08 Just Dance - iconic, but a bit basic after all these years
11 Poker Face - still crystalline perfection. Those opening murmurs still do the trick.
10 Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say) - candyfloss perfection that seemed to be cannibalized by the monstrous, dark megalomania to come over the ensuing years
10 LoveGame - the song that levelled up a generation of slut bottoms born around 1990
03 Chillin' (with Wale)
11 Paparazzi - the best song on her debut, and one of the most important turning points in her career
11 Bad Romance - "I want your disease". The relevance.
09 Video Phone (with Beyoncé) -
10 Telephone
10 Alejandro
10 Dance in the Dark - god this run was just sublime
16 Born This Way - the most important song of her career, and is it me, or did snotty gays get over themselves post 2016 and embrace what was always a utter ode to joy?
09 Judas - a betrayal at what should have been the apogée of her Imperial era, but the start of her messy bottom phase
10 The Edge of Glory - the real standard in her back cat pre-Shallow. I wait for the day that this resurges properly. It should have been #1 for months.
08 Hair - the production still slaps, but those lyrics. Girl.
10 You & I - I stan her honky tonk ballads so much these days. I can't wait for her to cancel a tour age 60 which consists of her hammering this kind of shit out at the piano.
10 Marry The Night - the last minute is absolutely manic. Both song and video. The shot of her trying to get into the car, all the while encumbered by an oversized hat sums up the Born This Way era. Too many ideas for us to handle.
10 Scheiße - always a bop, but the moment her Coachella intro segued into this, I screamed.
00 The Lady is a Tramp - hate all the Tony shit, as much as it was probably necessary for her.
13 Applause - fuck me, this was THE best Gaga era as far as I'm concerned. Insane looks. Insane hooks. The online antics. The sound of a world falling apart to early 2010s EDM.
13 Venus - one of the many choruses can sit proudly alongside most of ABBA Gold
13 Do What U Want - the duet partner was... unfortunate, but the song itself is beyond reproach
06 Dope - I have to be in the mood for it. The vocals are a choice. I think I prefer the sappy demo "I Wanna Be With You"
09 G.U.Y. - the wrong single. With everything falling apart at this point, she should have gone with Artpop (the best song, and she did many a great performance of it) or Gypsy (not that it would have been a hit, but it could have edged its way more forcefully into her canon)
00 Anything Goes
00 Til It Happens To You - even I was getting tired of her by this point
09 Perfect Illusion - I love this frenetic shriek-fest. The fact that it coincided with the end of my relationship of 5 years was quite opportune.
10 Million Reasons - the little hit that could. The start of an upward trajectory
10 John Wayne - the video gave me hope that the Gags of old was just resting
09 The Cure - a cute R&B-lite curio
10 Joanne (Where Do You Think You're Going?) - lovely, and the piano-only version is much nicer than the album version
07 Your Song - serviceable
09 I Want Your Love (with Nile Rogers) - much more fun. I love the Bad Romance references.
10 Shallow - apparently now her biggest song ever
10 Always Remember Us This Way - lovely
07 I'll Never Love Again - she was hoping it would be her I Will Always Love You, but no.
10 Stupid Love - I'm ready for more
I mean, this rate turned out to be even more LUNAR than I expected
and I haven't even heard JUANA in its entirety but I don't feel I need to!
