The Fame and The Mayhem: Rebirth of Lady Gaga

The year is 2008. A young girl in a platinum blonde wig with a blunt bang and bodysuit grabs the microphone and stares over the crowd before launching into one of the most explosive careers of our generation. She began small but mighty, donning Party City-esque outfits and performing on parking lot stages, yet she knew her worth. From that determination was born Lady Gaga and her debut album, The Fame, an exquisite example of pop iconography—a tale of a girl dazzling on stage and being completely consumed by the glamour of fame and fortune.

That was nearly two decades ago, and since then, Lady Gaga has cemented herself not only as a pop star but as a pop legend. From her debut in 2008, she has become a queer icon and ally, showcasing her incredible knack for fashion and overall stardom. Now in 2025, she returns to the music world after a brief stint in acting to deliver her fans, the Little Monsters, an album reminiscent of what the world fell in love with all those years ago.

MAYHEM is a love letter to her true self. Gaga has rediscovered her essence and embraced self-love on this record, sampling every flavor of genre and pushing the boundaries of the music canon. Her classic dark pop dance beats merge with the power of her voice and poetic lyricism that dance between the raunchy and the religious, as Gaga often does.

She begins the album with the lusciously dark, almost industrial sounds of "Disease." If the album is meant to capture one night of partying and general deviance, then starting with "Disease" serves as the pregame. It's hot and sensual, but there's a building need that never quite gets released. This desire for release contributes to the track's replay value, urging listeners to press repeat in search of satisfaction, while also building the excitement and ferocity of what's to come in the later tracks. Gaga is on fire immediately, but the red heat turns white hot with the second track, "Abracadabra." 

The renaissance of Lady Gaga creating new words for the choruses of her songs does not go unnoticed by listeners. The sticky, disjointed way she sings the word "Abracadabra" feels intentionally mesmerizing. Combined with the light-footed electronic beat building underneath the verses, the chorus becomes a powerful incantation of dance and authenticity. Gaga acts as a pied piper, leading everyone to the dancefloor to feel the beat beneath their feet.

This track, more than others, solidifies Gaga's return with its "oo nanas" and choreography. Every "oo nana" awakens that part of the brain that is still eight years old, watching MTV inches from the screen, waiting for the "Bad Romance" music video to come back on to practice the choreography. To some, the track may simply be catchy and reminiscent of the good old days, but to others, it’s evocative—reviving their younger selves and marking the comeback of a legend. Many were raised by Gaga, and MAYHEM serves as a love letter to her roots in a way that Little Monsters will remember.

The following tracks have a similar pattern. "Garden of Eden" explores the dark imagery of her sexuality and the metaphor of the original sin. Its shimmering synths and gurgling bass are incredibly reminiscent of the party vibe found on the Fame and Fame Monster albums. The final chapter of these albums, however, is embodied in the track "Perfect Celebrity." 

Gaga has always shared her gripes with celebrity culture in her music, but “Perfect Celebrity” feels like it's the finale. The Fame and The Fame Monster was the realization that fame comes with obsession, depersonalization, and self-hatred. Fame can and will eat you alive and Gaga willingly steps into the mouth of the beast, sitting crossed-legged on its tongue while counting her blessings. She was so young when she got into the game and “Perfect Celebrity” is like the aftermath. It serves as a reflection of the damage that fame has inflicted on her over the years. She leans into that pain, acknowledging that without these numbing aspects of celebrity, she would never have reached the top.

The lyric "You love to hate me" is repeated with increasing intensity, emphasizing that nothing you do will ever fully satisfy the spectators.  As the track progresses, she embraces the dehumanizing aspects of fame, illustrating how it strips away one's personhood, creating the perfect image—the perfect spectacle to generate wealth and become iconic. Icons are expected to be flawless, and fame mandates this perfection. She ends the track with the lyric “I’ve become a notorious being,” removing herself from her personhood and acknowledging the icon she’s become. In closing the chapter on her long entanglement with the Fame Monster, she emerges victorious, but at what cost?

Following "Perfect Celebrity," the mayhem begins to set in. She transitions from rock to disco with "Vanish into You" and then glides into a Prince-influenced funkadelic masterpiece called "Killah," where she details her escapades as a dangerously alluring, murderous succubus who latches onto her lover. The track is incredibly catchy, with a chorus sung in a distorted, operatic style that tickles the ear and lingers for days after the first listen. It's an insane earworm filled with distinct Gaga-isms.

The party doesn’t die down, but Gaga has a moment of clarity with "Zombieboy." This track is a shining example of raw disco, addressing the feeling of being like the Walking Dead after a party but choosing to party anyway. It's a celebration song that also pays tribute to the late Rick Genest, known as Zombieboy, who influenced her makeup and much of her aesthetic during the Born This Way era.

The closing tracks of the album—"The Beast," "Blade of Grass," and "Die with a Smile"—mark the end of the party. In these songs, she expresses a desire to connect with her partner’s darker side, embracing both the good and the bad while exploring their incredible sexiness. Although these tracks are downtempo, they remain impactful. Once she gets to know her inner beast, she can find peace in it, asking for a blade of grass to seal their bond and bring her chaotic journey to a close. 

"Die with a Smile," though initially jarring, fits the album's theme well. The tonal shift may represent her escape from the madness of never-ending parties, drugs, sex, and wild possibilities. In a Rolling Stone interview, she remarked about the track, stating, “The beauty of the album is that the mayhem doesn’t repeat. It ends.” The resilience amidst the chaos led her back home, and now she can "Die with a Smile," knowing she has found herself again.