I haven’t paid much attention to Lady Gaga’s music since 2011’s Born This Way, and apparently I’m not alone.
After the multi-Platinum success of 2008’s The Fame and Born This Way, Gaga saw diminishing returns for her next few albums. That included 2016’s Joanne, a move away from dance pop to soft rock. She also recorded and toured classic tunes with Tony Bennett and launched a decent acting career.
So this year’s Mayhem, a return to the sound of her top-selling albums, has the feeling of a comeback bid. The question is whether the culture still has an appetite for the genre Gaga dominated in the late 2000s.
The reaction to Mayhem has been promising. It sold well and earned Gaga her best reviews in more than a decade. But it failed to put a hit in the top ten (not counting ‘Die With a Smile,’ the Bruno Mars collaboration that was later added to the album’s tracklist). ‘Abracadabra’ is no ‘Poker Face.’
Regardless of whether Gaga is, or will ever be, the center of the pop world again, Mayhem is a solid album, even if it reaches for familiar notes from those early hits a bit too often. The catchiest moments on this record recall similar moments on her classics.
It works best when it goes off script, as in the Bowie-esque ‘Killah’ and the electronic New Wave of ‘Perfect Celebrity.’
The album’s most fascinating track is today’s SOTD, ‘How Bad Do U Want Me.’ This is so obvious a Taylor Swift homage that many fans thought Swift had co-written and/or sung backing vocals on the song. Is Gaga chasing the world’s biggest pop star? Parodying her? Honoring her? Whatever it is, it can’t be a mistake.
The good girl in your dreams
Is mad you’re lovin’ me
I know you wish that she was me
How bad, bad do you want me?
You’re not the guy that cheats (The guy that cheats)
And you’re afraid that she might leave (That she might leave)
‘Cause if I get too close, she might scream
“How bad, bad do you want me?”
[Chorus]
‘Cause you like my hair, my ripped-up jeans
You like the bad girl I got in me
She’s on your mind, like, all the time
But I got a tattoo for us last week
Even good boys bleed
How bad, bad do you want me? (How bad, bad do you want me?)
(How bad, bad do you want me?)
‘Cause you hate thе crash, but you love the rush
And I’ll make your hеart weak every time
You hear my name, ’cause she’s in your brain
And I’m here to kiss you in real life
‘Bout to cause a scene
How bad, bad do you want me?
[Verse 2]
You panic in your sleep (Panic in your sleep)
And you feel like such a creep (Feel like such a creep)
‘Cause with your eyes closed, you might peek
So hot, hot that you can’t speak
You’re so fucked up with your crew (Fucked up with your crew)
But when you’re all alone, it’s true (All alone, it’s true)
You know exactly what we’d do
How bad, bad do you want to?
[Chorus]
‘Cause you like my hair, my ripped-up jeans
You like the bad girl I got in me
She’s on your mind, like, all the time
But I got a tattoo for us last week
Even good boys bleed
How bad, bad do you want me? (How bad, bad do you want me?)
(How bad, bad do you want me?)
‘Cause you hate the crash, but you love the rush
And I’ll make your heart weak every time
You hear my name, ’cause she’s in your brain
And I’m here to kiss you in real life
‘Bout to cause a scene
How bad, bad do you want me?
[Post-Chorus]
Uh-oh, oh, you love a good girl
Uh-oh, oh, you love a good girl bad
Uh-oh, oh, you make a bad girl
Uh-oh, oh, you make a bad girl mad
A psychotic love theme
How bad do you want me?
[Bridge]
That girl in your head ain’t real
How bad do you want me, for real? (Oh)
[Chorus]
‘Cause you like my hair, my ripped-up jeans
You like the bad girl I got in me
She’s on your mind, like, all the time
But I got a tattoo for us last week
Even good boys bleed
How bad, bad do you want me? (How bad, bad do you want me?)
(How bad? Tell me)
‘Cause you hate the crash, but you love the rush
And I’ll make your heart weak every time
You hear my name, but she’s in your brain
And I’m here to kiss you in real life
‘Bout to cause a scene
How bad, bad do you want me?
[Post-Chorus]
Uh-oh, oh, you love a good girl
Uh-oh, oh, you love a good girl bad
Uh-oh, oh, you make a bad girl
Uh-oh, oh, you make a bad girl mad
A psychotic love theme
How bad do you want me?
Meet Me In Montauk 
Wow, that really does sound like a Taylor Swift song!
I suppose Gaga watched pop stars like Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter rocket to success on Taylor’s sound and figured this could be her way back to the top. The problem is her Little Monsters are now in their 30s and the next generation of little monsters are consumed with newer artists like Rodrigo and Carpenter.
She should leave Tayloring to Taylor.
Predictably, this was my favorite song on the album lol so the Tayloring worked on me like a charm.
Gaga has such an amazing voice and I love her work with Tony Bennett ❤️