personal favorite song of hers) and "Again, Again", as well as the sunny pop-rock song, "Summerboy", and even a surprisingly sentimental and emotional rap song, "Paper Gangsta", revolving around her departure from another well-known record label, Island Def Jam. Hip-hop influence is also seen in "Starstruck", which is about as sexual as "LoveGame", and features rapper Flo-Rida.

The third single, "Eh, Eh(Nothing Else I Can Say)", provided a feel-good, positive tune that served as a nice break between the "bad girl" tones of the other singles. I initially disliked "Boys Boys Boys" and "Money Honey", but they grew on me over time. The title track, on the other hand, was something I enjoyed from the get-go. It's a very tongue-in-cheek song about the lifestyles of the famous. Lastly, two '70s-style dance songs, "Disco Heaven" and "Retro Dance Freak", serve as bonus tracks to end the album off rather well.

My final thoughts are a bit all over the place. It could be because this album released right around the time I had my "musical awakening"(and helped further it). It could be the fact that I quickly developed a crush on the singer after this CD's release. Whatever the case, The Fame still holds the spot as my favorite pop album of all time, and this is coming from a die-hard hip-hop head that rarely listens to pop.

This album served to solidify the career of one of the most refreshing faces in dance music in the past few years, and was a near-instant success. Each of this album's singles were undeniable earworms whether you liked them or not, and I see the album itself as a perfect balance between catchy, club-and-radio-friendly hits and deep, emotional songs that get you thinking. If you're put off by the poppy beats of the five singles, I'd perhaps suggest giving the rest of the album a spin.

Favorite track: Brown Eyes
Least favorite track: Money Honey
Overall rating: 10/10

Red and Blue (2005)

And no, I'm not talking about the original Pokemon games.

Back in 2005, a then-unknown aspiring 19-year-old musician from New York by the name of Stefani Germanotta, who'd had an enthusiastic interest in music since age four, formed a band with some of her friends, entitled "The Stefani Germanotta Band", or "SGBand" for short. They began playing music, mostly cover songs from bands such as Led Zeppelin, in random bars around NYC, usually to an audience of around 30 or so people. Eventually, Stefani recorded her first, and ultimately only EP with the band, entitled Red and Blue.

Looking back on it now, It's more than a little odd to think about how this is who would eventually become Lady Gaga herself. This CD was her only officially-released material prior to her ascension to superstardom. It was released independently, and therefore current mainstays such as Vincent Herbert and DJ White Shadow were not involved with production. On a side note, only her first name is shown on the CD cover. Was she considering a mononym before she chose her stage name?

The EP itself could be considered quite different from her studio albums. It has a very retro, almost 50s style to it. It contains only 5 songs, but is an interesting collection nonetheless. The power pop-rock sounds of "Something Crazy" and "Red and Blue" add energy and romance to the CD, while the melancholy, bittersweet tunes heard in "Words" and "Wish You Were Here" evoke more seriousness and emotion. "No Floods" shares the positive, can-do attitude of her later hit song "Marry The Night", and helps to show where she came from. Though it has prominent pop elements, most of the songs here are very rock-based unlike the electro-pop and EDM styles featured in her new stuff. Nowadays, this CD is nigh-impossible to find in its physical form, and would likely fetch a high price, though the songs are all over YouTube and other sites if you wish to give them a listen.

In conclusion, while some could say this EP is a stark contrast to her current work, I think it still has that very recognizable Gaga "touch" to it. The main difference here is that these songs aren't as overproduced and give her vocal and piano skill more of a chance to shine through. Fan or not, this is something I'd highly recommend to you, especially if you'd like to see a different side of the Lady.

Favorite track: Something Crazy
Least favorite track: No Floods
Overall rating: 9/10

Random update.

Terribly sorry to anyone who follows this that I haven't updated in ages. Don't worry, I didn't forget about it. The fact of the matter is, this massive creepypasta project is a lot for me to handle, and most of my creative time has gone towards a fanfiction I finished earlier, and an even bigger Halo 4 machinima project I'm still working on. I'll still finish the creepypasta at some point, though. I'll try to update it at least once soon.

In the meantime, in preparation for my video review of Lady Gaga's upcoming album, ARTPOP, I will be reviewing her entire discography, one post at a time on here. I got the idea to do so from a good friend of mine who is reviewing each of Eminem's albums.


You should definitely give his blog a visit. As Lady Gaga is still a relatively new artist, I'll also include her pre-fame EP, Red and Blue, as well as a separate post going over her "one-off" songs that weren't on any particular album or collection. I won't do the majority of her unreleased pre-fame songs just for the sheer fact that there are so many of them, nor will I be covering the remix CDs. Hope you enjoy!

Part 3 - The Concert

I was halfway to my garage when I stopped myself mid-stride and realized, "how in the mother of fuck am I going to get to a Lady Gaga concert, let alone meet the woman?" I was strangely determined to do this, even more so than my usual strange endeavors of the past. I decided to check around with my friends on Facebook and other sites to see if I could get any connections or pull some strings. I was pretty certain as to who my ace in the hole was, but I decided to ask a few others anyway.

Sure enough, those efforts turned up fruitless, so I texted Nichole. She was a friend I had made a few months ago, and a huge fan of Gaga's. More importantly, she was also a nail stylist to the stars. She had met such household names as Paris Hilton, Tyga, Will Smith, and plenty others. It was a wonder she wasn't famous herself. After a bit of catching up, I asked if she had the honor of meeting Mother Monster herself. My luck must have truly shone through when she said she in fact had. She told me about the encounter, how Gaga wanted a strange, intricate, almost fear inducing design on her nails and about how the two conversed, discussing music and fashion. She sent me a picture of the nails, and said they looked like claws, but I thought they looked rather nice. I asked about getting some concert tickets, and as my streak of luck continued, she said she'd not only do that, but procure the exact thing I needed: a backstage pass! She apparently knew one of Gaga's managers and got ahold of it through him.

I eagerly got in my Jeep and drove to her house, not even worrying about how she managed all this. I arrived quickly, and was greeted at the door by her. Her bright pink-and-purple hair fashioned into straight-cut bangs called imagery of Twilight Sparkle to mind. I told her I couldn't stay long, so she quickly handed me both items. She didn't seem at all disappointed that she couldn't use them herself. A bit odd, but she insisted that I deserve this opportunity. I hugged her and gave my immense thanks. She wished me luck as I headed back to the car. I took a closer look at both items. The ticket was a full-size piece of paper showing information such as the event's rules, and my seating. The backstage pass was quite plain; just a long, laminated strip bearing Lady Gaga's visage with "BACKSTAGE PASS - ONE ENTRY ONLY" and a number code on it.

The concert wasn't until tomorrow, but I was brimming with excitement! I went ahead and drove to the venue, making sure I had everything with me, and dozed off in my car. I slipped into a rather trippy dream involving the concert and floating in some sort of abyss. It's really hard to explain, but then again, dreams are tough to remember.

 A few hours passed and I was woken up by some banter I heard from the other side of the parking lot; a group of swaggies arguing over who had the biggest killstreaks in Black Ops. Ugh. I ignored this and checked the time. It was still a good five hours til the concert, so I made a quick run to the donut stop and got a few things to snack on, and some tea. I was still to excited to do much else, so I figured I'd prepare my "natural enhancement". I broke down the buds, and carefully placed the ground herb into a Juicy Jay rolling paper. I don't like to brag, but I was one of the more skilled rollers among people I knew. After a bit of rummaging between the seats, I managed to find a lighter. See, I'm really paranoid about losing these. You have no idea how much of a bitch they are to obtain without an ID. An hour or two later, I lit the stuff up.

At long last, people were filing in to be serenaded by the enigmatic pop princess. I was dressed for the occasion with my bright red Lady Gaga shirt, featuring a caption of her saying "Can I try this on please?" with her holding up a steak. I was also wearing 2 hats for some reason. I was pretty fried and incoherent by this point, but still managed to be one of the first inside. The staff didn't ask me anything, but did give me some strange looks as I was directed to my seat. Continuing my streak of luck, it was one of the front row seats! I let out a dopey giggle as I stumbled to the chair. This must've been some good stuff.

Anyway, the place looked absolutely dazzling. The room itself was a sort of "A" shape, and curiously did not have the prestigious Monster Pit that most of her shows featured. It was kind of like the venue in Dallas from the Fame Ball Tour back in the day. But yeah, the place was positively full of energy. Die-hard fans such as myself lined the stands left and right. Several girls and even some boys showcased their detailed cosplays of Gaga's various well-known outfits. Opening for Gaga was a dubstep DJ playing various remixes of popular songs. The one that caught my attention the most was Sex Bob-Omb's "Garbage Truck". Being a fan of Scott Pilgrim, I appreciated this mix being played. This segment went on for about an hour and a half.

The entire arena went pitch-black as the DJ exited the stage and the curtains fell, only to be illuminated by flashing strobe lights that made me hope no one here was epileptic. The curtains opened again, an all-too-familiar beat pulsed through the room, and rising from a platform hidden within the stage was Lady Gaga, in the flesh.

One of the best things about her shows was seeing what elaborate, garish outfit she would be sporting this time. I was pretty excited for this part of the show myself. This outfit sure was...something. It was primarily black and green, and it lit up brightly. The top part looked like armor of some sort, with spikes on it, and it was asymmetrical. The bottom part looked like wings pointing toward the ground. The design and color scheme reminded me of Cell from Dragon Ball Z. It separated near her hips, allowing full view of her voluptuous legs. Her hair was styled in one of her more common looks, mid-length, bright blonde, and straight with bangs(If you don't know what I'm talking about, watch the music videos for "Edge of Glory" and "Paparazzi"), with a plastic bow that also lit up green. Matching eye shadow of a verdant tone brought out her stunning gaze, and her lipstick was a bright rose hue.

The aforementioned familiar beat was the intro to what I consider her signature song, and the song that made me a fan, "Poker Face". Maybe it was the high, but I felt somewhat hypnotized by this opening performance. All the cheering around me was suddenly absent as she energetically sang and even showcased some dance moves, flanked by six female backup dancers. They seemed to be phasing in and out of existence, but I figured it was just the stage effects. I stood up and began doing some dancing of my own. She finished that song and began another one of my favorites, "Edge of Glory". After that song, the beat faded and she greeted the crowd with excitement. After a bit of talking about the concert, she looked directly at me and said what I made out as, "Haha! I like your shirt! I know you're wasted!" I couldn't see it, but I think I blushed as red as that shirt. My eyes must've given away my current condition. This got me even more hyped.

She went back to speaking and began to talk about her early life and her struggle to get recognized as a musician, as well as her getting into heavy drug usage, and her battle with anorexia that went on for several years. She had quite the colorful past, and getting this much insight on it was admittedly interesting! She then talked about her strive for equality and her activism in the LGBT community, hoping that her music sent a positive message in that regard. She concluded this by saying she hoped everyone loved the concert, and segued into "Yoü and I". From here she did several songs from each of her albums. "Telephone", "Born This Way", "Eh, Eh,", "Bad Romance", "Just Dance", "Alejandro", "Americano", "LoveGame", "Bloody Mary", "Cake", and several more, each with spectacular lightshows and stage performance. Several parts of the stage actually transformed between songs, and the live versions sounded orgasmic compared to the studio versions I was used to.

Finally, that beat that seemed to twist every which way began to fill the venue. It was time for her to perform "Paparazzi". Again, that hypnotic vibe exuded from the stage, but this part was pretty fucking awesome. This was easily her best single in my opinion, and the live version was even more enthralling. Seconds after the song ended, she grinned deviously at the audience, and proclaimed, "This...is the last song. And I...am the last to die." I laughed to myself a bit, as she had unintentionally quoted Legacy of Kain. The lights all turned to red and orange hues as "Marry the Night" cued up. The whole performance was full of pyrotechnics. Fireworks sparked everywhere and it looked like the stage itself was burning away. At one point, the whole stage looked as if it were engulfed in explosions and flames, but Gaga and her entourage emerged unscathed. Her walking away from the explosion reminded me of some action movie.

As the last song faded, she thanked everyone for being an energetic audience, and various instrumentals began playing as she danced. Several others had already clambered their way onstage and began doing the same, so I saw no harm in joining them. I was having so much fun that I didn't even realize that the concert had lasted a solid 4 and a half hours. It was almost midnight. Soon, she departed, and I surmised that this would be as good a time as any to brandish my backstage pass. I strolled up to the stage doors like I owned the place, and invited myself in. I showed the pass to the security, who said they were expecting me. They probably figured at least one person had a pass. I headed on through.


My heart pounded as I was met with her piercing gaze.

SUPA SEXII BADASS LADY GAGA CONCERT!!!!11

Sorry I've not been on in awhile, but I figured the few people who follow this wouldn't care all that much and I honestly forgot about it for awhile, lol! Anyhow, Tuesday on the 29th was pretty fucking epic. Why? I attended the spectacular Dallas show of Lady Gaga's Born This Way Ball tour! It was the first concert I've ever been to and it was nothing short of enthralling and euphoric. I bought the tickets myself and got pretty great seats, but as I can't seem to obtain a driver's license, I had to find other means of reaching the venue in Dallas. Luckily, the infallible Isabella was able to handle that, for a price of course. Anyways, where to start. Light up castle. Horse. Crazy ass inflatable birth sequence. Disco sticks. Meat dress. Meat couch. Great music. Great performance, visuals, showiness, it was one of the funnest nights of my life! I think LoveGame was my favorite part. Of course, I took a few good tokes before leaving to enhance the experience a bit, hehe. I danced and cheered the whole time. I was aching and covered in sweat by the end, and I didn't sit down until she left the stage. Whew! Sadly didn't get to get any merch but got a few pics. My Gaga shirt was way better than the stuff they were selling anyways lol. But yeah. Great show. And don't even get me started on how utterly fucking gorgeous she was the whole time. Boy let me tell ya. That Lady exudes hawtness. Any time I wasn't watching the crazy performance, I was getting the best view of her(quite sizeable and underrated)ass.She could take a ride on my Disco Stick any day of the week. She should totally ditch that Taylor Kinney chump for a real Monstrous man like me! Huh! Hah! *pose* I could totally look past the six-year age difference. Heheh.

I know, I have an incredibly weird taste in women. Whatchagonnado?

Partially related, I WILL have the next part of the pasta up soon. I got some ass to kick first. See ya!

A brief analysis of sites I frequent or used to frequent

Just something I wanted to post for the hell of it.

YouTube: Dead to me since the March 7th, 2012 forced channel update. Infact, fuck every update made since I joined. Only ever visited to watch let's plays or occasionally download music. Rarely anything else.

Failbook: Still decent. I find that a lot of my statuses and posts get deleted for no reason. Timeline has its ups and downs. Activity log is pretty sweet, but with everyone deleting their account, its use is somewhat limited.

Yahoo: Thankfully they haven't forced me to update to the godawful new iteration of the mailbox. Mail Classic FTW. Messenger is pretty dead these days.

DeviantArt: Mostly still the same as when I joined. Wish the community was a little more active. No one ever watches me back when I watch them.

RuneScape: Game itself is admittedly still awesome and has had a lot of good updates recently. Site is becoming harder to navigate and less user-friendly.

Formspring: Holy God, what happened here. Site updates are infrequent and negligible, but if you haven't noticed the community is as dead as it's ever been. Needs to get active again. I haven't received a non-spam question since October.

Xbox.com/Xbox LIVE: Dashboard has sucked major dick ever since the 2010 Kinect update. Dear God this is an ugly design, and the next two iterations weren't any better. Why the fuck is it so blindingly white? I had to change my theme just to partially remedy that. Customization is down the shitter. In-game chat is dead.

Twitter: Always hated this site with a passion. Originally joined only after extensively being bugged to do so. Closed original account after about half a year for several reasons. The community is literally one of the worst I've seen. Full of nothing but pretentious assholes, fanboys/girls, overzealous shippers, aspies, and just about everything else I generally dislike. Nevertheless, I decided to give it another chance around when I got my computer back, and this time around was a little better(I was able to avoid and troll the shit out of the aforementioned groups), but I eventually got sick and tired of girls I love tweeting incessantly about their worthless boyfriends.

Anyways, part 3 coming soon and all that good stuff. Cheers