MAYHEM by Lady Gaga
80
ChoruScore
23 reviews
Mar 7, 2025
Release Date
Interscope Records
Label

Lady Gaga's MAYHEM arrives as a brazen, crowd-ready reclamation of her electropop persona, a record critics broadly celebrate for its theatricality and big hooks. Across 23 professional reviews the album earned a 79.57/100 consensus score, and reviewers consistently point to a handful of standouts that turn nostalgia into immediate bangers rather than mere pastiche.\n\nCritical consensus highlights the opening duo and lead singles as the album's engine: “Disease” and “Abracadabra” recur as the best songs on MAYHEM, praised for industrial bite, stadium-sized choruses and viral-ready moments. Critics also flag “Killah (feat. Gesaffelstein)”, “Garden Of Eden” and “Perfect Celebrity” as essential tracks—each named repeatedly for mixing 70s and 80s synth-pop revival with darker, Nine Inch Nails and Bowie-tinged textures. Reviewers agree that the record trades in maximalist spectacle, retro references and genre-mixing, from disco-funk detours to goth-tinged electroclash, and that where production leans sharp the songs land with exhilarating force.\n\nThat said, the reception is not unanimous. Some critics note uneven pacing and a back half that slips into safer '80s pastiche, with tracks like “How Bad Do U Want Me” cited as clunkers amid otherwise vivid highs. Others celebrate the restraint as polish, arguing the album refines Gaga's early freakazoid energy into stadium-ready craft. Overall the critical narrative positions MAYHEM as a largely successful return to dance-pop and reinvention - a record whose best songs make a compelling case for its place in Gaga's catalog. Below, detailed reviews unpack why those standout tracks define the album's strengths and limits.

Critics' Top Tracks

The standout songs that made critics take notice

1

Abracadabra

20 mentions

"Any review of MAYHEM would be remiss if we did not acknowledge what could be considered the capstone of the Gaga renaissance: "Abracadabra"."
Beats Per Minute
2

MAYHEM (album-wide)

1 mention

"perfectly unsubtle and all-out fun"
DIY Magazine
3

Disease

17 mentions

"It opens with single “Disease”, which sets the compellingly wonky pace and showcases Gaga’s commanding vocal range."
The Independent (UK)
Any review of MAYHEM would be remiss if we did not acknowledge what could be considered the capstone of the Gaga renaissance: "Abracadabra".
B
Beats Per Minute
about "Abracadabra"
Read full review
20 mentions
86% sentiment

Track Ratings

How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.

View:
1

Disease

17 mentions
100
03:49
2

Abracadabra

20 mentions
100
03:43
3

Garden Of Eden

14 mentions
100
03:59
4

Perfect Celebrity

21 mentions
100
03:49
5

Can’t Stop the High

2 mentions
24
03:31
6

Vanish Into You

10 mentions
100
04:04
7

Killah (feat. Gesaffelstein)

19 mentions
100
03:30
8

Zombieboy

18 mentions
97
03:33
9

The Dead Dance

1 mention
03:48
10

LoveDrug

15 mentions
89
03:13
11

How Bad Do U Want Me

19 mentions
90
03:58
12

Don't Call Tonight

9 mentions
88
03:45
13

Kill For Love

2 mentions
24
04:06
14

Shadow Of A Man

9 mentions
100
03:19
15

The Beast

12 mentions
70
03:54
16

Blade Of Grass

11 mentions
67
04:17
17

Die With A Smile

17 mentions
76
04:11

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What Critics Are Saying

Deep insights from 23 critics who reviewed this album

Critic's Take

In her rollicking review voice, Lady Gaga is praised for reclaiming the rogue spark on MAYHEM, where the best tracks - “Abracadabra” and “Disease” - drag the dancefloor back into glorious chaos. The critic revels in the album's synth- and guitar-heavy revival of The Fame-era freakazoid electropop, singling out “Abracadabra” for its haunting chorus and “Disease” for showcasing Gaga's commanding vocal range.

Key Points

  • The best song is “Abracadabra” because it encapsulates the album's dancefloor-defiant spirit and memorable chorus.
  • The album's core strength is a confident return to Gaga's electropop roots, mixing sharp lyrics with retro influences and commanding vocals.

Themes

return to electropop roots celebration of flamboyant identity references to past pop influences outsider empowerment

Critic's Take

Lady Gaga arrives on MAYHEM with unapologetic bravado, and the review makes clear the best songs - notably “How Bad Do U Want Me” and “Perfect Celebrity” - are pure, unfiltered pop anthems. The writer’s tone is celebratory and slightly wry, praising the album’s camp theatrics and instantly memorable hooks that recall her breakthrough. There is particular admiration for how “How Bad Do U Want Me” brims with an insatiable chorus, while “Perfect Celebrity” nails a knowing take on fame. Overall the narrative frames MAYHEM as perfectly unsubtle, all-out fun and a return to the immediacy of her early pop.

Key Points

  • The best song, "How Bad Do U Want Me", is the album’s purest earworm, driven by an insatiable, catchy chorus and Gaga’s distinctive energy.
  • MAYHEM’s core strengths are its unapologetic pop immediacy, theatrical camp, and lyrical focus on fame and persona duality.

Themes

pop revival fame and celebrity theatrical camp duality of persona
Los Angeles Times logo

Los Angeles Times

Unknown
Mar 10, 2025
90

Critic's Take

Lady Gaga's MAYHEM is a brash, squirmy reclamation of her trademark sound that puts the best tracks - notably “Disease” and “Die With A Smile” - front and center. The reviewer writes in an affectionate, knowledgeable tone about how songs like “Garden Of Eden” and “Killah (feat. Gesaffelstein)” trade in vivid references to Bowie, Blondie and Nine Inch Nails, making the album feel alive with memory. Fun, tuneful and coherently produced, MAYHEM is praised as her best since Born This Way, the kind of record you want before a festival headline slot. The voice is measured but enthusiastic, arguing that these standout tracks prove Gaga can revisit her edgier dance-pop with authority and relish.

Key Points

  • The best song is memorable because it channels classic pop hooks while feeling immediate and celebratory.
  • The album's core strengths are its referential songwriting, tuneful hooks, and confident reclamation of Gaga's dance-pop identity.

Themes

nostalgia and self-mythologizing dance-pop reclamation references to past icons love, sex, and stardom overlap
Consequence logo

Consequence

Unknown
Mar 7, 2025
87

Critic's Take

Lady Gaga fashions MAYHEM as a shattered-prism masterpiece, where the best tracks - notably “Shadow of a Man” and “Garden of Eden” - crystallize her intent. The review’s voice finds her channeling Bowie, Prince and Nine Inch Nails yet insists these songs are not imitations but reinventions, and that makes “Shadow of a Man” the album’s radiant apex. At the same time, the midnight disco of “LoveDrug” and the devil-may-care “Garden of Eden” are singled out as essential moments where production and vocal command align. The result is a record that often soars, occasionally dips, but overall cements Gaga’s versatility and theatricality.

Key Points

  • The best song is "Shadow of a Man" because it is described as the album’s energy peak and one of Gaga’s brightest gems.
  • MAYHEM’s core strengths are its genre-blending homage, strong production, and Gaga’s versatile vocal performances.

Themes

homage and reinvention genre mash-up maximalism vs restraint escapism vocals and production

Critic's Take

Lady Gaga's MAYHEM is best heard in its high points - the records that marry her theatricality with irresistible hooks. “Garden of Eden” and “Shadow of a Man” stand out too, the former a 2000s electro-pop wonder and the latter a dark disco explosion that feels triumphantly cinematic. These tracks crystallize why the album's mix of eighties inspiration, industrial bite and pop craft makes the best songs on MAYHEM so compelling.

Key Points

  • The best song is "Abracadabra" because the reviewer calls it the capstone and an "absolutely sinister and captivating banger."
  • The album's core strengths are its maximalist blend of eighties pop, industrial bite, theatrical persona and memorable hooks.

Themes

nostalgic 80s pop industrial/rock-infused production theatricality and persona resilience and empowerment

Th

The Observer (UK)

Unknown
Mar 14, 2025
80

Critic's Take

Lady Gaga sounds reinvigorated on MAYHEM, a deliberate swerve back to dancefloor freakiness that makes the best tracks feel like reclamations of form. The review pins “Abracadabra” and “Perfect Celebrity” as emblematic moments, the former a self-quote and the latter a hard-edged electronic takedown of fame that would not have felt out of place on The Fame. Even the odd fit of “How Bad Do U Want Me” is noted, which complicates rather than scuppers the record's sense of identity.

Key Points

  • The best song(s) act as reclamations of Gaga's dance-pop past, with “Abracadabra” and “Perfect Celebrity” embodying that return.
  • MAYHEM's core strengths are its returned dancefloor energy, gothic imagery, and successful pastiche of club-pop influences.

Themes

return to dance-pop goth imagery fame critique homage and pastiche
Sputnikmusic logo

Sputnikmusic

Unknown
Mar 10, 2025
80

Critic's Take

Lady Gaga arrives on MAYHEM sounding unapologetically herself, and the best songs - “Disease”, “Abracadabra”, “Killah (feat. Gesaffelstein)” - are proof. The reviewer's voice loves how the record trades theatrical puzzles for straight-up hits, praising the leather-and-spikes singles while noting the album's bright, Fame-era sweetness. There is delight in the moments of genre play, from disco on “Vanish Into You” to rock heft on “The Beast”, and those tracks are where the album's fun truly lands. Even when the packaging feels a bit slapdash, the songs themselves keep Mayhem feeling like a creative victory for Gaga.

Key Points

  • “Disease” stands out as a lead single that successfully framed the record’s confident, leather-and-spikes aesthetic.
  • Mayhem's core strengths are its joyful production, vocal performances, and genre-hopping pleasures despite a slightly disjointed packaging.

Themes

identity fame playful reinvention genre-mixing
The New York Times logo

The New York Times

Unknown
Mar 10, 2025
80

Critic's Take

Lady Gaga's MAYHEM is a gleaming, old-school pop triumph that thrives on theatrical excess and obvious pleasures. The review savors the album's best tracks - “Disease”, “Abracadabra” and “How Bad Do U Want Me” - noting their industrial bite, latex-tight hooks and surprising vocal immediacy. In the critic's voice, the record feels both vividly nostalgic and freshly sharp, with moments like “Garden of Eden” and “Perfect Celebrity” returning her to downtown club bravado. Even when the back half slips toward cliché, the singing and production keep the momentum, reminding listeners why her biggest strengths are spectacle and sheer vocal force.

Key Points

  • The best song is powerful because it combines industrial bite and strong hooks, making “Disease” a standout.
  • The album’s core strengths are theatrical maximalism, precise vocal delivery, and nostalgic yet sharp pop production.

Themes

nostalgia fame and its damage maximalist spectacle self-referentiality vocal prowess

Critic's Take

In a delightfully theatrical return, Lady Gaga’s MAYHEM makes the case for the best songs being those that live inside its fame-as-psyche conceit - chief among them “Perfect Celebrity” and the singles “Disease” and “Abracadabra”. The reviewer revels in how “Perfect Celebrity” snarls over an "electro grunge" melange, calling it an album highlight that pins down the record’s interior conflict. Likewise, “Disease” and “Abracadabra” frame the era visually and sonically, with multiple Gagas facing off in their videos and propelling MAYHEM’s big, good-time energy. Read as a charm offensive, the album recalls why listeners fell for Gaga in the first place while turning fame into combustible pop drama.

Key Points

  • The best song, "Perfect Celebrity," crystallizes MAYHEM's theme by snarling over electro-grunge and dramatizing Gaga's split identity.
  • MAYHEM's core strength is turning celebrity and inner conflict into high-energy, theatrical pop that recalls her classic appeal.

Themes

fame and celebrity identity bifurcation pop return artifice vs. authenticity

Critic's Take

The record leans into the edgy early Gaga vocabulary and delivers disco and club bops that feel knowingly retro and proudly modern. Moments like “Zombieboy” and “LoveDrug” land as memorable mid-album highs, while quieter turns such as “Blade Of Grass” and “Die With A Smile” underline a slight loss of the original visceral bite. Overall, the best songs on MAYHEM are the ones that reconnect to her early swagger while polishing it into stadium-ready hooks.

Key Points

  • The best song is praised for marrying retro influences with modern edge, making it an "absolute belter" and standout production.
  • The album's core strengths are a return to early Gaga swagger, consistent pop bops, and high-quality disco/club moments despite a weaker finish.

Themes

return to roots pop bops and disco romantic commitment mainstream vs transgressive persona nostalgia for early sound

Critic's Take

Lady Gaga’s MAYHEM is a tidy return-to-form that privileges fun over grand theory, and the best tracks make that clear. There is also praise for “Vanish Into You” and “Shadow of a Man”, which are credited for cool, Bowie-tinged tension and strutting confidence respectively. Overall, the critic frames MAYHEM as enjoyable, precise pop that sounds like Gaga having fun again, which explains why fans will chase these best tracks on MAYHEM.

Key Points

  • The best song is "Garden Of Eden" because it perfectly channels The Fame-era dance-pop with fresh contemporary production.
  • The album’s core strengths are concise production, nostalgic callbacks balanced with modern pop, and Gaga sounding unencumbered and playful.

Themes

return-to-form fame and celebrity dance-pop revival nostalgia vs freshness production collaboration

Critic's Take

Lady Gaga returns on MAYHEM with maximalist pop that wears its influences proudly, and the best tracks - notably “Abracadabra” and “Garden Of Eden” - are glorious, unselfconscious bangers. Elsewhere, anthemic slices such as “Don’t Call Tonight” and rock-tinged “The Beast” prove Gaga can fuse dance-pop with arena theatrics and still sound thrilling.

Key Points

  • MAYHEM's core strengths are theatrical production, nostalgic callbacks to Gaga's past, and arena-ready, bombastic songwriting.

Themes

maximalism nostalgia for early pop stadium-ready theatrics dance-pop blended with rock

Critic's Take

The best tracks on MAYHEM arrive with full-throttle intent, and Robin Murray hails opener “Disease” and the bruising “Abracadabra” as the album's defining moments. In his voice, the record is a joyous demolition of subtlety - “Disease” is immaculate and theatrical, while “Abracadabra” reinvents club fury into something revelatory. He also singles out highlights like “Garden Of Eden” and “LoveDrug” for their stadium heft and vocal power, making clear those are among the best songs on MAYHEM. Overall Murray frames MAYHEM as Lady Gaga at her hungriest, a chaotic, thrilling set of best tracks that reconnect her with a sound she deserves to own.

Key Points

  • ‘Disease’ is the best song because it is immaculate, theatrical, and sets the album's full-throttle tone.
  • The album's core strengths are its dark-pop theatricality, stadium-sized hooks, and inventive retro-electronic production.

Themes

dark pop theatricality retro references stadium rock electronic erotica

Critic's Take

Lady Gaga sounds invigorated on MAYHEM, and the best songs - notably “Disease” and “Abracadabra” - read like deliberate, furious crowd-pleasers in her voice. The review points listeners toward the best tracks on MAYHEM by highlighting hooks and moments that make you want to run back to the dance floor. This is fan service that doesn't dilute the artist, and those standout songs prove why Mayhem ranks as the year's strongest pop release yet.

Key Points

  • “Disease” stands out as the best song because it was described as an oasis: visceral, macabre, and harkening back to Gaga’s heavier moments.
  • Mayhem’s core strengths are its dark, danceable pop textures, consistent sonic vision, and successful homage to NIN, Bowie, Prince and Fame Monster-era Gaga.

Themes

return to roots dance-pop dark electroclash fame and celebrity sonic homage to NIN/Bowie/Prince
AllMusic logo

AllMusic

Unknown
Mar 7, 2025
80

Critic's Take

Lady Gaga's MAYHEM stakes its claim with immediate thrills, and the best songs on MAYHEM make that clear - “Abracadabra” is hands down one of her finest, and “Die with a Smile” is a timeless closer. It reads as a resurrection of an edgy outsider aesthetic, a playful but disciplined free-for-all that answers the question of the best tracks on MAYHEM with visceral, dancefloor-ready immediacy. The result is not chaos for chaos's sake, but an invigorating return to form that lets Gaga do what she wants and still deliver standout songs.

Key Points

  • The best song is "Abracadabra" because the reviewer calls it 'hands down one of the best songs in Gaga's catalog' and praises its wild throb and heavenly bridge.
  • The album's core strengths are its return to an edgy, genre-fluid sound and its front-loaded highlights that balance dancefloor urgency with vulnerable love songs.

Themes

return to roots industrial influence freedom and reinvention dance-pop and funk fusion vulnerability and love
The Telegraph (UK) logo

The Telegraph (UK)

Unknown
Mar 6, 2025
80

Critic's Take

Lady Gaga returns with MAYHEM, a maximal pop record whose best tracks - “Disease” and “Die With A Smile” - show her appetite for bombast and big-top hooks. The reviewer revels in the album's lung-busting fun and industrial dance menace, praising “Disease” as the indicative shock-horror opener while noting that the Bruno Mars duet “Die With A Smile” offers soulful restraint. It is celebrated as a triumphant pop assault that wears its influences proudly, even if the relentless intensity leaves the listener exhausted. This account answers what are the best songs on MAYHEM by pointing to those peaks of ambition and melody, and why they define the album.

Key Points

  • The best song is "Disease" because it perfectly channels the album's industrial intensity and maximalist ambition.
  • The album's core strengths are bombastic production, memorable hooks, and fearless maximalism despite lyrical pulpy excess.

Themes

return to pop industrial/electronic production fame and mental health horror metaphors big hooks and maximalism

Critic's Take

Lady Gaga returns to a gleeful, club-focused template on MAYHEM, and the best songs - notably “Abracadabra” and “Die With a Smile” - prove why that reversion works. The reviewer's tone is admiring and precise, celebrating fizzy electronics, big noisy choruses and hooks that echo The Fame while still sounding of the moment. Overall, MAYHEM reads as a shrewd, crowd-pleasing return to first principles rather than an exercise in nostalgia.

Key Points

  • The best song, “Abracadabra”, is the clearest statement of Gaga’s return to big synth hooks and noisy choruses.
  • The album's core strengths are its dancefloor focus, sharp hooks and clever genre-mixing that recall The Fame while feeling contemporary.

Themes

return-to-form dance-pop and electronic production fame and celebrity genre eclecticism

Critic's Take

Lady Gaga's MAYHEM finds its best moments in a handful of unabashed bangers - the album's standout is “Garden of Eden”, which crackles like a fresh injection of adrenaline, and “Zombieboy” proves a Halloween-ready floor-filler with a brilliant beat switch. Ultimately, the best songs on MAYHEM are the ones that feel loose and frisky, even if the album sometimes reads as a loving collage of Gaga's influences.

Key Points

  • The best song is "Garden Of Eden" because it delivers fresh energy, cheeky lyrics, and an intoxicating electroclash beat.

Themes

nostalgia and pastiche theatricality 1980s synth-pop revival self-referentiality

Critic's Take

In this review, Lady Gaga's MAYHEM is praised most for its craft and a few undeniable highlights rather than seismic reinvention. The best songs on MAYHEM - notably “Perfect Celebrity”, “Abracadabra” and “Blade Of Grass” - show Gaga reveling in pop pastiche with clarity and warmth, even when the production feels too neat. The record frequently favors tidy precision over messy excess, so the best tracks shine because they marry old-school references to genuine melodic payoff. Overall, the album reads as contentment made into polished pop, which makes those standout moments feel like welcome reminders of Gaga's pop gifts.

Key Points

  • The best song is emotionally resonant and personal - “Blade Of Grass” stands out for its beauty and explicit depiction of changed priorities.
  • The album’s core strengths are immaculate songcraft, convincing pastiche of ’80s and pop styles, and a happier vocal tone for Gaga.

Themes

pastiche and homage ’80s disco and funk revival domestic contentment and love polished production versus excess

Critic's Take

Lady Gaga's MAYHEM stakes its claim with the bruising electro-pop of “Disease” and the ecstatic, Old Gaga callback “Abracadabra”, which many of us cheer as the best tracks on MAYHEM. The record also offers a sly fan-pleaser in “LoveDrug” with a lyric that stuck in our heads, while cuts like “How Bad Do U Want Me” land clunkier and feel like pandering. Overall, this is a fun, sometimes messy reclamation - she sounds weird and alive again, and those highs make the album worth visiting even when the back half sputters.

Key Points

  • The album's core strengths are energized electropop, nostalgic callbacks to early Gaga, and moments of weird, crowd-pleasing theatricality.

Themes

return to form recession pop nostalgia for early Gaga weirdness and theatricality sonic nods to '90s and 2010s influences

Critic's Take

Peter Piatkowski writes with a measured, slightly rueful authority that places the best songs squarely at the heart of MAYHEM. He praises “Abracadabra” as an album highlight, noting its viral choreography and catchy chorus, and singles out “Disease” as a large, epic opener that marries Gaga’s classic sound to contemporary synthpop. Yet his tone stays critical and clear-eyed, insisting that while these tracks shine, MAYHEM mostly feels safe and only occasionally reaches her earlier highs.

Key Points

  • “Abracadabra” stands out as the best song for its viral choreography, catchy chorus, and satisfying production.
  • The album’s core strengths are nostalgic dance-pop production and moments of vivid homage, but overall it feels safe and less ambitious than Gaga’s classics.

Themes

nostalgia dance-pop revival comparisons to past work creative decline vs. reinvention influence of Bowie/Prince/Madonna
The Line of Best Fit logo

The Line of Best Fit

Unknown
Mar 7, 2025
70

Critic's Take

Promises mean something, and on MAYHEM Lady Gaga mostly delivers pleasant flashes rather than full-throttle chaos. The reviewer's ear keeps coming back to “Disease” and “Abracadabra”, which carry more grit and edge than much of the record, while tracks like “Zombieboy” and “Shadow Of A Man” capture the album's cult 80s film charm. There are moments of real power - notably the vocal run on “Perfect Celebrity” - but too often Gaga holds back, leaving songs feeling 80% complete rather than revolutionary.

Key Points

  • “Disease” is best because it retains grit and edge missing elsewhere.
  • The album’s core strengths are its 70s/80s influences and nostalgic, cult-film popcraft.

Themes

80s and 70s influence nostalgia and reinvention restraint versus excess funk and pop pastiche

Critic's Take

Lady Gaga's MAYHEM is at its best on “Disease” and “Abracadabra”, where the promised industrial heft actually lands, and “How Bad Do U Want Me” which approaches synth-pop splendor in ways the album often fails to. Alexa Camp retains a wry, slightly disappointed tone - she praises the mechanical thrum and squelchy bassline of “Disease” and the follow-up punch of “Abracadabra” while noting how much of the record drifts into safe '80s synth-pop. The reviewer singles out moments of charm amid the boredom, arguing that these tracks are the best songs on MAYHEM because they realize the album's lofty influences rather than merely dressing in their costumes.

Key Points

  • “Disease” is the best song because it delivers the promised industrial heft and powerful production.
  • The album's core strengths are occasional successful returns to industrial dance and moments of synth-pop splendor, but overall inconsistency leaves it feeling boring.

Themes

industrial vs synth-pop tension duality of persona celebrity and dehumanization nostalgia for earlier eras