It is as complete a statement about who Lady Gaga is in 2025 as anything could be. MAYHEM repositions Gaga as a dance diva heavily indebted to the icons who came before her to an audience as likely to know her for wearing a meat dress as for performing with Tony Bennett.

Mayhem” is the love child of Mother Monster’s two most commercially successful albums, 2008’s “The Fame” and 2011’s “Born This Way.”

The star singer returns with her first solo LP since 2020, and it’s full of typically irresistible hooks and her signature sense of drama.

She dances on the line between clever self-referentiality and less inspired rehashing on her new LP, committing to the over-the-top excess that first made her a star.

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On this week's episode of the Greatest Pop Stars podcast, we evaluate all aspects of the leadup to (and eventual release of) Lady Gaga's latest LP.

Her new album is a work of self-citation, rummaging around in Gaga’s own past for inspiration. It’s also, somehow, the freshest collection of songs she has released in years.

On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie & Keith are marveling at the high-wire act Gaga pulled off with her seventh studio album.

"I was not sure that I should put that on the record, and Michael was like, ‘You have to — your fans are going to love that song,' " Gaga said