If you come into Born This Way and expect to hear the exact same type of dance-pop that laced The Fame and, to a lesser extent, The Fame Monster, you will likely be a bit disappointed with this album. It isn't bubblegum.

Have you ever looked up videos of a young Gaga on YouTube? Have you watched stripped down performances of her dance-pop singles? If you have then you should realize that at her heart Lady Gaga is a rocker chick who has an instinctive ability to break these songs down to a pop enough core that they connect with a broader audience. However, in Born This Way, Gaga didn't feel the need to break the songs down as far as she did previously.

I think this is smart as it keeps her about 30 paces ahead of the Gaga mimickers who have sprung up during the past two years and the established stars who have transitioned to trying to claim a piece of her thunder (Katy Perry, I love your music too, but your public persona has become more and more Gaga in the past 18 months.)

Gaga really shows off her voice in Born This Way - in a much more clear and resonant manner than she was able to with The Fame. "Marry the Night," "Electric Chapel," "Edge of Glory" and "You and I" are show pieces from this perspective. Electric Chapel and Marry the Night are superb fun to listen to.

In reference to comments in a prior review about "Judas" and "Bloody Mary." The in-your-face parallels in songs like Judas and Bloody Mary are poetic in their power while not getting too broken down in the details of a bad relationship. Judas without the name of Judas as the song would become another cliche about loving someone who always betrays that love. By using the name Judas, it is given from the start that this is betrayal at its most extreme and the song can operate more freely within its dance beat without having to explain this fact throughout 2 verses and an extended bridge cycle. I, personally, don't really understand people who freak out about her writing a song with the name Judas as the title. It was probably chosen simply because Benedict Arnold didn't fit the rhythm as well.

Sorry for the ranting, but really, read some poetry and come back to the imagery in Lady Gaga's songs and let us know if it's still complicated. I'm thinking it will not be.

I think if you are looking for a different but well-crafted Gaga sound, you will find it in Born This Way. The sounds are powerful, the lyrics cleverly crafted and the voice stunning. (Stunning because Gaga lets her songs lead her voice instead of constantly having to show off how well she sings.) If you want pure pop, you will not find it here.

ETA: The bonus tracks definitely add a spark to the CD. I like the dance-esque remixes for work-outs. If you can grab Born This Way for a cheap price the first week of release, do that and then download the special edition tracks separately. After the sale prices end, just splurge on the Special Edition.

After seeing the deal, previewing the music, and reading the reviews with problems, I've come to two conclusions:

1) The new album is definitely different, and I while I don't think it's quite as strong of a showing, it's still solid - especially for $0.99!

2) Amazon needs to moderate comments/ratings when there are known technical issues on their end!

People should not be allowed to give 1 star ratings on a product simply because of issues on Amazon's end; That does not contribute to the product rating in any way.

*EDIT* 5/23/11

1 PM EST I should also clarify that I have purchased the album, and have so far only received 6 items as well.

6 PM EST - Just received order confirmation receipt email, so things are slowly moving ahead, just have patience people.

5/24/11

Have received all files, as expected. Will updated with further album review once I can listen all the way thru.

5/25/11 - Full Album Review

After listening thru the whole album, I have to say I like it better than I did from just listening to the samples. Overall it comes across as another successful adventure in new sounds and song styles, and has a distinct sound that separates it from The Fame/Fame Monster. There don't seem to be as many stand-out songs at first pass, but it may grow on me the more I listen. I will revise my review if I change my mind along the way.

The album has a very 'big' sound, is somewhat whimsical at times, and covers a whole range of styles:

Upbeat club/pop; Driving, darker electro beats; 80's synth-pop; Even a Ballad thrown into the mix (You and I) - This one almost has a country sound to it

I am keeping my original star rating for the album, as I feel that artistically it deserves 5 stars.

I have called Amazon and they said the $.99 is for the ENTIRE album (all 14 songs). They are having a slight problem with the links to that album and are in the process of fixing it. I hope this helps you.

The album itself is great and at a great price.

The Born this Way CD is incredible. I purchased this set because I didn't have the remix or the DVD so it made sense. I was hoping since the CD was stamped with a Parental Advisory Sticker that the Born This Way album would be unedited. This album is still edited and it is the same CD that came with the Deluxe Edition upon its' first release. Still an incredible album in the little cardboard sleeve that is now comes in (but does include the original booklet). The mixes are ok and the DVD is ok. Played them one time with all the new music and entertainment coming out this month. Just wanted to write a quick review in case anyone was wondering if this is indeed an unedited Born this Way. If I could do it all over since, I already had the Deluxe edition, I would have bought the Remix and DVD separately. Way Sturdier packaging and if I got bored of the DVD I could have sold it on Amazon.

A success. That's all you need to really know. Get it, and get ready to hear tracks from it for the next year or more. I'm not out to address Gaga's history, her personality, or influences, whatever. I'm here to talk about the music, so let's dig into the album. And indeed, I use the word 'album' here after some consideration because this an album. This is not, as one often encounters nowadays in mainstream pop, a smattering of singles spread among a bunch of filler songs that really don't matter. This is an album; every song has its place and purpose, and there are actually no songs that I would toss out as superfluous. Contrary to The Fame, this album actually feels like a statement from Gaga, rather than a couple singles and then padding.

What about the songs? Well, let's be realistic. It's Lady Gaga, so you can expect nothing beyond the basic bass-driven, 4/4 perfect-tempo-for-grinding-at-the-club song over and over again; literally almost every song is at the same tempo, has the same song structure, and is driven by very similar beats (with the obvious exception of You and I). But that's Lady Gaga, and if you're expecting something else, walk back out the door right now, and take your pretensions and snobbery with you.

Let's not quibble about religious allusions, or whether Gaga ripped off so-and-so (SERIOUSLY WHO CARES), or whether Lady Gaga is this or that or whatever. We've already established that this is an album full of simple pop songs, but are they good pop songs? Unambiguously yes. Gaga has an ear for hooks and melodies that very few artists have nowadays. Few people seem to appreciate how incredibly rare and difficult this is; chords and songs are easy compared to melodies. Yet here we have an album full of perfect hooks: the pre-chorus of Bloody Mary ("dance, dance, dance, with my hands, hands, hands...), the near-wordless chorus of Heavy Metal Lover, even the completely nonsensical "German" at the beginning of Scheiße (personal note: I speak German, and it is not ANY sort of German I've ever heard. besides the word scheiße). All of it is perfectly conceived to stick in your head, and it will. And this album sees Gaga expanding her musical palette far beyond The Fame. There's nothing drastic (she ain't about to drop a mandolin solo or something), but some delicate and clever instrumentation on each track shows off a much more mature songwriter (as well as some influences from other genres). I also really appreciate her newly found restraint on some songs; The Fame (+TFM) was all about bombastic overblown melodies and choruses, but here Gaga is content to chill a little more on choruses, to much greater effect. As mentioned, the choruses of Bloody Mary and Heavy Metal Lover are perfect examples of this restraint.

One more compliment is in order, and this one is a little less immediate, but touches on (in my mind) the real reason for Gaga's appeal. That reason is this: Gaga writes songs full of beautiful and instantly gratifying chord changes, and that really drives her appeal. Clarification: we could have another pop song in the vein of Pachabel's Canon (see the Axis of Awesome '4 Chords' video), or we can have Bloody Mary, where those chords in the pre-chorus could serve as the basis of a beautiful folk/indie/whatever song if it was stripped of its heavy beat and other pop-isms. The same thing applied to TF/TFM; if you took her chords and used them in a different setting, they would be lovely. They are here as well, but sometimes it's harder to realize that due to the poppy nature of the music. I mean, just look at the title track - the whole track follows the chords of the 'na-na-na' part of Hey Jude exactly (as in, much more exactly than Express Yourself, you time-wasting armchair critics). Born This Way sounds anthemic and triumphant for the same reasons Hey Jude did 40 years ago. She writes good chord changes. That's all I'm saying.

So the good - strong melodies, strong chord changes, playing to her strengths with powerful beats and simple song structures, and a widening of the musical palette, ever so slightly. Let's talk about the bad. First, a general problem: Gaga still can't write major-key, optimistic pop songs. All her biggest hits are minor-key, dark, driving pop songs like Bad Romance, Telephone and (soon enough) Scheiße and Government Hooker. So songs like Fashion of His Love, You and I, Hair, Edge of Glory and (somewhat) Highway Unicorn aren't going to stick like Scheiße and Government Hooker. Well, Edge of Glory might in that 'oh my goodness it's the end of the night and we're all drunk and i love my beautiful friends and i'm gonna sing edge of glory way too loud and poorly with my arms wrapped around friends' sense. Sorta like when Nsync or Backstreet Boys or really any 90s anthem comes on. But I digress. Other things I don't like - Government Hooker is a rather obnoxious "sketchy club" song with little of the melodic appeal of the rest of the album (but it's going to be a big hit, guarenteed). Judas - Judas literally sounds like someone said to Gaga "hey, remember Bad Romance? do that again so we can have a single!" So Gaga churned out this totally vapid, bland single that borders on self-parody. Seriously, compare Judas and Bad Romance and their hooks. I wonder if Gaga even likes this song.

Alright, enough. So what am I trying to say here? Well, first off, this is an album, not a collection of singles with crap in between. Well done to Gaga there. Second, her melodies, hooks and beats are strong as ever. Third, she still can't write optimistic ballads. Whatever. So this is a strong album, and not just for pop. It's relentlessly fun, passionate, catchy and almost perfectly conceived as a vision of Gaga's music. No five stars from me personally - she's not changing the game here, and I'd love to see her take her perfect winning formula and see how far she can stretch it. I think she'd do well to push herself a little more outside her comfort zone. But I do give four stars, because this is as good as pop music gets. And pop haters, armchair critics, music snobs - lighten up or get out. I guarentee you aren't snobbier than me when it comes to music, but the difference is I know (rather, we the Lady Gaga fans know) how to lighten up and enjoy simple fun music for what it is. And that's really what music is about, eh? Connecting with people (which Gaga clearly does) and bringing out these simple emotions that reality usually isn't able to provide. So let us dance and scream the words out loud, while you guys sit stuffed up complaining about the state of music nowadays or something. Gaga is dope. Peace.

Favorite tracks: Scheiße, Heavy Metal Lover, Bloody Mary