If all the world’s a stage, what does one do after succeeding in every role, with nothing left to prove? It seems like for Lady Gaga, the last thing she would ever do is let the curtain fall. She just keeps going.
With five consecutive No. 1 solo albums in her rearview mirror (one of the longest streaks of consecutive studio albums to debut at number one of any artist), Gaga continues to speckle the fabric of time with her music, leaving her mark across multiple genres. Over 15 years of stardom has ostensibly failed to jade Gaga or limit her to a peak she must look back on: the release of “MAYHEM” produced Gaga’s biggest streaming week ever, her biggest week on vinyl and the biggest week for an album by a woman so far this year.
Her fame is undeniable, but we have to back up a little first. Her debut album, “The Fame” (and its deluxe, “The Fame Monster”) was an unparalleled success that has stood the test of time and pointedly shaped the advancement of popular music. Its cultural imprint from 17 years ago still exists today, with the album currently sitting at 410 weeks (almost eight years) on the Billboard 200. “MAYHEM” has outdone this album in certain aspects, but why? How?
Notably, “Die With a Smile” is her first song in ten years to spend more than 20 weeks on the Hot 100, and she has only seen three top 10 hits this decade. This by no means marks any sort of failure — she has been exploring all music has to offer, releasing two jazz albums, several dance-pop and EDM albums, a soft rock album and multiple soundtrack albums. So why has “MAYHEM” been the album to produce the most buzz since “The Fame”?
In December 2024, Gaga appeared on Rolling Stone’s “The Breakdown,” and discussed her making of “MAYHEM”:
“The album is imbued with my love for music: a diversity of genres, styles and dreams. It leaps from one genre to another in a manner that feels almost corrupt, and it ends with love.”
“MAYHEM” feels like “The Fame” if it were… from another world. Not just dance-pop or disco, it’s an unstable, chaotic burst of unrestrained artistic expression. Many songs pay homage to tracks from “The Fame” and “The Fame Monster,” such as the “Don’t Call Tonight,” which has an uncanny resemblance to “Alejandro,” and “Garden Of Eden,” which features a similar vocal riff from “Bad Romance.” On the other hand, the album’s tracklist is full of influences and interpolations from other artists, other genres and other times. “Garden Of Eden” features a chorus reminiscent of Donna Summer’s 1979 “Hot Stuff,” while “How Bad Do U Want Me” sounds like it could be a Taylor Swift song.
The anticipation for the album was so strong and so unprecedented because the singles leading up to it presented fans with the same excitement from 2008. “Abracadabra” and “Disease” recalled the vibe of “The Fame” so strongly that everyone could feel something big was coming. It felt like Gaga was back. Immediately, people remembered what it was like to receive “Just Dance,” “Paparazzi,” “Poker Face,” “LoveGame,” “Bad Romance,” “Alejandro” and “Telephone,” all in just two years. This similarity was especially noticeable because these singles followed the release of “Die With a Smile,” which, while wildly successful, was very far from the dance-pop theme.
It would be unfair to say that Lady Gaga released “The Fame,” and then a bunch of throwaway albums, and now is back with “MAYHEM.” Her artistry, growth and performances have never seen a dull moment. But she knew what she was doing with this album: right now is the perfect time to revisit her pop roots. It’s the right moment, the right sound and the right image. Passionate, in-your-face music from someone we know and love.
A family friend of mine, Joe Bennett, a forensic musicologist at Berklee College of Music, recently talked to Yahoo Entertainment and discussed the apparent resurgence of “recession pop.” I thought this was a funny concept. The 2008 recession coincided with the growth of escapist party-pop that dominated the late 2000s and early 2010s. It was all the ‘things may be bad but screw it, let’s dance and party right now’ music that was driven by synths and edm-pop styles. It’s like Pitbull’s 2011, “Give Me Everything”:
“Tonight, give me everything tonight/ Tonight, for all we know/ We might not get tomorrow/ Let's do it tonight.”
Or Kesha’s 2012 “Die Young”:
“So while you're here in my arms/ Let's make the most of the night like we're gonna die young”
With how things are going today, I wouldn’t be surprised if these themes make a comeback.
Kesha is also rolling out a pop album, with the most recent single featuring T-Pain and an air of 2000s pop.
So, maybe “MAYHEM” is the start of something bigger. Maybe it’s just what we needed. It’s an homage to “The Fame” but encompasses a more robust set of technical and musical influences, and partakes in the genre bending and mixing that has grown in popularity since the 2000s. It captures some of the greatest sounds from ’70s disco and brings us back to “The Fame” in a tasteful and tactful way. Gaga isn’t reminding us of some of her greatest work for the last time, she’s just reminding us she can do it again, and she’ll keep doing it. She never stops; she will always find a way to make us dance.
