Lady Gaga does 'Born This Way' her way

Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" album is straight-up crazy.

By now, we've all heard the title track that reworks mid-'80s Madonna into a disco anthem for inclusion that has kids in even the reddest of states singing the praises of all races and sexual orientations. The follow-up is another disco stomp, this time about a love triangle between Mary Magdalene, Judas Iscariot and Jesus Christ that doesn't ruffle Catholic teachings. Last week, we were introduced to another anthem that equates freedom to hair and sounds like Pat Benatar fronting The Shirelles recording for the "Miami Vice" soundtrack.

All that stuff is just Gaga getting started. "Born This Way" (Interscope) gets way stranger, as her musical statements are just as envelope-pushing as her fashion declarations with meat-dresses and plastic outfits inspired by condoms. It's a testament to how well-crafted the 25-year-old former Stefani Germanotta's wild moves actually are that this bizarre monster album all hangs together.

Take the insanely catchy "Americano" as an example. Over a thudding Eurodisco beat, with flourishes of flamenco guitar and Latin horn blasts, Ga outlines an international love story that is actually her protest against a new anti-immigrant law in Arizona.

Even a form as tried-and-true as the power ballad can get reworked by Ga. "You and I," which is piano-driven and seemingly Elton John-influenced in concert, becomes a totally different animal on the album. Thanks to producer Robert "Mutt" Lange, it becomes a long-lost Def Leppard song, complete with Queen's Brian May delivering the guitar solo.

Gaga's mastery of '80s influences reaches its peak with the closing "The Edge of Glory," which sounds like Meat Loaf doing the soundtrack to "St. Elmo's Fire," even including a sax solo from the E Street Band's Clarence Clemons. It's yet another inside joke for Ga to give her most conventional song a chorus about being on the edge.

Of course, Gaga is all about being clever. She sings in four languages on "Born This Way," including German in "Scheibe," a weird combination that bounces between Nitzer Ebb austerity and Basement Jaxx playfulness to deliver the message, "If you're a strong female, you don't need permission."

SEE PHOTOSLady Gaga through the years

So far, she's managed to push nearly all the right buttons to establish herself as an artistic force -- in music, video, fashion and marketing, no less -- with "Born This Way," which is only her second proper studio album. ("The Fame Monster" was really just a continuation of her debut, "The Fame.")

She's done it by embodying her message. Gaga preaches celebrating your individuality and she certainly practices that on "Born This Way."

Only Gaga would've thought that mining club music from three decades ago to create the backbone for her new pop album would be a good idea. And only Gaga would've been able to make it work this well.

LADY GAGA

"Born This Way"

GRADE A-

BOTTOM LINE Upbeat, '80s-drenched dance pop is the right track, baby.

'This Way' to the CD

The rollout of "Born This Way" has become a spectacle unto itself, as Team Gaga pushes the CD in places where CDs haven't been seen in years. Here's a look:

APPEARANCES Following her performance on "Saturday Night Live" this weekend, see Gaga Monday on "The View" and "Late Show With David Letterman." Gaga kicks off "Good Morning America's" summer concert series in Central Park on Friday. MTV's documentary about the album, "Inside the Outside," will debut at 9 p.m. Thursday. Fuse wraps a weeklong "Gaga-thon" tonight at 8 with the special "Fuse Sexiest: Lady Gaga."

NONTRADITIONAL STORES Interscope will be selling "Born This Way" in places that haven't sold new CDs in years, including Nordstrom, CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens.

WEIRD PROMOTION There will be black "Born This Way" cabs today that will give you a free ride anywhere in Manhattan if you show the driver your copy of the CD. There's a "Born This Way Haus Party" at Angel Orensanz, 172 Norfolk St. in the East Village, at 9 p.m. Thursday that's free if you bring your proof of purchase from the CD.