L∀DY GAGA - MAYHEM (LG7) (2 Viewers)

It took me ages to realise she wasn’t singing ”You love the fat girl I got in me” in How Bad Do You Want Me :D
IT ISN'T!?
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'Blade of Grass' the only misfire for me. Put that shit on Joanne where it belongs, or give it a Gypsy-esque switch up.
 
08 Disease

10 Abracadabra

08 Garden of Eden - Sounds dated but in a 'good' way.

10 Perfect Celebrity - Damn. This is BEGGING to be the opening theme to a 2001 teen drama. The production is superb.

07 Vanish Into You - Fine. Not particularly memorable.

07 Killah - the song itself isn't necessarily excellent but I love the 80s/90s nostalgia

08 Zombieboy - this is a LOT of fun. It's just a little too 80s literal. I suspect I won't give af in about 24 hours though.

10 LoveDrug - Gwooorl. I can't quite remember what this reminds me of but the tune HITS.

05 How Bad Do U Want Me - too teeny. This feels a little beneath her.

06 Don't Call Tonight - Bland.

06 Shadow of a Man - This far into the album, this is sounding a rehash of earlier songs.

05 The Beast - No thanks. She's trying hard to make this song more cinematic than it is.

06 Blade of Grass - hate her vocals here. Moany af.
 
Yes! Zombieboy is a very fun listen.

The first half is amazing, the second half is nondescript. Should've been about 2 songs shorter. But there's definitely enough MEAT in it to go back for more listens.
 
Disease

Very REDUCTIVE (of her own previous work), but it does SCRATCH THE ITCH well enough now it's had a few months to breathe. Lay you down like 123 / tits come out on ecstasy :disco:

8.5/10
 
Apple Music(UK):

5 (+1) Die With A Smile

8 (+5) Abracadabra

37 (NEW) Garden Of Eden

48 (NEW) Vanish Into You

49 (NEW) Perfect Celebrity

57 (RE) Disease

74 (NEW) Zombieboy

75 (NEW) Killah (feat. Gesaffelstein)

96 (NEW) LoveDrug
 
Abracadabra

This one hasn't really done it for me, I have to confess. In terms of returning to her old sound, it feels a bit forced - just doing nonsense syllables for the sake of it around a pretty shoddy hook. I do love the middle eight though - just take the chorus back to the drawing board!

7/10
 
Abracadabra

This one hasn't really done it for me, I have to confess. In terms of returning to her old sound, it feels a bit forced - just doing nonsense syllables for the sake of it around a pretty shoddy hook. I do love the middle eight though - just take the chorus back to the drawing board!

7/10
Oh no, you've been Funky'd :(
 
Garden of Eden

Now this is a return to that Fame era HOT SCHEIßE :disco: What an absolutely GLORIOUS soaring glittering melody for the chorus! And into the gritty, mechanical crunch of that postchorus and the verses. This is all the best elements of those first three albums in truly sumptuous marriage - an instant Heavy Metal Lover/Sexxx Dreams par classic. LOVE that Die Another Day tribute in the outro

10/10
 
Perfect Celebrity

YES! Love to hear her finally tapping into the question of what L. Gaga WOULD'VE sounded like if she'd been releasing scuzzy albums in the mid-90s - getting Hole and t.A.T.u. as references here, along with something else I can't place right now... absolutely a song to throw on on a sunny Saturday afternoon when I've tied my extensions up in a bun and started the tidying :disco:

9/10
 
Vanish Into You

Excellent production! Obviously those Let's Dance guitars aren't hiding their influence behind a bushel, but the throbbing bass synths are pretty tasty too. And what a glorious primary colours chorus! God, I'm already quite excited to get to spend the next few months with this album - she's doing VERY well so far. I get why none of the last few tracks were singles, but they all feel better than the actual singles? Another home run of a middle eight and all! This really does feel like she's elevated a lot of the melody work from ARTPOP but with much more accessible and elegant production. This woman knows what she's doing these days.

9.5/10
 
Killah (feat. Gesaffelstein)

A more laidback moment for the girls to go to the bar at the gigs / to do the G during - very ARTPOP (track) in that regard. Another one that feels quite 90s - getting a touch of Beck here and the Scissor Sisters - Night Work album. Fond of this one, but not quite as essential as the last few. But it's not meant to be!

8/10
 
Zombieboy

Fuck me this is a LOT :D SO MUCH FUN!

There's some terrific 80s work going on here - what am I missing past the ABBA references? Love how breakneck this is - I'm really going to have to come back to this one to process it fully. This is clearly going to be such a moment at the live shows.

9.5/10
 
LoveDrug

We seem to be segueing to a much more 80s mood now - some very layered production here. The chorus is a lot more downbeat but it's reminding me of Donkeyboy - Ambitions, oddly? Touch of Every Breath You Take/Titanium to that guitar line throughout. Another truly stellar middle eight with that glorious guitar solo - this woman is the best in the business on that front.

9/10
 
How Bad Do You Want Me

Love that this bitch has been spending the last couple of years listening to YAZOO :D Amazed this wasn't the second single - what a fucking hit! What a gloriously melodic, delicate moment - love the interplay between the verses and the chunky, beefy guitar-laden chorus in the second half. What a wall of sound! This really does channel the absolute best she could deliver when she first broke out (and indeed, THE CURE :disco:). Delighted she's gone back to this sound.

10/10
 
Don't Call Tonight

That is a CHORUS you could give as DOWRY to the FATHER OF THE GROOM. OMG the synth bubbles in the second verse! My Melfest voting heart is going wild. That shimmer in the background in the chorus heading into the middle eight! The Daft Punk middle eight! The stadium roar of the chorus heading out after it! WE GET TO HAVE THIS ALBUM FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES! I'm not sure I've felt so immediately enthused by a GaGá album on first listen since Born This Way!

10/10
 
Shadow of a Man

Sorry, this is excellent but I've spent most of this track telling everyone how terrific this album is. It's another home run - love the subtle throwbacks production-wise to the likes of G.U.Y. The most 'ARTPOP but elevated' track on the album - fab chorus, fab guitar outro.

9.5/10
 
The Beast & Blade of Grass

Oh let's be honest, these are the two tracks you're just gonna leave playing at the end but not really pay much attention to. Both pleasant enough - they're not bad! - but clearly not the events of the album. Feel very clearly done to segue into Die With A Smile a touch more naturally. Blade of Grass feels like a potential grower.

8/10 / 7.5/10
 
Die With A Smile

Enjoy the multibillion streaming MOR number one Stefani - I hope it makes you happy!

7.5/10
 
I have Shadow Of A Man on repeat; I dare to say it would make a great single but, why am I getting the feeling that they're in chronological order and they'll go for Garden Of Eden since it sounds safer but it could be a cute depending on the video.
 
It's all about LoveDrug for me.

I cannot get onboard with HBDUWM at all. It's very Taylor Swift coded. Not that that's necessarily bad but on a Gaga record it sounds juvenile.
 
Gonna give it a few more listens over the weekend before doing a FULL RATE once I'm back from London :disco:
 
Killah has been my biggest grower of the afternoon. makes me wanna strut like a total queen. NEEDS to be played back to back with that Jazmine Sullivan song that references Vanity6
 

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