Lady Gaga : 'Mayhem"

 

This is the first time I have reviewed a Lady Gaga album. When it comes to pop music I have other preferences, but since she is marketing this album as being influenced By Nine Inch Nails and the Cure, I had to dig into you and see how true that is or if this is just marketing. Before pressing play my prediction is it won't go as hard as Charli XCX much less Poppy. Let's see if I am right. If the first song is any indication I am at least on the right track. She only has four producers on this album which is three more than Pink Floyd used, but listening to this with headphones, the sounds are big and encompassing. Not a fan of how the vocals are layered, it sounds like a better-produced Katy Perry. 

For the song "Abracadabra" she samples "Spellbound" by Siouxsie and the Banshees, but the song still just sounds like your average gay house banger. "Garden of Eden" just sounds like recycled ideas from her path that have since been assimilated into the pop machine. Unlike the Cure inspired this. "Perfect Celebrity" has a more subtle beat which works marginally better, though the chorus sounds like it's trying too hard to make rock music, but up feeling like AI could have written this. "Vanish into You" is an auto-tune embellished disco song. I think she would have been better off making a more organic 70's Desco record as the choruses keep sounding like "Bad Romance". 

"Killah" is almost hard to stomach though I appreciate the guitar rips off "Fame". "Zombiboy" is like disco re-mix of "Hollaback Girl".  Did no go into this album expecting something this bland, but I should have known better. "Lovedrug" finds the album continuing to go down the toilet, Lyrically it might be a little better than the previous song, but that is a low bar. "How Bad Do U Want Me" sounds like the label asked her to write a song that is more like Taylor Swift. But it is one of the better songs as there is more nuance. I guess in getting preoccupied with Hollywood she lost herself in the process. She gets a little closer on "Don't Call Tonight" 

We are back to the filler with "Shadow of a Man". If I had to pick any song that could possibly have drawn influence from the Cure it would be the synths to the song "The Beast" which is basically a pop power ballad. Her voice has improved over the years. "Blade of Grass' seems like a pop ballad that was written for Miley Cyrus more than Lady Gaga. 'Die With a Smile"  was a standalone single, included on this album, it is a duet with Bruno Mars, and despite winning a Grammy for best pop duo, it's the type of radio trash that makes commercial radio unlistenable It's empty calories for the soul. I will give this album a 7 It is well made from a production standpoint with very little substance and plenty of moments where she recycles her past ideas, it will pay her rent so she succeeded in that regard, and I am sure some people are Lady Gaga fans, many of them will have plenty to choose drag routines from and it's a better option than Cher, but with this kind of pop the bar is very low to begin with.  Always trust my predictions 

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