Lady Gaga Strips Down for "The Edge of Glory" Music Video

Lady Gaga is known for very incredibly over-the-top take on music videos. The results have been fairly mixed; there have been the epics ("Bad Romance"), the fails ("Alejandro"), and the just plain ridiculous ("Telephone", as great as it was).

But Gaga has never done before what she's done with the video for "The Edge of Glory".

Those expecting blinding flash, massive storylines that can't fit into a five minute timeframe, and insane fashion will be sorely disappointed in the video for Gaga's third single. "The Edge of Glory", which was directed by the Haus of Gaga, is Gaga's most stripped-down, bare bones video yet. Forgoing the murder, crashing waves, russian mafia cameos, and armadillo shoes of videos past, this one just has the New York-bred megastar dancing and gyrating in an empty street and a fire escape. Keeping her company is Clarence Clemons, who did the song's sax solo and is currently recovering from a massive stroke.

I won't even bother lying; the video is boring. It's very, very boring, especially compared to her last five music videos. That said, the video is another visual beauty. Also, there's something to appreciate about how simple this video is. We've come to expect insanity from Lady Gaga, but it was actually nice to see her just being normal (sort of), enjoying herself in the city that she loves, looking like a hooker. It fit the message of the song well, a lot better than the rumored mermaid theme would have.

"The Edge of Glory" may not be edgy, or glorious, but maybe that was the point. With all of the outrageous things that Gaga has done which beg for controversy, the irony that her simplest video is her most controversial act yet cannot be taken for granted.

What do you think of "The Edge of Glory"? Did she do too little? Check the video out below and leave your thoughts in the comments!

Download of the Day: Lady Gaga's "The Edge of Glory"

Click here to read my review of 'Born This Way'.

Lady Gaga draws inspiration for her pop masterpieces from the strangest of places. In the case of her latest single "The Edge of Glory", she used her grandfather's passing last year as a reference.

Being inspired by death isn't strange; in fact, it has helped create some of pop music's most moving works (see Eric Clapton's "Tears In Heaven" or Elton John's "Candle in the Wind"). What is strange, yet incredibly poignant, is that her grandfather's death inspired her to write the most meaningfully joyful pop song of her career.

"The Edge of Glory", just like Born This Way's opening track "Marry The Night", is a full-on stadium rock epic, with some pretty smart dance-pop sensibilities and a killer sax solo from Clarence Clemons (get well soon!). Gaga sing about being "on the edge of something final we call life", with all of the passion and energy you wouldn't expect from a song about death. But "death" is oversimplifying the message of the song. It is really about accepting life's final moments, where everything comes full circle and peace can be found. It is clear how much this song means to Gaga, since she delivers an absolute breathtakingly powerful vocal, the best she has ever done. Sitting at the end of an album that traverses everything from religion to equality, it is an incredible theme to send it off.

All in all, "The Edge of Glory" is a grandiose song that is genuine, which is something coming ffrom a woman often accused of being fake. Maybe this song will calm those naysayers, although its unlikely. Regardless, "Edge" is a true highlight from one of this year's best albums.

Born To Slay! Lady Gaga's Born This Way Sells 1.1 Million Copies in the United States!

She did it!

Lady Gaga has sold 1.1 million copies of her album Born This Way in the United States, in its first week. Hits Daily Double estimates an exact figure of 1,110,420 copies, based on retailers who reported in to the publication. The number from Nielsen Soundscan and Billboard will mostly likely differ from the number given by HDD, but by a small margin.

Billboard just announced that Born This Way sold 1,108,000 copies since it's release on Monday. Billboard also confirmed most of the sales breakdown, the most important number to some being from Amazon and their industry-shocking 99 cent price. 


Amazon is reported to have sold 440,000 copies of Born This Way. This made up most of Gaga's 622,000 digital total. The other 500,000 or so copies were from physical sales of the album.

Gaga was able to achieve this massive success thanks in part to her landmark promotional campaign, headed by manager Troy Carter.

As I noted earlier, Born This Way will be the first album since NSYNC's Celebrity to cross the million mark; they did it in 2001, with 1.8 million copies sold.

Britney Spears still maintains her record of 1.3 million copies sold of Oops... I Did It Again, the most for a female artist ever.

Worldwide, Gaga is the first artist since Madonna's Hard Candy to top the charts of the five biggest music markets in the world: the US, the UK, France, Germany, and Japan.

Congratulations to Lady Gaga and her amazing accomplishment!

Sunday Feature: How Lady Gaga and Born This Way's Promotional Blitz Should Change The Music Industry

Today marks the return of the Sunday Feature, where I recap on an important topic of the past week and offer my own thoughts. While I say this for every post I make, I would greatly appreciate any comments you have. Please feel free to discuss or debate this any future Sunday Feature topic with me!

Billboard is projecting that Lady Gaga's Born This Way will sell above 1.15 million copies by the end of business today. This means she will have the biggest first week sales of a pop artist since NSYNC's 2001 album Celebrity. Note that I added "pop" to the superlative, because there is something to be said about how pop music sells these days.

Unlike in the early 2000s, current music sales, especially of pop, are abysmal. Even with #1 singles and radio play, many pop stars are lucky to cross 250,000 in their first week. Case in point, Katy Perry had two of the biggest hits of last year, and sold 192,000 copies in her first week. Taio Cruz had two of the biggest hits of last year with "Break Your Heart" and "Dynamite", sold a paltry 24,000 copies in its first week.

And yet, Lady Gaga is about to cross a threshold that only a few artists have, even with the relative flop of "Judas" under her belt.

Some detractors of Gaga will try to asterisk her accomplishment because of the 99-cent Amazon deal. Yes, it is a highly unorthodox move on Amazon's part (since they are the ones who cut the price, not Gaga or Interscope), but it's a no-lose situation for all parties involved.

Considering the dire straits the industry is in at the moment, labels and artists should be looking towards Lady Gaga for inspiration to revitalize album sales.

What's quite funny is that, just like her music and fashion, Gaga isn't doing anything particular new or special. She is using the technologies and trends of now to reinvent the promotional practices of the past.

Let's explore what I call the "Gaga Model".

Lady Gaga's #1 In The UK with 215,000 Copies Sold!

Gaga is (pop) queen of the UK, selling 215,000 copies of Born This Way

Lady Gaga has dethroned Adele on the UK Albums Chart.

The pop star debuts at #1 with her sophomore album Born This Way, knocking Adele's 21 from the top. Adele has spent an amazing 18 non-consecutive weeks at #1, only being knocked down once by the Foo Fighters a few weeks back. Born This Way is Gaga's second #1 album in the UK, after The Fame.

Gaga also can celebrating having the biggest first week sales of the year so far. Born This Way sold 215,000 copies in the past seven days, according to the Official Charts Company. Let it be noted that the UK did not have the now-infamous Amazon 99-cent deal that has everyone in a tizzy. It was reported on the first day that retailer HMV was sold out of the album within hours.

It is projected by Billboard that Gaga will sell over 1.1 million copies in America, while Media Traffic projects sales of 2 million worldwide, solidifying Born This Way as one of the biggest albums of the year.

The only question is, will it overtake Adele again to be the biggest selling album of the year?

Amazing Moments: Lady Gaga Receives Army Jacket Present at Best Buy Signing!

Lady Gaga buys Born This Way copies for fans at Best Buy in Union Square

Lady Gaga is as famous for her relationship with her fans as she is for her music, and it's clear her "little monsters" appreciate it.

One particularly wonderful moment at Gaga's Best Buy signing in New York City's Union Square had a soldier giving Gaga his Army jacket in tribute of her work in trying to appeal the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. It was clear that she was very moved by his story and the jacket, appearing to nearly break down in tears. After putting on the jacket, she and the fan took photos.

Gaga was reportedly at Best Buy until 3am in the morning to assure that all of her fans had their Born This Way CDs signed. For those who couldn't actually afford to purchase the CD, Gaga spent her own money, bought the CDs, and handed them out to her fans.

There is no doubt n my mind that Lady Gaga might just be one of the appreciative pop stars in recent memory, and that moment with the army jacket was just brilliant.

Lady Gaga's Born This Way Sells 500,000 in One Day!

UPDATE: Born This Way Has Sold 1.1 Million Copies In The US!

Lady Gaga has stormed the record books with her new album.

Born This Way sold an astonishing 500,000 copies in its first day of release from six retailers, according to Billboard. Amazon's industry-shaking 99 cent promotional deal accounted for 300,000 copies sold on Monday, which most likely influenced their decision to lower the price on Thursday.

Here is the sales breakdown from the other four retailers from the first day:

• iTunes: 104,000
• Best Buy: 45,000
• Target: 35,000
• Satrbucks: 10,000

Born This Way is stocked in 20,000 other retailers, including Whole Foods, Walgreens, and CVS. Billboard predicts that Gaga will ultimately sell at the least one million copies when the final figures are released next week. Some are speculating she will break Britney Spears' record for the highest first week sales for a female artist. Oops... I Did It Again sold 1.3 million copies back in 2000.

Billboard Explains Lady Gaga/Amazon Deal, The Blackout Controversy, and Criticizes Britney Fan Twitter Attacks

Billboard sets the record straight about Britney Spears and Lady Gaga

Billboard, the company that analyzes music sales in the United States, has published an article in response to the Twitter uproar caused by some Britney Spears fans.

Bill Werde, the editorial director of Billboard, wrote the article after some fans of Britney accused Billboard on Twitter of bias towards Lady Gaga and her new album, Born This Way. The alleged bias stemmed from the company's decision to count the sales from Amazon's 99 cent sale of her album, which have pushed first week projections of her album to over 1 million copies.

Some fans are also still upset over Billboard's 2007 decision to change the chart policy that prevented sales from one sole retailer from counting towards the album chart. The decision resulted in The Eagles topping the Billboard 200 instead of Britney's album Blackout, which was originally projected to hit the top.

Although the situations are different, fans are arguing that Billboard is unfair in not changing the rules against Gaga, when they were changed against Britney. To retaliate, some Britney Twitter users were trying to trend #Billboardcorrupt and #FraudThisWay.

In response, Werde called out Britney fans directly for spreading misinformation about the Amazon situation: "In the hope of clearing up misinformation I've seen around the web -- Britney fans, I'm looking at you, or at least at the evil ones who keep cursing me on Twitter without asking questions -- I'll share a few guiding dynamics, as well as some specifics for this week."

He explained in detail both situations, and gave his stance that Billboard examined situations on consumer interest, not on prices. He also wrote that Billboard had no intention of setting a lower-bound price limit in its analyses. He did concede, however, that Billboard is always looking into new changes and shifts in the market, and adjusts the methodologies accordingly.

Essentially, he told Britney Spears fans to stop crying over spilled milk.

While I wonder if the shade was necessary, it was a well-written article that definitely put all of the information out there. It should clear up any confusion (or lies).

Here is the link to the article: http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/retail/why-billboard-isn-t-revising-chart-policies-1005205422.story

Do you guys think that Billboard is right? To fans of Britney, are you guys upset over the Blackout incident in 2007, or about Gaga's Amazon deal counting? Share your thoughts with me!

It's War! Amazon Undercuts iTunes, Sells Gaga's Born This Way for $0.99 Again!

Amazon is launching a full-out assault against iTunes, using Lady Gaga as its huge, egg-shaped vessel.

The online retail giant has dropped the price of Born This Way again to 99 cents, repeating their industry-shocking decision from Monday. With the purchase of the album, the buyer will also receive a free upgrade of 20GB of storage from Amazon's Cloud Drive service. The promotion was only supposed to last one day, but the astonishing success has clearly changed Amazon's mind on the matter. The promotion, according to the website, will end today.

It should be noted that this was a decision made my Amazon, not Gaga or her record label Interscope. The Wall Street Journal has confirmed that Amazon has paid the wholesale price of the album, approximately $9, which allowed the right to offer the album for such an incredibly low price.

No doubt this could potentially influence the first-week projections for Gaga's album, which now stand at 900K from Hits Daily Double.

If you are a frugal Lady Gaga fan, I suggest you pop on over to Amazon RIGHT NOW and get this deal before it's too late. Or, head over to my Twitter and retweet my #gagaclaus post to get it gifted, from me!  Hurry though, it won't last long, either deal!

An Interesting Read... Forbes Examines The Born This Way Campaign

Gaga blitzes the market with landmark campaign - Forbes.com

For those who have been critical of Lady Gaga's promotional tactics for her album Born This Way, this articles by Forbes (who just named her the most powerful celebrity in the world) puts a really interesting spin on all of the craziness.

Is Lady Gaga's Rolling Stone Interview A Sign She Needs A Break?

Gaga takes the critics to task in her latest "Rolling Stone" interview

Lady Gaga, hot off the heels of an album that has launched an all-out war between Apple and Amazon, is featured in this month's Rolling Stone, where she talks again about the criticism of her authenticity as a real artist. She had this to say:

Is it that you believe that I am attention-seeking or shock for shock's sake, or is it just that it's been a long time since someone has embraced the art form the way that I have? Perhaps it's been a couple of decades since there's been an artist that's been as vocal about culture, religion, human rights, politics. I'm so passionate about what I do, every bass line, every EQ. Why is it that you don't want more from the artist, why is it that you expect so little, so when I give and give, you assume it's narcissistic?

While there are certain parts of that quote I do agree with, I am actually really concerned about Gaga. Like the NME interview a month or so ago, Gaga was incredibly defensive and arrogant in a way that is unlike her and unbecoming of her. I can understand her frustration, but it seems like she is psyching herself out. Reading over the key parts of that quote, there is a line between confidence and egotism that she's crossing the wrong way over.

What I chalk it up to is exhaustion and stress. Both interviews were from the most hectic period of her life; the end of the Monster Ball Tour. I don't understand how someone couldn't be at the end of their rope after a 200-date tour of the world. When people are running low on their batteries, it helps to psych yourself up, which requires a heavy dose of arrogance and defense. I think that it is seeping though in those interviews. If you've seen Gaga in public as of late, you could see how happy and joyous she is, probably because she's been able to get some sleep.

My advice to Gaga is to spend a few months away from the bright glare of the stage. She is a millionaire, she has friends and family. Take a vacation or something. Write a whole new album. Just relax and enjoy the success she's fought hard for. DO NOT tour until 2012. If this current album era has proven, Gaga's "little monsters" aren't going anywhere.

Lady Gaga's Born This Way Has Massive Digital Sales, Caused by iTunes/Amazon Battle

Born This Way has iTunes and Amazon going "gaga"

UPDATE: Amazon reselling Born This Way for 99 cents again! Read the details here!

Lady Gaga is on track to have the fast-selling digital album of all time, while two online retail giants duke it over her.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the pop phenom's Born This Way sold in the range of 250,000 to 350,000 copies between Amazon's MP3 store and the dominant iTunes store. Yesterday, Amazon launched a frenzy amongst buyers when they sold the standard edition for an astonishing 99 cents, compared to $11.99 at iTunes. The purchase of the album also came with a free upgrade of 20GB for Amazon's recently launched Cloud Drive.

The shock pricing, which caused Amazon's servers to overload due to demand, was a business strategy called loss leading. Amazon, by lowering the price of the album, took a considerable loss in the hopes that people would flock to the company and stick with them. Amazon, despite selling their songs at a cheaper price than iTunes, doesn't hold a significant market share. iTunes holds at least 90% of all digital music sold. Still, Amazon's very agressive tactics were enough to garner a response. Hits Daily Double reported that iTunes threatened to cease their promotion of Gaga's album in retaliation.

What iTunes did have over Amazon was the very attractive "Complete My Album" feature, where buyers who purchased previous songs from the album can get the full record at a discounted price. Since Gaga released four singles prior to the album's release, fans were able to get the deluxe edition at a potential price of $10.83, compared to $15.99. That edition is sitting at #1 on the iTunes album chart, with the standard edition at #2.

As Apple and Amazon duke it out in the retail department, it's clear who the real winner is; Gaga. If these first day estimates pan out, Gaga will have the fastest selling digital album by a mile. Currently, Coldplay's Viva La Vida holds the title with 288,000 digital copies in its first week. On top of digital sales, her album is reportedly sold out in Wal-marts and Best Buys throughout the country. Hits Daily Double revised their first-week sale predictions to a whopping 900,000 copies, with the possibility she could hit the coveted million mark. Interscope Records, who pulled out ALL of the stops for this album, shipped a staggering 2 million copies to retailers.

If Gaga pulls off 1 million, she will be the first pop artist in years to do so. The last artist to sell 1 million copies was Taylor Swift with her album Speak Now.


To read my review of Born This Way, click here.

Album Review: Lady Gaga's Born This Way Deluxe Tracks

Born This Way is out today, and it seems like everyone is here for the deluxe edition (unless you're buying the album for $0.99 at Amazon.com). Since I left them out of the original review I did, here is my official review of the album's extra bits:

Black Jesus + Amen Fashion - Of all of the Madonna comparisons that the tracks on this album have and will receive, this might just be the most authentic. This song sounds like a lost track from one of Madonna's last albums, like Hard Candy or American Life (I personally here "Devil Wouldn't Recognize You"). That said, it's a pretty groovy track about how Gaga clawed her way up to fame. There's also something about Black Jesus, which you can interpret as a Madonna reference if you'd like ("Like a Prayer" video) or, as Gaga puts it, that Jesus is back in fashion. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Harold Camping. 7.5/10


Fashion of His Love - Anyone who's been complaining that they want "old Gaga" back can rejoice in this song. This harkens back to the days of The Fame, with its light, fluffy lyrics and pure electropop sound. It is refreshing to hear Gaga without all of the vocal embellishments that have colored her songs of late. What makes the song special for me is the inclusion of a line from the epic unfinished song "Then You'd Love Me", which I was praying would be on this album. It was a nice touch at the end. This song should have been on the standard edition ("Bad Kids" could have been an extra"). 9/10


The Queen - I'll just be frank here: this song didn't need to be on this, or any edition of the album. I would've rather it be a b-side or something. I just can't get into this at all, but I'm sure her fans will adore it since it is clearly a tribute to them. It also sounds like something Cher should sing in her Vegas show, except she wouldn't because even she isn't this cheesy. 4/10

TimberGaga! Their Hilarious SNL Finale Skits

If you thought there SNL Digital Short was hilarious, then check out Timberlake and Gaga's skits on SNL's finale last night!

My personal favorite was the Liqourville skit, where Gaga dresses up as a wine bottle (one of her more demure outfits, don't you think?)

Check the vids out below:

What's That Name?

Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga, and Andy Samberg Have Three-Way For SNL!

Last night, Justin Timberlake and Lady Gaga showed off their comedic skills on the season finale of Saturday Night Live. The two starred in three skits together, including an SNL Digital Short with Andy Samberg, called "In a Three Way". It was absolutely hilarious, and definitely showed a lighter, funnier, very New York side of Lady Gaga. Definitely reminded me of an SWV video from the early 90's.

Check out the performance below:

Album Review: Lady Gaga's "Born This Way"

Gaga's second album "Born This Way"
has arrived. Is it worth the hype?
Find out!

The buildup to Lady Gaga's sophomore album has been tremendous, but was the hype all worth it after
all?

Yes.

Born This Way is the pop equivalent of a rocket. It soars beyond the standard limits of mainstream music in its effort to blend dance beats with stadium rock style. There are some cracks, with some of the songs suffering from overproduction, weak lyrical structure, or both. Ultimately, the album works as an amazing set of forward thinking, provocative dance-pop that, if promoted correctly, could rework the conventions of mainstream music.

Here is my track-by-track review after the jump (note: I am reviewing the standard edition, the deluxe edition will come later):

Gaga's Promo Bonanza: Starbucks, Best Buy, and the MTA!

Just when you thought record labels forgot how to promote an album...

Interscope is prepping the most outrageously epic promotion ahead of the most anticipated release of the year, Lady Gaga's Born This Way. On top of the brilliant partnership with Zynga games (behind online hits Farmville and Words with Friends) and all of the TV appearances she has lined up, the label has teamed up with coffee giant Starbucks on a digital scavenger hunt called SRCH. The game, launched by a QR code, will unlock prizes. Starbucks will also have a special edition of Born This Way on its shelves and will be playing the album in its US locations.

Electronics retail giant Best Buy will host Gaga at one of its locations in New York on Monday, the day of the album's release. The store has also teamed with her on a promotion that offers free copies of the CD with the purchase of select smartphones.

The most unbelievable of them all is Interscope's apparent deal with the MTA to virtually paint Gaga all over select New York City trains (it appears to be the S train, the shuttle between Grand Central Terminal and Port Authority Bus Terminal), like so:

courtesy of the 92.3 NOW website

Music trade publication Hits Daily Double is predicting first week sales of 500-700,000 copies, but with promotion like this, it seems like a million might actually possible. It's pretty impossible to believe that there is a single person who exists that doesn't know about this album.

I have to say, the promo surrounding this album is unlike anything I've seen in over a decade. I remember when McDonalds had that special CD featuring Britney Spears and NSYNC songs, back when Jive wasn't a crappy label. Artists used to really promote their work back then, which probably helps explain the astronomical sales they experienced, especially in the late 90s.

Interscope and Gaga are banking on their methods having the same effect. The only question is, will it work? I believe it will.

Born This Way is out worldwide on Monday, May 23rd (you know, if we survive the rapture and everything :) )

Lady Gaga's "Scheiße" Is Her Best Record Since "Bad Romance"

She almost made it, but even the seemingly indestructible Lady Gaga has suffered the inevitable of this musical era: the leak.

Lady Gaga's ridiculously highly anticipated album Born This Way leaked two days ago and I've spent the last 48 hours listening to all of the tracks (I pre-ordered the special edition on Amazon, by the way) virtually non-stop. To be honest, I went into my listening spree with Gaga's proclamation that BTW was the best album of the decade in mind, which probably wasn't wise. Reviewing an album with preconceived notions is never smart, unless you are trying to be deliberately biased.

Luckily for me, I chalked up her statement to the usual Gaga braggadocio and didn't take it too seriously. It made for an excited listening experience.

After hours of rapid listening, jumping on my bed, dancing in my room, walking around the neighborhood with my iPhone on full blast, and irritating the hell out of my mother with my auditory antics, I made a pretty significant decision about the album, and Gaga's discography overall.

There is a song on the album called "Scheiße". If you are an active music and/or fashion fan, you've already heard the remix used in the Mugler Menswear Fashion Show months ago. Back then, it sounded pretty awesome, a new direction for the pop phenomenon. It was the track I was desperate to hear most from the album.

The album version of "Scheiße", suffice it to say, met my expectations on the first listen.

By the 30th listen, I realized it was an absolute masterpiece.

"Scheiße" is both classic Gaga and Gaga in forward motion. Produced by a top-form RedOne, the beats are razor sharp, dark and twisted, yet crisp and clean. It's an incredible sound, only buoyed by the fascinating structure of the lyrics. She starts the song saying she can't speak German, but she can if her lover likes. She then unleashes a bunch of German-sounding gibberish, coldly, yet defiantly. In a surprising twist, the song ends up as an anthem of female empowerment, with Gaga crying for strength with the "scheiße" (that's real German for shit).

The whole song gives off a glacial, euphoric, incredibly danceable vibe that is best suited for a party in Gaga's Russian bathhouse from "Bad Romance". Speaking of that iconic single, "Scheiße" is its true heir (sorry "Judas"), sounding like nothing else on radio while maintaining a mainstream pop sense. It's the kind of song that, if released, could change the definition of pop music, kind of like what "BR" did.

Listening to this song alongside the rest of her music, it's kind of mind-boggling how much she has grown and changed since the days of the disco stick. What's clear is that she changing the right way, morphing into a superstar we haven't seen since (I know how cliché this sounds, by the way) Madonna.

My only hope is that her next change leaves behind those unfortunate horn things.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

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