Lady Gaga - ARTPOP Track By Track Album Review

11. Fashion!

Since Just Dance in 2008, Lady GaGa has managed to resist where so many of her peers (Rihanna, Nicki Minaj and Jessie J to name but three!) couldn't, and avoid a collaboration with David Guetta. That is until now. Fashion! (not to be confused with her earlier release Fashion, which was later covered by The Hills star Heidi Montag) sees Lady GaGa working with not just David Guetta but also serial collaborator will.i.am. However, what should have been a meeting of some of the biggest minds in pop music today, has actually turned out to be one of the most disappointing songs on the album. It's a nice enough song, but it just doesn't shine like most of the tracks that have come before it. And, as a side note, you would think after the controversy that arose after Born This Way was released that Lady GaGa would want to avoid comparisons with Madonna at all costs, yet Fashion! sounds eerily like the lovechild of Madonna's Holiday and the David Bowie track Let's Dance.

12. Mary Jane Holland

A song called Mary Jane Holland?? Hmmm... we wonder what this could possibly be about...? If you can overlook the clunky and transparent references to drugs in Mary Jane Holland, it's actually a pretty theatrical song worthy of its place on ARTPOP. "Won't be a slave to the blonde, or the culture culture of the popular", she sings in the song's opening verse, showing Mary Jane Holland, more than anything, is an alter-ego allowing Lady GaGa to deal with being a celebrity.

13. Dope

From the opening notes of Dope, it's obvious the mood is about to change as GaGa delivers what has become her obligatory piano-driven song. However, compared with the triumphant-sounding Speechless and Yoü and I from her previous albums, Dope is clearly a more subdued and sombre affair. In fact, Dope is the ultimate "the party's over" song, her voice is emotional and almost slurring as she sings about her personal demons and the addictions she has had to overcome through her life. "Been feeling low from living high for so long", says the song's chorus before singing to an unknown person "I need you more than dope". Anyone who thinks Lady GaGa is a one-trick pony should definitely give this song a listen, as we're shown a vulnerable and raw side to her we've not ever had the chance to see before.