Artist: Lady Gaga

Title: Born This Way

Label: Interscope

For anyone who didn't get the memo It's Lady Gaga's world, and we just happen to live in it. 

Unless you've been hiding under the proverbial rock, you've probably noticed that Lady Gaga, this generation's answer to Madonna, is seemingly everywhere these days—your local Starbucks, the cover of countless magazines, even the lead headline on news websites, thanks to some serious first-week sales of her third album, Born This Way.

And thanks to her wildly inventive, attention-grabbing antics (meat dress, anyone?), not to mention the sheer catchiness of her songs and accompanying videos, that's not likely to change anytime soon. 

But like oh-so-many success stories before her, Lady Gaga is already acknowledging that widespread fame isn't always what it's cracked up to be. In fact, there are several moments on Born This Way, particularly in "Marry the Night" where the lyrics hint at her deeper longings for something more substantive. 

Equally surprising is that Jesus—and faith—make several cameos, whether she's taking the role of Mary Magdalene and addressing the duality of the human heart in "Judas" or discussing the spiritual connection a relationship must have for lasting success in "Electric Chapel." 

Other references to God's view on things won't sit quite as well with some believers, however. While the title track is a enthusiastic rally cry for people to accept themselves as God created them, that also applies to people engaging in same-sex  relationships.

Like Madonna did so famously with "Like a Prayer" and countless other songs, too, sex and God often make uncomfortable bedfellows on Born This Way.  Not are all expressions of sexuality considered okay, but they're often intertwined with odd religious imagery to boot. Case in point: these lines from the aforementioned "Judas"— "In the most biblical sense/I am beyond repentance/Fame hooker, prostitute wench, vomits her mind/But in the cultural sense/I just speak in future tense/Judas, kiss me if offensed/Or wear ear condom next time."

What exactly Lady Gaga means by that is pretty much up to individual interpretation. But what is safe to say is that she certainly gets people talking, which is precisely why so many people are intrigued by her—and her music.

*This article first published 6/2/2011