Single Review: Lady Gaga's "Judas"

It's crazy that Lady Gaga launched her new album campaign just two months ago with the record-breaking #1 smash "Born This Way", which she referred to as the marijuana of the album.

On Friday, Gaga gave her rabid fans, and the waiting-to-be-offended public, the first real heroin shot from her highly anticipated sophomore release, "Judas".

While the title track was a good intro to the album, it was fairly obvious that "Judas" should've been the first worldwide smash single that "BTW" was. Produced by RedOne, it is the explosive pop rocket that everyone was salivating over in February. It's a electro romp born from the grittiest industrial park in the verses, a purepop celebration in the chorus, and a sizzling Latin-sonic splash in the breakdown and bridge. It's essentially four different genres in one, with classic Gaga-esque elements thrown in from "Bad Romance" and "Poker Face". It all comes together in a spectacular, irresistible, eargasmic way that solidifies the Gaga-RedOne collaboration as iconic as Lennon-McCartney.

As for the lyrics, which everyone is talking about anyway, there isn't much here that screams "blasphemy". Essentially, Gaga is in love with someone who constantly betrays her, aka "Judas". So no, people, Gaga isn't referring to the actual disciple who turned Jesus into the Romans, leading to his crucifixion. At least not until the bridge, when she sings "Jesus is my virtue, and Judas is the demon I cling to". Bu how offensive is that, really? It's actually pretty in-line with Christianity, with Jesus being a virtue and all.

Then again, Gaga wouldn't be Gaga with a nice hefty dose of controversy. It adds to her iconic status, along with her incredible knack to create an outrageously catchy hook. Or three.

Rating: 9 out of 10