Summer Reading - Part I

Alright, so it’s not music reviews, but whatever. I’ve been taking a hiatus from obsessing over music this summer (I know, it’s tragic!) to focus on writing projects and expanding my literary knowledge. Here’s a sampling of my summer reading list so far. (There’s more to come, I just haven’t gotten around to reviewing them yet.)

Year of the Black Rainbow – Claudio Sanchez
Compliments of the deluxe edition of Coheed & Cambria’s fifth studio album, this action-packed sci-fi novel clearly bears the mark of Sanchez’s creative genius. You don’t have to know Coheed’s songs and the back story of the albums to appreciate this novel, although it certainly altered my interpretation of the album of the same name. Altogether a good read if you’re a Coheed fan and/or sci-fi geek.

The Silver Hearted – David McConnell
If you can get past the vague descriptions of everything and make sense of the setting, you’ll enjoy a brief adventure across several unnamed country with an unidentified main character bringing a shipment of silver to some mysterious private investor. Don’t hold your breath, though—half the time I had no idea what was going on, and although the ending was a real twist, it left me wanting to burn the book in a fit of rage for wasting my time. (In short I don’t recommend it, unless you like really, really bizarre stories about intrigue and political...stuff.)

The Host – Stephenie Meyer
Now, keep in mind—I was a Twilight fan about three years ago, but my real interest dissolved as soon as the fan-girls descended on the scene, so I’m not a huge fan of Meyer to begin with. The length of the novel alone was enough to turn me off—it’s unnecessarily drawn out in many parts, and there’s a myriad of extraneous characters. Over all, the novel’s biggest strength is the creepy concept of “hosts” invading the minds of humans and claiming control of their bodies—a mostly-original spin on a sort of post-apocalyptic universe. Not altogether a terrible read—I polished it off in two or three days and it definitely held my interest—but if you’re not one for long-winded dialogue and several pointless scenes where one’s mind tends to wander for a few pages, it’s not the book for you.

Her Fearful Symmetry – Audrey Niffenegger
If you’re a fan of Niffenegger’s debut novel The Time Traveler’s Wife, don’t get overly excited for her sophomore work: it’s a whole different kettle of fish. Nevertheless, Niffenegger does not fail to present us with instantly-lovable characters and a taste of London so rich that you’ll be downing cups of tea and booking your airfare to England in minutes. The story is wonderfully told but falls a little short at the end, almost as if the author’s attention wandered away and gave out suddenly. Despite the disappointing and somewhat depressing ending, you’ll be swept away to England with a mischievous set of twins and the ghost of their dead aunt in the most unexpected plot-twist.

Jumper Cable – Piers Anthony
Another one for the fantasy-lovers—if you’re new to Piers Anthony’s realm of Xanth, you might not enjoy this book. While I found it to be a delightful revisit with some Xanth characters who haven’t surfaced in awhile (I’ve been reading the Xanth novels since I was seven) new readers might not catch all the little repetitive nuances and references that make Xanth so special. Piers Anthony is definitely an acquired taste to say the least, but if you’re going to venture into Xanth for the first time, start with some of his earlier works (Faun & Games, Yon Ill Wind, and Demons Don’t Dream are among my personal favorites) before catching up with the newer novels. For returning Xanthians, jump right into this one—you’ll be surprised who turns up!

More to come when I finally finish reading, reviewing, and organizing my thoughts. This is, to be sure, quite the literary summer for me!

Happy Reading!
Emily Noel

Two Things

Two totally random things:

First, the newest MC Lars music video for the song "Twenty-Three" and his new EP of the same name. I've been a big fan of MC Lars since Fall 2009 and "Twenty-Three" is the song that got me into him. It's a song about the suicide of a friend of his, and now Lars is working with AFSP (the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention) and donating his own earnings to the cause, to help prevent suicide, especially among teens. The Twenty-Three EP also features another of my favorites, "Hey There Ophelia" which is a somewhat humorous re-telling of Hamlet (which happens to be my favorite Shakespeare play.) So check out the Twenty-Three EP and the music video - and help the cause!

Another thing that caught my eye was news from Owl City - a new album to be released in July. It's not an Owl City album; it's Adam Young's earlier music. Hope it's as great at the Owl City albums!

Happy Tuesday!
Emily Noel

Most Mismatched Music Video EVER.

So at this point in Summer 2010, I can assume the majority of you have heard Katy Perry's new single "California Gurls." (And if you haven't...well, get on that.) It's a great summer jam in my opinion, but then again I'm biased because I'm in love with Katy Perry.

But the recently-released "California Gurls" music video kind of blows my mind. "Candyfornia"? Let's be real. I mean, as much as I love watching Katy Perry put on half a dozen candy-themed outfits while Snoop Dogg detracts from the quality of the song in the background, I don't really see the correlation between California and a Katy Perry-themed version of the Candyland board game. But even though it seems ridiculous, I couldn't hate it because Katy's got even more pep and sparkle in this video. She may not be a show-stopper like Gaga, but she's got her own look, her own vibe, her own moves. Not to mention the quality - lollipops morphing into snakes, cotton candy clouds, incredible costumes - is pretty impressive. The video is cute, Katy's just as hot as ever, and the song is still a great beach tune for the summer no matter which coast you're on.

Happy Friday!
Emily Noel

Well, It's Been Awhile - Happy Summer 2010!

Alright, I admit defeat when it comes to this blog. I haven't given up on it entirely, but my priorities have shifted, for sure. This year taught me a lot, and one thing it taught me is that I don't want to write for a music magazine. At least not right now. Actually, I don't really know what I want to do with my life at all - this year erased all prior notions for some reason - but my point is, I've been focusing more on my fiction writing these past few months, which is why the blog has been so neglected.

Anyway, I'm not doing a full-scale review right now, but I've had a lot of songs rolling around my brain for this last glorious month of this summer, so I figured I'd post a list of what I've been listening to, in case anyone is curious or is just looking for new music. =] Enjoy!

(PS - These are not all new songs that I've discovered, some I've known for a long time, it's just that they're relevant to this summer and what I've been listening to lately.)

My Summer 2010 Playlist (So Far)
"Devil in Jersey City" - Coheed and Cambria
"Constructive Summer" - The Hold Steady
"Be Calm" - Fun.
"Starlett Johansson" - The Teenagers
"Walcott" - Vampire Weekend
"Girls in Their Summer Clothes" - Bruce Springsteen
"At Least I'm Not As Sad (As I Used To Be)" - Fun.
"The End" - John Wesley Harding
"Majoring in Minors" - Sugarcult
"Atlantic City" - Bruce Springsteen
"Horchata" - Vampire Weekend
"Walking the Dog" - Fun.
"Wheel of Fortune" - The Teenagers
"Hey Soul Sister" - Train
"Get Out of My Head" - The Leftovers
"Summerboy" - Lady Gaga
"California Gurls" - Katy Perry
"Run Away" - Skyfox
"Banditos" - Refreshments

And that's about it for now...but hopefully I'll remember the blog a bit more often this summer and do some actual reviews.

Happy Thursday!
Emily Noel

Today Is My All-Time Favorite Day!

I woke up to weak sun shining through my window. I blinked, content in the knowledge that I had a day off, until my evening Music & Poetry class, at least.

And then, I started smiling like a five-year-old on Christmas, because I realized today is the day that Coheed's fifth studio album Year of the Black Rainbow comes out. Of course, I pre-ordered the deluxe package months ago, and I was eager to see if it arrived on time, forwarded to my dorm from my house.

First, I finished all my errands and homework like the dedicated college kid I am (no, but really!) and then I all but sprinted to the mail room. To be honest, I didn't expect the package to be there, but when the mail lady showed it to me I think I almost fainted with joy. I kept thanking her and I told her how much I hoped it would come today and she laughed at me good-naturedly. And then I went floating happily back to my dorm, paced around my room in a frenzy for a moment, and finally opened it.

The deluxe package is beautiful. I won't go into detail describing the artwork and all, but it includes a full-color, hardcover lyrics book, a "Making-Of" DVD, the full-length prose novel co-written by Claudio Sanchez, the Black Card pass, and (of course) the album.

That's when the squealing and the excited jumping-for-joy began on my part.

Finally I calmed down enough to load the disc onto my laptop and my iPod, and then I laid down on my bed, closed my eyes, and put my headphones on. I stayed that way for a full hour, just absorbing the songs, occasionally looking at the lyrics book.

I still haven't fully absorbed the album because I only had time for one full listen so far. I was not disappointed with the album on the whole, but it is very different from Coheed's previous work. But hey, it's meant to be a prequel, so of course it's a new style. My two favorite songs off the album right now are "Far" and "Made Out of Nothing (All That I Am)." I'm very pleased with the album; I think it really shows the progress of the band.

And if that weren't proof enough of Coheed's success, today MTV announced that they won MTV's Musical March Madness Trophy! (Of course, I voted for them all the way - and apparently I wasn't the only one!) They beat out My Chemical Romance in the final round. The article can be found on MTV's site here.

Congratulations to Coheed and Cambria - now everyone go buy Year of the Black Rainbow!

Happy Tuesday!
Emily Noel

Another New Coheed Single, Another Amazing Day

"Here We Are Juggernaut" came out yesterday! It is Coheed and Cambria's second single off of Year of the Black Rainbow, and I love it even more than "The Broken." A little more than a month until YotBR! Can't wait!

"Here We Are Juggernaut," like "The Broken," has a new sound to it in comparision to Coheed's last 3 albums. Actually, if anything these are sounding a bit like Second Stage Turbine Blade, their first studio album, but that would make sense because YotBR is a prequel to all the other albums. Even Claudio Sanchez's voice sounds different, less emotionally invested, I guess, but I like that because he's not portraying the same character anymore. (For those who don't know, the other albums centered around a story based on comic books written by Claudio Sanchez. This new album is a prequel to that four-part story, told over their last four studio albums.)

Anyway, I realize I've been falling behind on everything blog-related, but that's because of homework and the fact that I've been working on original fiction writing a lot more lately, which is okay because it means I haven't been slacking in general. Just slacking on the blog. But it'll probably pick back up later in the spring and definitely in the summer.

Happy Friday!
Emily Noel

Coheed's New Single + Top 5 (Round 2)

Seriously, I can't handle the amount of new music I've been overloaded with (primarily because I now have a flock of iTunes gift cards with which to buy copious amounts of new music.) But I was SO EXCITED that I even forgot to update about one of the best things ever: Coheed and Cambria's new single, "The Broken."

Did I stay up until midnight to get it on iTunes? Obvs! (Actually, it was released a bit earlier than that, for some reason.) And...I have mixed feelings about it. It's good, but I guess it's just strange for me to accept something new of theirs after loving the other four current studio albums so much. And I hate judging albums on singles, so I'll just have to wait for Year of the Black Rainbow to be released. Besides, I have to keep reminding myself that this 5th album is a prequel to the others, so of course it's going to be different.

Anyway, I guess I'll post the lyrics from last week.

“Pull the Curtain” – Sum 41
“Something's wrong because I find the glamour in the dark side
In the dark side
(Where'd I go wrong?)
Cheap regrets, can't forget,
Falling victim to the debts
Still unpaid in my mind.

The one and only day has come,
I pay for all the bad things I've done.

It's gonna take me, you don't know tragedy
I've been to hell and back again to tell
Close my eyes and lay me down to sleep
I fear the worst, my beating heart ticks to explode
And my time is up so...

(Why can't I just lie?!)

Living dead awake, the horror show begins
So pull the curtains over me
Bring on the panic
The uncontrolled and manic
It's a free for all, kill them all, every last one of them, I don't care.”

---

Well, that’s cheerful, right? But I love this song because of the rage and pain in his voice. It’s really one of the most depressing songs I’ve ever heard; I can instantly get angry about something when I hear it, or if I’m already angry, I feel instantly justified in it.


“Mr. Brightside” – The Killers
“I'm coming out of my cage
And I've been doing just fine
Gotta, gotta be down
Because I want it all.
It started out with a kissHow did it end up like this?
It was only a kiss, it was only a kiss.

Now I'm falling asleep
And she's calling a cab
While he’s having a smoke
And she's taking a drag
Now they're going to bed
And my stomach is sick
And it's all in my head
But she's touching his chest now
He takes off her dress now
Let me go.
And I just can't look, it's killing me
And taking control.

Jealousy, turning saints into the sea
Swimming through sick lullabies
Choking on your alibis
But it's just the price I pay
Destiny is calling me
Open up my eager eyes
'Cause I'm Mr. Brightside.”

---
This is definitely in my all-time top-five songs of my entire life. It is probably one of the greatest break-up songs ever, and Brandon Flowers just has a way of making you feel the rejection coursing through every verse. It is super depressing and he sounds so resigned in it that by the end of the song I just end up feeling like rejection is fate.


“The Horror of Our Love” – Ludo
“I wake in terrorBlackbirds screaming
Dark cathedrals spilling
Midnight on their alters
I'm your servant
My immortal
Pale and perfect
Such unholy heaving
The statues close their eyes
The room is changing
Break my skin and drain me

Ancient language,
Speak through fingers
The awful edges
Where you end and I begin
Inside your mouth, I cannot see
There's catastrophe in everything I'm touching
As I sweat and crush you
And I hold your beating chambers
Until they beat no more
You die like angels sing.

Oh, the horror of our love
Never so much blood pulled through my veins
Oh, the horror of our love
Never so much blood.”

---
This is actually a really beautiful, haunting song to me, and I can never get over the imagery. I can just picture the darkness and lust taking over from the way he describes it.



“Sometime Around Midnight” – The Airborne Toxic Event
“As you stand...
Under the bar lights
And the band plays some song about forgetting yourself for a while
And the piano's this melancholy sound check to her smile
And that white dress she's wearing,
You haven't seen her for a while.

But you know...
That she's watching.
She's laughing, she's turning
She's holding her tonic like a crux.
The room suddenly spinning,
She walks up and asks how you are
So you can smell her perfume
You can see her lying naked in your arms

And so there's a change...
In your emotions.
And all of these memories come rushing
Like feral waves to your mind
Of the curl of your bodies,
Like two perfect circles, entwined.
And you feel hopeless, and homeless
And lost in the haze of the wine.”

---
This is another really powerfully emotional song, but I also can’t get over the imagery. It just paints such a vivid scene that it feels like I’m watching a film clip of some sort of post-break-up scene in a bar, every time I hear it.


“Higher Power” - Boston
“Let me love you
Take me home to your religion for the night
Let me touch you
Teach me how to see your vision through my eyes
Turn the pages
Tell my story, let me face another day
Safe embraces, I feel it comin' now
My captain's on his way.

Hey, my high power
The world is spinnin', but I'm not afraid
Yeah, give me the power
It's the beginnin', the beginnin' of another day.”

---
This is a really fun, upbeat song in general, but you can still get the message just by reading the lyrics. To me, it’s never really been totally clear if he’s talking about God or a lover, but I like it either way because it still refers to some sort of relationship on a sacred level, and having either one can make you feel invincible.

Happy Monday!
Emily Noel

Top 5 - Round 1

So, for my Music & Poetry class we have to pick our top-five lyrics every week, and I thought it'd be neat to list them here, too, since I have to do it for homework. I've still got a lot of blog topics I want to get to, but I'm kind of lacking the ambition to do full reviews right now.

Here's last week's Top 5 lyrics.

“The Suffering” - Coheed and Cambria
“We have lived as a child would care,
With this vial to drink I dare
(Oh, where have you been, oh where have you been?)
Only to cry all alone with your taste on tongue
(Oh, where have you been if it hurts to be forgiving? Bye...)

Should we try this again with hope? (Bye, bye)
Or is it lost, give up the ghost.
And should I die all alone as I knew I would...
(Then burn in hell young sinner!)
If it was up to me,
I would’ve figured you out
Way before the year clocked out
Oh, I hope you’re waiting
Oh, I hope you’re waiting.

Listen well, will you marry me?
(Not now, boy)
And are you well in the suffering?
(You’ve been…)
The most gracious of hosts,
I may be invited, girl,
But I’m not coming in.”

Coheed and Cambria is my all-time favorite band, and this is my favorite song by them. Despite its depressing-sounding title, I think “The Suffering” is one of the most inspiring songs I’ve ever heard. There is a lot of back-story surrounding the actual meaning of Co&Ca’s lyrics, because all the albums are based on graphic novels, but to me “The Suffering” is about losing the one you love, yet waiting for them anyway. At this point, the main character of the song is discouraged that he can’t get the girl he loves, and he has a lot of regrets, but he keeps trying for her and she’s rejecting him. But the hope and desperation in Claudio Sanchez’s voice kills me every time—I’ve heard this song at least three hundred times if I’ve heard it once and I’ll never stop being obsessed with it.

----------------

“Constructive Summer” - The Hold Steady
“Me and my friends are like
Double whiskey, coke no ice
We drink along in double time
Might drink too much, but we feel fine!

We're gonna build something this summer
Summer, grant us all the power
To drink on top of the water towers,
With love and trust and shows all summer
(Get hammered!)
Let this be my annual reminder
That we can all be something bigger.”

“Constructive Summer” is really fun to drive to or just rock out to, and it’s my favorite song by The Hold Steady. It’s basically just about being with your friends and having a great time, even though a lot of other things tend to get in the way and get you down. This song is all about forgetting all that and just letting go and enjoying the little things.

----------------

“Miami” - Taking Back Sunday
“Miami, Miami, Miami,
Well, every hour on the hour (every hour on the hour)
You have to, you just have to trust me
Whoever I was then,
I can't ever be again.

The faith you found, I never felt (never felt)
The terror held in wedding bells
And comfort in there’s no one else
The truth be told I'm never gonna know.”

“Miami” is another fast-paced, rocking-out song, also perfect for driving. “Whoever I was then / I can’t ever be again,” always hits me hard because it’s so true; there are always certain events in your life that change you permanently and are totally out of your control. The last stanza I included is my favorite, because it’s about a fear of commitment and how sometimes it feels safer to be alone. Sometimes you’re too hurt to trust anyone, even if you secretly want to be in love again.

----------------

“Dark Blue” – Jack’s Mannequin
“We were boxing the stars
We were boxing (we were boxing)
You were swinging for Mars
And then the water reached the West Coast
And took the power lines (the power lines)
And it was me and you (this could last forever)
And the whole town under water
There was nothing we could do
It was dark blue.

Dark blue (dark blue)
Have you ever been alone in a crowded room?
Well, I'm here with you
I said the world could be burning (burning) down
Dark blue,
Have you ever been alone in a crowded room?
Well, I'm here with you
I said the world could be burning, now there’s nothing but dark blue.

If you’ve ever been alone,
You’ll know (dark blue)
If you've ever been alone,
You'll know (you'll know.)”

Aside from dark blue being (coincidentally) my favorite color, this is one of my all-time top-ten favorite songs because it reminds me of unforgettable nights in my past with unforgettable people, some of who stuck around and some who have slipped out of my life. To me, it’s about being totally lost in the moment of a perfect night.

----------------

“Goodnight, Demon Slayer” – Voltaire
“Tell the harpies that land on your bed post
That at the count of five, you’ll roast them alive
Tell the devil it’s time you gave him his due
He should go back to hell, he should shake in his shoes
’Cause the mightiest, scariest, creature is you.

But I won’t tell you, there’s nothing beneath your bed
I won’t sell you, that it’s all in your head
This world of ours is not as it seems
The monsters are real but they're not in your dreams
Learn what you can from the beasts you defeat,
You’ll need it for some of the people you meet.

Goodnight, demon slayer, goodnight
Now it’s time to close your tired eyes
There are devils to slay and dragons to ride
If they see you coming, hell they better hide
Goodnight, goodnight, goodnight
Goodnight, my little slayer, goodnight.”

The artist, Voltaire, wrote this song for his son to get over his bedtime fears of monsters and the dark. I love it because it’s humorous and cute to listen to as an adult, knowing that there are no such things as dragons and monsters. But the second stanza I included are my favorite because I sometimes I wish I was still young enough to believe in imaginary creatures, and innocent enough not to know about life’s real “monsters,” like all the people you can’t trust.

Happy Monday!
Emily Noel

Looking Back

So, since I didn't blog for so long, we're going to take a glance back at what I didn't cover. Like the Grammy's last week. I'm not even going to say anything about who won what, because most of the artists that I love weren't even nominated (when Coheed and Cambria gets a Grammy, let me know) but I will say this: a lot of the performances were epic!

Top 3 Performances - Grammy's 2010
1) Pink - "Glitter in the Air"
2) Lady Gaga & Elton John - "Speechless"
3) Green Day and the cast of American Idiot the musical - "21 Guns"

If you didn't see any of these performances, I can't tell you how much you need to YouTube them or something. Pink's was especially phenomenal - she literally did glitter in the air, suspended above the stage in a nearly-nude body suit and sparkling heels. (Watch out, Lady Gaga! You have a contender for performance style here.)

Another topic that I never got around to was the end-of-2009 stuff. Rolling Stone came out with their “Top Such and Such of the Decade” issue, and I hated it, mostly because they chose really terrible stuff, and also because they CHEATED, because they listed multiple albums and/or songs for an artist. (Which I don’t think is fair.) So I made my own Best Albums of 2009 List, and I cheated, too. So there, Rolling Stone. See ya! (Also, RS lost more points in my eyes, because they put stupid John Mayer on the cover of their latest issue. To quote a friend and fellow JM-hater: “He makes me want to cut my ears off.”) But I made it super obvious by putting Coheed and Cambria as 1 and 2. No surprises there!

(And if I messed up and any of these albums are actually not from this decade...too bad. It's the decade I discovered them in, regardless.)

Emily Noel’s Top 50 Albums of the Decade:
1. Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV: Volume 1: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness – Coheed and Cambria
2. In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 – Coheed and Cambria
3. Two Rights Don’t Make a Left But Three Do – Relient K
4. The Black Parade – My Chemical Romance
5. The Great Burrito Extortion Case – Bowling For Soup
6. Everything in Transit – Jack’s Mannequin
7. Five Score and Seven Years Ago – Relient K
8. A Hangover You Don’t Deserve – Bowling For Soup
9. Move Along – All-American Rejects
10. Day & Age – The Killers
11. Folie a Deux – Fall Out Boy
12. Transatlanticism – Death Cab for Cutie
13. Underclass Hero – Sum 41
14. One of the Boys – Katy Perry
15. The Fame Monster – Lady Gaga
16. Boys Like Girls – Boys Like Girls
17. From Under the Cork Tree – Fall Out Boy
18. American Idiot – Green Day
19. Stay Positive – The Hold Steady
20. You’re Awful, I Love You – Ludo
21. Fun House – Pink
22. Absolution – Muse
23. Still Not Getting Any – Simple Plan
24. Take Offs and Landings – Rilo Kiley
25. Almost Here – The Academy Is…
26. All the Right Reasons – Nickelback
27. No Pads, No Helmets…Just Balls – Simple Plan
28. Stadium Arcadium – Red Hot Chili Peppers
29. The Airborne Toxic Event – The Airborne Toxic Event
30. Almost Human – Voltaire
31. This Gigantic Robot Kills – MC Lars
32. The Beautiful Letdown – Switchfoot
33. Louder Now – Taking Back Sunday
34. Extreme Behavior – Hinder
35. How to Save a Life – The Fray
36. Leaving Through the Window – Something Corporate
37. So Long, Astoria – The Ataris
38. Away From the Sun – 3 Doors Down
39. Remember Right Now – Spitalfield
40. Eager to Please – The Leftovers
41. Dreaming Out Loud – Onerepublic
42. Hopes and Fears – Keane
43. Two Lights – Five for Fighting
44. The Story and the Song – Between the Trees
45. Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge - My Chemical Romance
46. In Love and Death - The Used
47. All the Stars and Boulevards – Augustana
48. Ocean Eyes - Owl City
49. A Fever You Can't Sweat Out – Panic! at the Disco
50. Take Off Your Pants and Jacket - Blink-182

Okay, that's enough of that.

Have a great weekend!
Emily Noel

Gaga Leaves Fans “Speechless”

So here—FINALLY—is my latest review. Sorry for the long hiatus!

But first, before I get to that, may we have a moment of silence for the break-up of Fall Out Boy? I found out yesterday, and I have to say...I'm crushed. I've loved them since the release of From Under the Cork Tree (I don't like the majority of their older stuff) and I can't believe it's over. I saw them live in June 2007, and that has to be one of the best shows I've ever been to.

Forget Pete Wentz!! He's the one that's leaving; I say carry on without him! Who needs him? Everyone thinks he's so hot, but Patrick Stump is all you need--he's the literal voice behind the band, even if Wentz is their image. Some reports claim that it's not a "real" break-up...it's just a "break." Either way, it sounds like no more shows and no new albums.

But...THREE CHEERS FOR FOB! Best of luck to them, no matter what.

And now, for the main event...

Lady Gaga’s sophomore album The Fame Monster hit stores on November 24, 2009. She describes it as more of a B-side to The Fame, but I describe it as…well, honestly? ALBUM OF THE DAMN YEAR!

Oh, yeah. Take that, Grammy’s 2010! I can’t believe Taylor Swift won album of the year!!! Yes, several of my friends have called Swift “a real-life success story,” and I totally agree. She’s pretty cute, and I find her music vaguely appealing in a girl-next-door-makes-good kind of way. But 1) I am NOT a fan of country, and 2) Lady Gaga is a STAR! She is a true performer, and The Fame Monster has just as much sizzle as it has super juicy steak. In other words, it’s well-rounded. It’s not just glossy-glam pop like The Fame.

The Fame Monster shows Gaga’s humanity and vulnerability. She’s not just another slick celeb looking for fame and money. It’s all about her fears and struggles with life’s challenges—with men, friendship, love, sex, the pressures of fame, and finding yourself. I have to admit when I heard “Bad Romance,” Gaga’s first single off of The Fame Monster, I expected more crazy dance songs. I didn’t expect such emotional depth, but The Fame Monster has that, and more. It has pain, let me tell you!

When I first previewed The Fame Monster, I was hesitant. “Dance in the Dark” and “Telephone” have normal dance beats and lyrics when you first listen to them, before you really know what they’re about. But then I previewed “Speechless,” and my God, she left me speechless. Just a thirty-second clip of the song on iTunes—that’s all it took for me to buy the album. And then “Speechless” went on repeat all day and all night, almost nonstop. Eventually I did get around to the other songs, and I love them all, too. But something about that song grabbed me.

It’s more of an acoustic song, and she performed it for Queen Elizabeth on a fascinating set that made me fall in love with the Queen of Pop, and she also played it at the Grammy’s with Elton John (while throwing in bits of “Your Song,” which is the only one of two Elton songs that I like.) Anyway, she wrote “Speechless” for her father, who had a serious heart condition and didn’t want have it fixed. I’ve heard her say in several interviews that the conversations she’d have with him over this time period would literally leave her speechless, and she was so distraught that she wrote this song as a plea for him to save his life. He did finally agree to have surgery, which she paid for, and last I’ve heard he is fine. In an interview with Barbara Walters, Gaga said the experience made her realize that she only gets one set of parents, and how much they mean to her.

“Speechless” broke my heart and then threw me into love with Gaga forever. She rips through the lyrics with pain and desperation that brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it (and it's been over two months since the album was released.)

MY FAVORITE VERSE:
“I can’t believe how you slurred at me
With your half-wired broken jaw.
You popped my heart seams,
All my bubble dreams, bubble dreams!
I can’t believe how you looked at me
With your Johnny Walker eyes,
He’s gonna get you
And after he’s through
There’s gonna be no love left to rye.

And I know that it’s complicated,
But I’m a loser in love, so baby,
Raise a glass to mend
All the broken hearts
Of all my wrecked-up friends!”

CHORUS:
“I’ll never talk again
Oh, boy, you’ve left me speechless,
You’ve left me speechless, so speechless!
And I’ll never love again
Oh, friend, you’ve left me speechless,
You’ve left me speechless, so speechless!”

It makes me cry every time. I think everyone knows what it’s like to worry and care so much about a close friend or family member so much that it hurts, because you’d give anything to save them from their pain or problems, but you can’t, usually. It’s the worst thing, and it’s real. So pay attention, all you Gaga-haters: she isn’t just a hot girl out on the dance floor. This girl knows all about real life situations—she may be an NYU drop-out and a former coke addict, but she’s crafted an amazing life for herself and now she’s one of the biggest icons for our younger generations.

Five Stars for Lady Gaga!
Emily Noel

P.S. – If you haven’t yet bought The Fame Monster and just want a couple of her new, lighter songs, I also recommend “Alejandro,” “Monster,” and “So Happy I Could Die.”