Lady Gaga - ARTPOP Track By Track Album Review

2. Venus

If you caught Lady GaGa's bewildering appearance on The X Factor, then you'll already be somewhat familiar with Venus, a song which has already divided both fans and casual listeners. Admittedly the production is fairly erratic (it is, in fact, the first song which she has produced by herself) and the middle 8, where she lists off the nine planets as if they were models taking part in a fashion show, is unusual even for an artist like Lady GaGa. However, as with so many songs on ARTPOP, it all makes sense when the chorus kicks in, proving once and for all that, while she may try to convince us otherwise, Lady GaGa is first and foremost a popstar who is still as capable as ever of delivering an excellent melody to stick in our heads for weeks on end.

3. G.U.Y.

Lyrically G.U.Y. sees GaGa toying with gender roles and power, where she explains that even though she is a feminist that she doesn't mind submitting to a man in certain areas. "I wanna be the girl under you/I wanna be your G.U.Y.", she sings in the song's opening lines. Unfortunately this early on in the album's tracklisting, G.U.Y. is one of the first throwaway tracks on the album. It isn't necessarily a bad song by any means (even with a refrain where she begs "love me, love me, please retweet") but compared to some of the outstanding tracks on ARTPOP this one feels quite subpar.

4. Sexxx Dreams

While the BPM drops with Sexxx Dreams, the quality picks up massively. As the title suggests, this one isn't going to be a family-friendly favourite, but that doesn't stop it being one of the album's absolute high points. Fairly minimal R&B-inspired production, mixed with GaGa cooing like a mix of Marilyn Monroe and Rihanna, make this song one of the jewels in ARTPOP's crown. With the lyrics of the song GaGa is trying to seduce someone by describing a fairly explicit-sounding dream to them ("last night/you were in my sexxx dreams/doing really nasty things") and just when it all starts to get a bit too ridiculous, she does the unthinkable and actually acknowledges it- "I can't believe I'm telling you this but I've had a couple drinks and...oh my god", she giggles near the end of the song. Sexxx Dreams doesn't sound like anything Lady GaGa has recorded before, yet she is all over it (literally!) and the song fits in perfectly on ARTPOP. It's just a pity the lyrics are so provocative as it could have been a brilliant single otherwise.