Born This Way
Encyclopedia
Born This Way is the second studio album
by American recording artist Lady Gaga
that was released on May 23, 2011, by Interscope Records
. The album is a follow-up to her internationally-successful albums The Fame
(2008) and The Fame Monster
(2009). As co-producer of every track on the album, Gaga collaborated with numerous producers, including RedOne
and Fernando Garibay
, with whom she had previously collaborated, and newcomers such as DJ Snake, DJ White Shadow, Jeppe Laursen
, Robert John "Mutt" Lange and Clinton Sparks
. She also included artists like the E Street Band
, saxophonist Clarence Clemons
and Queen
guitarist Brian May
on tracks from the album.
The music of Born This Way stems from the synthpop
, electropop and dance-pop
-oriented styles of her previous albums, yet it incorporates different forms of instrumentation which have not been used on her previous releases. It also incorporates a broader range of several musical genres like opera
, heavy metal
, disco
, and rock and roll
while its lyrical topics include sexuality, religion, freedom, feminism, and individualism. Despite being scrutinized by some religious and conservative commentators, the album was well-received by music critics; points of acclaim went to the varying musical styles in the album and Gaga's vocals.
Internationally successful, Born This Way debuted in the top five spots in every major market, including the Billboard 200
. In the United States, Born This Way sold 1.108 million copies in its first week – the largest first week album sales in five years – while the album's four singles – "Born This Way
", "Judas
", "The Edge of Glory
", and "You and I" – went on to chart in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100
. "Born This Way
" became the fastest-selling single in iTunes
history and the promotional track "Hair
" charted in sixteen countries. Gaga has performed songs from the album on different occasions, including at prominent award ceremonies including the 53rd Grammy Awards
and the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards
, as well as in other events and television appearances. As of October 2011, worldwide sales of the album have exceeded 8 million copies.
commented on the album's music; the latter described it as Gaga's "freedom album" during an interview with MTV
, while Carter, during an interview with Billboard
, felt her public image would begin to change after the release of Born This Way. A few months after the announcement, Gaga exclaimed that she has finished writing songs for the album. Upon being interviewed by Rolling Stone
, she expressed that "it came so quickly." She resumed: "I've been working on it for months, and I feel very strongly that it's finished right now. Some artists take years. I don't. I write music every day." In another interview with the magazine, Gaga exclaimed that the album will be "the anthem of [this] generation." She continued: "It includes the greatest music I've ever written. I've already written the first single for the new album and I promise you, that this album is the greatest of my career.
Besides sessions on tour buses, recording sessions and mixing for the album took place at Abbey Road Studios
in London
, England
, Studios 301
in Sydney
, Australia
, Sing Sing Studios in Melbourne
, Australia
, Gang Studios in Paris, France, Livingroom Studios
in Oslo
, Norway
, Allerton Hill in the United Kingdom, Warehouse Productions Studio in Omaha, Nebraska
, Studio at the Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada
, Officine Meccaniche
in Milan
, Italy
, Miami Beach Recording Studio in Miami Beach, Florida
, and Germano Studios in New York City
. Brian May
, a guitarist of Queen
, and Clarence Clemons
, a former member of the E Street Band
, worked with Gaga in the album.
On September 12, 2010, Lady Gaga made an appearance on the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards
. During the acceptance speech for her Video of the Year
award, Gaga announced the title of the album and sang the chorus of the its title track. In December 2010, Gaga announced via Twitter
the release dates of the album and its lead single at the stroke of midnight on January 1, 2011, described by Gaga as "a Christmas gift for my fans." Supplementing the announcement was a black-and-white photograph in which Gaga is "nude from the waist down, with her hair blowing about, and sporting a jacket with the name of the album emblazoned in what looks like bedazzled jewels."
, and dance-pop
, Born This Way incorporates a broader range of elements of several musical genres such as opera
, heavy metal
, rock and roll
, Europop
, New Wave
, mariachi
, electro-industrial
, and disco
. Born This Way also features a wider variety of instrumentation and musical styles. For example, in the eponymous lead single "Born This Way", an organ
can be heard as to Gaga's voice was closing out the song. Gaga sought inspiration from Gregorian chant
, a prominent feature in "Bloody Mary", in which a male vocal choir chants her name on several occasions. "Americano" has also been noted to feature instrumentation such as guitar
s and violin
s. On addition, "Bad Kids" is noted to feature electric guitar
s. The songs "Hair" and "The Edge of Glory" are distinguishable from the rest of the album, as a saxophone
can be heard throughout. It was performed by Clarence Clemons
, who was a prominent member of the E Street Band
. In several interviews, Lady Gaga expressed that she was mostly inspired by the likes of Madonna
, Whitney Houston
, and Bruce Springsteen
. Other notes of musical influence stemmed from Iron Maiden
, Kiss
, Queen
, TLC
, Pat Benatar
, and En Vogue
.
The album contains mainly moderate-tempo dance songs, described as "anthemic style melodies with really sledge-hammering dance beats." In the months prior to the release of Born This Way, Gaga characterized her new music as "something so much deeper than a wig or lipstick or a fucking meat dress
" and upon hearing it, Akon
remarked that she will take music to the "next level." The album includes references to several religious figures of Christianity
, notably Judas Iscariot
, Mary Magdalene
, and Jesus of Nazereth. Several songs on the album give reference to multiple social topics, including the Arizona immigration law. Messages of sexuality and feminism
are among the most distinguishable components of Born This Way. Other themes referenced in the album include individualism
, equality
, and freedom.
", a song written as a homage to New York City. It is a dance-pop record which contains church bell
s, a thumping four on the floor house
beat, a funk rock
-influenced breakdown, and has been noted to contain elements of disco
, techno
, funk
and hi-NRG
music. The song's sound has been compared to that of 1980s hair metal artists, including Bon Jovi
, Pat Benatar
and Bonnie Tyler
. The next, and title, song, "Born This Way
" is about how everybody is equal, regardless of skin color, sexuality
, or creed, and that every person can fulfill his or her dream. The song, which has been compared with Madonna's "Express Yourself", features Eurodisco beats. The third track of the album, "Government Hooker", contains elements of opera music, and a dance melody resembling genres such as techno, trance
, industrial
and post-disco
, as well as a hip hop
-influenced beat. The song has been compared to the work of German electronic band Kraftwerk
.
The fourth song and second single is "Judas
", which Gaga confirmed to be influenced by the Biblical Judas Iscariot
. The song's lyrics are about being betrayed as well as "honoring your darkness in order to bring yourself into the light," according to Gaga. The song is also essentially a dance-pop and electropop track, with influences of industrial and disco music, a 1980s-inspired pop chorus,
as well as a breakdown containing elements of dubstep
and techno music. In parts of the song, Gaga sing-raps
with a Caribbean
Patois accent.
The album's fifth track is "Americano", a mariachi
song with techno, house and disco influences. Written in Spanish
and English
, "Americano" was composed by Gaga as a response to the Arizona immigration law Arizona SB 1070. Critics have noted vaudevillian
elements within the song, and it has been compared it to the work of Judy Garland
, with Gaga herself claiming that she sees the French chanson
singer Édith Piaf
when she sings "Americano". The sixth track, and also a promotional single, "Hair
" is a song about expressing freedom through one's hair. The song has a dance-pop melody, yet it has influences from rock/heavy metal music artists and bands such as Bruce Springsteen
, Iron Maiden
and Kiss
, and also contains The E Street Band member Clarence Clemons
playing the saxophone
. It has also been noted to incorporate disco and Europop music. The seventh track, "Scheiße
" contains German
lyrics and has a message of feminism
, accompanied by a heavy synths, techno beats, as well as Eurodisco influences. The song's melody has drawn comparisons to Madonna and electroclash
artist Miss Kittin
. After "Scheiße" is Born This Ways eighth track, "Bloody Mary", which is a relatively slow-tempo song containing "plucked strings" and "filthy beats", as well as numerous religious references, and a trance-influenced melody. "Bad Kids" contains 1980s synthpop
influences and electric guitars. Described as having an "old-school" style, its disco beat has been compared to that of Donna Summer
, and influences of heavy metal music have been found within is composition.
"Highway Unicorn (Road to Love)" is Born This Ways tenth track. A dance-pop
song with elements of industrial and post-disco music, it has been noted to have Bruce Springsteen influences, as well as powerful drums and synths. "Heavy Metal Lover", the eleventh track, is song of electropop and techno tendencies, which has been noted to contain elements of house music, electro-industrial beats, and has been compared to the power pop
of the 1990s. Synthesizers are used as a focal point for the song. Following "Heavy Metal Lover" is "Electric Chapel", a heavy metal-influenced pop song noted to contain elements of Europop that has been compared to Madonna. The album's thirteenth track and fourth single, "You and I", is a rock and roll
ballad which contains elements of country rock music
. The song contains a moderato-tempo, and Queen
guitarist Brian May
is also featured on the track. The track, furthermore, samples Queen's 1977 single "We Will Rock You
".
The fourteenth track and third single is "The Edge of Glory
", which refers to the death of Gaga's grandfather. It is an upbeat song of dance-pop, electronic rock and synthpop tendencies; it also contains a saxophone solo by Clarence Clemons which has drawn comparisons to blues music. One of the bonus tracks is "Black Jesus † Amen Fashion", a pop song which draws influences from 1980s and 90s electronic and club music, and has been noted to contain elements of techno and New Wave music; it has also been compared to Madonna and Justice
. The track's lyrics have numerous references relating to fashion
and New York City, including Broadway
. "Fashion of His Love", the second bonus track, is a 1980s-influenced dance-pop song that contains references to the late fashion designer Alexander McQueen
. The final bonus track is "The Queen", which is a disco-influenced pop song about bravery and a slight element of feminism.
in February 2011, Lady Gaga confirmed that there would be a total of seventeen tracks on the album, of which fourteen would make the final cut to the standard edition. The other three songs were initially to be released on an exclusive deluxe edition of the album at Target
; however, Gaga later ended her partnership with Target in response to the company's donation of US$150,000 to the conservative political group Minnesota Forward
.
On April 17, 2011, Gaga tweeted her selection for the cover art
of Born This Way, which featured Gaga fused into a motorcycle. Gaga's name does not appear on the album cover – the only text is the chrome writing across the top reading the album's name. The cover received a negative response from some critics and fans. Sean Michaels of The Guardian
expressed that the cover "[looked] more like a cheap Photoshop
job than the most anticipated album of the year." He then commented: "Gone are the futurist sunglasses, the asymmetrical haircuts, even Gaga's newly touted magic horns; instead, a mutant motorbike with Gaga's arms and head, plus a cheesy chrome typeface." He also referenced several messages from fans on Lady Gaga's official forum expressing their dislike for the cover. Andrew Martin of Prefix referred to it as "a reject from the last Terminator
film". The special edition cover was released on the same day. It featured just Gaga's head from the standard edition cover. The words "Lady Gaga" and "Born This Way" appear in the top left corner of the cover. They are typed in Impact font
with "Born This Way" being highlighted in white with black letters. Neither of the words special nor deluxe appear anywhere on the album, as Gaga dislikes the words.
Prior to the release of Born This Way, the contents of the album were leaked online on May 18, 2011. Due to a violation of copyright law, it was later removed. The album was formally released worldwide on May 23, 2011, in two separate editions. The special edition included three bonus tracks not included on the standard edition of the album. Several non-singles songs were previewed as part of promoting Born This Way. Remixes of "Scheiße" and "Government Hooker" were previewed at fashion shows presented by Thierry Mugler
in January and March 2011, respectively. Several songs were released on FarmVille
during the next few days prior to the album's release, including "Marry the Night
", "Americano", and "Electric Chapel".
in Los Angeles. Six days later at the show as part of The Monster Ball Tour
in Atlantic City, Gaga performed "Born This Way" as a second encore, using the same general attire and choreography as the Grammy performance. However, the incubation vessel was not present and slight alterations were made in the outfits of her dancers. The song was then added to the set-list of the concert tour. Two months later "Judas
" was performed by Gaga in at Kennedy Lounge in Tampa, Florida
, after finishing her show at the adjacent St. Pete Times Forum
as part of The Monster Ball Tour
. "Judas" was performed on national television for the first time on Ellen
(April 28), and again at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival
(May 12).
Throughout the month of May, Gaga performed "Born This Way" on Oprah
(May 6), The Graham Norton Show
(May 13), and the season finale
of Saturday Night Live
(May 21), during which the singer wore a metallic dress and a side ponytail
. It also included acoustic performances of "Judas" and "The Edge of Glory
". At the Radio 1's Big Weekend in Carlisle, Cumbria, Gaga performed the first three singles of the album, as well as a live performance of "Bad Romance
" (2009) and a cover of "Orange Colored Sky
" as sung by Nat King Cole
. On May 25, Lady Gaga showcased the final version of "The Edge of Glory" at the final show of the tenth season
of American Idol
, where she was joined by Clemons in person. Following her concert on American Idol, Gaga appeared on Good Morning America
as part of the "Summer Concert Series", which took place at Central Park in New York. While there, she opened up the show with a performance of "Bad Romance", and performed all the songs from the album. Proceeding the event was an appearance on the season finale
of Germany's Next Topmodel: Gaga previewed her song "Scheiße" and played an acoustic rendition of "Born This Way" on the piano, while performing "The Edge of Glory" to close off the show.
Lady Gaga attended the EuroPride 2011
in Rome, Italy, where she sang several songs from the album and denounced discrimination against the LGBT community. Performances on the Paul O'Grady Show and X Factor
followed suit; in the latter appearance, she started the show by playing a keytar
for "The Edge of Glory", and transitioned into "Judas". At the 2011 MuchMusic Video Awards
, Gaga opened up with "The Edge of Glory" and concludes the show by performing the eponymous lead single. Both songs were performed again at the 2011 MTV Video Music Aid Japan
, in which Gaga opens up the show once more by singing the album's third single, while performing an acoustic rendition of "Born This Way". At French television show Taratata
, "Hair" was performed by Gaga. The recorded performance was released to her YouTube
channel by Gaga. It was again performed during a short promotional tour in Taiwan
, alongside "Judas" and "Telephone
".
In May 2011, Gaga told Australian radio show The Kyle & Jackie O Show
that she would be coming to Sydney to perform a one-off concert in July 2011, to promote Born This Way, which occurred at Sydney Town Hall
on July 13. Over the course of a few months, Gaga performed "The Edge of Glory", "Hair" and "You and I" on various occasions, notably on The Howard Stern Show (July 18), Jimmy Kimmel Live! (July 28), The View (August 3), and the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards
(August 28).
" was released as the album's lead single on February 11, 2011. Described as a "magical message", the song was written by Lady Gaga and Jeppe Laursen
, and produced by Gaga, Laursen, Fernando Garibay
and DJ White Shadow. The song was met with mostly positive reception from critics, who noted the similarities to songs such as Madonna's
"Express Yourself". "Born This Way" experienced widespread commercial success, topping the charts in over nineteen countries. The song became Gaga's third No. 1 hit in the United States, where it spent six weeks on the top of the Billboard Hot 100
The song sold over a million copies worldwide, becoming the fastest selling song in iTunes
history.
"Judas
" became the second single, having been released on April 15, 2011. Critics reacted positively to "Judas", complimenting the song's breakdown, yet noted similarities in its composition with that of "Bad Romance
". For the issue dated April 30, 2011, it debuted at No. 4 on Hot Digital Songs
chart with the sale of 162,000 copies. The song peaked at No. 10 in the United States, and charted in the top ten of twenty countries while reaching No. 1 on the South Korean charts.
"The Edge of Glory
" was originally released on May 9, 2011, as a promotional single but, due to the huge commercial success of the song, it was shortly re-released as the third single for the album on May 11. The song has been met with critical acclaim from many critics, who deemed it as an album highlight. Points of positive reception include the saxophone solo, the underlying message and Gaga's vocals, which were described as a "throaty, soulful voice." "The Edge of Glory" has been met with high commercial success, charting on the top ten in nineteen countries. It became Gaga's tenth consecutive top-ten single in the United States, debuting at No. 3 on the Hot 100.
"You and I" is the album's fourth single. Critics reacted positively to "You and I", complimenting the musical composition of the song. It impacted American mainstream radio stations on August 23, 2011. The song became Gaga's eleventh consecutive top ten single in the United States, peaking at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100
.
"Marry the Night
" serves as the fifth single from the album. Critical reception towards the song was positive, with reviewers calling it a strong dance-pop number. The song has already charted in five different countries including the United States, where it peaked at number seventy-nine on the Billboard Hot 100. Interscope Records
confirmed to Billboard
that the song is to be released as the fifth single internationally but were initially undecided on whether or not it will receive a U.S. release. The label later decided to release it in the U.S. as well; it would impact Top 40/Mainstream and Rhythmic radio on November 15, 2011. "Marry The Night" officially impacted Australian radio on October 17, 2011, and the song will be released in the UK on December 4, 2011.
upon its release. At Metacritic
, which assigns a normalized
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average
score of 71, based on 33 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews." Dan Martin of NME
gave it eight out of 10, stating "Gaga doesn't know when to hold back – and it's a damn good thing," and complimented Gaga for pushing musical boundaries to its "ultimate degree." Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine
opined: "There's nothing small about this album, and Gaga sings the shit out of every single track." Cinquemani compared the album to The Killers' album Sam's Town
, calling it "bloated, self-important, proudly American, an exercise in extraordinary excess." BBC Music
called the album a "marvelous record" and commended Gaga for "actually putting a bit of effort and imagination back into pop." Rolling Stone
s Rob Sheffield praised Gaga's vocals and musical style, expressing that "the more excessive Gaga gets, the more honest she sounds." Bill Lamb of About.com
gave the album five out of five stars and concluded in his review, "Born This Way begins and ends with near perfection." Spin
felt that "excess is Gaga's riskiest musical gamble, but it's also her greatest weapon, and Born This Way relentlessly bludgeons listeners' pleasure centres," and concluded that "she's making a convincing case that she's evolving into our most surreally brilliant pop star." Adam Markovitz of Entertainment Weekly
found the album "rewarding but wildly uneven", adding that "If Gaga doesn't find a stand-alone hit here on the order of "Bad Romance", the album’s sprawl still shows off the breadth of her talent." Despite criticizing her for "letting her skills as a songwriter slide ever so slightly," Allmusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine
gave the album three-and-a-half out of five stars and complimented Gaga's composing "sensibility" and "considerable dexterity at delivering the basics."
However, Greg Kot
of the Chicago Tribune
felt that the album was rushed, describing it as "hyperventilating". Kot expressed that it felt like the sound "of a major artist sprinting to please everyone all the time." Randall Roberts of the Los Angeles Times
opined that Gaga was lacking in innovation, stating that "musical adventure is not one of her strong points." He continued: "She's unsubtle in her message, unsubtle in her dress, and, most important, unsubtle aesthetically[...]. If Gaga had only spent as much time on pushing musical boundaries as she has social ones, Born This Way would have been a lot more successful." Chris Richards of The Washington Post
found it "boring", writing, "Yes, Born This Way is a dark, dense and surprisingly aggressive listen... [but] at its worst, it sounds like reheated leftovers from some '80s movie soundtrack." The Boston Globe
called the album "the most deflated moment in pop music this year," saying the album lacks cohesion and the songwriting "feels thin." The Independent
gave Born This Way three out of five stars. While complimenting her vocal range, criticized the diversity within the album and stated "the broader she spreads her net musically, the less distinctive her art becomes." Evan Sawdey of PopMatters
gave the album a five-out-of-10 rating and dubbed it "her weakest album to date," commenting that it "fus[es] some daring songwriting with some remarkably repetitive themes and beats." Rich Juzwiak of The Village Voice
commented that Gaga's "we-shall-overcome sentiment" is expressed more effectively through the album's "egalitarian use of house beats" than through her "sloganeering", which he found "trite" and "[un]insightful." In his consumer guide for MSN Music
, critic Robert Christgau
viewed the album as not on-par with The Fame or The Fame Monster, but added that "both of those keep growing, and with its mad momentum and nutty thematics, this one could too."
and its stance on sexuality. In Lebanon
, Born This Way was temporarily banned by the General Secretary Department, who deemed the album to be in bad taste and mocking of Christianity. Abdo Abu Kassm, director of the Catholic Information Center of Lebanon, highly criticized the themes of the album, expressing that "if they are going to offend us we are going to cancel the album." He continued: "We will not accept that anyone insult the Virgin Mary or Jesus or Christianity [...]. Call us traditional, call us backward, call us whatever you want. We will not accept it." This ban lasted up until June 9.
The music video of "Judas
" was criticized by William A. Donohue
, the president of the Catholic League
, notably for Gaga's portrayal of Mary Magdalene
. In an interview with HollywoodLife.com, Donahue expressed discontent towards Gaga's focus on Judas and Mary Magdalene, calling her "increasingly irrelevant" compared to people with "real talent", and attacked her for seemingly purposefully debuting the song and video close to Holy Week
and Easter
. Shortly after its release, "Judas" was banned in Lebanon. In Malaysia, where homosexuality is considered a criminal offense, the government criticized the album for its stance on sexuality and feminism. Shortly after the release of the title track "Born This Way
", radio stations across the country edited out several lyrics of the song as ordered by the Malaysian government. Rosnah Ismail, the vice-chancellor of Universiti Malaysia Sabah
, condemned the song, opining: "Islam forbids this. We have to abide by the country's laws."
However, not all religious groups reacted negatively to the album. Helen Lee of Busted Halo
felt that Gaga was "spreading the [good] news of Jesus Christ, whether intentionally or not." She resumed: "Her views on celibacy, personal strength and individuality are certainly laudable [...] and far more compelling is what she has to say about human nature and human suffering."
after having sold 1,108,000 copies during the first week, making it the seventeenth album to sell over a million copies in one week. Born This Way was Gaga's first number-one album and the highest first-week total since 50 Cent
's The Massacre
(2005) sold 1,141,000 in its first week. Gaga is the fifth woman to sell one million copies in a week, after Whitney Houston
(The Bodyguard Soundtrack, 1992), Britney Spears
(Oops!...I Did It Again, 2000), Norah Jones
(Feels Like Home, 2004), and Taylor Swift
(Speak Now
, 2010). Amazon sold an estimated 440,000 copies in its first two days at a price of 99 cents (at a loss of over $3 million) which contributed to its 662,000 digital sales, the largest in SoundScan history. The digital downloads accounted for 60 percent of Born This Ways first week total. The album also became the eighth best-selling digital album in United States history after its first week of sales. Before debuting on the Billboard 200, Born This Way debuted at No. 10 on the Dance/Electronic Albums chart. The next week, it jumped to No. 1, displacing The Fame. In its second week, the album remained at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, despite an 84% sales decrease with a sales of 174,000 copies. Digitally, the album had a 94% drop, selling 38,000 copies. In its third week the album fell to No. 2 being displaced by Adele
's 21
with 42% sales decrease after having sold 100,000 copies. In its fourth week the album fell to No. 4 with 33% sales decrease, selling 68,000 copies. As of October 2011, Born This Way is the second best selling album of 2011 in the United States, with sales of 1,900,000 copies.
The album debuted at No. 1 in Ireland
, and Sweden
, while debuting at No. 2 in Finland where it was the fifth-best-selling album of 2011. The album debuted at No. 1 in Australia
, becoming her second number-one album there after The Fame Monster
. Born This Way was certified platinum in Australia in its first week, by the Australian Recording Industry Association
(ARIA) for shipment of 70,000 copies. In the United Kingdom
, the album debuted at No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart
dated May 29, 2011, selling 215,639 units, which is the highest first-week sales of the year. That week, the album outsold more than the rest of the top 10 combined and has the best first-week tally of any album by an American female solo artist since Madonna
's Confessions on a Dance Floor
with sales of 217,610 copies in 2005. According to The Official Charts Company, the album has sold a total of 527,110 as of August 2011. Born This Way debuted at No. 1 on the New Zealand Albums Chart
, becoming her second album to chart there, also after The Fame Monster. The album was certified platinum in its first week of sales. Born This Way sold 184,000 copies in its first week in Japan, and debuted atop the Oricon
. It has been certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan
(RIAJ) for shipment of 500,000 copies. As of July 26, 2011, it has sold 510,000 copies in Japan. The album sold 2.5 million copies worldwide on its first week of release. As of October 2011, worldwide sales of Born This Way exceed 8 million copies.
Born This Way (Special Edition Fan Package)
Born This Way (Special Edition album download)
Born This Way (Indian Version)
Born This Way (Limited USB Drive)
Born This Way: The Remix
Born This Way: The Remix (Japanese Limited Edition)
Born This Way – The Collection
Born This Way – The Collection/T-Shirt
Born This Way – The Collection Bundle
Born This Way: The Remix double album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by American recording artist Lady Gaga
Lady GaGa
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...
that was released on May 23, 2011, by Interscope Records
Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that currently operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-History:...
. The album is a follow-up to her internationally-successful albums The Fame
The Fame
The Fame is the debut studio album by American recording artist Lady Gaga. It was released on August 19, 2008 through Interscope Records. After joining Kon Live Distribution and Cherrytree Records in 2008, Gaga began working on the album with different producers, primarily RedOne, Martin...
(2008) and The Fame Monster
The Fame Monster
The Fame Monster is the third EP by American recording artist Lady Gaga. It was released on November 18, 2009 through Interscope Records. Initially planned to be included on a re-release of Gaga's debut studio album, The Fame, she announced that the eight tracks would be included on a standalone...
(2009). As co-producer of every track on the album, Gaga collaborated with numerous producers, including RedOne
RedOne
Nadir Khayat , known by the stage name RedOne, is a Moroccan producer and songwriter. Renowned for co-producing hit singles such as "Just Dance", "Poker Face", "LoveGame", "Bad Romance", "Alejandro" and "Judas", he is attributed by some as the key to Lady Gaga's success...
and Fernando Garibay
Fernando Garibay
Fernando Garibay is a Mexican music producer, DJ, and songwriter. He was the official musical director for musician Lady Gaga during the making of her third album Born This Way.Garibay has been making records since the age of sixteen...
, with whom she had previously collaborated, and newcomers such as DJ Snake, DJ White Shadow, Jeppe Laursen
Jeppe Laursen
Jeppe Breum Laursen is a Danish singer-songwriter and producer. Performing under the name "Senior," Jeppe was the lead vocalist for the dance-rock band Junior Senior. Dazed and Confused praised Jeppe's music for its "urgency and club appeal" and described it as "industrial synth-pop and...
, Robert John "Mutt" Lange and Clinton Sparks
Clinton Sparks
Clinton Sparks is a Boston-based radio, mixtape & Club DJ as well as a recording artist, writer, producer and TV personality.-Biography:...
. She also included artists like the E Street Band
E Street Band
The E Street Band has been rock musician Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band since 1972.The band has also recorded with a wide range of other artists including Bob Dylan, Meat Loaf, Bonnie Tyler, Air Supply, Dire Straits, David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, Stevie Nicks, Tom Morello, Sting, Ian...
, saxophonist Clarence Clemons
Clarence Clemons
Clarence Anicholas Clemons, Jr. , also known as The Big Man, was an American musician and actor. From 1972 until his death, he was a prominent member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, playing the tenor saxophone. He released several solo albums and in 1985, had a hit single with "You're a...
and Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
guitarist Brian May
Brian May
Brian Harold May, CBE is an English musician and astrophysicist most widely known as the guitarist and a songwriter of the rock band Queen...
on tracks from the album.
The music of Born This Way stems from the synthpop
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...
, electropop and dance-pop
Dance-pop
Dance-pop is dance-oriented pop music that originated in the early 1980s. Developing from post-disco, it is generally up-tempo music intended for clubs with the intention of being danceable or merely dancey...
-oriented styles of her previous albums, yet it incorporates different forms of instrumentation which have not been used on her previous releases. It also incorporates a broader range of several musical genres like opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
, disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
, and rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
while its lyrical topics include sexuality, religion, freedom, feminism, and individualism. Despite being scrutinized by some religious and conservative commentators, the album was well-received by music critics; points of acclaim went to the varying musical styles in the album and Gaga's vocals.
Internationally successful, Born This Way debuted in the top five spots in every major market, including the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
. In the United States, Born This Way sold 1.108 million copies in its first week – the largest first week album sales in five years – while the album's four singles – "Born This Way
Born This Way (song)
"Born This Way" is a song by American recording artist Lady Gaga, from her second studio album, Born This Way. Written and produced by Gaga, Fernando Garibay, Jeppe Laursen and DJ White Shadow, "Born This Way" was developed while Gaga was on the road with The Monster Ball Tour...
", "Judas
Judas (song)
"Judas" is a song by American recording artist Lady Gaga, taken from her second studio album Born This Way . The song was released worldwide on April 15, 2011, four days ahead of its scheduled release, by Interscope Records. Written and produced by Lady Gaga and RedOne, "Judas" is a dance song that...
", "The Edge of Glory
The Edge of Glory
"The Edge of Glory" is a song by American recording artist and songwriter Lady Gaga, from her second studio album Born This Way . The song was released digitally on May 9, 2011, and was added to the United States mainstream radio playlists on May 17, 2011...
", and "You and I" – went on to chart in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. "Born This Way
Born This Way (song)
"Born This Way" is a song by American recording artist Lady Gaga, from her second studio album, Born This Way. Written and produced by Gaga, Fernando Garibay, Jeppe Laursen and DJ White Shadow, "Born This Way" was developed while Gaga was on the road with The Monster Ball Tour...
" became the fastest-selling single in iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
history and the promotional track "Hair
Hair (Lady Gaga song)
"Hair" is a song by American recording artist Lady Gaga, from her second studio album Born This Way . Written and produced by Gaga and RedOne, "Hair" was released worldwide digitally on May 16, 2011, as the only promotional single from the album, as part of the iTunes Store's "Countdown...
" charted in sixteen countries. Gaga has performed songs from the album on different occasions, including at prominent award ceremonies including the 53rd Grammy Awards
53rd Grammy Awards
The 53rd annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2011, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They were broadcast on CBS with a rating of 26.6 million viewers. Barbra Streisand was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year two nights prior to the telecast on February 11. Nominations were...
and the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards
2011 MTV Video Music Awards
The 2011 MTV Video Music Awards took place on August 28, at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, honoring the best music videos from the previous year. On July 20, the nominees were announced...
, as well as in other events and television appearances. As of October 2011, worldwide sales of the album have exceeded 8 million copies.
Background and recording
In March 2010, Lady Gaga disclosed that she was working on a new album, saying that she had written most of the songs for the proposed album. Meanwhile, her manager, Troy Carter, and RedOneRedOne
Nadir Khayat , known by the stage name RedOne, is a Moroccan producer and songwriter. Renowned for co-producing hit singles such as "Just Dance", "Poker Face", "LoveGame", "Bad Romance", "Alejandro" and "Judas", he is attributed by some as the key to Lady Gaga's success...
commented on the album's music; the latter described it as Gaga's "freedom album" during an interview with MTV
Music television
Music television is a type of television programming which focuses predominantly on playing music videos from bands, usually on dedicated television channels broadcasting on satellite or cable. Music TVs may host their own shows charts, award prizes. Examples are VIVA, Scuzz, MTV, JBTV, MuchMusic,...
, while Carter, during an interview with Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
, felt her public image would begin to change after the release of Born This Way. A few months after the announcement, Gaga exclaimed that she has finished writing songs for the album. Upon being interviewed by Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, she expressed that "it came so quickly." She resumed: "I've been working on it for months, and I feel very strongly that it's finished right now. Some artists take years. I don't. I write music every day." In another interview with the magazine, Gaga exclaimed that the album will be "the anthem of [this] generation." She continued: "It includes the greatest music I've ever written. I've already written the first single for the new album and I promise you, that this album is the greatest of my career.
Besides sessions on tour buses, recording sessions and mixing for the album took place at Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Studios 301
Studios 301
Studios 301 is an Australian recording studio. Established in 1926, Studios 301 is the longest running professional recording studio in the southern hemisphere. It is also Australia’s largest Studio complex featuring state of the art 72 channel Neve 88R console and 72 channel SSL K Series console...
in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Sing Sing Studios in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Gang Studios in Paris, France, Livingroom Studios
Livingroom studios
Livingroom Studios is a recording and mastering studio based in Oslo, Norway. Started in 1999 by Espen Berg, Livingroom is one of Norway's few SSL-equipped studios and home to the producers/engineers Espen Berg, and Simen Eriksrud. Its in-house mastering facility services most of Norway's major...
in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, Allerton Hill in the United Kingdom, Warehouse Productions Studio in Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
, Studio at the Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, Officine Meccaniche
Officine Meccaniche (recording studio)
Mountain Studios is a recording studio located in Milan, Italy. It was owned by Carlo e Umberto Zanibelli e Lidia Gualtieri from 1962 until 1998...
in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Miami Beach Recording Studio in Miami Beach, Florida
Miami Beach, Florida
Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on a barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter which separates the Beach from Miami city proper...
, and Germano Studios in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Brian May
Brian May
Brian Harold May, CBE is an English musician and astrophysicist most widely known as the guitarist and a songwriter of the rock band Queen...
, a guitarist of Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
, and Clarence Clemons
Clarence Clemons
Clarence Anicholas Clemons, Jr. , also known as The Big Man, was an American musician and actor. From 1972 until his death, he was a prominent member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, playing the tenor saxophone. He released several solo albums and in 1985, had a hit single with "You're a...
, a former member of the E Street Band
E Street Band
The E Street Band has been rock musician Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band since 1972.The band has also recorded with a wide range of other artists including Bob Dylan, Meat Loaf, Bonnie Tyler, Air Supply, Dire Straits, David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, Stevie Nicks, Tom Morello, Sting, Ian...
, worked with Gaga in the album.
On September 12, 2010, Lady Gaga made an appearance on the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards
2010 MTV Video Music Awards
The 2010 MTV Video Music Awards took place on September 12, 2010 at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, honoring the best music videos from the previous year...
. During the acceptance speech for her Video of the Year
MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year
The MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year is the main award handed out at the yearly MTV Video Music Awards. It was first awarded in , when The Cars won it, and has been given out since. Eminem has been the most nominated solo artist, male solo artist, and act in this category, having been...
award, Gaga announced the title of the album and sang the chorus of the its title track. In December 2010, Gaga announced via Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
the release dates of the album and its lead single at the stroke of midnight on January 1, 2011, described by Gaga as "a Christmas gift for my fans." Supplementing the announcement was a black-and-white photograph in which Gaga is "nude from the waist down, with her hair blowing about, and sporting a jacket with the name of the album emblazoned in what looks like bedazzled jewels."
Themes and influences
In terms of musical composition, Born This Way is considered to be a notable departure from Gaga's previous works. In contrast to much of her previous albums, which consist of elements of mostly electropop, house musicHouse music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
, and dance-pop
Dance-pop
Dance-pop is dance-oriented pop music that originated in the early 1980s. Developing from post-disco, it is generally up-tempo music intended for clubs with the intention of being danceable or merely dancey...
, Born This Way incorporates a broader range of elements of several musical genres such as opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
, rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
, Europop
Europop
Europop refers to a style of pop music that first developed in today's form in Europe, throughout the late 1970s. Europop topped the charts throughout the 1980s and ’90s...
, New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
, mariachi
Mariachi
Mariachi is a genre of music that originated in the State of Jalisco, in Mexico. It is an integration of stringed instruments highly influenced by the cultural impacts of the historical development of Western Mexico. Throughout the history of mariachi, musicians have experimented with brass, wind,...
, electro-industrial
Electro-industrial
Electro-industrial is a music genre drawing on EBM and post-industrial that developed in the mid-1980s. While EBM has a minimal structure and clean production, electro-industrial has a deep, complex and layered sound. The style was pioneered by Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly, and other groups,...
, and disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
. Born This Way also features a wider variety of instrumentation and musical styles. For example, in the eponymous lead single "Born This Way", an organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
can be heard as to Gaga's voice was closing out the song. Gaga sought inspiration from Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical music within Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services...
, a prominent feature in "Bloody Mary", in which a male vocal choir chants her name on several occasions. "Americano" has also been noted to feature instrumentation such as guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s and violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
s. On addition, "Bad Kids" is noted to feature electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
s. The songs "Hair" and "The Edge of Glory" are distinguishable from the rest of the album, as a saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
can be heard throughout. It was performed by Clarence Clemons
Clarence Clemons
Clarence Anicholas Clemons, Jr. , also known as The Big Man, was an American musician and actor. From 1972 until his death, he was a prominent member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, playing the tenor saxophone. He released several solo albums and in 1985, had a hit single with "You're a...
, who was a prominent member of the E Street Band
E Street Band
The E Street Band has been rock musician Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band since 1972.The band has also recorded with a wide range of other artists including Bob Dylan, Meat Loaf, Bonnie Tyler, Air Supply, Dire Straits, David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, Stevie Nicks, Tom Morello, Sting, Ian...
. In several interviews, Lady Gaga expressed that she was mostly inspired by the likes of Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
, Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...
, and Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
. Other notes of musical influence stemmed from Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in east London, formed in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the band's discography has grown to include a total of thirty-six albums: fifteen studio albums; eleven live albums; four EPs; and six...
, Kiss
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
, Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
, TLC
TLC (band)
TLC is an American musical trio whose repertoire spanned R&B, hip-hop, soul, funk, and new jack swing. Originally consisting of singer Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, rapper-singer Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes and singer Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas it found success in the 1990s while also enduring a series of spats...
, Pat Benatar
Pat Benatar
Pat Benatar is an American singer and four-time Grammy winner. She had considerable commercial success particularly in the United States...
, and En Vogue
En Vogue
En Vogue is an American female R&B vocal group from Oakland, California assembled by music producers Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy.The group has won more MTV Video Music Awards than any other female group in MTV history, a total of seven, along with four Soul Train Awards, six American Music...
.
The album contains mainly moderate-tempo dance songs, described as "anthemic style melodies with really sledge-hammering dance beats." In the months prior to the release of Born This Way, Gaga characterized her new music as "something so much deeper than a wig or lipstick or a fucking meat dress
Meat dress of Lady Gaga
American pop singer Lady Gaga wore a dress made of raw beef, which was commonly referred to by the media as the meat dress, to the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards. Designed by Franc Fernandez and styled by Nicola Formichetti, the dress was condemned by animal rights groups and named by Time as the top...
" and upon hearing it, Akon
Akon
Aliaune Damala Badara Thiam, better known as simply Akon , is a Senegalese American R&B recording artist and songwriter.According to Forbes, Akon grossed $21 million in 2010, $20 million in 2009 and $12 million in 2008. He rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of "Locked Up", the first...
remarked that she will take music to the "next level." The album includes references to several religious figures of Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, notably Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot was, according to the New Testament, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. He is best known for his betrayal of Jesus to the hands of the chief priests for 30 pieces of silver.-Etymology:...
, Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus' most celebrated disciples, and the most important woman disciple in the movement of Jesus. Jesus cleansed her of "seven demons", conventionally interpreted as referring to complex illnesses...
, and Jesus of Nazereth. Several songs on the album give reference to multiple social topics, including the Arizona immigration law. Messages of sexuality and feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
are among the most distinguishable components of Born This Way. Other themes referenced in the album include individualism
Individualism
Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, or social outlook that stresses "the moral worth of the individual". Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and so value independence and self-reliance while opposing most external interference upon one's own...
, equality
Egalitarianism
Egalitarianism is a trend of thought that favors equality of some sort among moral agents, whether persons or animals. Emphasis is placed upon the fact that equality contains the idea of equity of quality...
, and freedom.
Music and lyrical content
The album opens with "Marry the NightMarry the Night
"Marry the Night" is a song by American recording artist Lady Gaga. It was released as the fifth single from her second studio album, Born This Way . The song was written and produced by Lady Gaga and Fernando Garibay, and was recorded on the tour bus during The Monster Ball Tour with Garibay...
", a song written as a homage to New York City. It is a dance-pop record which contains church bell
Church bell
A church bell is a bell which is rung in a church either to signify the hour or the time for worshippers to go to church, perhaps to attend a wedding, funeral, or other service...
s, a thumping four on the floor house
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
beat, a funk rock
Funk rock
Funk rock is a music genre that fuses funk and rock elements. Its earliest incarnation was heard in the late 1960s through the mid-1970s by acts such as the Jimi Hendrix Experience , Eric Burdon and War, Trapeze, Parliament-Funkadelic, Betty Davis and Mother's Finest. The 1990s were known for acts...
-influenced breakdown, and has been noted to contain elements of disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
, techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
, funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
and hi-NRG
Hi-NRG
Hi-NRG describes a form of high-tempo disco music as well as a genre of electronic dance music originating in the United States during the late 1970s...
music. The song's sound has been compared to that of 1980s hair metal artists, including Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is an American rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey. Formed in 1983, Bon Jovi consists of lead singer and namesake Jon Bon Jovi , guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, as well as current bassist Hugh McDonald...
, Pat Benatar
Pat Benatar
Pat Benatar is an American singer and four-time Grammy winner. She had considerable commercial success particularly in the United States...
and Bonnie Tyler
Bonnie Tyler
Bonnie Tyler is a Welsh singer, most notable for her hits in the 1970s and 1980s including "It's a Heartache", "Holding Out for a Hero" and "Total Eclipse of the Heart".-Early life:...
. The next, and title, song, "Born This Way
Born This Way (song)
"Born This Way" is a song by American recording artist Lady Gaga, from her second studio album, Born This Way. Written and produced by Gaga, Fernando Garibay, Jeppe Laursen and DJ White Shadow, "Born This Way" was developed while Gaga was on the road with The Monster Ball Tour...
" is about how everybody is equal, regardless of skin color, sexuality
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
, or creed, and that every person can fulfill his or her dream. The song, which has been compared with Madonna's "Express Yourself", features Eurodisco beats. The third track of the album, "Government Hooker", contains elements of opera music, and a dance melody resembling genres such as techno, trance
Trance music
Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s.:251 It is generally characterized by a tempo of between 125 and 150 bpm,:252 repeating melodic synthesizer phrases, and a musical form that builds up and breaks down throughout a track...
, industrial
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
and post-disco
Post-disco
Post-disco refers to a historically significant period in popular music history beginning with the commercial death of disco music in the late 1970s and ending with the mainstream appearance of house music in late 1980s.The stripped-down musical trends followed from the DJ- and producer-driven,...
, as well as a hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
-influenced beat. The song has been compared to the work of German electronic band Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
.
The fourth song and second single is "Judas
Judas (song)
"Judas" is a song by American recording artist Lady Gaga, taken from her second studio album Born This Way . The song was released worldwide on April 15, 2011, four days ahead of its scheduled release, by Interscope Records. Written and produced by Lady Gaga and RedOne, "Judas" is a dance song that...
", which Gaga confirmed to be influenced by the Biblical Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot was, according to the New Testament, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. He is best known for his betrayal of Jesus to the hands of the chief priests for 30 pieces of silver.-Etymology:...
. The song's lyrics are about being betrayed as well as "honoring your darkness in order to bring yourself into the light," according to Gaga. The song is also essentially a dance-pop and electropop track, with influences of industrial and disco music, a 1980s-inspired pop chorus,
as well as a breakdown containing elements of dubstep
Dubstep
Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in south London, England. Its overall sound has been described as "tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals"....
and techno music. In parts of the song, Gaga sing-raps
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
with a Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
Patois accent.
The album's fifth track is "Americano", a mariachi
Mariachi
Mariachi is a genre of music that originated in the State of Jalisco, in Mexico. It is an integration of stringed instruments highly influenced by the cultural impacts of the historical development of Western Mexico. Throughout the history of mariachi, musicians have experimented with brass, wind,...
song with techno, house and disco influences. Written in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, "Americano" was composed by Gaga as a response to the Arizona immigration law Arizona SB 1070. Critics have noted vaudevillian
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
elements within the song, and it has been compared it to the work of Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
, with Gaga herself claiming that she sees the French chanson
Chanson
A chanson is in general any lyric-driven French song, usually polyphonic and secular. A singer specialising in chansons is known as a "chanteur" or "chanteuse" ; a collection of chansons, especially from the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, is also known as a chansonnier.-Chanson de geste:The...
singer Édith Piaf
Édith Piaf
Édith Piaf , born Édith Giovanna Gassion, was a French singer and cultural icon who became widely regarded as France's greatest popular singer. Her singing reflected her life, with her specialty being ballads...
when she sings "Americano". The sixth track, and also a promotional single, "Hair
Hair (Lady Gaga song)
"Hair" is a song by American recording artist Lady Gaga, from her second studio album Born This Way . Written and produced by Gaga and RedOne, "Hair" was released worldwide digitally on May 16, 2011, as the only promotional single from the album, as part of the iTunes Store's "Countdown...
" is a song about expressing freedom through one's hair. The song has a dance-pop melody, yet it has influences from rock/heavy metal music artists and bands such as Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
, Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in east London, formed in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the band's discography has grown to include a total of thirty-six albums: fifteen studio albums; eleven live albums; four EPs; and six...
and Kiss
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
, and also contains The E Street Band member Clarence Clemons
Clarence Clemons
Clarence Anicholas Clemons, Jr. , also known as The Big Man, was an American musician and actor. From 1972 until his death, he was a prominent member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, playing the tenor saxophone. He released several solo albums and in 1985, had a hit single with "You're a...
playing the saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
. It has also been noted to incorporate disco and Europop music. The seventh track, "Scheiße
Scheiße (song)
"Scheiße" is a song by American recording artist Lady Gaga from her second studio album, Born This Way . The song is written and produced by Lady Gaga and RedOne, and was recorded in Europe on the tour bus during the Monster Ball Tour. "Scheiße" was first introduced as a remix during a Thierry...
" contains German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
lyrics and has a message of feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
, accompanied by a heavy synths, techno beats, as well as Eurodisco influences. The song's melody has drawn comparisons to Madonna and electroclash
Electroclash
Electroclash is a style of music that fuses New Wave and electronic dance music. It emerged in New York and Detroit in the later 1990s, pioneered by acts including I-F and those associated with Gerald Donald, and is associated with acts including Peaches, Adult, and Fischerspooner...
artist Miss Kittin
Miss Kittin
Miss Kittin is an electronic music DJ, vocalist, and songwriter. Since rising to prominence in 1998 for her singles "1982" and "Frank Sinatra" with The Hacker, she has worked with other musicians such as Chicks on Speed, Felix da Housecat and Golden Boy...
. After "Scheiße" is Born This Ways eighth track, "Bloody Mary", which is a relatively slow-tempo song containing "plucked strings" and "filthy beats", as well as numerous religious references, and a trance-influenced melody. "Bad Kids" contains 1980s synthpop
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...
influences and electric guitars. Described as having an "old-school" style, its disco beat has been compared to that of Donna Summer
Donna Summer
LaDonna Adrian Gaines , known by her stage name, Donna Summer, is an American singer/songwriter who gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s. She has a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Summer is a five-time Grammy winner and was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach...
, and influences of heavy metal music have been found within is composition.
"Highway Unicorn (Road to Love)" is Born This Ways tenth track. A dance-pop
Dance-pop
Dance-pop is dance-oriented pop music that originated in the early 1980s. Developing from post-disco, it is generally up-tempo music intended for clubs with the intention of being danceable or merely dancey...
song with elements of industrial and post-disco music, it has been noted to have Bruce Springsteen influences, as well as powerful drums and synths. "Heavy Metal Lover", the eleventh track, is song of electropop and techno tendencies, which has been noted to contain elements of house music, electro-industrial beats, and has been compared to the power pop
Power pop
Power pop is a popular musical genre that draws its inspiration from 1960s British and American pop and rock music. It typically incorporates a combination of musical devices such as strong melodies, crisp vocal harmonies, economical arrangements, and prominent guitar riffs. Instrumental solos are...
of the 1990s. Synthesizers are used as a focal point for the song. Following "Heavy Metal Lover" is "Electric Chapel", a heavy metal-influenced pop song noted to contain elements of Europop that has been compared to Madonna. The album's thirteenth track and fourth single, "You and I", is a rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
ballad which contains elements of country rock music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
. The song contains a moderato-tempo, and Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
guitarist Brian May
Brian May
Brian Harold May, CBE is an English musician and astrophysicist most widely known as the guitarist and a songwriter of the rock band Queen...
is also featured on the track. The track, furthermore, samples Queen's 1977 single "We Will Rock You
We Will Rock You
"We Will Rock You" is a song written by Brian May and recorded and performed by Queen for their 1977 album News of the World. Rolling Stone ranked it #330 of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004, and the RIAA placed it at #146 on its list of Songs of the Century...
".
The fourteenth track and third single is "The Edge of Glory
The Edge of Glory
"The Edge of Glory" is a song by American recording artist and songwriter Lady Gaga, from her second studio album Born This Way . The song was released digitally on May 9, 2011, and was added to the United States mainstream radio playlists on May 17, 2011...
", which refers to the death of Gaga's grandfather. It is an upbeat song of dance-pop, electronic rock and synthpop tendencies; it also contains a saxophone solo by Clarence Clemons which has drawn comparisons to blues music. One of the bonus tracks is "Black Jesus † Amen Fashion", a pop song which draws influences from 1980s and 90s electronic and club music, and has been noted to contain elements of techno and New Wave music; it has also been compared to Madonna and Justice
Justice (band)
Justice is a French electronic music duo consisting of Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay . The duo is one of the most successful groups on Ed Banger Records and is managed by the label's head, Pedro Winter...
. The track's lyrics have numerous references relating to fashion
Haute couture
Haute couture refers to the creation of exclusive custom-fitted clothing. Haute couture is made to order for a specific customer, and it is usually made from high-quality, expensive fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable seamstresses,...
and New York City, including Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
. "Fashion of His Love", the second bonus track, is a 1980s-influenced dance-pop song that contains references to the late fashion designer Alexander McQueen
Alexander McQueen
Lee Alexander McQueen, CBE was a British fashion designer and couturier best known for his in-depth knowledge of bespoke British tailoring, his tendency to juxtapose strength with fragility in his collections, as well as the emotional power and raw energy of his provocative fashion shows...
. The final bonus track is "The Queen", which is a disco-influenced pop song about bravery and a slight element of feminism.
Release and promotion
At the November 26, 2010, show of The Monster Ball Tour in Gdansk, Poland, Gaga announced that the album could have up to twenty tracks. She also added that production for the album was coming to a close. In an interview with VogueVogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
in February 2011, Lady Gaga confirmed that there would be a total of seventeen tracks on the album, of which fourteen would make the final cut to the standard edition. The other three songs were initially to be released on an exclusive deluxe edition of the album at Target
Target Corporation
Target Corporation, doing business as Target, is an American retailing company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, behind Walmart. The company is ranked at number 33 on the Fortune 500 and is a component of the Standard & Poor's...
; however, Gaga later ended her partnership with Target in response to the company's donation of US$150,000 to the conservative political group Minnesota Forward
Minnesota Forward
Minnesota Forward is a political action group funded by local corporations. They were "established to ensure that private-sector job creation and economic growth are at the top of the agenda during the 2010 campaign" Their mission statement says that "MN Forward is an effort by Minnesota job...
.
On April 17, 2011, Gaga tweeted her selection for the cover art
Cover art
Cover art is the illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book , magazine, comic book, video game , DVD, CD, videotape, or music album. The art has a primarily commercial function, i.e...
of Born This Way, which featured Gaga fused into a motorcycle. Gaga's name does not appear on the album cover – the only text is the chrome writing across the top reading the album's name. The cover received a negative response from some critics and fans. Sean Michaels of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
expressed that the cover "[looked] more like a cheap Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a graphics editing program developed and published by Adobe Systems Incorporated.Adobe's 2003 "Creative Suite" rebranding led to Adobe Photoshop 8's renaming to Adobe Photoshop CS. Thus, Adobe Photoshop CS5 is the 12th major release of Adobe Photoshop...
job than the most anticipated album of the year." He then commented: "Gone are the futurist sunglasses, the asymmetrical haircuts, even Gaga's newly touted magic horns; instead, a mutant motorbike with Gaga's arms and head, plus a cheesy chrome typeface." He also referenced several messages from fans on Lady Gaga's official forum expressing their dislike for the cover. Andrew Martin of Prefix referred to it as "a reject from the last Terminator
Terminator (franchise)
The Terminator series is a science fiction franchise encompassing a series of films and other media concerning battles between Skynet's artificially intelligent machine network, and John Connor's Resistance forces and the rest of the human race....
film". The special edition cover was released on the same day. It featured just Gaga's head from the standard edition cover. The words "Lady Gaga" and "Born This Way" appear in the top left corner of the cover. They are typed in Impact font
Impact (typeface)
Impact is a realist sans-serif typeface designed by Geoffrey Lee in 1965 and released by the Stephenson Blake foundry. Its ultra-thick strokes, compressed letterspacing, and minimal interior counterform are specifically aimed, as its name suggests, to "impact". Impact has a high x-height, reaching...
with "Born This Way" being highlighted in white with black letters. Neither of the words special nor deluxe appear anywhere on the album, as Gaga dislikes the words.
Prior to the release of Born This Way, the contents of the album were leaked online on May 18, 2011. Due to a violation of copyright law, it was later removed. The album was formally released worldwide on May 23, 2011, in two separate editions. The special edition included three bonus tracks not included on the standard edition of the album. Several non-singles songs were previewed as part of promoting Born This Way. Remixes of "Scheiße" and "Government Hooker" were previewed at fashion shows presented by Thierry Mugler
Thierry Mugler
Thierry Mugler is a French fashion designer and creator of several perfumes.-Childhood:Mugler was born in Strasbourg, France on 21 December 1948. His passion led him to focus more on drawing than on school and at the age of 9, he began to study classical dance...
in January and March 2011, respectively. Several songs were released on FarmVille
FarmVille
FarmVille is a farming simulation social network game developed by Zynga in 2009. It is similar to Happy Farm, Farm Town,, and older games such as the Harvest Moon series...
during the next few days prior to the album's release, including "Marry the Night
Marry the Night
"Marry the Night" is a song by American recording artist Lady Gaga. It was released as the fifth single from her second studio album, Born This Way . The song was written and produced by Lady Gaga and Fernando Garibay, and was recorded on the tour bus during The Monster Ball Tour with Garibay...
", "Americano", and "Electric Chapel".
Live performances
Lady Gaga embarked on promotional tours and live performances for Born This Way and its accompanying singles in Europe, Asia and North America. Promotion began with a live performance of the album's lead single on February 13, 2011, at the 53rd Grammy Awards53rd Grammy Awards
The 53rd annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2011, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They were broadcast on CBS with a rating of 26.6 million viewers. Barbra Streisand was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year two nights prior to the telecast on February 11. Nominations were...
in Los Angeles. Six days later at the show as part of The Monster Ball Tour
The Monster Ball Tour
The Monster Ball Tour was the second worldwide concert tour by American recording artist Lady Gaga. Staged in support of her album The Fame Monster and comprising a set list of songs from that and her debut album The Fame , the tour visited arenas and stadiums from 2009 through 2011...
in Atlantic City, Gaga performed "Born This Way" as a second encore, using the same general attire and choreography as the Grammy performance. However, the incubation vessel was not present and slight alterations were made in the outfits of her dancers. The song was then added to the set-list of the concert tour. Two months later "Judas
Judas (song)
"Judas" is a song by American recording artist Lady Gaga, taken from her second studio album Born This Way . The song was released worldwide on April 15, 2011, four days ahead of its scheduled release, by Interscope Records. Written and produced by Lady Gaga and RedOne, "Judas" is a dance song that...
" was performed by Gaga in at Kennedy Lounge in Tampa, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
, after finishing her show at the adjacent St. Pete Times Forum
St. Pete Times Forum
The St. Pete Times Forum is an arena in Tampa, Florida, that has been used for ice hockey, basketball, and arena football games, as well as concerts....
as part of The Monster Ball Tour
The Monster Ball Tour
The Monster Ball Tour was the second worldwide concert tour by American recording artist Lady Gaga. Staged in support of her album The Fame Monster and comprising a set list of songs from that and her debut album The Fame , the tour visited arenas and stadiums from 2009 through 2011...
. "Judas" was performed on national television for the first time on Ellen
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show, often shortened to Ellen, is an American television talk show hosted by comedian/actress Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it is produced by Telepictures and airs in syndication, including stations owned by NBC Universal. For its first five seasons, the show...
(April 28), and again at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
(May 12).
Throughout the month of May, Gaga performed "Born This Way" on Oprah
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
(May 6), The Graham Norton Show
The Graham Norton Show
The Graham Norton Show is a British comedy chat show that is broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom. It was originally shown on BBC Two from February 2007 to May 2009 until it moved to BBC One from October 2009...
(May 13), and the season finale
Saturday Night Live (season 36)
Saturday Night Live aired its thirty-sixth season during the 2010–2011 television season on NBC. This season began on September 25, 2010 with former cast member Amy Poehler serving as host and Katy Perry as the musical guest, and ended on May 21, 2011 with Justin Timberlake serving as host and Lady...
of Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
(May 21), during which the singer wore a metallic dress and a side ponytail
Ponytail
A ponytail is a hairstyle in which most or all of the hair on the head is pulled away from the face, gathered and secured at the back of the head with a hair tie, clip or similar device, and allowed to hang freely from that point. It gets its name from its resemblance to the undocked tail of a...
. It also included acoustic performances of "Judas" and "The Edge of Glory
The Edge of Glory
"The Edge of Glory" is a song by American recording artist and songwriter Lady Gaga, from her second studio album Born This Way . The song was released digitally on May 9, 2011, and was added to the United States mainstream radio playlists on May 17, 2011...
". At the Radio 1's Big Weekend in Carlisle, Cumbria, Gaga performed the first three singles of the album, as well as a live performance of "Bad Romance
Bad Romance
"Bad Romance" is a song by American recording artist Lady Gaga. It was released as the lead single from her third extended play , and second major release The Fame Monster . Written by Lady Gaga and produced by RedOne, the track was inspired by Gaga's fear of negative love relationships and the...
" (2009) and a cover of "Orange Colored Sky
Orange Colored Sky
"Orange Colored Sky" is a popular song, written by Milton DeLugg and Willie Stein and published in 1950.The best-known version of the song was recorded by Nat King Cole , but a number of other singers have recorded it, including Cole's daughter, Natalie.The recording by Nat King Cole was recorded...
" as sung by Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
. On May 25, Lady Gaga showcased the final version of "The Edge of Glory" at the final show of the tenth season
American Idol (season 10)
The tenth season of American Idol premiered on January 19, 2011 and concluded on May 25, 2011, on Fox. The show underwent a number of changes from season nine, including the reduction of the judging panel to its original number of just three judges , a returning executive producer, a new music...
of American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
, where she was joined by Clemons in person. Following her concert on American Idol, Gaga appeared on Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
as part of the "Summer Concert Series", which took place at Central Park in New York. While there, she opened up the show with a performance of "Bad Romance", and performed all the songs from the album. Proceeding the event was an appearance on the season finale
Germany's Next Topmodel, Cycle 6
Germany's Next Topmodel, Cycle 6 is the sixth season of the show that was aired on the German television network ProSieben. The show started airing on March 3, 2011. In difference to the last two years, a preselection was done and open castings were not part of the show anymore. The first episode...
of Germany's Next Topmodel: Gaga previewed her song "Scheiße" and played an acoustic rendition of "Born This Way" on the piano, while performing "The Edge of Glory" to close off the show.
Lady Gaga attended the EuroPride 2011
Europride
Europride is a pan-European international event dedicated to LGBT pride, hosted by a different European city each year. The host city is usually one with an established gay pride event or a significant LGBT community....
in Rome, Italy, where she sang several songs from the album and denounced discrimination against the LGBT community. Performances on the Paul O'Grady Show and X Factor
X Factor (France)
X Factor is a French television music talent show to find new singing talent after public auditions, intermediate tests, and live shows.The first series was broadcast on Mondays, from September to December 2009, on W9 and RTL-TVI ....
followed suit; in the latter appearance, she started the show by playing a keytar
Keytar
A keytar is a relatively lightweight keyboard that is supported by a strap around the neck and shoulders, similar to the way a guitar is supported by a strap. Keytars allow players a greater range of movement compared to conventional keyboards, which are placed on stands...
for "The Edge of Glory", and transitioned into "Judas". At the 2011 MuchMusic Video Awards
2011 MuchMusic Video Awards
The 2011 MuchMusic Video Awards was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at MuchMusic's headquarters on June 19, 2011. The awards were aired on MuchMusic, CP24, E!, MuchHD and Fuse. Along with the MuchMusic VJ's, it was confirmed on the MuchMusic website that Selena Gomez will host the show...
, Gaga opened up with "The Edge of Glory" and concludes the show by performing the eponymous lead single. Both songs were performed again at the 2011 MTV Video Music Aid Japan
2011 MTV Video Music Aid Japan
The 2011 MTV Video Music Aid Japan were held in Chiba on June 25, 2011 at the Makuhari Messe. The VMAJ were the culmination of MTV Japan's Music of Hope campaign, the channel's multiplatform response to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami...
, in which Gaga opens up the show once more by singing the album's third single, while performing an acoustic rendition of "Born This Way". At French television show Taratata
Taratata
Taratata is a French TV show showcasing live and pre-recorded footage of current rock acts. Presented by Nagui since its début in 1993, the show was initially shown on France 2. This show often involves surprise and unlikely duets, as well as brief interviews with the artists...
, "Hair" was performed by Gaga. The recorded performance was released to her YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
channel by Gaga. It was again performed during a short promotional tour in Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, alongside "Judas" and "Telephone
Telephone (song)
"Telephone" is a song written and performed by Lady Gaga. It was released from her third extended play and second major release The Fame Monster . The song, featuring American R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles, was written by Gaga and Rodney Jerkins...
".
In May 2011, Gaga told Australian radio show The Kyle & Jackie O Show
The Kyle & Jackie O Show
The Kyle & Jackie O Show is Australia’s most listened-to breakfast radio show hosted by Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O on 2DayFM, Sydney. Syndicated to over 78 stations nationwide, the show has been airing since 16 January 2005. The show is a 9-time winner and 36-time finalist of the Australian...
that she would be coming to Sydney to perform a one-off concert in July 2011, to promote Born This Way, which occurred at Sydney Town Hall
Sydney Town Hall
The Sydney Town Hall is a landmark sandstone building located in the heart of Sydney. It stands opposite the Queen Victoria Building and alongside St Andrew's Cathedral...
on July 13. Over the course of a few months, Gaga performed "The Edge of Glory", "Hair" and "You and I" on various occasions, notably on The Howard Stern Show (July 18), Jimmy Kimmel Live! (July 28), The View (August 3), and the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards
2011 MTV Video Music Awards
The 2011 MTV Video Music Awards took place on August 28, at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, honoring the best music videos from the previous year. On July 20, the nominees were announced...
(August 28).
Singles
Thus far, five singles have been released from the album. "Born This WayBorn This Way (song)
"Born This Way" is a song by American recording artist Lady Gaga, from her second studio album, Born This Way. Written and produced by Gaga, Fernando Garibay, Jeppe Laursen and DJ White Shadow, "Born This Way" was developed while Gaga was on the road with The Monster Ball Tour...
" was released as the album's lead single on February 11, 2011. Described as a "magical message", the song was written by Lady Gaga and Jeppe Laursen
Jeppe Laursen
Jeppe Breum Laursen is a Danish singer-songwriter and producer. Performing under the name "Senior," Jeppe was the lead vocalist for the dance-rock band Junior Senior. Dazed and Confused praised Jeppe's music for its "urgency and club appeal" and described it as "industrial synth-pop and...
, and produced by Gaga, Laursen, Fernando Garibay
Fernando Garibay
Fernando Garibay is a Mexican music producer, DJ, and songwriter. He was the official musical director for musician Lady Gaga during the making of her third album Born This Way.Garibay has been making records since the age of sixteen...
and DJ White Shadow. The song was met with mostly positive reception from critics, who noted the similarities to songs such as Madonna's
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
"Express Yourself". "Born This Way" experienced widespread commercial success, topping the charts in over nineteen countries. The song became Gaga's third No. 1 hit in the United States, where it spent six weeks on the top of the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
The song sold over a million copies worldwide, becoming the fastest selling song in iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
history.
"Judas
Judas (song)
"Judas" is a song by American recording artist Lady Gaga, taken from her second studio album Born This Way . The song was released worldwide on April 15, 2011, four days ahead of its scheduled release, by Interscope Records. Written and produced by Lady Gaga and RedOne, "Judas" is a dance song that...
" became the second single, having been released on April 15, 2011. Critics reacted positively to "Judas", complimenting the song's breakdown, yet noted similarities in its composition with that of "Bad Romance
Bad Romance
"Bad Romance" is a song by American recording artist Lady Gaga. It was released as the lead single from her third extended play , and second major release The Fame Monster . Written by Lady Gaga and produced by RedOne, the track was inspired by Gaga's fear of negative love relationships and the...
". For the issue dated April 30, 2011, it debuted at No. 4 on Hot Digital Songs
Hot Digital Songs
The Hot Digital Songs chart ranks the best-selling digital singles in the United States, according to Billboard.Beginning in February 2005, digital sales have been incorporated into many of Billboards music single charts. It was decided to do so mainly because of the dramatic rise in popularity of...
chart with the sale of 162,000 copies. The song peaked at No. 10 in the United States, and charted in the top ten of twenty countries while reaching No. 1 on the South Korean charts.
"The Edge of Glory
The Edge of Glory
"The Edge of Glory" is a song by American recording artist and songwriter Lady Gaga, from her second studio album Born This Way . The song was released digitally on May 9, 2011, and was added to the United States mainstream radio playlists on May 17, 2011...
" was originally released on May 9, 2011, as a promotional single but, due to the huge commercial success of the song, it was shortly re-released as the third single for the album on May 11. The song has been met with critical acclaim from many critics, who deemed it as an album highlight. Points of positive reception include the saxophone solo, the underlying message and Gaga's vocals, which were described as a "throaty, soulful voice." "The Edge of Glory" has been met with high commercial success, charting on the top ten in nineteen countries. It became Gaga's tenth consecutive top-ten single in the United States, debuting at No. 3 on the Hot 100.
"You and I" is the album's fourth single. Critics reacted positively to "You and I", complimenting the musical composition of the song. It impacted American mainstream radio stations on August 23, 2011. The song became Gaga's eleventh consecutive top ten single in the United States, peaking at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
.
"Marry the Night
Marry the Night
"Marry the Night" is a song by American recording artist Lady Gaga. It was released as the fifth single from her second studio album, Born This Way . The song was written and produced by Lady Gaga and Fernando Garibay, and was recorded on the tour bus during The Monster Ball Tour with Garibay...
" serves as the fifth single from the album. Critical reception towards the song was positive, with reviewers calling it a strong dance-pop number. The song has already charted in five different countries including the United States, where it peaked at number seventy-nine on the Billboard Hot 100. Interscope Records
Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that currently operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-History:...
confirmed to Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
that the song is to be released as the fifth single internationally but were initially undecided on whether or not it will receive a U.S. release. The label later decided to release it in the U.S. as well; it would impact Top 40/Mainstream and Rhythmic radio on November 15, 2011. "Marry The Night" officially impacted Australian radio on October 17, 2011, and the song will be released in the UK on December 4, 2011.
Critical response
Born This Way received generally positive reviews from music criticsMusic criticism
See also Music journalism for reporting on classical and popular music in the media.The Oxford Companion to Music defines music criticism as 'the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres'. In this...
upon its release. At Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a normalized
Standard score
In statistics, a standard score indicates how many standard deviations an observation or datum is above or below the mean. It is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing the difference by the population standard deviation...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
score of 71, based on 33 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews." Dan Martin of NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
gave it eight out of 10, stating "Gaga doesn't know when to hold back – and it's a damn good thing," and complimented Gaga for pushing musical boundaries to its "ultimate degree." Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
opined: "There's nothing small about this album, and Gaga sings the shit out of every single track." Cinquemani compared the album to The Killers' album Sam's Town
Sam's Town
-Band:*Brandon Flowers – lead vocals, keyboards, bass *Dave Keuning – guitar, background vocals*Mark Stoermer – bass, background vocals, guitar *Ronnie Vannucci – drums, percussion-Additional musicians:...
, calling it "bloated, self-important, proudly American, an exercise in extraordinary excess." BBC Music
BBC Music
BBC Music is a team working in the department of Audio and Music Interactive at the BBC. Responsible for the BBC Music website - the portal site to music content across the BBC website....
called the album a "marvelous record" and commended Gaga for "actually putting a bit of effort and imagination back into pop." Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
s Rob Sheffield praised Gaga's vocals and musical style, expressing that "the more excessive Gaga gets, the more honest she sounds." Bill Lamb of About.com
About.com
About.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....
gave the album five out of five stars and concluded in his review, "Born This Way begins and ends with near perfection." Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
felt that "excess is Gaga's riskiest musical gamble, but it's also her greatest weapon, and Born This Way relentlessly bludgeons listeners' pleasure centres," and concluded that "she's making a convincing case that she's evolving into our most surreally brilliant pop star." Adam Markovitz of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
found the album "rewarding but wildly uneven", adding that "If Gaga doesn't find a stand-alone hit here on the order of "Bad Romance", the album’s sprawl still shows off the breadth of her talent." Despite criticizing her for "letting her skills as a songwriter slide ever so slightly," Allmusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...
gave the album three-and-a-half out of five stars and complimented Gaga's composing "sensibility" and "considerable dexterity at delivering the basics."
However, Greg Kot
Greg Kot
Greg Kot is an American writer and journalist. Since 1990, Kot has been the music critic at the Chicago Tribune, where he has covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and business issues...
of the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
felt that the album was rushed, describing it as "hyperventilating". Kot expressed that it felt like the sound "of a major artist sprinting to please everyone all the time." Randall Roberts of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
opined that Gaga was lacking in innovation, stating that "musical adventure is not one of her strong points." He continued: "She's unsubtle in her message, unsubtle in her dress, and, most important, unsubtle aesthetically[...]. If Gaga had only spent as much time on pushing musical boundaries as she has social ones, Born This Way would have been a lot more successful." Chris Richards of The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
found it "boring", writing, "Yes, Born This Way is a dark, dense and surprisingly aggressive listen... [but] at its worst, it sounds like reheated leftovers from some '80s movie soundtrack." The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
called the album "the most deflated moment in pop music this year," saying the album lacks cohesion and the songwriting "feels thin." The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
gave Born This Way three out of five stars. While complimenting her vocal range, criticized the diversity within the album and stated "the broader she spreads her net musically, the less distinctive her art becomes." Evan Sawdey of PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
gave the album a five-out-of-10 rating and dubbed it "her weakest album to date," commenting that it "fus[es] some daring songwriting with some remarkably repetitive themes and beats." Rich Juzwiak of The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
commented that Gaga's "we-shall-overcome sentiment" is expressed more effectively through the album's "egalitarian use of house beats" than through her "sloganeering", which he found "trite" and "[un]insightful." In his consumer guide for MSN Music
MSN Music
MSN Music was a part of the MSN web services. It delivered music news, music videos, spotlights on new music, artist information, and live performances of artists. In 2004, Microsoft created an MSN Music download store to compete with Apple's iTunes Music Store, though its sales in comparison were...
, critic Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
viewed the album as not on-par with The Fame or The Fame Monster, but added that "both of those keep growing, and with its mad momentum and nutty thematics, this one could too."
Criticism from religious commentators
Several religious groups have condemned the album for its incorporation of several religious icons of ChristianityChristianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
and its stance on sexuality. In Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, Born This Way was temporarily banned by the General Secretary Department, who deemed the album to be in bad taste and mocking of Christianity. Abdo Abu Kassm, director of the Catholic Information Center of Lebanon, highly criticized the themes of the album, expressing that "if they are going to offend us we are going to cancel the album." He continued: "We will not accept that anyone insult the Virgin Mary or Jesus or Christianity [...]. Call us traditional, call us backward, call us whatever you want. We will not accept it." This ban lasted up until June 9.
The music video of "Judas
Judas (song)
"Judas" is a song by American recording artist Lady Gaga, taken from her second studio album Born This Way . The song was released worldwide on April 15, 2011, four days ahead of its scheduled release, by Interscope Records. Written and produced by Lady Gaga and RedOne, "Judas" is a dance song that...
" was criticized by William A. Donohue
William A. Donohue
William Anthony "Bill" Donohue is the president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights in the United States, a position he has held since 1993.-Life and career:...
, the president of the Catholic League
Catholic League (U.S.)
The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, often shortened to the Catholic League, is an American Catholic anti-defamation and civil rights organization...
, notably for Gaga's portrayal of Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus' most celebrated disciples, and the most important woman disciple in the movement of Jesus. Jesus cleansed her of "seven demons", conventionally interpreted as referring to complex illnesses...
. In an interview with HollywoodLife.com, Donahue expressed discontent towards Gaga's focus on Judas and Mary Magdalene, calling her "increasingly irrelevant" compared to people with "real talent", and attacked her for seemingly purposefully debuting the song and video close to Holy Week
Holy Week
Holy Week in Christianity is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter...
and Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
. Shortly after its release, "Judas" was banned in Lebanon. In Malaysia, where homosexuality is considered a criminal offense, the government criticized the album for its stance on sexuality and feminism. Shortly after the release of the title track "Born This Way
Born This Way (song)
"Born This Way" is a song by American recording artist Lady Gaga, from her second studio album, Born This Way. Written and produced by Gaga, Fernando Garibay, Jeppe Laursen and DJ White Shadow, "Born This Way" was developed while Gaga was on the road with The Monster Ball Tour...
", radio stations across the country edited out several lyrics of the song as ordered by the Malaysian government. Rosnah Ismail, the vice-chancellor of Universiti Malaysia Sabah
Universiti Malaysia Sabah
Universiti Malaysia Sabah or UMS is the ninth Malaysian public university located in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia and was established on November 24, 1994...
, condemned the song, opining: "Islam forbids this. We have to abide by the country's laws."
However, not all religious groups reacted negatively to the album. Helen Lee of Busted Halo
Busted Halo
Busted Halo is a network of ministry and media run by the Paulist Fathers. Busted Halo encourages young adults to explore, grow in and share their faith through contemporary communication tools. Its main components are the bustedhalo.com website and a Sirius XM Radio show...
felt that Gaga was "spreading the [good] news of Jesus Christ, whether intentionally or not." She resumed: "Her views on celibacy, personal strength and individuality are certainly laudable [...] and far more compelling is what she has to say about human nature and human suffering."
Commercial performance
The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
after having sold 1,108,000 copies during the first week, making it the seventeenth album to sell over a million copies in one week. Born This Way was Gaga's first number-one album and the highest first-week total since 50 Cent
50 Cent
Curtis James Jackson III , better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, investor, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin and The Massacre . Get Rich or Die Tryin has been certified eight times platinum by...
's The Massacre
The Massacre
The Massacre is the second studio album by American rapper 50 Cent, released March 3, 2005 on Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records in the United States. Its initially planned release was pushed five days ahead to avoid Internet leakage. The album debuted at number 1 on the U.S. Billboard...
(2005) sold 1,141,000 in its first week. Gaga is the fifth woman to sell one million copies in a week, after Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...
(The Bodyguard Soundtrack, 1992), Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
(Oops!...I Did It Again, 2000), Norah Jones
Norah Jones
Norah Jones is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actress.In 2002, she launched her solo music career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album Come Away With Me, which was certified a diamond album in 2002, selling over 20 million copies...
(Feels Like Home, 2004), and Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift is an American country pop singer-songwriter, musician and actress.In 2006, she released her debut single "Tim McGraw", then her self-titled debut album, which was subsequently certified multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America...
(Speak Now
Speak Now
Speak Now is the third studio album by American singer–songwriter Taylor Swift, released on October 25, 2010 by Big Machine Records. Production for the album took place during 2008 to 2010 at several recording studios, and was handled by Swift and country music producer Nathan Chapman...
, 2010). Amazon sold an estimated 440,000 copies in its first two days at a price of 99 cents (at a loss of over $3 million) which contributed to its 662,000 digital sales, the largest in SoundScan history. The digital downloads accounted for 60 percent of Born This Ways first week total. The album also became the eighth best-selling digital album in United States history after its first week of sales. Before debuting on the Billboard 200, Born This Way debuted at No. 10 on the Dance/Electronic Albums chart. The next week, it jumped to No. 1, displacing The Fame. In its second week, the album remained at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, despite an 84% sales decrease with a sales of 174,000 copies. Digitally, the album had a 94% drop, selling 38,000 copies. In its third week the album fell to No. 2 being displaced by Adele
Adele (singer)
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins , known professionally as Adele, is an English singer-songwriter. She was the first recipient of the Brit Awards Critics' Choice and was named the number-one predicted breakthrough act of 2008 in an annual BBC poll of music critics, Sound of 2008...
's 21
21 (Adele album)
21 is the second studio album by English recording artist Adele. Released on 24 January 2011 in the United Kingdom and most of Europe, and on 22 February 2011 in North America, the album was named after the age of the singer at the time of its production...
with 42% sales decrease after having sold 100,000 copies. In its fourth week the album fell to No. 4 with 33% sales decrease, selling 68,000 copies. As of October 2011, Born This Way is the second best selling album of 2011 in the United States, with sales of 1,900,000 copies.
The album debuted at No. 1 in Ireland
Irish Albums Chart
The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically...
, and Sweden
Sverigetopplistan
Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association ....
, while debuting at No. 2 in Finland where it was the fifth-best-selling album of 2011. The album debuted at No. 1 in Australia
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
, becoming her second number-one album there after The Fame Monster
The Fame Monster
The Fame Monster is the third EP by American recording artist Lady Gaga. It was released on November 18, 2009 through Interscope Records. Initially planned to be included on a re-release of Gaga's debut studio album, The Fame, she announced that the eight tracks would be included on a standalone...
. Born This Way was certified platinum in Australia in its first week, by the Australian Recording Industry Association
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
(ARIA) for shipment of 70,000 copies. In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the album debuted at No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
dated May 29, 2011, selling 215,639 units, which is the highest first-week sales of the year. That week, the album outsold more than the rest of the top 10 combined and has the best first-week tally of any album by an American female solo artist since Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
's Confessions on a Dance Floor
Confessions on a Dance Floor
Confessions on a Dance Floor is the tenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was released on November 15, 2005 by Warner Bros. Records. The album was a complete departure from her last studio album, American Life . It included influences of 70s and 80s disco as well as...
with sales of 217,610 copies in 2005. According to The Official Charts Company, the album has sold a total of 527,110 as of August 2011. Born This Way debuted at No. 1 on the New Zealand Albums Chart
Recording Industry Association of New Zealand
The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand...
, becoming her second album to chart there, also after The Fame Monster. The album was certified platinum in its first week of sales. Born This Way sold 184,000 copies in its first week in Japan, and debuted atop the Oricon
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...
. It has been certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan
Recording Industry Association of Japan
The Recording Industry Association of Japan is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved the music industry...
(RIAJ) for shipment of 500,000 copies. As of July 26, 2011, it has sold 510,000 copies in Japan. The album sold 2.5 million copies worldwide on its first week of release. As of October 2011, worldwide sales of Born This Way exceed 8 million copies.
Track listing
Expanded edition
Notes- "You and I" contains elements of "We Will Rock YouWe Will Rock You"We Will Rock You" is a song written by Brian May and recorded and performed by Queen for their 1977 album News of the World. Rolling Stone ranked it #330 of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004, and the RIAA placed it at #146 on its list of Songs of the Century...
" recorded by QueenQueen (band)Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
and written by Brian MayBrian MayBrian Harold May, CBE is an English musician and astrophysicist most widely known as the guitarist and a songwriter of the rock band Queen...
. - (*) denotes co-producer
Formats
Born This Way (Limited Collector's Edition)- 17 original Born This Way tracks in a 9-piece 12" vinyl picture disc box set. (The B-side of piece 9 is unplayable and features an etching of a skull into the vinyl.)
- 24" × 24" commemorative fanwall mosaicMosaicMosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
poster (Features 3,000 photos.) - Personalized Little Monsters photo I.D. card with unique number that gives access to special offers
- Custom numbered box (Only 3,000 produced.)
- Born This Way special edition album downloadMusic downloadA music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
Born This Way (Special Edition Fan Package)
- 22-track Special edition of Born This Way
- Born This Way double gatefold 180 grams (6.3 oz) vinyl LPLP recordThe LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
- Special edition 22-track album download
- Personalized Little Monsters photo I.D. card with unique number that gives access to special offers
- Access to commemorative digital fanwall mosaic
Born This Way (Special Edition album download)
- 22-track Special edition of Born This Way
- Donates $1 to the MACMake-up Art CosmeticsMake-up Art Cosmetics, better known as M·A·C or MAC Cosmetics, is a manufacturer of cosmetics founded in Toronto, Canada and headquartered in New York City, New York.-History:...
AIDSAIDSAcquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
foundation
Born This Way (Indian Version)
- 14-track edition of Born This Way packaged as a DigipakDigipakDigipak is a patented style of CD, DVD or BD packaging, and is a registered trademark of AGI World Ltd., an Atlas Holdings company.-Features:...
. - 2 additional remixes
- "Born This Way" (Bollywood Remix)
- "Born This Way" (UK Desi Remix)
Born This Way (Limited USB Drive)
- 17-track Special edition of Born This Way
- 6 New remixes
- "Born This Way" (UK Desi Hits Remix)
- "Judas" (Desi Hits! Salim & Sulaiman Remix)
- "Judas" (Thomas Gold Remix)
- "The Edge of Glory" (Electrolightz Remix)
- "The Edge of Glory" (Cahill Major Radio Mix)
- "Government Hooker" (DJ White Shadow Mugler Remix)
- 3 Music videos
- "Born This Way"
- "Judas"
- "The Edge of Glory"
- Extras
- Gagavision 41-44
- Photo Gallery
- Special feature for Little Monsters Membership Card Holders. Membership Card free application included.
Born This Way: The Remix
Born This Way: The Remix
Born This Way: The Remix is the second remix album by American recording artist Lady Gaga, released on November 18, 2011. The album features remixes of tracks from her second studio album, Born This Way...
- 14 remixes of tracks from Born This Way
- 7 New remixes
- "Marry the Night" (The WeekndThe WeekndAbel Tesfaye , better known by his stage name The Weeknd is an Ethiopian Canadian singer. Songs recorded under The Weeknd name first leaked in late 2010, though the identity of the individual behind the project was initially unknown.The Weeknd released a nine-song mixtape, House of Balloons, on...
& Ilangelo Remix) - "Black Jesus † Amen Fashion" (Michael WoodsMichael Woods (producer)Michael Woods is a UK producer and remixer of various dance music genres, including electronic, trance and jazz. He has worked under the monikers Warrior, Accadia, M1 and M3.-History:...
Remix) - "Bloody Mary" (The HorrorsThe HorrorsThe Horrors are an English band from Southend on Sea, formed in 2005. Their debut Strange House, was released in 2007 and reached number thirty-seven on the UK Albums Chart, their second album Primary Colours was released in 2009 and peaked at number 25 in the UK...
Remix) - "Scheiße" (Guéna LG Remix)
- "Americano" (Gregori Klosman Remix)
- "Electric Chapel" (Two Door Cinema ClubTwo Door Cinema ClubTwo Door Cinema Club are an indie rock band from Bangor and Donaghadee, County Down, Northern Ireland. Formed in 2007, the band is composed of band members: Sam Halliday , Alex Trimble and Kevin Baird...
Remix)
- "Marry the Night" (The Weeknd
- iTunes exclusive bonus track
- "Judas" (RöyksoppRöyksoppRöyksopp is a Norwegian electronic music duo from Tromsø, formed in 1998. Since their inception, the band's line-up has included Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland....
's 30 Pieces Mix)
- "Judas" (Röyksopp
Born This Way: The Remix (Japanese Limited Edition)
- 14-track edition of Born This Way: The Remix
- 2 additional remixes
- "Yoü and I" (Mark Taylor Remix)
- "The Edge of Glory" (Desi Hits!DesiHits-Background:DesiHits! is a multi-platform media company that produces and distributes fusion entertainment content aimed at the South Asian diaspora. The Company was founded in 2006 by Anjula Acharia-Bath, Ranj Bath and Arun Sandhu, and is headquartered in New York...
Bollywood Remix)
Born This Way – The Collection
- 17-track special edition of Born This Way (Does not include second disc with remixes.)
- 14-track edition of Born This Way: The RemixBorn This Way: The RemixBorn This Way: The Remix is the second remix album by American recording artist Lady Gaga, released on November 18, 2011. The album features remixes of tracks from her second studio album, Born This Way...
- Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square GardenLady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square GardenLady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden is a 2011 concert special documenting the February 21 and 22, 2011 shows of American pop singer Lady Gaga's The Monster Ball Tour...
on DVDDVDA DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
Born This Way – The Collection/T-Shirt
- 17-track special edition of "Born This Way"
- 14-track edition of Born This Way: The Remix
- Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden on DVD
- The Monster Ball TourThe Monster Ball TourThe Monster Ball Tour was the second worldwide concert tour by American recording artist Lady Gaga. Staged in support of her album The Fame Monster and comprising a set list of songs from that and her debut album The Fame , the tour visited arenas and stadiums from 2009 through 2011...
photo T-shirt
Born This Way – The Collection Bundle
- 17-track special edition of Born This Way
- 14-track edition of Born This Way: The Remix
- Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden on DVD
- The Monster Ball Tour photo T-shirt
- Lady Gaga photo flip bookFlip bookA flip book or flick book is a book with a series of pictures that vary gradually from one page to the next, so that when the pages are turned rapidly, the pictures appear to animate by simulating motion or some other change. Flip books are often illustrated books for children, but may also be...
Born This Way: The Remix double album
- TescoTescoTesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
exclusive double album of Born This Way and Born This Way: The Remix.
Personnel
Credits for Born This Way adapted from Allmusic.- Andy Abad – requinto
- Christina Abaroa – copyist, librarian, music preparation
- Al Carlson – assistant
- Cheche Alara – arranger, composer, instrumentation
- Jorge Alavrez – vocals (background)
- Stephanie Amaro – guitar
- Gretchen Anderson – producer
- Paul Blair – guitar
- Bobby Campbell – marketing
- Troy Carter – management
- Clarence ClemonsClarence ClemonsClarence Anicholas Clemons, Jr. , also known as The Big Man, was an American musician and actor. From 1972 until his death, he was a prominent member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, playing the tenor saxophone. He released several solo albums and in 1985, had a hit single with "You're a...
– saxophone - Kareem Devlin – guitar
- DJ Snake – bass, drums, keyboards, producer
- DJ White Shadow – composer, drum programming, keyboards, producer, programming
- Lisa Einhorn-Gilder – production coordination
- Nicola Formichetti – creation
- Fernando Garibay – arranger, composer, engineer, guitar, instrumentation, keyboards, musical director, producer, programming, vocals (background)
- Val Garland – make-up
- Brian Gaynor – bass, keyboards
- Kamau Georges – programming
- Laurieann Gibson – creation
- David Gomez – vocals (background)
- Suemy Gonzalez – violin
- Gene Grimaldi – mastering
- Vincent Herbert – A&R, executive producer
- Julio Hernandez – violin
- Mario Hernandez – guitarron, vihuela
- Peter Hutchings – assistant
- Dyana Kass – marketing
- Harry Kim – trumpet
- Ken Knapstad – assistant
- Nick Knight – creation, photography
- Phillip Knight – assistant
- Lady Gaga – arranger, composer, instrumentation, keyboards, musical director, producer, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
- Robert John "Mutt" Lange – producer, vocals (background)
- Jeppe Laursen – composer, producer
- Brian Lee – vocals (background)
- Bill Malina – engineer
- Brandon Maxwell – stylist
- Brian MayBrian MayBrian Harold May, CBE is an English musician and astrophysicist most widely known as the guitarist and a songwriter of the rock band Queen...
– guitar - Sam McKnight – hair stylist
- Eric Morris – assistant
- Wendi Morris – management
- Carlos Murguía – vocals (background)
- Trevor Muzzy – engineer, guitar, mixing, vocal editing
- Jennifer Paola – A&R
- Paul Pavao – assistant
- Kevin Porter – assistant
- Jordan Power – assistant
- RedOne – composer, engineer, instrumentation, producer, programming, vocal arrangement, vocal editing, vocals (background)
- Olle Romo – engineer, programming
- Dave Russell – engineer, mixing
- Rafa Sardina – engineer, mixing
- Justin Shirley-Smith – guitar engineer
- Amanda Silverman – publicity
- Clinton Sparks – keyboards, producer
- George Tandero – assistant
- Todd Tourso – creation
- Anna Trevelyan – stylist
- Peter Van Der Veen – vocals (background)
- Horace Ward – engineer
- Tom Ware – engineer
- Kenta Yonesaka – assistant
Charts
Chart (2011) | Peak position |
---|---|
Argentinian Albums Chart Argentine Chamber of Phonograms and Videograms Producers The Argentine Chamber of Phonograms and Videograms Producers is an Argentine organization member of the IFPI, which represents the music industry in the country. It is a nonprofit organization integrated by multinational and independent record labels.... |
1 |
Australian Albums Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
1 |
Austrian Albums Chart | 1 |
Belgian Albums Chart Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts... (Flanders) |
1 |
Belgian Albums Chart Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts... (Wallonia) |
1 |
ABPD Brazilian Albums Chart | 1 |
Canadian Albums Chart Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS... |
1 |
Croatian International Albums Chart | 1 |
Czech Albums Chart | 1 |
Danish Albums Chart | 1 |
Dutch Albums Chart MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
5 |
Finnish Albums Chart | 2 |
French Albums Chart Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
1 |
German Albums Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
1 |
Greek Albums Chart IFPI Greece International Federation of the Phonographic Industry Greece or IFPI Greece is the Greek branch of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and is the official charts provider and recording sales certification body for Greece. Currently two charts are compiled, one for sales of... |
1 |
Hungarian Albums Chart Mahasz Mahasz is the Hungarian music industry association, founded in 1992. Mahasz hands out the Hungarian Music Awards and maintains the music charts for Hungary.... |
1 |
Irish Albums Chart Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically... |
1 |
Italian Albums Chart Federation of the Italian Music Industry The Federation of the Italian Music Industry is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy.... |
1 |
Japanese Albums Chart Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc... |
1 |
Mexican Albums Chart Top 100 Mexico Top 100 México is a record chart which accounts for sixty percent of the albums sold in Mexico. The chart has the support of major record distributors in Mexico and is issued by the Mexican Association of Producers of Phonograms and Videograms, A.C. since 2005 on a weekly basis... |
1 |
New Zealand Albums Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
1 |
Norwegian Albums Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
1 |
Polish Albums Chart Polish Music Charts The Polish Music Charts are two official album charts and seven singles charts in Poland, provided by ZPAV, the Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry . The first, the Top 100, is a monthly chart based on data received from the album companies... |
3 |
Portuguese Albums Chart Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa The Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa is currently the only recording industry association in Portugal. Created in 1989, it succeeded GPPFV and UNEVA .... |
1 |
Russian Albums Chart Russian Music Charts The Russian Music Charts are Russian music industry standard popularity rankings compiled weekly by 2M and Tophit . Albums and tracks rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through retail data captured electronically each week from Russian music retailers... |
1 |
Scottish Albums Chart Scottish Singles and Albums Chart The Scottish Singles Chart and Scottish Albums Chart are charts compiled by The Official Charts Company, based on physical and digital sales in the STV North, STV Central and ITV Border regions.... |
1 |
Slovenian Albums Chart | 1 |
Spanish Albums Chart | 2 |
Swedish Albums Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
1 |
Swiss Albums Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
1 |
Taiwanese Albums Chart Taiwan Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following... |
1 |
UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
1 |
US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
1 |
US Dance/Electronic Albums | 1 |
Certifications
Country | Certifications |
---|---|
Australia Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956... |
2× Platinum |
Belgium | Platinum |
Brazil Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos The Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos is an official representative body of the record labels in the Brazilian phonographic market.- About :... |
2× Platinum |
Canada Canadian Recording Industry Association Music Canada is a Toronto-based, non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, artists, manufacture, production, promotion and distribution of music in Canada... |
3× Platinum |
Denmark | Gold |
Europe | Platinum |
Finland | Gold |
Hungary Mahasz Mahasz is the Hungarian music industry association, founded in 1992. Mahasz hands out the Hungarian Music Awards and maintains the music charts for Hungary.... |
Gold |
Italy | Platinum |
Japan Recording Industry Association of Japan The Recording Industry Association of Japan is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved the music industry... |
2× Platinum |
Mexico | Platinum |
New Zealand Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
Platinum |
Poland | Platinum |
Russia Russia Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects... |
4× Platinum |
Spain PROMUSICAE Spanish Music Producers is a trade group representing the Spanish recording industry... |
Gold |
Switzerland IFPI The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a not-for-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland... |
Platinum |
United Kingdom British Phonographic Industry The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies... |
Platinum |
United States Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States... |
2× Platinum |
Release history
Region | Date | Format(s) | Label | Edition(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Worldwide | May 23, 2011 | CD, digital download Music download A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment... |
Streamline Records, Interscope Records Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that currently operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-History:... , Kon Live |
Standard, deluxe |
India | Standard (Digipak Digipak Digipak is a patented style of CD, DVD or BD packaging, and is a registered trademark of AGI World Ltd., an Atlas Holdings company.-Features:... ) |
|||
Colombia | May 30, 2011 | CD | Universal Music, Interscope | Box set (Standard) |
United States | June 7, 2011 | CD, LP LP record The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry... , digital download |
Streamline Records, Interscope Records, Kon Live | Fan Package |
Germany | September 27, 2011 | USB drive USB flash drive A flash drive is a data storage device that consists of flash memory with an integrated Universal Serial Bus interface. flash drives are typically removable and rewritable, and physically much smaller than a floppy disk. Most weigh less than 30 g... |
Interscope | Standard |
United States | October 3, 2011 | Deluxe | ||
October 26, 2011 | LP, digital download | Limited Collector's | ||
Germany | November 18, 2011 | CD+DVD | Box set (Deluxe) | |
United Kingdom | November 21, 2011 | Polydor | ||
Germany | Interscope | |||
United States | Box set (Standard) | |||
Japan | ||||
United States | December 27, 2011 | PID | Box set (Deluxe) | |
Japan | December 29, 2011 | Polydor | ||
External links
- Born This Way at MetacriticMetacriticMetacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...