Brad Paisley (above) offers a tutorial in country class on the song “Camouflage.”
(
)
Album of the week
LADY GAGA
“Born This Way”
2 STARS
Lady Gaga should have given the music on her sophomore record the same sense of innovation and reinvention that she displays in her daily fashion efforts.
On this 14-track collection, there’s no shocking musical equivalent to the meat dress she wore to last year’s MTV Video Music Awards. Instead, Gaga plays it safe with familiar ’80s-style dance grooves.
There are plenty of nods to Madonna (such as on the title track), but her backward glances don’t stop there.
“Hair” is a ’70s-style club track that can’t decide whether it’s for dancing or getting introspective at the piano; instead of shaking your hips, this ode to the coif raises your eyebrows and slackens your jaw. “Government Hooker” finds Gaga hooking Eurobeats with an operatic wail, which she uses while repeating the hook line “As long as I’m your hooker.” On “Heavy Metal Lover,” with words more spoken than sung, Gaga manages one risque note, saying, “I want your whiskey mouth all over my blond south.”
But these aren’t even the worst songs. That honor goes to the slug-tempo “Bloody Mary,” which reaches for a theatrical yet decadent mood reminiscent of Bertolt Brecht’s “Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)” as played by The Doors.
“Born This Way” does hit some high notes. It soars on “You and I,” which crosses into Sheryl Crow territory with its funk undercurrent. That one is produced by Mutt (ex of Shania Twain) Lange and has a uniquely earthy quality on a very synthetic collection. The magic happens again on the power rocker “Edge of Glory,” which sounds like the kind of music Meat Loaf would have made if he were born a Miss.
Download of the week
BRAD PAISLEY
“Camouflage”
3 1/2 STARS
If you were teaching Country Music 101, Brad Paisley’s “Camouflage” would be the song to illustrate the art of Nashville. The tune is built on the chassis of a fast, backwoods boogie. The lyrics are filled with clever wordplay (“It makes you invisible to a white-tail and irresistible to a red-neck girl”), and there’s a subtle patriotism. (Camo calls to mind the uniforms of our servicemen and women.) Paisley’s voice is manly yet playful. Add to all that twangtastic goodness a hot extended picked-guitar solo, and you have the instant answer to anyone who asks, “What is modern country music?”