Let’s all start by taking a deep breath and facing the truth: Lady Gaga has yet to make a great album. When Ms Germanotta released her still-fantastic-to-this-day single “Just Dance” back in April of 2008, few knew what to make of this strangely-dressed, eccentric young singer-songwriter who just so happened to have a diva-ready voice and one hell of an ear for a pop hook. “Just Dance” was the very definition of a slow-burning single; it didn’t hit #1 until nine months after its release. Once the floodgates were open, however, an absolute avalanche of great dance singles came pouring out: “Poker Face”, “Paparazzi”, “Bad Romance”, and “Telephone” being chief among them.
While Lady Gaga‘s ridiculous outfits certainly garnered a lot of media attention, her eccentric visual style tended to distract us from the fact that she was a truly great songwriter and, more importantly, a heck of a showman. Each new single and video wasn’t just a run-of-the-mill record industry release: it was an out-and-out event.