Lady Gaga, 'The Fame Monster'

Release date: Nov. 23, 2009
Record label: Interscope
Official Web site: http://www.ladygaga.com/

The buzz: At first, Lady Gaga’s shtick seemed pretty easy to decipher—take the over-the-top theatricality and attitude of the old electroclash scene and graft it onto radio-friendly dance-pop—but then she revealed a mind-blowing live show and serious musical chops (most famously, on a piano-based version of “Paparazzi”). Like any good freshly minted superstar, she’s tiding over fans between albums with this eight-song EP/bonus disc (it’s available by itself and in a newly repackaged version of Gaga’s debut, “The Fame”).

The verdict: For an artist with such an original, provocative visual style, it’s striking how conventional most of Gaga’s actual music sounds. Songs like this set’s “Alejandro” and “Telephone” (featuring an unmemorable Beyoncé cameo) are catchier than swine flu, but the big synths and slick choruses are virtually interchangeable with anything produced by Max Martin or Timbaland. Much more promising is the set’s offbeat lead single, “Bad Romance,” on which Gaga twists the words “Love, love, love” into “Blah, blah, blah” and builds a deliriously nonsensical refrain around her own baby-talk alias. Even the melodramatic piano-rocker “Speechless,” for all its obvious nods to Queen, is a nice sign that Gaga may eventually tire of pushing Top 40’s buttons and explore some music as daring as her outfits.

Did you know? Gaga’s label, Interscope, originally wanted only a reissue of “The Fame” with bonus tracks, but Gaga insisted on a stand-alone record. “I think re-releases are unfair,” she told Rolling Stone. “It’s artists sneaking singles onto an already finished piece of work in an effort to keep the album afloat.”