Album review: Lady GaGa - The Fame (3/5)

After seeing her fame slowly build last year Lady GaGa is red hot at the moment, with her first single "Just Dance" currently #1 in both the US and the UK. It's an infectious accessible dance pop with a hard electro edge. Not a classic, but certainly easy to like. Much of her debut album The Fame has a similar sound. In fact, without repeated listens, songs like "LoveGame" and "Poker Face" are barely distinguishable, despite being some of the album's better tracks.

That's she's willing to break this mold sometimes is promising. Mid-tempo "Paparazzi," one the better tracks of the first half, manages to score with a sinister verse and a warm chorus. It has a stronger '80s vibe, as does "Eh Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)," which has a lighter touch than most of the tracks. "Beautiful, Dirty, Rich" has cool little bursts of piano among the electronic beats. "The Fame" features an appealing guitar strut and vapid lyrics ("all we care about is runway models, Cadillacs and liquor bottles").

While fun she may be, original she is not, mining many of the best in female dance pop. "Money Honey" celebrates materialism in the same vein as Madonna did with "Material Girl," although I bet it's without irony when GaGa declares "It's good to live expensive." Although she's been compared a lot to Christina Aguilera, I think she's a lot closer to Gwen Stefani, certainly in her choice of material.

Because so much of her music sounds the same, during the second half I start getting bored. "Starstruck" starts with urban beats and computer-processed vocals. Haven't we already heard this? "Boys Boys Boys" combines '80s synths with hard electro beats. "Summerboy" goes for the rockin' vibe (she really sounds like Stefani on this one). "Brown Eyes" is her attempt at a piano ballad, which just really doesn't fit the mood.

The second half has some highlights though, such as "Paper Gangsta," which finds GaGa rapping over piano and muffled beats. I also don't mind "I Like it Rough," which, although it fails in its attempt to be shockingly sexual, has a pretty cool melody.

My overall opinion is that this is better than I expected it to be, but it's not a dance pop classic. The superiority of Madonna, Kylie and friends are safe...for now.

Best: Just Dance, Paparazzi, Eh Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say), Poker Face, LoveGame, The Fame