Claire Tian

Released March 7, “MAYHEM” finally revives the beloved electric debut of Lady Gaga’s illustrious career but lacks further inspiration.

Since stepping into the scene in 2008, Lady Gaga has dazzled audiences with her ability to shapeshift—to melt into distinct theatrical personas and musical genres. Gaga first topped charts with electropop, before mixing in disco and house, and then delving into country and jazz. Released March 7, “MAYHEM” finally revives the beloved electric debut of Lady Gaga’s illustrious career but lacks further inspiration.

The prerelease single “Abracadabra” embodies and celebrates the success of Lady Gaga’s iconic sound. Its supernatural themes and eccentricity recall the music that thrust her into the limelight 15 years ago, like her albums “The Fame” and “The Fame Monster.” To give one of many examples, the lyric “amor-oo-na-na” is a proud callback to her 2009 dance pop hit “Bad Romance.” Although “Abracadabra” shows off Gaga’s artistic maturation with vocal variation, earworm catchiness and layers of funky synth, it stitches together the vibes of Gaga’s classic hits to maximize nostalgic hype, which I don’t find creatively compelling. 

The first few tracks stand as the highlight of the album. “Perfect Celebrity” and “Garden of Eden” are striking—gritty, cool and energizing. I often find famous people discussing famous life to be excessively self-referential and tedious, but the lyrics of “Perfect Celebrity” are fresh and well-articulated, and the song is otherwise, well, perfect. While some of the album’s other, generic-pop-heavy songs require multiple listens to really enjoy, the grainy and groovy accompaniment of these two tracks is instantly captivating.  

Gaga remakes her own sound, but she also borrows directly from other artists in the spotlight. “Garden of Eden” sounds influenced by Charli XCX’s “BRAT,” with its brassy vocals and simple but catchy electronic beat. Most noticeably, “How Bad Do U Want Me” is largely indistinguishable from Taylor Swift. The song is abjectly derivative. From the general vibe to a few vocal nuances, Lady Gaga has captured Swift’s essence to a T. Although both of these tracks sound lively and dynamic, too much obvious external inspiration detracts from the focus on Lady Gaga’s own musical identity. 

Ultimately, the aggressive recycling of old music, whether belonging to Gaga or her inspirations, simply grows distracting and trite after the first few songs. When I listen to tracks like “Vanish Into You,” “Blade of Grass” and “How Bad Do U Want Me,” there’s an uncomfortable tension as I recall three or four songs in the back of my head that sound remarkably similar. In particular, the ballad “Blade of Grass” gets old fast since the accompaniment is toned down, leaving behind only a tired melody. This rehashing seems to serve as a way to dodge the experimental risk and, in my opinion, limits the album’s songs to watered-down copies of Gaga’s original hits.

“MAYHEM” is a solid album, an extension of Lady Gaga’s peak years of stardom. Just because it isn’t fresh and flashy doesn’t mean it isn’t good. Yet its non-transformative nature trades away creativity for a boringly safe place in the spotlight, ironically turning music that was once meant to be subversive into a machine for mass appeal.

3.5 / 5

Favorite songs: Abracadabra, Garden of Eden, Perfect Celebrity