I was prepared to be really disappointed. I don't hate "Born this Way," but I didn't think it was anything special. I don't think it's pandering or crass; I think she's completely genuine. I just think its kind of boring and the production is way too cluttered. The acapella version during the credits of the HBO special was much better. "Judas" took a while but grew on me - it may be my favorite Gaga song now, but "Hair" was and is just bad. Bleh. I wish there weren't so many songs on the album written from the perspective of her "little monsters" ("Bad Kids" also bores me). But "Edge of Glory" succeeds despite everything that should be working against it, and makes for great third single. For her, it's quite a left-field performance. Briefly, regarding the Idol performance - did anyone else read it as a leap of faith rather than suicide? But I digress.
I think this album is much, much more consistent than The Fame. That album had some great singles (except "Eh Eh" - I mean really, that was a single?) and one or two solid tracks ("The Fame" and "Beautiful, Dirty, Rich"). But most of it was filler. The Fame Monster, however, and I refuse to call it an EP, was a much more consistent album. Almost perfect. So I think BTW fits somewhere in between. There are moments when the sincerity overwhelms what could be more artful representations of the same theme, but it's hard to care when you've got "Bloody Mary" (easily my favorite), "Judas," "Marry the Night," and "Heavy Metal Lover." That song is fucking sexy. Some of my favorite opening lyrics on a dance-pop record ever. Ever. Other than "Hair," there's very little that I don't like here, even if some is not as good. I'd give it an 8 or so out of 10. I was not prepared to like the album tracks so much - it's more or less the inverse of her debut.
Speaking of "fucking sexy," anyone else notice the amount of editing on this album? It's like The Fame Monster all over again. I get that it's purposeful and confrontational in "Government Hooker," but there are a number of other censorship moments which just did not need to happen.