November 21, 2009

"I want your ugly, I want your disease/I want your everything as long as it's free," a mischievous Lady Gaga croons on the opening lines of "Bad Romance." "I want your psycho, your vertigo stick/Want you in my rear window/Baby, you're sick." Hardly the stuff of a loving relationship, but according to this new track from Gaga's expanded debut album, "The Fame: Monster," no coupling is complete without a healthy dose of dysfunction. As she did on her previous No. 1 hit "Poker Face," Gaga splinters the song's title into sing-songy syllables, interspersing them with "Ooh la las" over industrial-dance synths that rev up in dizzying fashion, giving an otherwise fairly simple production an illicit feel. "Bad Romance" isn't quite as catchy as the other songs from Gaga's 2009 hit streak, but it has wicked sex appeal.—Monica Herrera

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