While teasing us with some juicy tidbits about her upcoming follow-up to the mega-successful “The Fame Monster”, the First Lady of Pop is attempting to tide over her groupies with “The Remix”: reworked versions of ten Gaga favorites, just released in the States. Ironically, most of Lady Gaga’s most diehard fans probably already have these songs, since remix albums were released in Europe and Japan (albeit with widely varying track listings) a few months ago. Richard Vission transforms “Just Dance” from its universally appealing vanilla flavor into a heavy, probing, deep house anthem with a tribal, almost industrial beat. Purists may object– but love it or hate it, this pulsating thump-fest is guaranteed to get you to… well, “just dance”. The LLG Vs. GIG Radio Mix of “Poker Face” gives the 2009 hit a shot of adrenaline, speeding up the tempo and accessorizing the track with a few space-age electronic baubles. Stuart Price’s “Paparazzi” and Sound of Arrow’s “Alejandro” retain their candy-flavored pop tart appeal with a new, smoothly appealing ‘80’s style aura. (Think Madonna’s 1986 “True Blue” album and some of Maddy’s earlier hits.) Passion Pit‘s “Telephone”, which teams Gaga with Beyonce, is the most renegade of the mixes: These guys don‘t just play around with the beat, but also toy with the song’s structure as well. At the risk of giving too much away, I’m not gonna say anymore; listen to it yourself! Shock rocker and Gaga’s Interscope labelmate Marilyn Manson joins the diva for Chew Fu‘s Ghettohouse Fix Mix of “Lovegame“. Gaga‘s pleas to ride your disco stick are joined by Manson’s trademark seething vocals (He rants, “Love! Game! Love! Game!” before screaming “FAME!!!” like a depraved banshee.) as well as Manson rapping. (It sounds exactly as wrong as you think it is.) The darkly decadent “Bad Romance” remix is courtesy of British music man Starsmith, but I’ve declared it “The S&M Remix”. It’s steely, sexy, and slick, with Gaga’s vocals altered ever-so-subtly to sound even more cool and distant. Put another way, it‘s the perfect Gaga song for that night at the after-hours club. You can almost hallucinate our Lady in full dominatrix mode, atop a big black box, overseeing the festivities going on.  Already one of the most dance-friendly songs on “The Fame Monster”, Ms. Gaga pulls out all the clubland tricks with the CD’s finale, Monarchy‘s “Stylites“ remix of “Dance in the Dark“.

     “The Remix“ proves that with Gaga‘s hits, love can still be found the second time around… as well as the third, forth, fifth, etc…