The Useless Critic 2.0

Yep, the wait is finally the over. And I'm only one month late! Well, a little more than that. I'm not really good with intros, so can we just cut to the chase? Alrighty then. 1) "Aura" Originally titled "Burqa," the song begins with Western-style guitar riffs and Gaga's distorted vocals as she confesses to killing her "former," before erupting into a schizophrenic onslaught of glitchy synths and pounding beats. The bold lyrics make a potentially controversial reference to the burqa, which here is used as a metaphor for Gaga's own artistry and sexuality: "Enigma popstar is fun, she wear burqa for fashion / It's not a statement as much as just a move of passion." In the chorus, she proceeds to ask, "Do you wanna see me naked, lover? / Do you wanna peek underneath the cover? / Do you wanna see the girl who lives behind the aura?" Then again, it wouldn't be Lady Gaga without a little bit of controversy, huh? 1...

Lady Gaga has released the official cover for her upcoming ARTPOP album, featuring a nude sculpture of herself by artist Jeff Koons, who is name-dropped in a verse of lead single " Applause ." I love it! Sexy and artistic without bordering on ratchet (y'all now who I'm talking about). Also, a major—and obvious—improvement on the Born This Way cover . Thoughts? P.S.: Gosh, I can't enough of "Aura" and "Sex Dreams." Hopefully the rest of the album will have the same effect on me.

Lady Gaga has finally dropped the first single from her upcoming album, yay!!! Well, she was pretty much forced to release it earlier than expected due to hackers leaking it over the weekend, so yeah. "Applause" is an '80s-tastic, synth-heavy number that somehow harkens back to Gaga's debut album The Fame . Other than that, I feel like it's still a bit early for me to fully form an opinion. It didn't get me all bothered and hot like "Bad Romance" did back in 2009 (oh, the memories), but as far as I can tell, it's a grower. Being a longtime Gaga fan, it's needless to say that I'm dying to listen to ARTPOP . Although her previous offering, Born This Way , was somewhat polarizing, it still had some sick cuts—namely "Government Hooker," "Bad Kids," "Scheiße," "Heavy Metal Lover," and "Electric Chapel." Does anyone know if "Burqa"/"Aura"/whatever-the-name-is will rea...