The Fame Monster
| The Fame Monster | |||||||||
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| Extended play by Lady Gaga | |||||||||
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Publication |
November 20, 2009 |
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| Label (s) | Interscope, Cherrytree, Streamline, Kon Live | ||||||||
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Format (s) |
CD, double CD, download |
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Pop, dance, electro-pop, synthpop |
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running time |
34:12 min. (Standard version) |
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The Fame Monster - German: The fame monster - is the third EP of US singer Lady Gaga and was released on November 18 in 2009. Originally, the eight songs on the album were to be released as a re-release of their debut album The Fame .
Lady Gaga worked as a songwriter and as a co-producer on all songs. Other producers who worked on the album were RedOne , Space Cowboy , Fernando Garibay , Darkchild and Ron Fair. The album explores the dark side of fame that Gaga experienced during 2008-09 while touring the world. They are expressed through monster metaphors.
The album was received largely positively by music critics. All three singles that were released globally were globally successful. The Fame Monster itself reached the top ten in almost every country. To promote the album, Lady Gaga began her second world tour called The Monster Ball Tour . The album was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2011 Grammy Awards , and won for Best Pop Vocal Album .
background
During the joint launch of their headphones with Dr. Dre , commented on Lady Gaga that she was planning to release a new album. She said:
“I think re-releases are unfair […] artists release singles in an effort to keep the album afloat. Originally my record company only wanted to release three singles, and now it's much more than that. It's worth a new album. "
As for the name of the album, according to the singer, it was a coincidence that the record bears the same name as the creators and distributors of the "Heartbeats" headphones, Monster Cable Products . Lady Gaga went on to state, “I am obsessed with monster movies and the fall of fame and the way fame is a monster in society! That's what my new album is about, and somehow it fitted perfectly. "
Lady Gaga said she wrote the lyrics covering the dark side of fame on her tour The Fame Ball :
"While traveling around the world for almost two years, I met some monsters ... Each of them is represented by a different song on the new album: My fear of the sex monster, my fear of the alcohol monster, my fear of the love monster, my fear of the Death monster. "
She also commented that the new songs won't be about money or fame because it's about everything in between. Gaga described the mood of The Fame and The Fame Monster as opposites, comparing them to yin and yang, respectively .
publication
The Fame Monster was first released on November 20, 2009. It is available in three editions: the first contains eight new songs, the second edition (also known as the Deluxe Edition ) contains the eight songs by The Fame Monster as well as their full debut album The Fame , which is also the one on the Japanese press of The Fame contained bonus track Retro, Dance, Freak contains. The third version, known as the Super Deluxe Edition, includes the two albums as well as an illustrated book, 3D glasses, paper dolls, a puzzle, picture series and a curl of Lady Gaga's wig as a bookmark.
For the illustrated book enclosed with the Super Deluxe Edition, Lady Gaga was inspired by the creative ideas of her fans. The book contains photos, poems and drawings by her fans and photos that Lady Gaga and the House of Gaga took on their travels such as: B. the photo for which she was almost arrested because of her leather outfit in St. Basil's Church.
Originally they wanted to increase the price of the album because of the new songs. However, Lady Gaga negotiated with her record company that the album should be completely re-split and also appear at half price. In the show Wetten, dass ..? she justified this by saying that she wanted to do this for her fans.
The Fame Monster was released in Germany as a single CD on October 22, 2010. Before that, the "8-track version" of The Fame Monster was only available as a download and was released on November 20, 2009 like the Deluxe Edition with The Fame . The deluxe edition is censored; the word "bitch" occurring three times has been shortened to "bit". All songs on the 8-track edition are uncensored.
content
Artwork
The designer and photographer Hedi Slimane was responsible for the cover artwork. One shows Gaga with a blonde wig and black coat, the other shows Gaga with brown hair and excessive eyeliner running down her face.
Regarding the cover, Lady Gaga said that when she wanted to make sure the style turned out darker and edgier than anything else she'd done before. However, their record company found the brunette cover to be way too confusing and dark, and they said the cover wasn't pop enough. Gaga replied:
“You don't know what pop is because everyone told me I wasn't pop last year, and now look! So don't tell me what pop is - I know what pop is. […] It's funny because I struggled and struggled and struggled and then I had two covers because I wanted to do this yin and yang presentation with the covers. […] I don't want a glamorous photo of myself rubbing against myself like any other blonde girl. I want my fans to see the picture and say, 'I feel the way she feels.' "
composition
The Independent noted that the album's first song, Bad Romance , sets the tone for the album, whose dominant atmosphere and aesthetic has been influenced by Gothic culture. Bad Romance's chorus is similar to Boney M and the music is reminiscent of Depeche Mode 's fifth album, Black Celebration (1986). In the fifth song on the album, Dance in the Dark , Gaga quotes personalities who lost their lives in a tragic death, namely Marilyn Monroe , Judy Garland , Sylvia Plath , JonBenét Ramsey , Lady Diana , Liberace , Stanley Kubrick and Jesus of Nazareth . It's about a girl who feels uncomfortable during sex. While talking about the song, Gaga said:
“She doesn't want her husband to see her naked. She will be free and she will let out her inner animal, but only when the lights are out. "
The ballad Speechless is a kind of "request" to her heart-sick father to have an operation performed. Gaga stated in an interview in November 2009 that her father, Joseph Germanotta, suffered from a heart condition for around 15 years. She said:
“My father called me after he had a couple of drinks and I didn't know what to say. I was speechless and I feared I would lose him and I would not be there. "
So Happy I Could Die is a love song, but Lady Gaga herself becomes the object of affection when she talks about drinking, dancing, watching, and touching herself. Alejandro incorporates elements of ABBA and Ace of Base music , and pays homage to gay love. In Telephone is about to get no more air in the figurative sense, not being able to enjoy life.
Reviews
criticism
The Fame Monster received mostly good reviews. On the site Metacritic .com the album received a rating of 77% (“generally favorable”, “essentially positive”), based on 13 reviews.
In the review in Rolling Stone , the album received three and a half (out of five possible) stars. The critic Jon Dolan further writes there: “Half of the pieces are Madonna imitations. But that's part of the concept. Monsters of fame do not have to concern themselves with originality. ”The album is critically discussed at the cineastes meeting : The“ songs are properly produced dance floor pop - nothing more and nothing less. And just part of the grand production of the Lady Gaga project . Madonna (so far) has even more to offer. "
Critic Robert Christgau praised Lady Gaga for her songwriting and gave the album an A rating. About.com's Bill Lamb gave the album five stars out of five and said, “The Fame Monster is the most compelling pop piece in years. There are clear signs of influence from some of the top pop women of the past like Madonna, Annie Lennox and Debbie Harry, but Lady Gaga clearly makes the album her own. If this is the direction of contemporary pop, we are indeed in good hands. "
Commercial win
In the USA, The Fame Monster was placed as a single CD with 174,000 units sold at number 5 on the Billboard 200 , while the double CD with The Fame was at number 6 with 151,000 units sold. In addition, the album reached number 1 on the Top Digital Albums Charts and number 1 on the Dance / Electronic Albums Charts, displacing the original version of The Fame from first place. In January 2010, the album was awarded a platinum record for 1,000,000 units sold . In Canada, the album placed at number 2 on the album charts.
In Europe, the album reached number one in Germany, Ireland, Poland, Great Britain and Switzerland. The Fame Monster reached the top ten in Norway, Sweden, Italy, the Netherlands, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Russia. In France the album was awarded double platinum for 200,000 units sold, in Hungary with platinum, in Poland with diamond and in Russia with four times platinum.
In many countries, The Fame Monster was rated as a re-release of the debut album The Fame , which also included the chart placements. As such, it entered the top 10 of the album charts in Denmark, Germany, England and Ireland and reached number 1 in the latter 3 countries. In Australia and New Zealand the album climbed into the top 10 as a re-release of the debut album, however the sales were later counted as a separate album. The album reached number 1 in both countries and has been awarded several platinum awards.
As an independent album, The Fame Monster placed in Canada at number 2 on the album charts. After a concert in Japan, The Monster rose to number 3 and The Fame to number 9 at the same time, with which Lady Gaga managed to place two works in the Japanese top 10 for the first time since Bruce Springsteen since Bruce Springsteen in 1992 - as the last western solo artist Madonna did this in 1985. Shortly afterwards, The Monster reached number 2.
Awards
In 2010, Gaga won the "Outstanding Music Artist" award for The Fame Monster at the 21st GLAAD Media Awards. The album and its songs had been nominated for six Grammys at the 2011 Grammy Awards . The EP as a whole was nominated for Album of the Year and won a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album . The single Bad Romance won a Grammy in the categories Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Short Form Music Video ; the single Telephone was nominated in the category Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals , and Dance in the Dark in the category Best Dance Recording .
Track list
- 1. Bad Romance (Lady Gaga, RedOne ) (4:54)
- 2. Alejandro (Lady Gaga, RedOne) (4:34)
- 3. Monster (Lady Gaga, RedOne) (4:09)
- 4. Speechless (Lady Gaga, Ron Fair) (4:30)
- 5. Dance in the Dark (Lady Gaga, Fernando Garibay) (4:48)
- 6. Telephone (featuring Beyoncé ) (Lady Gaga, Darkchild ) (3:40)
- 7. So Happy I Could Die (Lady Gaga, RedOne) (3:55)
- 8. Teeth (Lady Gaga, Teddy Riley ) (3:40)
- 9. Bad Romance (Starsmith Remix) (4:55) (US and Canada only download album)
Deluxe Edition
- The Deluxe and Super Deluxe Editions contain the debut album The Fame as a second CD .
Bonus tracks
- 15. Disco Heaven (Lady Gaga, Fusari, Tom Kafafian) (International Edition) (3:42)
- 16. Again Again (Lady Gaga, Fusari) (UK, Japanese and Australian editions) (3:04)
- 17. Retro, Dance, Freak (Lady Gaga, Fusari) (Mexican, German, Japanese and Brazilian editions) (3:22)
Limited USB stick
- 1-8 The Fame Monster (34:09)
- 9. Bad Romance Starsmith Remix (4:55)
- 10. Telephone Passion Pit Remix (5:12)
- 11. Paparazzi Demolition Crew Remix Radio Edit (3:55)
- 12.Just Dance Deewaan Remix (4:18)
- 13. Love Game Robot To Mars Remix (3:13)
- 14. Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say) FrankMusik "Cut Snare Edit" Remix (3:47)
- 15. Pokerface Live From The Cherrytree House (3:38)
- 16. Bad Romance Grum Remix (4:50)
- 17. Telephone Alphabeat Remix (4:48)
- 18.Just Dance (Music Video) (4:01)
- 19. Poker Face (Music Video) (3:57)
- 20. LoveGame (music video) (3:35)
- 21.Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say) (Music Video) (3:03)
- 22.Beautiful Dirty Rich (Music Video) (3:03)
- 23. Paparazzi (Music Video) (7:45)
- 24. Bad Romance (music video) (5:13)
- 25. Telephone (music video) (9:31)
- Note: Contains a digital booklet, single covers, a photo gallery and websites.
Chart placements
| Charts | position |
|---|---|
| Germany | ( 1 ) * |
| Austria | ( 1 ) * |
| Switzerland | ( 1 ) * |
| United States | 5 |
| United Kingdom | ( 1 ) * |
* rated for the album The Fame
Singles
Official single releases
| year | title | Chart positions | Awards worldwide |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE | AT | CH | UK | US | |||
| 2009 | bad Romance | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | DE: 1 × platinum; WW: 16 × platinum, 3 × gold; 8,870,000 |
| 2010 | Telephone ( feat.Beyoncé ) | 3 | 3 | 4th | 1 | 3 | DE: 1 × gold; 2 × platinum, 5 × gold; 6,400,000 |
| Alejandro | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7th | 5 | DE: 1 × platinum; 1 × platinum, 2 × gold |
|
| Dance in the Dark | - | - | - | 89 | - | ||
Further chart successes
| year | title | Chart positions | Awards worldwide |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE | AT | CH | UK | US | |||
| 2009 | Speechless | - | - | - | - | 94 | - |
Web links
- Jon Dolan: The Fame Monster Album Review. In: Rolling Stone . November 23, 2009, archived from the original on April 1, 2010 ; Retrieved December 5, 2009 .
- The Fame Monster at Simfy.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ allmusic.com
- ↑ a b c rollingstone.com
- ↑ mainpost.de
- ↑ naanoo.com
- ↑ prnewswire.com
- ↑ a b mtv.com
- ↑ ffh.de ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ mtv.com
- ↑ gala.de ( Memento of the original from May 2, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ stern.de
- ↑ amazon.de
- ↑ lady-gaga.de ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ musicload.de
- ↑ lady-gaga.de ( Memento of the original from February 25, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ top40.about.com
- ↑ independent.co.uk
- ↑ bbc.co.uk
- ↑ a b c slantmagazine.com
- ↑ mtv.com
- ↑ mtv.com
- ↑ in the figurative sense of being unable to breathe, not being able to enjoy life
- ↑ metacritic.com
- ↑ Discussion by Stefan Weber ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ robertchristgau.com
- ↑ top40.about.com
- ↑ a b jam.canoe.ca
- ↑ media-control.com
- ↑ olis.onyx.pl
- ↑ The Fame Monster in the Official UK Charts (English)
- ↑ login.vnuemedia.com ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ ultratop.be
- ↑ mahasz.hu
- ↑ ifpicr.cz
- ↑ 2m-online.ru
- ↑ Le Disques D'Or ( Memento April 13, 2012 on WebCite ), disqueenfrance.com
- ↑ mahasz.hu
- ↑ olis.onyx.pl
- ↑ 2m-online.ru
- ↑ レ デ ィ ー ・ ガ ガ の ア ル バ ム 2 作 同時 TOP10 ~ マ ド ン ナ 以来 洋 楽 女性 ソ ロ 25 年 ぶ り . In: Oricon Style. Oricon , accessed August 3, 2010 (Japanese).
- ↑ ザ ・ モ ン ス タ ー (初 回 生産 限定 盤) / レ デ ィ ー ・ ガ ガ . In: Oricon Style. Oricon, archived from the original on November 10, 2013 ; Retrieved August 3, 2010 (Japanese).
- ↑ new.music.yahoo.com
- ↑ marquee.blogs.cnn.com
- ↑ itunes.apple.com
- ↑ a b c cdjapan.co.jp
- ↑ mixup.com.mx ( Memento of the original from December 1, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ livrariacultura.com.br ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ amazon.de
- ↑ a b c Chart positions - Album: US Singles: DE ( Memento of the original from February 1, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , AT , CH , UK , US
- ↑ a b ifpi.com ( Memento of the original from November 11, 2011 on WebCite ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ The Music Network. Issue 797. Lady Gaga: Dance In The Dark ( Memento from October 1, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
