Lady Gaga - Born This Way: The Remix

For a remix album, Lady Gaga's re-envisioned version of Born This Way does a remarkable job of standing on its own two feet. Part of this is down to the fact the majority of the mixes contained here are cut-down radio edits, sticking to the original formats of the songs in the vast majority of cases. But it's also down to the fact a good half of the mixes come from established bands rather than your usual club remixers.

Highlights include the apocalyptically evil sounding Hurts mix of Judas which sounds like Depeche Mode getting their hands on the track - it's a shame the album didn't come out a few weeks earlier, this version would have been perfect for Halloween, as would Goldfrapp's take on the single.

Again, the overtones of 80s synthpop is strong - in this instance the track's vocals are tortuously tweaked out of all proportion; slowed down and lowered into a bassy masculine drawl. It's properly scary and while it's debatable whether this take is wholly good or not, it makes for a fascinating exercise in just how far you can push a track.

The 80s influences continue in the Twin Shadow mix of Born This Way, making it sound even more like vintage Madonna than it already did, by way of a neat little guitar riff and plenty of slap bass. With the pop sensibilities satisfied, the Sultan & Ned Shepard mix of Edge of Glory mashes the track with the Sweet Child of Mine hook - it's, as you'd expect, amazing.

For the most part, the album positions itself in a dirty, low-slung pit of excess and dark glamour. Whether it's the full throttle, relentless Foster The People mix or the sinister Eastern refrains of The Horrors version of Bloody Mary, Lady Gaga has never sounded as mysteriously cult-ish as this.

While the ace Wild Beasts mix of The Edge of Glory provides a brief down-tempo respite, it's not long before the album launches itself back into the party (albeit a grimly decadent party) with the bonkers Guena LG mix of Schiebe - it's like something the Pet Shop Boys would have come up with in the mid 90s.

Perhaps the best thing about the record though is the way it ruthlessly cuts away the fatty excesses of Americana that bloated the original LP so badly - in this form, Born This Way feels leaner, meaner, sharper.

Born This Way: The Remix is available to download on iTunes now.