“Lady Gaga is a genuinely talented artist with unique ideas,” says Liana Bindhi (9) and I couldn’t agree with her more, especially with the wide array of flavors her newest album, MAYHEM, had in its spice cabinet. However, I can’t say that I completely agree with student Grace Acevedo (9) when she says, “Lady Gaga is the queen and everything she makes is probably okay.” Lady Gaga is a queen, but there were a few songs on MAYHEM that didn’t give me the same nostalgic feel Gaga’s previous work did. There were others that absolutely did, though, so let me break down my feelings regarding each song from MAYHEM.
1. Disease
“Disease” was one of the prerelease tracks, alongside “Abracadabra” and “Die With a Smile”. I rated it a 3 stars out of 5, solely for the fact that there were better songs on the album. It wasn’t bad by any means, and certainly got stuck in my head every time I heard it on the radio, but it also wasn’t nearly as good as other Gaga songs.
2. Abracadabra
I rated this song a 2 stars out of 5 for its nonsensical lyrics. “Abracadabra” is nearly four minutes long, and almost all of it is her repeating abracadabra or the same two verses over and over again. I was addicted to saying ‘abracadabra, abracadabra’ over and over again, though, so it earns only a slightly lower rank than “Disease”.
3. Garden of Eden
This song earned a solid 4 out of 5 from me. While its title hints at the biblical Garden of Eden, it is most definitely far from anything religious. It was an amazing song overall, with yet another catchy chorus–which happened to be my least favorite part, for its repetitiveness. In my opinion, the pre-chorus was much better and more interesting. Each beat of the music punctuates Gaga’s voice perfectly without overpowering it.
4. Perfect Celebrity
This song is about a celebrity who is unbothered with the hate or love they recieve, and just like the celebrity, I find myself completely indifferent to this song. It was nothing special and not as catchy as other songs on this album, so I rated it a 2.5/5.
5. Vanish Into You
The story of this song brought it up a full star, to a 3.75 rather than a 2.75 as I originally intended to give it. It depicts two lovers who appear to be going through a rough patch in life, seeking comfort in each other while reminiscing the happier days of their past. “Vanish Into You” is more of a summer-y song than the previous four tracks, and I can see myself being a casual listener when the weather gets warmer.
6. Killa
I enjoyed the contrast between the high and low tones of Lady Gaga’s voice. It fit well with the contrast between the lighter music and the darker imagery of the lyrics. But again, “Killa” falls into the category of ‘good, but I’m waiting for you to be great’. For that, I gave it a 2.5/5.
7. Zombieboy
“Zombieboy” gave me decidedly Thriller by Michael Jackson vibes, if a cheerleader in the 90s sang it. It was fun in the moment and I believe it stands a fighting chance on my Halloween playlist. Because it really fits only one certain mood, I rated “Zombieboy” 3 out of 5 stars.
8. LoveDrug
Some of “LoveDrug”’s lyrics reminded me of a song I probably heard in a fever dream, because I can’t remember the song’s name nor the artist. I may still be in that fever dream, because I’m delusionally hoping the lack of a space between Love and Drug is an intentional reference to “LoveGame”, one of Lady Gaga’s earlier songs from hit-filled album The Fame Monster. It wasn’t nearly as catchy as “LoveGame”, though, so I had to reduce its rating to 3.75/5.
9. How Bad Do U Want Me
I don’t know what it was, but something about this song tickled my brain the right way. It reminded me of Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream with its upbeat music and lyrics about two deeply in love individuals. The first line of “How Bad Do U Want Me” even mentions dreams. I really enjoyed Gaga’s use of the many meanings of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ (Even good boys leave/How bad do you want me?/Oh, you love a good girl bad). The many pros to this song made it the first 5/5 I gave on this album.
10. Don’t Call Tonight
On the flip side, I really didn’t like this song. It was the single most generic song on this album, down to the music and the lyrics, where a girl basically tells a guy who broke her heart not to call her unless he wants to hurt her even more. I enjoyed the contrasting music on “Killa”, but that was because the theme isn’t meant to be overly serious or emotional. However, the overly upbeat music on “Don’t Call Tonight” took all the emotion of the protagonist out and voided the lyrics completely. If it had music that matched the theme, I would’ve given the song a higher rating–but it didn’t, so this song is the first 1 out of 5 stars on the entire album.
11. Shadow of a Man
I don’t have many comments on the actual music or vibe of this song because I got so hung up on the lyrics. Gaga sings of confidence and going somewhere (“having plans”), yet in the chorus she makes a point to say she’s in the shadow of a man. It may have just been me, but that sounds rather contradictory–making it the second 1 out of 5 stars on the album.
12. The Beast
Continuing the streak of low-rated songs, we find ourselves at my least favorite song of the album: “The Beast”. Unlike in “Garden of Eden”, the music in the song overpowers Gaga’s beautiful voice near the end of the song. It was also in ballad form, nearly four minutes of Gaga describing what could be an imaginative depiction of a literal monster or…something else. It was agonizingly slow, repetitive, and every time I thought there was finally going to be a beat drop, there was absolutely nothing. The one use I can find for this song is as background music for a monster romance book–specifically a Beauty and the Beast retelling. When I started rating, I didn’t even consider 0 part of my rating system. But I found that I couldn’t physically put this song on the same level as any song on this album, so 0 out of 5 stars is what this song gets.
13. Blade of Grass
Speaking of books, this song is how I feel every time I read the ending to a good fantasy romance book. The vibes this song gives me: forbidden romance, fallen kingdoms, burning worlds, and a long war finally ended in a bittersweet death. 5/5 stars, and another six or seven hundred of these kinds of songs, please.
14. Die With A Smile
The vocals of Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga mix so well in this emotional song. Out of every song on this album, I’m glad this is the one that went viral, even if that led it to be overplayed. So ending off with a good note, “Die With A Smile” is a 4.5 out of 5 stars from me.
Lady Gaga’s new album, MAYHEM, brings back a lot of nostalgia for old Lady Gaga music. In my opinion, there were a few gems in MAYHEM, but also a majority of ‘meh’ songs. But of course, that’s just my personal opinion and everyone has different tastes in music.
