Latest review: Lady GaGa - The Fame

Lady GaGa
So Real
Genre: Pop
Highlight: Summerboy

IF ANYONE ever gets round to drawing up a list of albums which sum up the squalor and misery of the credit crunch, it's fair to assume this won't be on it.

The Fame, debut album from sultry New York songstress Lady GaGa, isn't exactly this year's subtlest release. It's a bling-friendly and very American effort, making absolutely no apologies for its repeated references to a world where everybody is a Range Rover-driving rap star. Not that it needs to, because its sixteen songs will still go down a storm with UK pop fans.

Lady GaGa previously worked with the Pussycat Dolls and anyone who plucks for this album can expect the same sort of thing, with hints of Christina Aguilera, Pink and early Madonna thrown in for good measure. As an album it takes a while to get into its stride, but the greed-is-good vibe of Beautiful Dirty Rich pretty much sums it up perfectly.

Unfortunately it's just a little short of both Pussycat-style obvious anthems and real songwriting flair, treading the safe handbag territory currently dominated by the likes of Girls Aloud. Summerboy would be my bet on being a future smash hit, while the title track has an endearing quality, but far too many of Lady GaGa's songs sound like hen night hits crying out for a remix.

The Fame is a happy throwback to the glitzy 80s pop of Madonna and Michael Jackson and in its favour Lady Gaga does sound fresher than her immediate contemporaries, but anyone expecting the turntable to be reinvented is going to disappointed.

It's hardly Earth-shatteringly innovative, but for Friday-friendly pop you can't go far wrong.

CD provided by Tesco, Llandudno Junction