Born This Way

Lady Gaga’s second album operates under the cloak of night, to thrilling effect. Anthems like “Hair” and “Marry the Night” allow her to command the dance floor with her muscular pipes atop a driving four-on-the-floor pulse. The biblically minded “Judas” is a snarling, storming passion play, while the title track celebrates diversity by commanding the world to get on its feet. Gaga’s love of rock, meanwhile, comes through on the sweeping power ballad “Yoü and I” and the triumphant, Clarence Clemons-assisted “The Edge of Glory.”