MAYHEM

Ok, after those already big two albums I talked about, here’s what is without a doubt; THE BIG ONE for this weekend.

“Lady Gaga”… Do I even need to introduce her to you guys? You already know who she is, and if you somehow don’t, then you’re really missing out on A LOT.

What else more could I tell you about the legendary gal who’s released some of the biggest and most iconic songs of the 21st Century? “Bad Romance,” “Poker Face,” “Just Dance,” “Born This Way,” “Telephone,” “The Edge Of Glory,” “Paparazzi” and even freaking “Shallow” & “I’ll Never Love Again” on the soundtrack of the 2018 reboot of “A Star Is Born.” Like, when it came to her big hits and lead singles, Lady Gaga was a Titan. But what about her full albums?

Well her best ones were there. “The Fame Monster” is her obvious masterpiece as it’s a full banger all the way through, while “The Fame” and “Born This Way” are remarkably consistent in between the big hits. But after that… yeah she most definitely became a singles artist, with the likes of “ARTPOP,” “Joanne,” “Chromatica” and her most recent release last year “Harlequin”… which I didn’t review or even listen to…unfortunately that was due to the bad stigma around the certain movie it was attached to. And this is the spot where I also talk about her… interesting… acting career.

On the one hand she’s clearly a very talented actress, as she is often regarded as the biggest highlight of the movies and TV shows she stars in (Especially on “A Star Is Born”), but on the other hand she’s often only the real standout when a movie or TV show/episode around her is crumbling on everything else. The most infamous examples include the “Lisa Goes Gaga” episode from ‘The Simpsons’ and the recent “Joker Folie-A-Duex” sequel, which was basically required in order to understand ‘Harlequin’ (Get It? Because Harlequin sounds like ‘Harley Quinn?’ hahahahha-), but I NOPED the hell out of that when I saw the Very Bad reception the movie got. IDK maybe I’ll Brave that movie someday, ugh…

Anyway that kind of explained my stance on Lady Gaga. I thought that she peaked in her early years album-wise and then she basically became a singles artist only. It was occasionally interesting to see projects that she was appearing on elsewhere like TWO albums she did with the late great “Tony Bennett, but as the 2020’s rolled by… it was getting harder for her singles to get me interested in her, and it didn’t help that her acting career became such a mixed bag on top of it. In my honest stance, I thought that she would never catch my interest again…

…So What’s Changed?

…Well, it’s now time to talk about her newest album of this year; “MAYHEM,” which I am definitely reviewing and not Pu**ying out from this time. Is this the album that finally breaks through the Singles-Only GAGA Mould for the first time since ARTPOP? Or is it going to stay in the same place it’s been since that time?

Well I’ll start with the ‘First’ single of the album (Trust me we’ll get to the REAL first single later as that’s more worth talking about), and that is “Disease” which is also the opener on this album and… well it’s a single that just EXISTS to me.
Maybe it’s the ‘Ah-Ah’s’ being slightly annoying, or maybe it’s the chorus just not working for me, but I will admit to liking the creepier vibes of the instrumentals in the verses and I decently like how Gaga goes off a bit more vocally at the end. Otherwise this track is the most likely skippable track on the album for me. Hot Take I guess? Aw well, Cry Me A River then.

Then we had the following lead single “Abracadabra” which is another addition to those many ‘Magic’ singles over the past year like Dua Lipa’s Houdini and Eminem’s Houdini (Weird… Right?).
Anyway, this lead single is not only MUCH better than Disease, but genuinely no BS & Great! IKR? I’m kinda shocked too.
Aside from the chorus lyrics being kinda silly, The rest of the song; In particular the DIRTY hyperpop instrumentals behind the ‘abracadabra’ vocals & main verses that remind me of ‘Charli XCX’ really make this song so much fun to listen to. It has also been more of the popular radio choice from the album when I’ve heard it in my country, which is definitely a plus as I’d say it deserves it.

Anyway, now that the rest of the album is here and that I managed to listen to it… I came to a big realisation on here… and that is the fact that this is actually THE Most consistently ‘Great’ full album that we’ve gotten from Lady Gaga since her Two ‘Fame’ albums… and that’s probably the reason why, as this album soundwise feels like an intentional throwback towards that era. The viral success of Brat from Charli XCX last year may have also been the factor to this album being made like it was (especially on ‘Abracadabra’). If that’s the case, then this was a GENIUS move from Lady Gaga.

To me that Electronic/Synth Pop era of Lady Gaga was where she was at her best. Sure her ventures into folk, R&B, opera and even rock music at points was also memorable when it was done right, but Gaga’s pop music was when she was at her most provocative, direct and truly alive. Chromatica was a prior attempt at this, but it was missing that creative spark & passion, Mayhem on the other hand feels like the throwback ‘The Fame’ album we SHOULD have got.

As a result, even at the albums weakest tracks, Which I’d Say are “Disease,” “How Bad Do U Want Me,”(Which is a bit Too-Close to Taylor Swift For My Liking) and “The Beast” (Which is easily the weakest track post-Disease)… the album is actually worth going through without skipping to get to the bigger & better songs (especially considering that both Disease and Abracadabra are the opening two songs on the album).

I mean the first half of this album is shockingly high-quality and genuinely amazing work from Lady Gaga. Even if the second half doesn’t quite hit those highs, it’s still got great sparks with “LoveDrug” and “Shadow Of A Man.”

But hang on, I’m missing something… where is it… where is it?
….
….
…Oh Yeah! Surprise Twist, “Die With A Smile” is on this album as the closer.
Yes, the Grammy-winning R&B/soul performance with “Bruno Mars” as a guest feature is technically the ‘first’ lead single of this album. While it is definitely out of place on this album compared to most of the synth-pop tracks before it (the one exception probably being the good piano ballad track “Blade Of Grass”), I still really enjoy this single to this day. Both Gaga and Bruno sing excellently on this Warm and frankly Beautiful R&B track whether it’s their own verses or when they’re together. I’m a sucker for this kind of R&B when it done right and this song was no exception. Please release another album at some point Bruno Mars, I’m getting hungry.

And well, that’s basically all I need to say about this album.
There’s a lot of genuinely great/amazing tracks hidden among the one’s I’ve already mentioned. “Perfect Celebrity,” “Garden Of Eden,” “Vanish Into You,” “Killer (With Gesaffelstein as a guest)” and “Zombieboy.”
The sound and production of this album is insanely rich and succeeds as a throwback, Gaga’s Lyrics and vocal performances are the most provocative and aggressive that they’ve been in a long while and again this album is the most consistently good one from her I’ve heard in a while.

I know, I’m surprised to be giving this praise to a ‘modern’ Lady Gaga album as well, but just like how ‘Whitechapel’ DELIVERED with Their All-Deathcore throwback album this weekend (See My Previous Review), Lady Gaga DELIVERED in making a throwback to the era when she was at her absolute best. The fact that she went from Staring in her worst movie role yet last year… to making this insane Banger is legit impressive, and now I’ll be paying attention to her output in future. If the last two albums I reviewed this weekend were too intense for you, then this one will probably work for you much better. I don’t think it tops “The Fame Monster,” but it’s absolutely a Top 3 in her album discography at least. What else can I say? Please Go pick this one up! Especially if you’re a Gaga fan.

This is the Joker 2 movie that WE SHOULD have gotten.