Lady Gaga ‘Mayhem’ review: An all-out pop microcosm of her career so far
In leaning fully into all-out pop once more, Gaga delivers some of her best songs in years.
By Richard Burn
For Lady Gaga, MAYHEM arrives at a pivotal time in Mother Monster’s career. Even if the soaring electro-pop of ‘Abracadabra’ has become a global hit, Gaga recently admitted that she had been reluctant to look back on similar past successes.
“I didn’t want to make this kind of music for a long time even though I had it in me. I felt like being stagnant was just death in my artistry,” she told Zane Lowe.
Instead of that aforementioned stagnancy, Gaga has thankfully combed through her own discography to once again remind everyone that all-out pop music is what she does best. A career high can be found in the multi-facetted dance funk avant-garde drama of ‘Vanish Into You’. Now, that might seem like a lot, but Gaga’s everything and the kitchen sink approach to the album (and her music as a whole) somehow works perfectly and joyfully. The very DNA that made her previous records like The Fame and Born This Way a success are alive and breathing. Gaga may not have invented distorted production and stuttering pre-choruses, but she does them in a way that no one else can.
As a self-proclaimed “student of music”, Gaga wears her influences on her sleeve throughout. This is most evident on the Michael Jackson- infused ‘Shadow Of A Man’ to the Bowie-meets-Prince funk of ‘Killah (feat Gesaffelstein)’. Like her Bowie tribute/cosplay from her now infamous performance of the late stars hits at the 58th GRAMMY Awards, the outcome can feel overproduced and underwritten at times. This can be equal parts cringe and, oddly, charming.
Not one to follow trends (may it be fashion or music), the exploration into sounds from the 80s feels fresh and exciting. The 90s grunge through a pop lens ‘Perfect Celebrity’ speaks of a star that has felt a lot of torture and pressure because of said stardom. ‘You love to hate me/I’m the perfect celebrity’ Gaga sings. Fame has been a subject Gaga has referenced a lot in her career, but it feels like a self-assured iteration of previous musings. The fame is now something Gaga can fully navigate and own.
In looking back, Gaga has delivered an album that acts as an effective and powerful microcosm of her inspirational career so far.