Born This Way by Lady Gaga

Born This Way, Lady Gaga's second album, came out on Interscope on May 23, 2011, and it's pop blown up to cathedral size. Gaga co-wrote and co-produced it, steering the ship as musical director with Fernando Garibay, with RedOne back in the fold, and she roped in E Street saxophonist Clarence Clemons and Queen's Brian May for good measure.

The synth-pop and dance-pop of her earlier records are still the engine, but now they're bolted to electronic rock, techno, heavy metal, disco and house, and the songs preach sexuality, faith, freedom, feminism and standing proud as yourself. Religious and conservative commentators were split; critics mostly cheered the range and the voice. The title track ruled the Hot 100 for six weeks, "Judas", "The Edge of Glory" and "You and I" followed it into the top ten, and Rolling Stone later slotted the album into its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.