The Fame Monster by Lady GaGa free essay sample

Lady GaGa very quietly released her debut album â€Å"The Fame† as 2008 came to a close. Promotion was minimal and hardly anyone noticed or cared. Then somebody got a hold of â€Å"Just Dance.† Almost overnight, GaGa became an electro/dance-pop sensation and her slick, electronic beats, gourmet lyrics and stellar vocals made â€Å"The Fame† the album of the year for the American public. But people wondered, would GaGa’s superficial obsession with fame be strong enough, deep enough to carry her to the status of a true artist in the eyes of the public and the critics? Or would she forever be confined to the rank of dance-pop darling? The answer, of course, was no. Good thing the Lady has more than just a seemingly endless supply of addictive hooks up her sleeve. At the end of 2009, the enigmatic blonde re-released â€Å"The Fame† along with eight brand-new tracks, aptly titling it â€Å"The Fame Monster. We will write a custom essay sample on The Fame Monster by Lady GaGa or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page † Her beats are still pulsing and addictive, her lyrics still poetically metaphorical and her vocals still flawless, but this time, there are no shiny dance tracks glorifying fame, money or fashion. Instead, each one represents a personal â€Å"monster† of GaGa’s, be it her fear of men, addiction, death, love, sex†¦you name it. This time around, she gives her fans a glimpse of Stephani, not just her alter ego. So what’s she like without her â€Å"Poker Face?† Surprisingly†¦deep. The album opens with what is quite possibly GaGa’s strongest track ever, if not her absolute best. â€Å"Bad Romance’s† chorus positively throbs with power, and GaGa sings, snarls chants of her longing for the love of an imperfect man with astonishing strength, delivering a vocal performance so impressive that it feels almost out-of-place on such an overtly pop track. But its certainly a welcome abnormality. At first listen, â€Å"Bad Romance† sounds like yet another ode to the fact that yes, girls do like bad boys, whether or not they should. Then it becomes clear that GaGa is singing about true love. Not sugary summer flings or the cheap variety found in a dance club, but the love that says â€Å"I love you so much thatI want all of you, not just the good stuff or the â€Å"safe† parts, but your flaws and your weaknesses, your scars and your secrets, everything that makes you human. Everything that makes you†¦you.† Clearly, GaGa understands what love really is. And she’s right to be afraid of it. The album’s next track seems to pale in comparison to its thundering predecessor, but in reality, it’s a nice piece of Latin-influenced electro-pop that can stand quite well on its own, thank you very much. While certainly lighter than â€Å"Bad Romance,† â€Å"Alejandro† does have power, just not quite as much. In it, GaGa bids her former Latin lovers (Alejandro, Roberto, Fernando etc.) a cheeky goodbye via one helluva catchy chorus. This is a song that will stay on â€Å"repeat† on countless iPods, however, the overall depth and quality of the entire song is somewhat overshadowed by said chorus, coming up short by just a hair. â€Å"Monster† has it all. A compelling storyline, all the depth â€Å"Alejandro† lacked and more, an infectious hook, and lyrics that sound â€Å"good enough to eat.† This impressive track tells of an encounter between GaGa and an unnamed â€Å"monster† boy she meets in a club who eventually ends up in her bed. Though GaGa does not hold up â€Å"Monster† as a cautionary tale telling female listeners to beware smooth-talking young men and the emotional consequences of one-night-stands, it could certainly be interpreted that way. After all, this monster boy pursues her, flatters her, gropes her, dances with her, insists on taking her home, French kisses her, beds her†¦and eats her heart. But though the intended meaning is ambiguous, two things are for sure; this is GaGa at her best and â€Å"That boy is a monster/m-m-m-monster† isn’t going to get out of your head anytime soon. GaGa follows â€Å"Monster† with a smashing power ballad that blows everything else completely out of the water. Though it does feel a tad out of place, the Freddie Mercury-esque â€Å"Speechless† contains GaGa’s absolute best lyrics and her most stunning vocal performance to date. It’s impossible to accurately describe the raw beauty of this song, so I won’t even try. I will say this, though, before you listen, look up why and for whom she wrote it. It will only serve to enhance the experience. â€Å"Dance In The Dark† serves as an ode to women oppressed, berated and abused by the men in their life. Backed by skipping, pounding synthesizers, GaGa snarls, moans, gasps into the mic and stretches her voice to tell their story, even including a shout-out to famous women who met tragic ends (Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, Princess Diana, etc.) It is both dark and maddeningly addictive†¦hence the title. Not the best on the album by any means, but nevertheless, a solid, albeit chilling, track. GaGa’s songs got their start in dance clubs, so it is necessary for her to include at least one track recorded especially for them. Although the fact that it features Beyonce may raise a few eyebrows, especially after the disaster that was â€Å"Video Phone,† surprisingly, this compilation works. â€Å"Telephone† is pure club fun and its sole subject is the girls’ plea for their boys to stop calling because they are busy dancing and can’t talk. It has zero depth, zero substance and its only merit is a hook so addictive you won’t be able to turn it off. â€Å"So Happy I Could Die† is the track that makes you scratch your head and go â€Å"Huh?† It tells of GaGa’s physical insecurities and her fear of addiction, both to herself (that is, her Lady GaGa persona) and to substances, but initially, it seems very much to be singing the praises of red wine†¦but it isn’t. Listen carefully and with an open mind and you’ll get it. Maybe. GaGa closes the album with another song that makes you work to understand it. With an almost tribal beat and animalistic chant-vocals, GaGa tells her lover, â€Å"Take a bite of my bad girl meat†¦/I’m gonna love you with my hands tied/Show me your teeth/,† making â€Å"Teeth† sound like nothing more than an ode to sex. But she also says â€Å"I need direction/†¦Tell me something that’ll save me†¦/Tell me something that’ll change me†¦/Just need a little guidance† Is it possible that this is GaGa’s way of saying that maybe she’s not such a â€Å"tough bitch† after all? That she really might need a savior?† I’ll say it’s a definite possibility. It isn’t often that something comes out of Kanye West’s mouth that is worth repeating for good reasons, but recently, he seemed to have a brief moment of brilliance (or perhaps sobriety) when he declared that Lady GaGa was the new Queen of Pop. Maybe that statement is premature, but if â€Å"The Fame Monster† is any indication, I’d say she’s well on her way to claiming the throne, assuming, of course, she hasn’t already. The Fame Monster by Lady Gaga free essay sample Stephanie Joanne Angelina Germanotta has officially outdone herself; The Album The Fame Monster is unique and individual. It expresses her true self in which i believe all music should do. Solely written by herself this album rejoices in her own individuality and is an inspiration. This all sounds very Cliche but listening to the raw lyrics you can feel her feelings and understand her thoughts. The mixture of emotional songs Speechless and So Happy I Could Die and the collection of Heavy Beat songs Bad Romance and Alejandro create a insanely beautiful mix. I personally love the way she speaks of topics other song writers wont speak of and in ways that make it acceptable. For example one of my personal favourites So Happy I Could Die is about her confusion in her own sexuality (when i say this i mean whether she is straight, homosexual or bisexual not whether she is a hermaphrodite) and the way she reassures herself in her feelings. We will write a custom essay sample on The Fame Monster by Lady Gaga or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This is what i mean when i say that she is an inspiration, she isnt afraid of being proud of what she is; how could she not be an great example for how to be your own woman and how to be individual? I could write forever about her, for instance did you know she called her self Lady Gaga after the hit song by Queen, Radio Ga Ga? Anyway my obvious conclusion is that she is a Smash Hit and an inspirational woman. I believe she was born to inspire and to express her own views and feelings and if she stopped and quit tomorrow she would still go down an international icon and legend.

Geography and Overview of the Caribbean Nation of Haiti

Geography and Overview of the Caribbean Nation of Haiti Population: 9,035,536 (July 2009 estimate)Capital: Port au PrinceArea: 10,714 square miles (27,750 sq km)Bordering Country: The Dominican RepublicCoastline: 1,100 miles (1,771 km)Highest Point: Chaine de la Selle at 8,792 feet (2,680 m) The Republic of Haiti, is the second-oldest republic in the Western Hemisphere just after the United States. It is a small country located in the Caribbean Sea between Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Haiti has years of political and economic instability however and it is one of the poorest nations in the world. Most recently Haiti was struck by a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 earthquake which damaged its infrastructure and killed thousands of its people. History of Haiti The first European habitation of Haiti was with the Spanish when they used the island of Hispaniola (of which Haiti is a part) during their exploration of the Western Hemisphere. French explorers were also present at this time and conflicts between the Spanish and French developed. In 1697, Spain gave France the western third of Hispaniola. Eventually, the French established the settlement of Saint Domingue which became one of the wealthiest colonies in the French Empire by the 18th century. During the French Empire, slavery was common in Haiti as African slaves were brought to the colony to work on sugarcane and coffee plantations. In 1791 though, the population of slaves revolted and took over control of the northern part of the colony, which resulted in a war against the French. By 1804 however, local forces beat the French, established their independence and named the area Haiti. After its independence, Haiti broke into two separate political regimes but they were unified in 1820. In 1822, Haiti took over Santo Domingo which was the eastern portion of Hispaniola but in 1844, Santo Domingo separated from Haiti and became the Dominican Republic. During this time and up until 1915, Haiti underwent 22 changes in its government and experienced political and economic chaos. In 1915, the United States military entered Haiti and remained until 1934 when it again reclaimed its independent rule. Shortly after regaining its independence, Haiti was ruled by a dictatorship but from 1986 to 1991, it was ruled by various temporary governments. In 1987, its constitution was ratified to include an elected president as head of state but also a prime minister, cabinet and supreme court. Local government was also included in the constitution via the election of local mayors. Jean-Bertrand Aristide was the first president to be elected in Haiti and he took office on February 7, 1991. He was overthrown that September however in a government take-over which caused many Haitians to flee the country. From October 1991 to September 1994 Haiti had a government dominated by a military regime and many Haitian citizens were killed during this time. In 1994 in an attempt to restore peace to Haiti, the United Nations Security Council authorized its member states to work toward removing the military leadership and restore Haitis constitutional rights. The U.S. then became the major power in removing Haitis military government and formed a multinational force (MNF). In September 1994, U.S. troops were prepared to enter Haiti but Haitian General Raoul Cedras agreed to allow the MNF to take over, end military rule and restore Haitis constitutional government. In October of the same year, President Aristide and other elected officials in exile returned. Since the 1990s, Haiti has undergone various political changes and has been relatively unstable both politically and economically. Violence has also ensued in most of the country. In addition to its political and economic problems, Haiti has most recently been impacted by natural disasters when a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck near Port au Prince  on January 12, 2010. The death toll in the earthquake was in the thousands and much of the countrys infrastructure was damaged as its parliament, schools and hospitals collapsed. Government of Haiti Today Haiti is a republic with two legislative bodies. The first is the Senate which comprises the National Assembly while the second is the Chamber of Deputies. Haitis executive branch is made up of chief of state whose position is filled by the president and a head of government which is filled by the prime minister. The judicial branch is made up of Haitis Supreme Court. Economy of Haiti Of the countries in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti is the poorest as 80% of its population lives below poverty level. Most of its people contribute to the agricultural sector and work in subsistence farming. Many of these farms, however, are vulnerable to damage from natural disasters which has been made worse by the countrys widespread deforestation. Larger scale agricultural products include coffee, mangoes, sugarcane, rice, corn, sorghum, and wood. Although the industry is small, sugar refining, textiles, and some assembly are common in Haiti. Geography and Climate of Haiti Haiti is a small country located on the western part of the island of Hispaniola and is west of the Dominican Republic. It is slightly smaller than the U.S. state of Maryland and is two-thirds mountainous. The rest of the country features valleys, plateaus, and plains. Haitis climate is mainly tropical but it is also semiarid in the east where its mountain areas block the trade winds. It should also be noted that Haiti is in the middle of the hurricane region of the Caribbean and is subject to severe storms from June to October. Haiti is also prone to flooding, earthquakes, and droughts. More Facts about Haiti Haiti is the least developed country in the Americas Haitis official language is French but French Creole is also spoken Source Central Intelligence Agency. (2010, March 18). CIA - the Worldfactbook Haiti. Retrieved from: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ha.html Infoplease. (n.d.). Haiti: History, Geography Government, and Culture - Infoplease.com. Retrieved from: infoplease.com/ipa/A0107612.html United States Department of State. (2009, September). Haiti (09/09). Retrieved from: state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1982.htm