The Fame

the take

The Fame is unequivocally the best debut album of the 21st century, and there’s no competition. This album spawned a multitude of hits—Poker Face, Paparazzi, LoveGame, Just Dance, Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)—just to name a few. Not only that, it broke numerous records on its road to becoming one of the best selling and longest charting albums in history while simultaneously catapulting Lady Gaga into the music scene. Even though it was Gaga’s first professionally produced record, she happened to defy every expectation and create an emotionally rich dance pop album with enough sonically charged beats to shoot herself up the charts. She managed to do all of this while car hopping from parking lot to parking lot and playing any venue that would host her, relying off of sheer determination and luck. The product that resulted from that experience is a one-of-a-kind sentiment packed electronic album that revolutionized the genre and the music industry forever. Some topics covered are the effects of fame and how they change you (despite her lack of field knowledge,) materialism in Hollywood and in conjunction the rest of society, and freedom of sexuality and the right to love whoever you want, a clear indication of Gaga’s support for the queer community. The titular track described the luxuries of fame and everything positive about it over an electrically charged beat, while songs such as Beautiful, Dirty, Rich and Money Honey covet the nasty and bitter side of fame. Paparazzi accurately depicts the almost obsession-like grasp the real paparazzi have on celebrities, told through the lense of a gutrenching love ballad. Boys, Boys, Boys, and Brown Eyes are both traditional love songs; however, the former is an LGBT anthem and the latter is presented to an androgynous recipient. Through all of these factors, Lady Gaga managed to scrap together one of the best pieces of pop music in the 21st century and subsequently propel herself into stardom, forever engraved in history.