On Mar. 7, 2025, Lady Gaga, the queen of “recession pop” released her seventh official studio album Mayhem. With a whopping 14 tracks, there is a lot to get through! So without wasting time, let’s get into what tracks are worth listening to on the album, what my personal skips are, and what’s leftover in-between.
The Must-Listens
Are we really surprised that “Abracadabra” made this list? I’ve been obsessed with this song and music video since it came out—learn more about what I have to say about this track here. Another pre-release, “Disease” was also a surefire favourite of mine after my first listen.
Diving into more must-listens off the album, I’m not sure what it is about “LoveDrug” and “Perfect Celebrity” that I love so much, but I still love them nonetheless. My guess is that it’s the hard pop sound, Gaga’s epic vocal shouting and her clever lyrics that keep me coming back for seconds…and thirds. My only critique of “Perfect Celebrity” is that the beginning verses don’t foreshadow how epic the chorus/pre-chorus is, and it deserves better.
Now, “Garden of Eden” is exactly what I wanted from this album! It’s fast-paced, and kind of raunchy. This song is a must-listen for me—I am obsessed!!
The Ones That Are Good But Not Great
Call me a hater, but “Die With A Smile” feat. Bruno Mars falls under this category. Is it a beloved song that has literally won awards? Yes, yes it is. Does that mean I have to like it? No. This song is catchy and albeit not my least favourite thing ever, but it doesn’t feel like it fits within the themes of this album.
Now, “Vanish Into You” was tough for me to place. It was close to being on my must-listens, but I honestly am not sure if I am sold…
As for “Killah (feat. Gesaffelstein)” and “Don’t Call Tonight” these tracks were just good. They were playful but they did nothing to really lock me in a trance or sound all that different from some other tracks on this album. So that being said, I wouldn’t skip them per se, but I wouldn’t be queuing them up first either.
The beginning of “Zombieboy” started to lose me but as I got into the song I actually found myself enjoying it more and more. However, the talk-singing threw me off after a while.
The Not-So-Memorable
I’m not sure why but the backing track to “How Bad Do U Want Me” was really fun to listen to, but for some reason, the pacing of the lyrics with the backing track felt really disjointed. I still have a sneaky suspicion that I will grow to like this song more with future listens, but for right now I’m not sure where I stand.
Okay, not to be a hater, but these tracks were not hugely successful to me, even after a few listens. The slow tempo of “The Beast” felt a bit awkward and “Shadow Of A Man” for some reason it’s giving mundane to me, despite its dancy chorus.
I’m not sure if I’d actually listen to “Blade of Grass” on a play-through of the album because its energy was kind of melodramatic. For this otherwise intense pop album, the energy felt mismatched on this track
Overall, in my opinion, Mayhem isn’t as full of hits as I’d hoped it would be. I can’t see this replacing BRAT summer anytime soon… Still, there are definitely some memorable songs on this album that are worth listening to.