Lady Gaga has been a notable hit maker, leaving her mark in various areas in her career whether it is music or film. The 14-time GRAMMY Award winning artist has spawned unforgettable hits ranging from “Telephone”, “Just Dance”, “The Edge of Glory” and “Shallow”, just to name a few apart from the many. She has done it again with her recent release titled “MAYHEM,” which serves as her seventh studio album! But what was the defining factor that kept it from being considered perfect? The final two songs on the LP “Blade of Grass” and “Die with a Smile” hindered the album from being sonically consistent.
“MAYHEM” is a dark pop infused dance and synth record that houses fourteen infectious and groovy tracks that without a doubt can get anybody up from their seat. However, of the fourteen tracks, only two stand out awkwardly from the rest. “Blade of Grass” and “Die with a Smile” are two songs that serve as the penultimate and closing tracks on the album respectively, but they simply were not needed. The songs themselves are not bad, in fact, they both are solid tracks, especially the powerhouse duet that is “Die with a Smile” which features the iconic Bruno Mars. However, sonically they both differ from the rest of the album’s tracks which make them stand out awkwardly.
“Die with a Smile” is a soulful ballad that has been compared to Gaga’s other hit “Shallow” and Mars’ previous work with Silk Sonic. In retrospect, songs like “Shallow” or songs made by Silk Sonic contrast heavily from the darkpop/dance/synth sound that Mayhem has established with its other twelve tracks, which portrays the “awkwardness.” “Blade of Grass” also plays into the soft/soulful sound with “Die with a Smile.” Both songs make better sense if they were both on a separate record that continued to cohesively uphold the sound and emotion that both songs have.
“The Beast,” which is the song that is before “Blade of Glass” on the album, is an exception because although it is slower than the other tracks, it still has the edge that contributes to the album’s sonic edge. Going back to the idea of the two songs being on a separate record, the songs ideally would fit better if they were on a love album or if they were their own standalone singles.
Gaga has described this album in a recent interview with Elle magazine by saying that “MAYHEM is pure chaos!” Although originally intending to release “Die with a Smile” as a standalone single, the songstress added it to the end of the album to demonstrate the “sense of peace” to reflect her current life at the moment. There is nothing wrong with doing so, however adding slower songs after “Shadow of a Man” back-to-back made it feel awkward because the vibe change was too abrupt. If more songs like “Die with a Smile” and “Blade of Grass” were added to keep up with the consistency, then the songs would fit better on the record and not have the tone change feel abrupt all while guiding the listener through different moods from the songs smoothly.
The record is currently out on all streaming platforms and listeners should still check it out if they are looking for tunes to groove to. Listeners will without a doubt enjoy Gaga’s artistry and the tracks’ productions because she simply does not miss a beat! It would not be a surprise if she won a GRAMMY for this album because of how catchy the songs on the album are! The album is a splendid example of experimentation and thinking about certain choices that were made when putting this album together.
