The Fame Monster

Background and development

Gaga released her debut studio album, The Fame, in 2008. Consisting of Electropop and synthpop songs, the songs on the album offered a commentary on the structure of fame, the opposition between celebrity and fan base, as well as the life of a wealthy person. After the worldwide success of The Fame, the idea of a re-release arose. However, Gaga felt that re-releases were a disservice to music artists because "it's artists sneaking singles onto an already finished piece of work in an effort to keep the album afloat." Her label, Interscope Records, initially wanted three songs for the project, titled as The Fame Monster. But as the tracks began taking definite form, it developed into "much more than that". Gaga had already composed a song, "Monster", by March 2009. She sought for a darker and edgier concept than she had previously done, and cited her love of horror films and "the decay of the celebrity and the way that fame is a monster in society" as creative inspirations for The Fame Monster. On May 22, 2009, Gaga tweeted just the word "monster" and explained in an interview with Daily Star:

I have an obsession with death and sex. Those two things are also the nexus of horror films, which I've been obsessing over lately. I’ve been watching horror movies and 1950s science fiction movies. My re-release is called The Fame Monster so I've just been sort of bulimically eating and regurgitating monster movies and all things scary. I've just been noticing a resurgence of this idea of monster, of fantasy, but in a very real way. If you notice in those films, there’s always a juxtaposition of sex with death. That's what makes it so scary. Body and mind are primed for orgasm and instead somebody gets killed. That's the sort of sick, twisted psychological circumstance.

Unlike The Fame, the new album was inspired by the singer's personal experiences and brought the analysis of fame to an entirely new level. The album's early musical direction was also shaped by Gaga's touring experiences with The Fame Ball Tour, during which she allegedly encountered "several monsters" that encapsulated her biggest fears. These fears were divided into various monster metaphors, such as the "Fear of Sex Monster", "Fear of Love Monster", "Fear of Alcohol Monster", and so forth. "I spent a lot of nights in Eastern Europe," the singer said. "And this album is a pop experimentation with industrial/Goth beats, 90's dance melodies, an obsession with the lyrical genius of 80's melancholic pop, and the runway". She wrote new music while viewing muted fashion shows, "I am compelled to say my music was scored for them." In an interview with MTV News, Gaga said that The Fame and The Fame Monster were like yin and yang because of their contrasting styles and concepts.

Themes and composition

The final cut of The Fame Monster contains eight tracks on the standard edition. The record displays Gaga's taste for pastiche, drawing on "Seventies arena glam, perky ABBA disco, and sugary throwbacks like Stacey Q" according to Rolling Stone. Neil McCormick from The Daily Telegraph felt that while not as thematically unified as its predecessor, The Fame Monster had engaging songs composed by virtue of Gaga's "vivacious energy, bold melodies and almost comically relentless sensationalism". The lyrics contain zombie metaphors in songs like "Monster" ("He ate my heart..."), the Cossack like music in "Teeth" ("Take a bite of my bad-girl meat...") and "Dance in the Dark" ("Silicone, saline, poison, inject me..."). The latter's lyrics also refer to famous people who met a tragic end: Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, Sylvia Plath, Princess Diana, Liberace and JonBenét Ramsey. Recording sessions were held in Los Angeles, London, Osaka, and Amsterdam. Four of the songs were primarily produced by RedOne, with additional productions on the other songs by Ron Fair, Fernando Garibay, Tal Herzberg, Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, Teddy Riley and Space Cowboy. Gaga was the co-producer on all the tracks.

The set begins with the track "Bad Romance", which Simon Price from The Independent felt that it set the tone for the album. It has a dominant atmosphere and a Gothic aesthetic, from the monochrome cover artwork of the single version to the crucifix logo. The refrain of "Bad Romance" has similarities to Boney M and the music recalls Depeche Mode's fifth studio album Black Celebration (1986). A "catchy" chorus and a club-like beat is the crux of the song, talking about how hurts in both good and bad ways, making it "grand and tawdry and joyful and melancholy". There is a sing-along "Rah, rah, ah, ah, ah/Roma, roma ma/Gaga, ooh la la" hook present in between the verses. "Alejandro" incorporates elements of the music of ABBA and Ace of Base with the lyrics talking about Gaga fending off a harem of Latino men. The lyrics were also interpreted as bidding farewell to a lover, accompanied by RedOne's production. "Monster" consists of stuttering synths and instrumentation from heavy drums, with the intro consisting of a double four-square beat and Auto-Tune on Gaga's vocals as she sings the lyrics with a Don Juan metaphor.

Among other songs is the ballad "Speechless", which is a 1970s rock-inspired number that talks about abusive relationships: "I can't believe how you slurred at me with your half-wired broken jaw". It consists of vocal harmonies and guitar riffs, which according to PopMatters, is comparable to the work of Freddie Mercury and Queen. Gaga was inspired to write the track by her father's heart condition, and the fear she had about his death while the singer was touring. Gaga recalled that her "dad used to call after he'd had a few drinks and I wouldn't know what to say. I was speechless and I just feared that I would lose him and I wouldn't be there. I wrote this song as a plea to him." Produced by Ron Fair, "Speechless" was recorded with all live instruments such as drums, guitars, bass and piano played by Gaga. The album's fifth track, "Dance in the Dark", depicts a girl being uncomfortable having sex with the lights on, so she would prefer to emote in the "dark". There is a fragile quality in the song, with the synths and resolute vocals ultimately lead to the chorus where Gaga belts, "Baby loves to Dance in the Dark, 'Cause when he's looking she falls apart".

"Telephone" was originally written by Gaga for singer Britney Spears's sixth studio album, Circus (2008), but Spears's label rejected it. Later, Gaga recorded the song as a collaboration with Beyoncé for The Fame Monster. The song talks about the singer preferring the dance floor rather than answering her lover's call with the verses sung in a rapid-fire way, accompanied by double beats. Gaga explained that the song deals with her fear of suffocation, "fear [of] never being able to enjoy myself. 'Cause I love my work so much, I find it really hard to go out and have a good time." In "So Happy I Could Die", Gaga presents an ode to sexual feeling and actions, stating, "I love that lavender blonde, The way she moves the way she walks, I touch myself, can't get enough." Essentially a love song, the object of affection in "So Happy" becomes Gaga herself as she talks about drinking, dancing, observing, and touching herself. Gaga's voice sounds sedated in the song. "So Happy" also uses Auto-Tune in its music. The last song, "Teeth", contains gospel music and the lyrics are written in S&M style, telling that the closest she will get to another human being involves being tied up and bitten.

Release and artwork

Initially conceived as part of a double-disc deluxe reissue of The Fame, Gaga later confirmed, in an interview with MTV News, that The Fame Monster would instead be released in North America as a standard album. She felt that The Fame Monster would be better treated as her sophomore release and did not want to "add, nor take away any songs from this EP. It is a complete conceptual and musical body of work that can stand on its own two feet".

The Fame Monster was released in North America on November 23, 2009. A deluxe release which featured The Fame as a bonus disc was launched the same day, and a limited edition issue—which included a lock of her wig—followed three weeks later. Interscope originally hoped to only put out a double-disc deluxe re-release of The Fame, but such was not financially feasible. Thus, in countries such as the United States, it was released as a standard extended play (EP). On May 3, 2010, The Fame Monster Limited Edition USB flash drive was released. It included the explicit version of , as well as nine remixes, eight music videos, a digital booklet, single covers, and a photo gallery.

Two covers were created for The Fame Monster, both of which were shot by French photographer Hedi Slimane. In the artwork of the standard edition, Gaga is seen sporting a blond wig and a sleek, angular black coat, the collar of which covers the lower half of her face. The image of the deluxe version sees the singer draped in thick brown hair, her face embellished with heavy, streamy black eyeliner. At first Gaga had a dispute with her record label over the artwork; Interscope found the brunette cover to be too dark and gothic for a mainstream release. However, Gaga explained to them that both would be suitable with the yin and yang concept of the album and ultimately they agreed. The font used on the cover is the sans-serif letterform used by Christian Dior in their campaigns.

In 2012, Complex listed it at rank six on their countdown of The 50 Best Pop Album Covers of the Past Five Years. Dale Eisenger from the publication called both covers as "alluring and gorgeous", adding that Gaga's look was followed by a number of artists emulating it in later years. In 2015, Billboard included the standard album cover on their list of the "50 Greatest Album Covers of All Time". Andrew Unterberger from the publication wrote in a 2016 article that the cover arts were "much starker and more angular than the party-diva framing of [The Fame]. It's still very sleek, but there's a danger in Gaga's eyes this time out, and the feeling of greater depth in its austerity: A star, but one with a lot to say."

Performances

Promotion for The Fame Monster began with a performance on Saturday Night Live, which contained segments of a piano version of "Bad Romance". Gaga also appeared on various talk shows, such as It's On with Alexa Chung and Germany's Wetten, dass..?. On November 16, 2009, Gaga performed the song "Speechless" at Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art's 30th Anniversary celebrations. She collaborated with artist Francesco Vezzolli and members of Russia's Bolshoi Ballet Academy. Same day she performed "Bad Romance" on an episode of CW's Gossip Girl, in an episode titled "The Last Days of Disco Stick". Other songs that were referenced and played throughout the episode were "Alejandro", "Dance in the Dark", and "Telephone". "Bad Romance" was also performed at the 2009 American Music Awards, The Jay Leno Show and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. During December, Gaga travelled to the United Kingdom, where she sang "Bad Romance" at The X Factor UK and "Speechless" at the Royal Variety Performance.

After returning to the United States, Gaga appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show in January 2010, and performed a medley of "Monster", "Bad Romance", and "Speechless". At the 52nd Grammy Awards, the singer opened the show by performing a medley of "Poker Face", "Speechless", and "Your Song" with Elton John. Same month, she was present at the 2010 BRIT Awards, and in memory of designer Alexander McQueen, Gaga crooned a ballad version of "Telephone" and then "Dance in the Dark". In March 2010, "Bad Romance" and "Monster" were added as downloadable content for the Rock Band video game series, along with "Just Dance" and "Poker Face" from The Fame. The singer returned to the United Kingdom for The Monster Ball Tour, and appeared on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, singing "Brown Eyes" (from The Fame) and "Telephone". The next month, she travelled to Japan for the tour and held a mini-concert for MAC Cosmetics, collaborating with Canadian performance artist, Terence Koh. Billed as "GagaKoh", the concert took place on a rotating stage where Koh had created a statue of a naked woman with rabbit ears. The singer performed "Bad Romance", "Alejandro" and "Speechless" in the event. She also performed "Telephone" at the Music Station show.

Singles

"Bad Romance" was confirmed as the lead single from the album and was released for digital download on October 27, 2009. The song topped numerous record charts, as well as reaching a peak of number two in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, and Switzerland, ultimately selling 12 million copies worldwide, thus becoming one of the best-selling singles of all time.

The accompanying music video, featuring Gaga inside a surreal white bathhouse, garnered acclaim from critics, who not only applauded the risqué and symbolic nature of the plot, but its artistic direction and vivid imagery. In 2011, the music video was voted the best video of the 2000s (decade) by readers of Billboard. On February 13, 2011, the song received the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance; the accompanying video won Best Short Form Music Video.

"Telephone" was released as the album's second single on January 26, 2010. The music video is a continuation of the clip for Gaga's previous single, "Paparazzi" (2010), with the plot showing Beyoncé bailing Gaga from jail and together they go on a murder spree. On March 22, 2010 it reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming her second consecutive UK chart topper and fourth in total. It peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, making it her sixth straight single to reach the top ten. "Telephone" also reached number one on the Mainstream Top 40 chart, becoming Gaga's sixth consecutive number-one on the chart, tying with Mariah Carey for most number-ones since the chart's launch in 1992. The track received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.

Originally "Dance in the Dark" was intended by Gaga's record label to be the third single. However, Gaga chose "Alejandro" and after confrontation with her label, the latter was finally released as the official single on April 20, 2010. "Alejandro" reached the top five on the Australian and Canadian charts, as well as in the top ten of the charts of other nations. In the United States, it reached number five, becoming her seventh consecutive single to reach the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100. "Dance in the Dark" was released as the fourth and final single from The Fame Monster in Australia, New Zealand, and France on July 26, 2010. It had minor chart placements, reaching number 24 in Australia and number 30 on the French Digital Charts.

The Monster Ball Tour

Previously, Gaga had announced that she was going to tour with rapper Kanye West, which was titled Fame Kills: Starring Kanye West and Lady Gaga. However, after his controversy at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards with Taylor Swift, West announced that he was taking a break from music. Following this revelation, all the tour dates were immediately cancelled and Gaga subsequently confirmed that she was going to tour by herself for to promote The Fame Monster. Described by Gaga as "the first-ever pop electro opera", The Monster Ball Tour had dates starting from November 2009 and finishing in early May 2011. Gaga and her production team initially developed a stage that looked like a frame with the show fitted within it. The singer felt that the design would allow her creative control. Since the album dealt with the paranoias faced by Gaga over the year, the main theme of the show became evolution, with Gaga portraying growth as the show progressed. The set list consisted of songs from both The Fame and The Fame Monster.

For the 2010 shows, Gaga felt that a revamp was needed as the original tour was constructed in a very short span of time. The new theme narrated a story where Gaga and her friends, traveling through New York, get lost while going to the Monster Ball. The show was divided into five segments with the last one being the encore. Each segment featured Gaga in a new dress and was followed by a video interlude, and Gaga in Gothic and artsy poses, to the next one. The show grossed an estimated US$227.4 million from 200 reported shows and an audience of 2.5 million, making it the highest grossing trek by a debut headlining artist. HBO filmed a special of tour during Gaga's February 2011 shows at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Critical reception

The Fame Monster received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, it received an average score of 78, based on 14 reviews. Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine felt that the album was not a huge leap forward for Gaga, but provided "small, if fleeting, glimpses behind the pretense." Simon Price of The Independent called it "a whole new piece of art in its own right." Kitty Empire from The Observer said that the album is "a lot more splendidly deranged" than the work of The Pussycat Dolls. MSN Music's Robert Christgau found it to be of "comparable quality" as The Fame and gave it a rating of A–, describing the tracks as "streamlined pop machines". Christgau further elaborated that "after being overwhelmed by the sheer visibility of her warp-speed relaunch did I realize how enjoyable and inescapable her hooks and snatches had turned out to be."

NME's Emily MacKay described The Fame Monster "as pristine as you'd expect, but has a sub-zero core of isolation and fear". She went on to call the album's release as "the moment Gaga cements herself as a real star". Evan Sawdey from PopMatters commended Gaga for being "willing to try new things" and felt that the album shows "she's not complacent with doing the same thing over again [...] Gaga is allowed to make a few mistakes on her way towards pop nirvana—and judging what she's aiming for with The Fame Monster, there's a good chance she's going to get there sooner than later." Mikael Woods from Los Angeles Times felt that The Fame Monster continued to demonstrate Gaga's creative ambition and stylistic range.

Jon Dolan from Rolling Stone called the EP "largely on point," and gave it 3.5 stars out of 5. He also said that "half the disc is Madonna knock-offs, but that's part of the concept—fame monsters needn't concern themselves with originality." Edna Gundersen from USA Today observed that on The Fame Monster, "Gaga's icy aloofness and seeming aversion to a genuine human connection leave a disturbing void. With an avant-garde intellect, pop-electro eccentricities and freaky theatrics competing for attention, there's no room for heart."

Ed Power reviewed the album for Ireland's Hot Press magazine where he complimented Gaga's ability to "always brings her A-game" in her musical outputs. Neil McCormick from The Daily Telegraph commented that the album has "an irrepressible quality that is given full rein. [...] Although not as thematically integrated as the original [The Fame], Gaga's vivacious energy, bold melodies and almost comically relentless sensationalism keeps things interesting." Josh Modell of Spin gave positive feedback regarding the fast-paced songs on the record, but felt that "When Gaga reaches for sincere balladry [...] she sounds lost". Writing for The Times, Sarah Hajibagheri criticized the album due to its "lack [of] the beat and bite that made us all go Gaga for the eccentric New Yorker".

Commercial performance

In the United States, the individual disc of The Fame Monster charted at number five on the Billboard 200 with sales of 174,000 while the double disc deluxe edition including the original The Fame, moved up from number 34 to number six with sales of 151,000. The album also topped the Digital Albums chart with sales of 65,000. Seven of the eight songs from the record also charted on the Hot Digital Songs chart, led by "Bad Romance" which held the pole position for the second week with sales of 218,000 copies. In total Gaga had 11 songs that week charting on the Digital Songs. The Fame Monster topped the Dance/Electronic Albums chart, replacing the The Fame from the top, and was Gaga's second number one album on the chart.

In January 2010, the album was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipment of a million copies. As of April 2015, The Fame Monster has sold 1.6 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen Soundscan. For the 2010 Billboard year end tabulation, The Fame Monster was ranked at number 13 on the Billboard 200 and number two on the Dance/Electronic Albums chart. In Canada, the album debuted and peaked at number six on the Billboard Canadian Albums Chart. It was the 23rd best selling album in the country for 2010.

In Australia, The Fame Monster initially charted with its predecessor, but was later considered as a stand-alone album. It debuted at number six on the ARIA Albums Chart and in its eighteenth week, the record climbed to number one. It received a triple Platinum certification by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipments of 210,000 copies of the album. In Japan, after being present on the Oricon albums chart for over 20 weeks, the album reached its peak position of number two on May 17, 2010. It has sold 548,000 copies in Japan and ranked at number 14 on the year end list.

In the United Kingdom, The Fame Monster was released as a deluxe edition only with The Fame, and not as a stand-alone album, hence it charted under The Fame. In its debut week, the record moved from number 55 to number seven on the UK Albums Chart. All of the new tracks from The Fame Monster charted within the top 200 of the UK Singles Chart. Finally on the week ending March 6, 2010, The Fame combined with The Fame Monster reached the top of the chart. The combined album also charted in Denmark, Ireland and Germany, where it reached the top in the last two territories. Due to its chart activity across the European markets, The Fame Monster peaked at number 13 on the European Top 100 Albums chart. It was certified triple Platinum by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) for shipment of a three million copies across the continent.

Accolades

In 2010, Gaga won the "Outstanding Music Artist" award for The Fame Monster, during the 21st GLAAD Media Awards. The album and its songs were nominated in six categories at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards. The Fame Monster was nominated for Album of the Year and won the trophy for Best Pop Vocal Album. "Bad Romance" won for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Short Form Music Video, while "Telephone" was nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals, and "Dance in the Dark" earned a nomination for Best Dance Recording.

The album also received nominations in other music awards. It earned Best Album nominations at the 2010 International Dance Music Award and the Meteor Awards. It won the Best English Album at the Premios Oye! 2010 awards in Mexico. At the 2011 Billboard Music Awards, it earned an entry in the category for Top Electronic/Dance Album.

Time magazine listed The Fame Monster in their "Top 10 Albums of 2009" list, noting that it demonstrates "a complete understanding of what dance audiences require and vocal talent that's easy to forget underneath all that platinum hair." Spin ranked the album at number 197 on their list of "The 300 Best Albums of the Past 30 Years" and characterized it as Gaga's magnum opus and a "mini-masterpiece".

Track listing

Personnel

Credits for The Fame Monster adapted from liner notes.