Billed as an embrace of chaos, pop chameleon
Lady Gaga
dispenses with a focused theme for her seventh mainline album, the aptly titled
MAYHEM
. There are no jazzy showtunes, Nashville dive bars, or cleansing club euphoria. Spiritually and sonically,
returns
Gaga
to her roots, those early days when she truly let her freak flag fly. In that regard, this is a welcome gift.
is not a retread, nor is it a retreat to a safe zone, it's an inventive resurrection of an edgy approach and outsider aesthetic that helped launch her into the pop annals as the premier star of her generation. Despite this embrace of a supposed unstructured approach, the album flows in a logical sonic manner, being front-loaded with highlights before easing into competent pop gems and ending with confident, vulnerable love songs.
had mentioned that one of the album's influences was industrial music and, in particular,
Nine Inch Nails
. That inspiration is heard on the first half, starting with the pulsing rocker "Disease," the official first taste of the LG7 era. Then the listener is hit with "Abracadabra," hands down one of the best songs in
's catalog. The wild throb, dancefloor urgency, and heavenly bridge are a primal thrill (as is the viral music video) and clear throwbacks to her
Fame Monster
/
Born This Way
peak. "Garden of Eden" mashes the early 2010s electroclash sound with a pure, melodic chorus, sounding like something that could have been on
Christina Aguilera
's underrated
Bionic
. As if her line about "nine-inch heels" didn't make her point, the digital squall in the outro cements the
NIN
-fluence, carrying into the dark "Perfect Celebrity," one of the album's many musings on
's internal struggles. Here, the set injects some meaty funk into the mix, as heard on the squelching jam "Vanish Into You," which could have easily been on
The Fame
. Highlight "Killah," one of the collaborations with
Gesaffelstein
, struts like
St. Vincent
or
Trent Reznor
taking their own crack at
Bowie
and
Prince
.
keeps it funky with the sparkling disco gem "Zombieboy" (named after the late dancer from her "Born This Way" music video) before shifting to effortless pop anthems ("LoveDrug" and "Shadow of a Man") and midtempo fare ("The Beast" and her engagement ode "Blade of Grass") on the back half.
closes with the global smash "Die with a Smile," her simple but sublime duet with
Bruno Mars
that will prove to be one of
's most timeless, classic tunes. While not as disorderly or tumultuous as the title suggests,
is definitely untethered by genre rules. Beyond that, it's simply an embrace of freedom, which has allowed
to simply do whatever she wanted without sticking to a rigid "vibe." That ultimately makes this a breath of fresh air in her catalog. It may not be an instant classic, but it's still clear that no one can do it like
. ~ Neil Z. Yeung