MAYHEM by Lady Gaga | Album Review

The Pop Queen’s Cinematic Comeback Goes Beyond Fame and Bangers

LISTEN TO MAYHEM: APPLE MUSIC | SPOTIFY

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, also known as Lady Gaga, has finally released one of the most anticipated records of 2025, MAYHEM, which appears to be her 7th full-length album. You might be wondering, since Lady Gaga has recently dropped a new album at the end of September titled Harlequin, but that record was more of the build-up for Joker: Folie à Deux, where Lady Gaga had one of the lead roles.

Even with the context of Gaga’s 2024 record, Harlequin, it did not have the aesthetic of the usual Lady Gaga album in the flesh, mostly aligning with the aesthetic of the film incorporating vocal jazz and traditional pop. All these factors and the drought of new Gaga sound made MAYHEM quite a potential highlight in Lady Gaga’s career. With a record-breaking single, “Die With A Smile,” featuring Bruno Mars and the dark sounds of other singles like “Diseases” or “Abracadabra,” similar to The Fame Monster or Born This Way, the expectations of a new record have been indescribable.

However, were those singles actually representative of what MAYHEM is, let alone all of those expectations for another The Fame Monster or Born This Way?

Let’s find out.

“That is who Lady Gaga is to me.”

Lady Gaga tells Apple Music’s Zane Lowe about creating MAYHEM.

Lady Gaga: The Zane Lowe Interview Radio Station on Apple Music

Listen to the Lady Gaga: The Zane Lowe Interview radio show on Apple Music.

music.apple.com

This would not be a wrong statement to describe MAYHEM at all. Gaga’s new record expands through so many of the influences that she has had throughout her career, whether it is the darkness and authenticity of electronic pop or certain styles of ballads. MAYHEM essentially has all of them.

From the first seconds of the album experience, you hear how Gaga circles back to a lot of sounds that she had within her for a long time while giving them a strong revamp. As Gaga tells herself about “Abracadabra”:

“I think I didn’t want to make this kind of music for a long time, even though I had it in me.”

The cinematic darkness of tracks like “Abracadabra” demonstrates the epitome of Gaga’s legacy and how she gives you those energetic, dynamic performances that were so memorable in the earlier parts of her career. Examples like “Vanish Into You” are pure examples of something that you would see in her 2000s sound, which is not all over the place and overly dynamic, yet demonstrates such a captivating and hypnotic energy, reminding you of some of Gaga’s greatest hits.

The album’s sound range finds itself continuously combining dance-pop and electro-pop into one, while reinventing an old 2000s club sound with some tweaks. MAYHEM feels so cohesive and consistent in its sound that it doesn’t feel tedious, but rather smooth. The layered atmosphere of the grandiose synths on tracks like “Killah” or “Garden Of Eden” helps Gaga create her anthemic sound with thrilling energy all over the place.

I would say that singles were quite representative of the general record’s sound, as they combine this vibrant and fun aesthetic, with each having its distinguishing moment. Like with “Killah,” it is an exceptional, one-of-a-kind hook that doesn’t seem to appear anywhere else on the tracklist, or as with “Zombieboy” when Gaga gets you on a disco, thrilling ride.

What makes MAYHEM so interesting as a record is that while the motive stays around these high-energy tracks, especially in the first part of the tracklist, Gaga also seems to give you a mix of ballads with a slower pace, particularly the track “Blade Of Grass,” which has quite an interesting context to it.

As Lady Gaga shared about how her love interest, Michael Polansky, asked her how she would want him to propose to her one day, she said, “Just take a blade of grass and wrap it around my finger,” which led us to this exact moment.

This track’s definitive moment is that this is the only track that uses piano as the lead instrument, stirring up the atmosphere from the dissonant and sharp sounds to an extremely velvety tone, adding emotional value to the track.

I am absolutely in love with how she implemented all of her influences into one. To a certain extent, it feels as if she is not trying to replicate something she has been doing for a while, but rather thinking of a way to do it revolutionary . Whether it is the incorporation of her usual horror themes combined with melancholy or a complete overreliance on nebulous synths and textile drums.

While I did highlight the fact that every single song has its own unique element differentiating it from the others, all of them still have a couple of uniting factors — not least, all of them feature Lady Gaga. I might not be particularly fond of some tracks in the same way I am of others. However, the technicality of each one of them having perfect choruses is undeniable. With Gaga’s experience of being magnificent with her choruses and hooks, she fully implements this on MAYHEM, demonstrating the artistic perfection of her execution.

This feels so well-produced and well-calculated, which just stops you from calling this a subpar record. The combination of this artistry, while being quite a veteran in the pop field, easily showcases why Gaga was worthy of this title in the first place.

Lady Gaga gives you a record that is not embarrassing to dance to, while adding a magnificent touch of her immersive artistry, which transitions into the whole album experience.

In summary, I absolutely love this record. It has the characteristics and essentials of a GREAT Lady Gaga album that indicate she is more than just a memory of the past, rather a living star that grows with time. I do recognize that some of the tracks are not necessarily my cup of tea, like “How Bad Do U Want Me,” which just feels too pop for me, or a nu-disco track like “Don’t Call Tonight”. Other than that, the majority of the record simply excites me. I feel a strong 8.5 on this one.

FINAL RATING: 8.7/10 ( AMAZING )

Favorite tracks: “Disease”, “Abracadabra”, “Perfect Celebrity”, “ZombieBoy”, “Garden Of Eden”, “Vanish Into You”

Least favorite tracks: “Don’t Call Tonight”, “The Beast”

Scores guideline:

0–2 (dramatically bad)

2.1–4.5 (bad)

4.6–6 (mediocre/mid)

6.1–6.9 (Ok)

7–7.5 (good)

7.6–8.6 (great)

8.7–9.9 (amazing)

10 (perfect)

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