Lady GaGa - The Fame

Futuristic, synth-heavy electropop is the kind of description used too commonly in todays music reviews, but no other artist is more relevant for these terms than newcomer Lady GaGa. Hailing from Yonkers, New York, this tipped starlet has already been receiving critical acclaim for debut album 'The Fame' in her native country, as well as Canada, Australia and now the UK (where she's just had a number 1 with her 'Just Dance' single).

Having started her career as a singer in seedy club bars and writing songs for names like Tami Chynn and the Pussycat Dolls, this self-assured starlet is now ready to achieve the international status of pop superstar herself.

'Just Dance' is the opening song on 'The Fame' and sets the blueprint for the remainder of this 16 track album. GaGa's way straight to the top is by making flirty, dirty arrogant sleaze-pop that takes shape from a mixture of glam rock, R&B, disco, electro and even the occasional reggae moment. So for the majority listen, we hear hard club beats boom and bang over wirey synths and keyboards, pianos, infectious melody and GaGa's semi-Aguilera vocal.

There are really only two subjects at hand here - the first being sex, where she even topples the Queen of Pop herself Madonna, from her title of kinkiest lyricist - take the unforgettable lines like "I wanna take a ride on your disco stick" ('Lovegame'), 'I'll get him hot, show him what I've got' ('Poker Face') and "Need a man who likes it rough" ('I Like It Rough'), for proof.

The second theme, which is pretty obvious straight away from the album title alone, is the topic of fame and paparazzi - a subject that would have been premature at the time of writing the songs, but no doubt a subject that is now very close to home as Lady GaGa has become an overnight success story.

The Fame is a diverse experience, that achieves exactly what a pop record should be - fun, catchy, sassy, playful. It's as though the good Lady is flipping rapidly through a record collection that consists of Gwen Stefani, Grace Jones, Rihanna and Britney. You get the feeling this is the real 'FutureSex' Timbaland and Timberlake were hoping to make on Justin's 2006 album.