Μore than a reminder of Lady Gaga‘s dance-pop roots – for all her stylistic reinventions, it’s not exactly an era that’s been lost to time – MAYHEM serves as a reaffirmation. Call it a return to form – Gaga prefers “reassembling a shattered mirror.” It’s more maximalist, chaotic, and ultimately romantic than the similarly marketed Chromatica (maybe Harlequin we did already forget about), aided in no small part by her fiancé Michael Polansky, who co-produced the record along with Gesaffelstein, Cirkut, and Andrew Watt. Gaga’s seventh album announces itself as an industrial dance music of the highest order – it’s got the singles to boot – but somehow, it needs to find its way to the closing Bruno Mars duet ‘Die With a Smile’ without totally going off the rails. As it does, you’re left wondering not just what kinds of artists Gaga paying tribute to, or which versions of herself she’s piecing back together, but how she makes it look like she’s only pushing forward.
1. Disease
MAYHEM’s lead single seems to me inextricable from its video, which finds Gaga facing different versions of herself as a metaphor for her inner turmoil. But even removed from the potency of its visual accompaniment, ‘Disease’ kicks off the album with enough maximalism to immediately justify the title being all caps. The song, of course, hinges on the promise of a cure: “I could play the doctor,” Gaga proclaims, one of many roles she’ll be taking on.
2. Abracadabra
On first listen, ‘Abracadabra’ left a bigger impression on me than ‘Disease’, which is why I wrote about it as one of the best songs of February. It’s trashier and sillier, but there’s no doubt the two songs are cut from the same dance-pop cloth, which is why I was worried the record was going to be a) front-loaded, and b) a little one-dimensional. But MAYHEM’s got a lot more to offer moving forward.
3. Garden of Eden
The album’s first non-single summons all the brazen euphoria you’d expect from its title, though the post-chorus is ten times hookier than the actual hook. Other than “I’ll t-t-take you to the Garden of Eden,” there’s at least one more memorable line: “You start to slur and then I’ll start to squeal/ I’m fallin’ over in my nine-inch heels.” Take from that what you will.
4. Perfect Celebrity
The aim of ‘Perfect Celebrity’ is to demythologize, and Gaga is far from the first pop star to write about fame in that way – you might argue one of the ones who have set the template. But the fact that Gaga unleashes a decade and a half’s worth of frustration and baggage makes it stick in a powerful way. She starts out the record by singing about curing the poison inside her lover, but she’s got venom in her, too.
5. Vanish Into You
The album’s first real moment of optimism, jubilant even as it slows down the momentum – unless you consider vanishing into someone “like a ghost” a little creepy. Not what comes to mind when people say MAYHEM is all about “the ghosts of Gaga”!
6. Killah
Prince-indebted? Princess-esque? Prince pastiche? Whatever you want to call it, the inspiration shines through instantly. In collaboration with French electro icon Gesaffelstein, Gaga really does the reference justice, though what’s more fascinating is when it starts morphing into something else: the producers turn up the heat, the drums accelerate, guitars spin out, and Gaga lets out a scream out of nowhere. If it hasn’t sunk in yet that MAYHEM is more than an industrial dance record, this freak-out should do it.
7. Zombieboy
A tribute to the late model Rick Genest, who starred in the video for 2011’s ‘Born This Way’, ‘Zombieboy’ is effervescent, slinky, and irresistible. It’s got an excellent groove, but the solos aren’t afraid to be a little out of this world, which is the right combination. This is still a dance party – it’s just turning more disco!
8. LoveDrug
More strut, more fun. Lady Gaga may have said she could play doctor, but she still needs a dose of the right stuff. Maybe she’s self-medicating? “My heart is in a bind/ If I could bear it on my own/ I wouldn’t try so hard to numb what’s left behind,” she sings. There’s feeling here alright.
9. How Bad Do U Want Me
Priming us for the record’s ballad-heavy final stretch (not quite there yet), ‘How Bad Do U Want Me’ awkwardly lands like a Taylor Swift song circa Lover. Except instead of “a bad, bad boy, shiny toy with a price,” she’s singing about the fear that even good boys leave. Jack Antonoff, stay in your seat!
10. Don’t Call Tonight
You mean “my name,” right? Don’t call my name? Ale-Alejandro? Anyway, the funk is back on this one, but like the previous track, it feels a little lackluster. MAYHEM needs to pick itself back up.
11. Shadow of a Man
Mission accomplished: Gaga matches grit with glitter on ‘Shadow of Man’, which finds her potently declaring, “Watch me, I swear/ I’ll dance in the shadow of a man.” It makes ‘Perfect Celebrity’ feel less like a thematic outlier on the record, and more like the whole point.
12. The Beast
This is the second Michael Jackson-channeling track in a row, only this time in ballad mode. She vocally nails it, of course, but the song is just okay. Not the most innovative song on MAYHEM to invoke horror imagery.
13. Blade of Grass
Including ‘Die With a Smile’ on MAYHEM is one thing – was it really necessary to end it with three ballads? It’s not like they get progressively better – even if ‘Die With a Smile’ was the best ballad in the world (the most currently dominant, yes), the listener’s already fatigued.
14. Die With a Smile
You know what, it’s fine. It’s soulful. Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ voices come together quite beautifully. As the closer of the album, it works to assert the fact that MAYHEM is really more of a romantic album than it is a chaotic one. But I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s heard (and certainly not played) the song to death (and not exactly with a smile). “If the party was over,” they sing, which is where I feel like interjecting – it’s sounding like it already has. It’s been a blast, though.
