Disco de Lady Gaga: “Born This Way”

I just finished speaking with an Amazon MP3 Customer Service Agent, and she explained it to me clearly that their server is having technical difficulties due to the overwhelming amounts of downloads of Lady Gaga's new album. She reassured me that their technical teams are working diligently to solve the problem.

Also, she mentioned not downloading any other songs or albums until they fix the backlog, since any more songs added to your cloud player might be placed on queue. Therefore, preventing you from being able to download the songs to your iTunes or other music player.

So, please be patient little monsters because I know we have all been waiting for her album for quite some time now. You still cannot beat the price of this album compared to other music stores out there.

Just keep checking your cloud player until all of the songs get downloaded. I hope this review gives people a piece of mind that the album will eventually be downloaded.

UPDATE:

It is now 11:55, and all the songs are finally downloaded to my Amazon Cloud Player.

Check your Amazon Cloud Player now, and see if you have all the songs downloaded.

Thank you Amazon. I can finally put my PAWS up in the air! >_<

UPDATE: (May 28, 2011)

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all enjoying Lady Gaga's new album, Born This Way, because I know I am. She is a complete inspiration to me, and her new album was worth the wait.

I know we had some difficulties downloading her album the day it was released to the public. I was able to download all the songs by the end of the day on May 23rd. However, I think some of you are still missing some songs or even the whole album. Amazon sent me this e-mail today showing what to do if you had chosen to save the songs directly to your computer instead of the cloud player. Here is part of the e-mail:

If you saved your purchase to your computer, please follow these instructions to re-download your music:

1. Launch the Amazon MP3 Downloader. Here's how to locate the Downloader application on your operating system:

-Windows: All Programs - Amazon - Amazon MP3 Downloader

-Mac: Select "Amazon MP3 Downloader" from your Applications folder.

-Linux: The application is installed as /usr/bin/amazonmp3 and an icon appears in the "Applications" menu in the "Internet" submenu.

2. If you have failed downloads in your MP3 Downloader download queue, click the "Clear Completed" button at the top center of the Amazon MP3 Downloader window.

3. After you have cleared the download queue, go to: <...>

4. Find the order(s) that were placed on May 23 and click View Order.

5. Select "Click here to redownload all the tracks listed below".

I hope this helps you find the songs you are missing. Good luck!

Sadly, the record is censored. I don't think many small children will be purchasing and playing vinyl like this, at least not without the help of their parents.

The cover and sleeves were nicely designed, and aside from the censorship, the records are fine.

Unlike many others, I had no problem buying the album today. I had debated it, because I haven't been amazingly impressed with the early music from it (Born This Way, Judas) and I just didn't know if I wanted to try it. But, for .99, I figured what the heck.

It's okay. That's it. Every song sounds the same. There is nothing spectacular differentiating each song from another. Aside from the oft played Born This Way and the also oft played Judas, there is nothing particularly different-sounding or ground-breaking about the music (though I didn't have any complaints about any one particular song, and "Highway Unicorn" and "The Edge of Glory" were kinda catchy at times. Granted, I am not a Lady Gaga fanboy, but I really enjoyed The Fame Monster. I thought the songs were unique, and her talent showed very well.

This, however, feels like she's trying too hard. Okay, I get that she support gays, heterosexuals, transvestites, et. al. I think that's a great message. I get that she has issues with God. I get that she wants everyone to do what's right, and she feels their suffering, and on, and on, and on. But at some point, it feels more like she's saying it for the sake of saying it, because she, in her strange, do-what-you-want way, is trying to be cool for the sake of being cool. Which just makes it come across as trying too hard-which is exactly what she purports to abhor.

Overall, it's not bad. But sorry Little Monsters, it's not great either, and I'm glad I only spent .99 on it.

I'm not generally a fan of pop, but when Lady Gaga hit the music scene a couple years ago, I was absolutely captivated. She had a way of delivering tracks that were powerful and catchy, while also being edgy and mature at the same time. I absolutely loved her music, even though it isn't the sort of music I normally listen to at all.

But with "Born This Way," pretty much everything I originally loved about her music was gone. When I first heard the titular single, my thoughts were, "Eh. The rest of the album might be better." The I heard "Judas," and while not quite as strong as some of her previous work, it at least captures the same style and feel and it actually is a pretty good track. So when I saw "Born This Way" on Amazon for $0.99, I jumped on it. It downloaded fine, no problems whatsoever, and I hit the "play" button...and I was completely let down.

It seems that in many tracks she is trying way to hard to send a positive message, generally along the lines of "Feel Good About Yourself!" and "Yeah, Girl Power!" often expressed in lyrics of comparable levels of artistry and subtlety (or lack thereof).

Furthermore, the songs sound as if she's trying to catch the 6-8 year old age bracket. The musical style on many tracks is the musical equivalent of the Simple English language setting on Wikipedia. It doesn't challenge the listener, and while technically well-produced, lacks the daring and maturity of her earlier work. It's almost like her producers told her, "Listen, that Bieber kid has the six year old market nailed down, why don't we try to get into that too."

I absolutely loved Gaga's earlier work, and I really wanted to like this album, but it was painful to listen to. Judas is a good track, and others are bearable to decent, which is why the review got two stars (although the horrendous "You and I" nearly dragged it down to one star on its own).

But the edge is gone, the artistry is gone, the daring is gone, and all that's left is what Thomas Pynchon would call Muzak.

I absolutley love Gaga and this album! But, there is one small problem. A few of the songs are edited to bleep out curse words. Nowhere does it say that the album is edited so I was extremly dissapointed to turn it on and hear beeps!!! So, buyer beware!!!!