In a world where pop stars come and go, Lady Gaga continues to rewrite the established pop-icon rules. Although I do admire Gaga’s bravery in completely switching up her style, I, as a Gaga fan, was disappointed in her execution.
Gaga’s 14 song album, “Mayhem,” released on March 7, isn’t predictable. She blurs pop genre norms, drifting away from upbeat positive lyrics, and incorporates electropop, industrial beats, and experimental rock to embody her newfound goth tone. The first song of the new album, “Disease,” introduces Gaga’s new genre of “Dark Pop.” In an interview with Apple Music, Gaga explains “Mayhem” is an experiment, and how she isn’t going to put a label on her album like she did in previous ones. “I actually made the effort [while] making ‘Mayhem’ to not do that and not try to give my music an outfit.” “Disease” embodies this new sound as she explains how she could fix a guy by being the “antidote” to his disease. She uses intense glitching beats and her signature style vocals to embody the phenomenon of “controlled chaos.” This being the opening to her album didn’t completely disappoint. I was expecting something more thought-out and not just every sound effect used in one song, but I was hopeful for the rest of the album.
I loved the next song, “Abracadabra,” in which Gaga references her hit song “Bad Romance,” integrating the essence of early 2000s signature Gaga. She combined techno and a variety of vocals on this song that remind me of her exceptional singing range. Another song, “Garden Of Eden,” provides unexpected bliss and positivity as it articulates Gaga’s fantasy of living in the Garden of Eden, a temporary state of grace. This diverges from the album’s overall dark rock theme and displays her versatility, an element I greatly appreciated. Further adding depth to her album, “Perfect Celebrity” emphasizes the pressure of being a celebrity that inevitably puts pressure to constantly be “perfect” to maintain your status and relevance. Within the track, the lyric “they want me to shine, but I’m fading inside,” showcases Gaga’s vulnerability. This song is particularly different from the rest of the album, having a positive and upbeat tone where Gaga even sings the lyrics in a softer voice. While the message of this particular song is strong, it is out-of-place within her album, which is all about being the life of the party. It contradicts the other songs to a point that lacks depth.
The rest of the tracks within the album weren’t substantial enough to garner appreciation. Each song began to blend with each other after the first four songs were out of the way. The lyrics grew more superficial and the unnecessary beats sounded more obnoxious. The album gradually lost its theme of “dark pop,” becoming more techno-like, ultimately losing the aspects of Gaga’s new genre.
“Mayhem” ends with “Die With a Smile” (a grammy winning which also hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100), featuring Bruno Mars. When I heard “Die With a Smile” on her album, I audibly sighed as I’ve heard this song a million times (even when I don’t have any social media). Ending the album on a song reduced to an annoying TikTok audio clip rather than an entire song that tells a story through its entire duration. Overall, the album was okay. I appreciated the theoretical references similar to her earlier album, “Fame Monster.” However, it was only in the first two songs, “Disease” and “Abracadabra,” that I was able to enjoy beyond the hidden lyrical meanings and the attempted experimentation with the beats. Although I do appreciate that Gaga stepped out of her comfort zone by exploring a deeper, darker theme, the album sounds like it was catered to go viral on TikTok with its short bursts of catchy, repetitive lyrics.
Gaga experimented with music that she dedicated time to working on, even knowing it might spark controversy for the change in direction. It’s key to remember that, due to the nature of diverging from the persona that made you famous in the first place, it’s difficult to make an album like “Mayhem.” Despite not enjoying this album’s attempts of experimentation, I’m looking forward to seeing how she continues to evolve her music career in the near future.
