It’s no secret Lady Gaga wears many hats.
She’s a fearless pop star, a Tony Bennett-approved jazz chanteuse, a Grammy- and Oscar-winning songwriter, the star of both blockbusters (“A Star Is Born”) and bombs (“Joker: Folie à Deux”), a fashion provocateur and a trailblazing activist.
But Gaga’s last three studio albums, as great as they may have been, divided critics: Rolling Stone thought 2013’s EDM pivot “Artpop” was “bizarre,” the New York Times opined that 2016’s country-leaning “Joanne” was “confused” and Pitchfork criticized the “filler” tracks on 2020’s dance-off “Chromatica.”
Little Monsters — and casual fans alike — will be thrilled to hear that the Mother Monster we all love is back on “Mayhem,” her best release in 14 years.
The project (out Friday) is the love child of her two most commercially successful albums, combining the ’80s-inspired theatrics of 2008’s “The Fame” with the electro-grunge of her 2011 opus, “Born This Way.”
Gaga doesn’t, as the kids say, reheat her own nachos, though. Instead, she reinvents herself and finds her sweet spot along the way, pushing forward with thrilling innovation while staying true to the artistry that made her an icon nearly two decades ago.
As its title suggests, “Mayhem” has the perfect amount of chaos.
One minute Gaga is emulating David Bowie on the funky Gesaffelstein collaboration “Killah,” and the next she’s raging against the fame that put her in the same stratosphere as the late Ziggy Stardust himself on “Perfect Celebrity,” a standout about watching a star’s fall from grace — 2025’s “Paparazzi,” if you will.
There are also nods to Michael Jackson (the swaggering “Shadow of a Man”) and even Taylor Swift (the pop dreamscape “How Bad Do U Want Me” is more “1989” coded than any “Taylor’s Version” vault tracks), and yet the album is undeniably Gaga through and through.
With its driving, hypnotic beats and fierce vocal delivery, “Mayhem” begs to be played loudly.
“Abracadabra” is the multihyphenate’s most infectious, spellbinding single since 2009’s “Bad Romance,” and if “Zombieboy” doesn’t get you up out of your seat, well, you just may be a zombie yourself.
The monstrous album has its tender moments, too; the melodic power ballad “Blade of Grass” pays tribute to Gaga’s fiancé, co-writer and executive producer, Michael Polansky, before her timeless, record-breaking Bruno Mars duet, “Die with a Smile,” closes things out on a note of joy and resilience.
After all, mayhem doesn’t have to last forever.
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