Lady Gaga has done a lot of extreme things over the years -- from embodying a greaser alter-ego named Jo Calderone to collaborating with Jeff Koons to wearing this high-protein getup. The most extreme thing she may have done lately, though, may seem like the most subdued: She's growing up. Way up.

Yup, Gaga -- despite her predilection for going sans pants -- seems to be moving into a new phase of her career ... and it may be paying off. I mean, lady put out a collection of jazz standards with an 88-year-old legend -- hello, Tony Bennett -- and still managed to premiere at #1 on the Billboard 200 album charts this week. That's no small feat, and it's decidedly something that pretty much only Lady Gaga, with her clout, army of fans and incredible voice, could have done.

Let's break down the incongruity of this whole situation for a second, shall we? Gaga is currently dominating a chart -- also populated by Chris Brown and Alt-J -- with a record whose newest song, "Firefly," originally came out in the 1950s. The oldest jam, "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" is older than your grandparents: it came out in 1928. The title track of the record, "Cheek To Cheek," was a huge hit -- in 1935 -- as was "Nature Boy," which dominated the charts in 1948. Talk about oldies. And her fans are loving it.

And the publicity campaign that led Gaga here? It has not been, shall we say, as (art) pop as usual. She appeared on the cover of Parade, the average reader of which is around 50.

She did interviews with the likes of The Wall Street Journal, telling journalists how Tony Bennett changed her life and calls her "old-school."

Gaga also started draping herself in cocktail dresses and channeling the likes of Ella Fitzgerald and Cher, even borrowing wigs from the "Believe" singer herself. I mean, she's appearing in a PBS special for Mother Monster's sake -- what more proof do you need that Gaga has headed in a very new, very un-"Poker Face" direction?

At 28 -- around the same age as cohorts Katy Perry and Rihanna -- it may seem too early for Gaga to start trading "Sex Dreams" for Swing. Still, Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta is anything but consistent when it comes to her identity, so we're guessing this "Sophisticated Lady" persona is just another in Gaga's collection of selves -- and, it seems, it's currently working for her.