More and more details of Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" album are slowly being revealed and one of the more interesting angles is that the album is influenced by the likes of Whitney Houston, Bruce Springsteen, and Iron Maiden.
Our pals at Rolling Stone were lucky enough to receive a private preview of four of the album's songs. An hour before Gaga took the stage at a recent Monster Ball tour date in Atlantic City, she played unfinished tracks."Hair" features Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons. Rolling Stone described the song as a mixture of Pat Benetar and Nine Inch Nails. In an interview with"On-Air With Ryan Seacrest," Gaga said the song had a "Bruce Springsteen vibe," while its melody was anthemic akin to Kiss and Iron Maiden.
Clemons is also featured on the '80s-"stadium-rock"-fueled "Edge Of Glory." "Scheiße" has been compared to '90s dance records by C&C Music Factory and Snap. And "Judas," billed as the album's next single, puts a bubbly spin on the theme of relationship despair.Gaga's "You And I," which she has been playing during concert dates, is reminiscent of Elton John. And as she proclaimed during her Grammy Award acceptance speech, "Born This Way" was inspired by Whitney Houston. "I thought of her voice when I wrote it," Gaga told Seacrest about the song that has also drawn comparisons toMadonna, among others.
That's a lot of influences for one album. But it's a part of Gaga's master plan. "I wouldn't tell people to expect all of the same types of songs like 'Born This Way,'" she told Seacrest. "They are very different. I explore lots of different genres in tandem with dance music and electronic music and industrial music."
Gaga, who wrote all of the album's lyrics and melodies, is again working with producer Red One. Clemons says he became a bigger Gaga fan after working with her. "All the craziness and stuff, there's a purpose to all of it," he says. "She has no boundaries. ... It's a day I'll never forget."
Former "American Idol" hopeful Chris Medina also had a day he'll never forget this week. Though it was sad to see him get eliminated from the singing competition, his exit drew the sympathy of judge Jennifer Lopez. Clips of J. Lo weeping about booting the contestant, who takes care of his handicapped fiancé, have added to Medina's celebrity as a web star. It's a good thing Medina is releasing a video for his Rodney Jerkins-produced song just in time. Aretha Franklin, however, didn't have too much empathy for Season 3 "Idol" winner Fantasia Barrino, who boycotted the Grammys last week when she learned that she would not be a part of the event's tribute to the Queen Of Soul. Though Franklin loves Fantasia and is looking forward to seeing her this summer in Detroit, she offered the budding singer a bit of tough love advice.Billy Ray Cryus' equally candid interview with GQ magazine about his concern for his daughter Miley backfired, and he made an effort to clean things up in a follow-up statement released this week. But many of us have learned that healing generally takes time. So we'll give the Cyruses some space. We also give Rihanna and Chris Brown credit for moving past their 2009 tabloid fodder fight that resulted in Brown pleading guilty to felony assault and being ordered to service probation, and take anger management and domestic violence courses. After two years, the judge agreed, with Rihanna's blessing, to lessen the restraining order that required Brown not to come within 50 yards of the "Only (Girl In The World)" singer.
It seems as though all of this week's music news headliners are steadily moving forward despite any setbacks. Not bad at all. Next week, though, they may not be so lucky. We will see you then for another wrap-up.
THIS WEEK'S TOP 5 MUSIC NEWS STORIES
1) Sneak Peek -- Gaga previews new songs
2) Papa Don't Preach -- Billy Ray Cyrus regrets negative Miley comments
3) Movin' On -- Rihanna's restraining order against Chris Brown reduced
4) Hard To Say Goodbye -- J. Lo cries during "Idol" elimination
5) You Better Think -- Aretha Franklin responds to Fantasia's Grammy boycott
