Lady Gaga: MAYHEM review
Global icon Lady Gaga released her seventh studio album MAYHEM on March 7, showing us she is very much still in the game
Lady Gaga—or Stefani Germanotta—has long been an extremely strong force in the pop music industry, ever since her first album The Fame in 2008. Some of her most popular tracks include Poker Face, Alejandro, Just Dance, and Telephone. Gaga has won 14 GRAMMY awards over the course of her career, and this project should definitely be up for consideration for more accolades. I really feel this album brings her The Fame sound forward into the 2020s—an elevated classic.
Track 1 - Disease
8/10
Gaga has always owned her distinctive electronic pop-rock sound, and this track is no different. As she explores her tumultuous relationship with inner demons through the metaphor of a toxic and poisonous romance, she characterises the sound of the album very well. Honestly, it took me a second listen to fully appreciate this track, but I admire Gaga’s ability to give us such experimental and interesting songs while making them so catchy and aptly infectious with recurring riffs and melodies.
Track 2 - Abracadabra
10/10
This track is one of my favourite Gaga songs to date. She blends electro-dance music with grungy rock in a sound that only she could have pulled off, but something I haven’t heard from her as clearly as I did here. This song spares no moment for resting—it is ultra-high energy, a witchy warning with the lyrics, “Feel the beat under your feet, the floor’s on fire.” This song would be right at home in a Berlin nightclub with a bit of pre-rehearsed choreography.
Track 3 - Garden of Eden
10/10
The next two songs reminded me so much of The Fame. Gaga has reintroduced the music industry to a song over three minutes long, with intertwining rhythms and melodies that paint a picture and stand alone, yet also work in tandem with the rest of the project. In this track, Gaga is a serpent-like seductress luring her lover to take a chance, singing, “I could be your girlfriend for the weekend / You could be my boyfriend for the night.” This is an extremely catchy EDM-rock-infused track, with co-producers Cirkut and Gesaffelstein using mechanised instruments to pull this off.
Track 4 - Perfect Celebrity
9/10
This song matches The Fame so well, as Gaga sings about the requirements of being considered "perfect" as a public figure. She grapples with how the rest of the world views her and uses her, stating, “You make me money, I’ll make you laugh” and “You love to hate me” over a The Cure-style grungy, electronic sound. Her repetition of the song’s title makes me confident this track would do great numbers on the radio—I can see it getting stuck in everyone’s heads.
Track 5 - Vanish Into You
10/10
This song immediately signals that it will display a more vulnerable side of the singer, with Gaga describing it as an “apocalyptic love song.” It injects more pop and funk into her existing mix, progressing the album nicely while maintaining its cohesive sound and feeling. The song feels appropriately haunting and elusive, with Gaga’s stacked vocals and a running piano melody. The instrumental bridge gave off strong '80s influences before the singer reintroduces the melody and brings the pace back up.
Track 6 - Killah (feat. Gesaffelstein)
8/10
This track was so interesting to me. When the pre-chorus kicked in, the rest of the song felt so nostalgic, evoking artists like Prince and David Bowie. It is the most distinct-sounding track on the album so far, and this intentional contrast is clever, given that the song is meant to be provocative, bold, and powerful. It blends synth and guitar into a vintage groove, demanding dominance, with soft rock also soaring here.
Track 7 - Zombieboy
7/10
This song carries a German funk sound from the previous tracks, and the grungy, campy attitude helps characterise it. Gaga sings, “I could be your type from your zombie bite,” as she details a wild night out over '80s synths and groovy guitar riffs. The theme of escapism is focused on as a tribute to her late friend Rick Genest, known as Zombie Boy.
Track 8 - LoveDrug
7/10
Gaga has gone full '80s pop with this song, exploring a theme not unusual for her—comparing the feeling of love to a drug-induced high. Her self-awareness and vulnerability are powerful here, as she sings, “If I could bear it on my own / I wouldn’t try so hard to numb what’s left behind.” This song shows how Gaga has done a brilliant job of making what feels like a dance album, something she is no stranger to.
Track 9 - How Bad Do U Want Me
7/10
Gaga does some serious self-reflection in this track, questioning her partner on whether they really want her as she is or how she perceives herself. Oddly enough, this song reminded me of tracks from Taylor Swift’s Reputation album—not only in its synth-pop ballad style but also in Gaga’s visual storytelling. Her vocals have shone throughout the project, but they are especially clear here, as she lets the instrumentation take a slight rest.
Track 10 - Don’t Call Tonight
8/10
I was immediately reminded of Alejandro when this song started, as her old sound made a triumphant return. Gaga has a great formula for crafting pop songs that are repetitive to an extent, yet still surprising and intricate enough to create a new listening experience each time. I didn’t think I would like this song about a toxic relationship (“I’m so addicted to your lies”), but the experimental production supporting her pop hooks and the vocal build during the bridge really turned this into a strong highlight on the album.
Track 11 - Shadow of a Man
7/10
Disco-funk comes back into the mix with this track. The Madonna influences feel present here, and the chorus even felt Michael Jackson-esque to me, with the fast-paced singing while retaining perfect diction. This is an admirable and defiant song, as she declares she will “dance in the shadow of a man,” exploring the dissonance in the treatment of male and female artists in the music industry. I like how the song begins as a funk-electronic fusion, and by the end, electric guitars transition it into a more rock-oriented setting.
Track 12 - The Beast
8/10
Gaga slows the pace down significantly for this Beauty and the Beast-inspired ballad. This soft rock track sees the singer lament the destruction her partner causes while reluctantly enjoying the darkness. Gaga’s bridges have been a standout throughout this album, and I appreciate an artist who takes the time to tell a story with sound and vocals just as much as with lyrics.
Track 13 - Blade of Grass
9/10
This haunting, piano-led ballad feels starkly different from the sound she gave us earlier in the album. Her vocals are incredibly clear and impressive here, as she sings of unfaltering love and its resilience through obstacles: “Wrap that blade of grass around my finger like a cast.” The truth behind this song adds great emotional depth, as Gaga was actually proposed to by Polansky using a blade of grass.
Track 14 - Die with a Smile (feat. Bruno Mars)
8/10
I really do love this song, but it feels somewhat out of place on the album. It is a soulful ballad that blends both artists’ vocals beautifully, but perhaps because of its early release and widespread popularity, it doesn’t quite feel like part of this project. I would have appreciated Blade of Grass as a beautiful closer—this track is striking, but it feels far more cinematic and grand rather than intimate, vulnerable, and personal.
MAYHEM
9/10
Gaga proves herself yet again as a dominant force in music. While I can’t say this album lives up to The Fame as fans may have hoped, I see myself sticking with it. It’s my favourite album of the year so far and one of my favourites in Gaga’s career. I’m hoping Garden of Eden is chosen as the next single—but we’ll just have to wait and see!