ENTER TO WIN A COPY OF LADY GAGA'S "BORN THIS WAY" - LAST CHANCE!

Mr. Will-W.:Pop Maven is thrilled to be partnering with Universal Music Canada in offering two lucky Readers a copy of the eagerly-awaited second full-length Album from Lady Gaga, Born this Way!

Available in Standard and Deluxe Editions, the Album features the U.S. and Canada Billboard Hot 100 Chart-topping Born this Way and upcoming second Single Judas.  And how can we forget the one Track inspired by her late Grandfather, Edge of Glory, featuring a rare appearance from E Street Band's Clarence Clemons?  Gaga promises "Avant-Garde Techno-Rock" on this exciting new Collection of 14 new Songs.

In addition to having a hand in writing each Track on the Disc, Gaga teams with Producers RedOne (Bad Romance, Just Dance) and Fernando Garibay (Born this Way).  Together they will be defining the Sound of 2011.

So tell me, who wants to witness Mother Monster birth a new Race? If so, leave a Comment before May  25, 2011 with the name of the one Track you look forward to hearing most on Born this Way. Contest is open to Canadian Readers only. Good luck, Mavenati/Monsters!

Read my Review of Born this Way here.

LADY GAGA - BORN THIS WAY REVIEW

At long last we are gifted with the eagerly-awaited return from The Mother of Pop herself, Lady Gaga - not that she ever really was away.  Born this Way is a 14-track Opus, equally Runway-inspired as it is made for the Dance Floor.  And over the course of the past three years those of us who were early supporters of hers have been rewarded handsomely by our investment of faith, seeing no other star shine as brightly as hers.  Make no mistake about it, Lady Gaga is a Phenomenon and an Icon in all senses of the word.

Born This Way shows an astonishing amount of growth from Gaga's 2008 debut The Fame.  Gone are the days of singing about "riding on Disco Sticks" and "doin' it for the Fame". By golly, she's famous.  She's really famous.  Musically, vocally and lyrically, Gaga has progressed as an Artist, striking that fine balance between Pop Art and a level of accessibility which even your ten-year old Niece gets.  A now-Gaga is '90s-obsessed and fixated on Biblical metaphors, in addition to the concepts of Social Justice and Self Acceptance.

This hour-long Set starts off on a brilliant note - a first Techno-Rock contribution from Fernando Garibay complete with Bongos and Organs.  Marry the Night takes you to the Chapel in high gear before fully taking flight late with a Pat Benatar-like Breakdown and Vamp which elevates the listener into a higher state of consciousness  - the Album's Title Track, yet another Garibay production.    

Government Hooker is a dark, edgy romp which sounds like something played over a Video Montage  between costume changes on her The Monster Ball Tour.  Industrial, New Wave and with a Hook which melodically takes a cue from Jefferson Airplane's Somebody to Love, this number definitely is among the Cream of the Crop on the Disc.  Myself not having gone "gaga" (yes her name can be used as a verb also) over RedOne production Judas, its context is understood better after hearing the Album fully.  It serves as a part of a recurring motif - dark, bitter Verses set against the sweet fluffiness of fun Choruses.

Americano with its Flamenco flare delivers more of that passione we heard on prior Single Alejandro, although much more festive and in the spirit of Boney M. and Santa Esmerelda. An ode to Gay Rights, musically it seems out-of-context from the rest of Born this Way, although we will need to see this Garibay production set to stage in all its visual glory to see where Gaga is going with this. 

NEW MUSIC: LADY GAGA - BORN THIS WAY

At long last Lady Gaga’s new Single Born This Way has surfaced! Although there was never any doubt about whether or not it was good, the question is just how good it is on the Gagametric scale of things.

This feel-good anthem promoting self-acceptance and self-expression is unable to avoid that far-reaching influence of Madonna – and that’s a good thing.  Reviewers of the Track however, have failed to see its brassy parallels to Sisters Are Doin' it for Themselves-era Annie Lennox.  Melodically, there are even parallels to TLC's Waterfalls and Prince's Raspberry Beret, dare I say. That's what I hear, anyway.  Of course, those subtle nods to Express Yourself and Vogue can be heard - that goes without saying.

Reteaming with Fernando Garibay (Enrique Iglesias, Britney Spears) and working for the first time with Chicago’s DJ White Shadow, Born this Way unmistakably is Gaga. Its hook of “I'm on the right track Baby, I was born this way” is sold convincingly with that unmistakable, just-woke-up textured Alto of hers. I’d peg this one neatly below Bad Romance and Poker Face in terms of her finest work. Is my world totally shaken by the Track?  No, not really.  Do I want to hear more of it?  Yes.

Born this Way hit stores May 23, 2011.  Don't forget to tune in to her interview with Anderson Cooper on CBS' 60 Minutes this Sunday at 7:00 PM EST, followed by her performance on the Grammys!

Preview Born this Way in full below:

(Audio Content: Universal Music)