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After several teasers, Lady Gaga has finally delivered her seventh studio album, MAYHEM, which was distributed to all major streaming platforms last Friday (March 7) via Interscope Records.
The album officially follows up on her sixth studio album, Chromatica, released in 2020. Gaga's MAYHEM arrives several months after her September LP Harlequin, which was released as part of the Joker: Folie à Deux soundtrack.
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Leading up to the album's release, Gaga previewed two lead singles, Disease, released in October 2024, and Abracadabra, released alongside a music video on February 2, 2025, during a commercial break at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards.
Additionally, Gaga's No.1 collaboration with Bruno Mars, Die With A Smile, released in August 2024, was also announced to be included in MAYHEM's tracklist but is reportedly considered a promotional track rather than an official single for the project.
Top Picks from Lady Gaga's seventh LP MAYHEM
Lady Gaga's anxious excitement marking her return to pop music is a major theme explored on MAYHEM, with her internal conflicts and chaotic energy carrying the project's enticing production for almost the entirety of its 53-minute runtime.
Gaga's seventh LP features 14 full-length records, hosting features from Gesaffelstein and Bruno Mars, and a range of producers accentuating her production and vicious vocal performances.
Notable themes discussed on Lady Gaga's seventh studio album have been provided below:
- Identity
- Love
- Relationships
- Pain
- Mental Health
- Fame
- Heartbreak
- Celebration
Disclaimer: This review is rated explicit. Reader discretion is advised.
Disease
(Production Credits: Lady Gaga, Cirkut, & watt)
With an extremely thick production, MAYHEM opens with the hard-hitting synth-infused banger Disease, where her superstar persona, Lady Gaga, appears to be battling with herself, claiming to be an antidote and a doctor capable of curing her trauma.
In a recent announcement post on X (formerly Twitter), Gaga shared how the record's inspiration came from her feeling claustrophobic after being "seduced by chaos and turmoil".
"I could play the doctor, I can cure your disease / If you were a sinner, I could make you believe / Lay you down like one, two, three / Eyes roll back in ecstasy / I can smell your sickness, I can cure ya (Cure) / Cure your disease," Gaga's hook on 'Disease'.
Abracadabra
(Production Credits: Lady Gaga, Cirkut, and watt)
On Abracadabra, Gaga seemingly explores the challenges of her life, while she attempts to find peace in her artistry. At various points in the track, the singer appears to battle moving past the image of her past self as she embraces new hard-earned freedom, as seen in lines like:
"Pay the toll to the angels / Drawin' circles in the clouds / Keep your mind on the distance / When the devil turns around / Hold me in your heart tonight / In the magic of the dark moonlight / Save me from this empty fight / In the game of life"
Perfect Celebrity
(Production Credits: Lady Gaga, Cirkut, and watt)
Fueled by an upbeat electro-grunge production, listeners are introduced to Perfect Celebrity, where Lady Gaga highlights her frustration with the entertainment industry.
The lyricism on this record finds her exploring the difficulty and emotional struggles she faces in finding a balance between herself, Stefani, and her public persona Lady Gaga. This is best evidenced in lines like:
"I'm made of plastic like a human doll / You push and pull me, I don't hurt at all / I talk in circles, 'cause my brain, it aches / You say, "I love you", I disintegrate / I've become a notorious being / Find my clone, she's asleep on the ceilin' / Now, can't get me down / You love to hate me / I'm the perfect celebrity"
Zombieboy
(Production Credits: Lady Gaga, Cirkut, and watt)
The production on Zombieboy takes listeners back to 90s pop music, with disco drum sequences, fueled by Gaga's powerful vocal performances.
The track is presented as a tribute to Stefani's late friend Rick Genest, who she refers to as "Zombieboy," who passed away in 2018. Both individuals first collaborated in the music video for her 2011 hit Born This Way, with Gaga showing a fascination over his tattooed appearance which gave him his nick name.
Much of the lyricism appears to highlight the consequences of partying too hard, best evidenced in lines like:
"See you over there in the back of this party / And your girlfriend isn't here (Yeah, your girlfriend isn't here) / Boy inside a cage, lookin' angry and tired / Like you've been up for days (Like you've been up for days)"
How Bad Do U Want Me
(Production Credits: Lady Gaga, Cirkut, and watt)
On How Bad Do U Want Me, listeners are drawn into melodic keynotes and spacy harmonies that explore her partners' supposed fascination with an idealized version of Stefani Germanotta.
Throughout the record, Gaga seems unapologetic about her desires and the "psychotic drama" she brings to the relationship, as she confronts her partner to decide who and what he desires. This is best evidenced in the record's hook, where she sings:
"Cause you like my hair, my ripped-up jeans / You like the bad girl I got in me / She's on your mind, like, all the time / But I got a tattoo for us last week / Even good boys bleed / How bad, bad do you want me? / 'Cause you hate the crash, but you love the rush / And I'll make your heart weak every time / You hear my name, 'cause she's in your brain / And I'm here to kiss you in real life / 'Bout to cause a scene / How bad, bad do you want me?"
Die With A Smile
(Production Credits: Lady Gaga, watt, Bruno Mars, and D’Mile)
Closing out her seventh studio album, listeners are re-introduced to her smash hit collaboration with Bruno Mars, titled Die With A Smile, which acted as her comeback single upon its release on August 15, 2024.
The Grammy-winning single's popularity, where the soft rock ballad became Spotify's longest-running No.1 hit, can be credited to the slow enticing production, supported by Gaga and Bruno's effortless vocal performances that blend perfectly into each other.
"Wherever you go, that's where I'll follow / Nobody's promised tomorrow / So I'ma love you every night like it's the last night / Like it's the last night / If the world was ending / I'd wanna be next to you / If the party was over / And our time on Earth was through / I'd wanna hold you just for a while / And die with a smile / If the world was ending / I'd wanna be next to you," Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars sing on 'Die With A Smile'.
Lady Gaga's MAYHEM is an extremely impressive LP that perfectly emphasizes the singer's struggles with identity over a nostalgic production that acts as a throwback for all her early-day fans.
