Lady Gaga’s newest album, “Mayhem”, was released on Mar. 7. It features popular songs such as “Abracadabra” and “Disease.” Although I wouldn’t say I’m Lady Gaga’s biggest fan, I am quite familiar with her music. From classics like “Poker Face” to “Born This Way,” fans recognize her distinctive production style, something that was predominant in “Abracadabra” and “Disease.” Lady Gaga usually uses lots of echoes, static, and background sounds, which were extremely toned down. Since these were the most popular songs from her new album, I figured the rest of the songs would be classic Lady Gaga songs. However, this was far from the truth.
After the first two songs, “Meyhem” took a chaotic turn. Continuing with “Garden of Eden,” I was shocked at how much the beginning of this song sounded like K-pop, instead of her usual style. They had instead been replaced by clear backbeats and wiry tones. By the chorus, though, classic Lady Gaga was back, along with the usual static and background vocals. Three songs into “Mayhem,” “Garden of Eden” was a refreshing change in sound and has to be my favorite song from this album.
After the quick intermission of “Garden of Eden,” I expected the album to turn back to what Lady Gaga is good at: sassy, dance-with-techno-influence club music. Once again, I was mistaken. “Perfect Celebrity” didn’t start with any unique or different intro, but a very American-pop one. While still mildly different for Lady Gaga, it’s not new for anyone who’s ever turned on a radio in the 21st century. Overall, the song isn’t bad, it’s just very generic, which I found ironic, considering the title of the song.
“Vanish Into You” gave me a Tame Impala jumpscare; its defined bass line was strikingly similar to their style. Once again, the song didn’t make my ears bleed, but it wasn’t unique or new. I understand that not every song Lady Gaga makes can be unique and different, but one of the things that stood out to me when I first really started listening to her is how distinct her style is. Even if it’s repetitive and predictable, it’s still unique in its own right, and that’s something I didn’t really hear with “Mayhem.”
“Killah” broke free of the classic Lady Gaga chorus and had just one or two key notes played out with her voice overtop. When listening, I could definitely hear the influence from Gesaffelstein, the artist she collaborated with on this song. At this point in the album, the songs weren’t my kind of music. If you like basic pop, “Killah” is absolutely your song, just not mine.
“Zombieboy” brought it back for me, though. I love a good bass line, and the Tame Impala influence present in this song. Unlike “Vanish Into You,” “Zombieboy” also had similar production sounds as the band MGMT. However, the chorus sounded like the classic Lady Gaga production, so it sounded like a fun mash-up between some of my favorite artists.
“Lovedrug,” “How Bad Do U Want Me,” and “Don’t Call Me Tonight” went right back to fading into the generic pop background. “Lovedrug” sounded like “Killah,” “How Bad Do U Want Me” sounded like something out of Taylor Swift’s “1989” album, and “Don’t Call Tonight” almost hooked me by having similar lyrics to “Alejandro” due to its similarity to “Don’t call me” and “Don’t call my name”, but then it went straight back to generic pop style. These songs are an example of something that I encounter a lot with Lady Gaga’s songs: some of them are super fun and totally lean into the club/party dance mixes, while the rest of them make up the white noise of American pop. I couldn’t even remember the melody to “Don’t Call Tonight” immediately after the song was over.
“Shadow Of A Man” brought back some of the pep lost in the past few songs, sounding more like something that would be played in a shopping mall, rather than what would be played by someone alone in their room, disassociating. Still, it insisted on minimal production and background. I’m not a huge fan of overproduced music, but that’s something Lady Gaga does really well and excels at and something she left out of the majority of “Mayhem.”
“The Beast” and “Blade of Grass” were, surprise, bland pop.
Just when I thought all hope was lost for this album, Lady Gaga comes back in the final song of “Mayhem” with “Die With A Smile.” Featuring Bruno Mars, this song wasn’t quite the dance song I was expecting, but it was still great. It brought back the Lady Gaga chorus, and no matter how many times this song is obsessively played on the radio, I will never skip it. It’s a fantastic showcase of Lady Gaga’s talents, from vocal strength and range to production and her passion for her music.
All in all, “Mayhem” started out strong, but fizzled out pretty fast. With such a strong lead, I expected this album to be a new favorite, but so many of the songs sounded the same, and very few sounded like Lady Gaga made them. Personally, I think Lady Gaga should forget about being the “perfect celebrity” and just stick with being herself.
