MAYHEM is a 10, it would be a 1000 if...

[rinasawachanta 2,795]

... the songs were ordered differently. Listen: the album is excellent, one of the best Gaga has ever done. I would love to do a sort of review of each track but I don't have time, in fact I should be working but I'm writing this here lol. What I mean is, if the tracklist was different, with some modification here and there, the album would flow MUCH better and each song would have its moment and stand out. I feel like the way the album is ordered makes it get to a point where it can get a little tiring or where the songs (at least on a first listen) can get a little confusing with each other. So, my boyfriend came up with the idea of rearranging it and this is what he did, and I can assure you that it really flows much better and makes it automatically AOTY (it already is, but with this tracklist even more so!):

1. Perfect Celebrity: perfect to open the album, both sonically and conceptually. One of the highlights of the album, without a doubt, it sets the tone for one of the aspects that the album will visit (electro grunge, electronic elements). It synthesizes THE concept of the album, not for nothing Gaga considered it as the title.
2. Disease: a song we already know; sonically close to Perfect Celebrity but exploiting to a greater extent the electronic and industrial side. I think it is much better placed here than as the opening track.
3. LoveDrug: yes, this can be a surprise. Thematically, it is interesting to place this song here, after Disease (LoveDrug as the remedy for the disease). Do the test, with this order this song, which otherwise goes a bit unnoticed or does not stand out so much, becomes much more relevant. It recovers the rock dimension but in a more “traditional” proposal and allows to anticipate the eighties elements so prevalent in the album.
4. Garden of Eden: prepares for the dance floor. It introduces electronic elements, choral voices and Gaga's characteristic stuttering that will later be deployed in its maximum splendor in the following track.
5. Abracadabra: YES. Garden of Eden runs the risk of becoming pale if we place it right after Abracadabra. Instead, this way, the transition is much more organic and does full justice to both themes. It also gives Abracadabra the entity it deserves as one of the highlights of the album. A moment that one “waits for it to come,” which gives it momentum, and that is not rushed at the beginning of the tracklist.

6. Killah: any track that comes after the hit Abracadabra risks to pale in front of it, so a complete change of tone and vibe is needed. Killah is SO different from the previous one that, placed here, it helps to avoid comparisons; it is a disorienting track in a good way. It features the funky and groovy aspects that are going to take us into the more disco side of the album. Another of the highlights.
7. Zombieboy: here we follow the official order of the album. The dance floor is on fire and all we have to do is dance. 
8. Vanish Into You: the guitars ala Bowie justify its incorporation in this part of the album, much later than its general location, which favors that “emotional” component that the song has. I feel that where it is officially placed it arrives “too soon”. The placement of the track in this part makes one look forward to it.
9. Can't Stop The High: SHOULD have been on the standard version. This track is amazing, and its placement at this point makes THE PARTY NOT STOP. It also brings back the Perfect Celebrity vibe to strengthen the electro grunge aspect of the album.
10. Shadow Of A Man: we continue dancing, the party is coming to the end, and we say goodbye leaving everything with this great song. This song runs the risk of being “lost” after How Bad Do You Want Me and Don't Call Tonight, which, you will notice, were eliminated. Personally, I feel that HBDUWM doesn't fit in the least in this album, and while DCT is a song I like, its presence doesn't add much and ends up extending an album that would benefit from a slight shortening.

11. The Beast
12. Blade of Grass
13. Die With A Smile: these three are kept in the same order, which is objectively the right one. The “ballads” of the album.
14. Kill For Love: SURPRISE. Try listening to the album this way, seriously. Placed here Kill For Love has the power of the old and beloved “hidden track”, and at the same time it is a perfect song to close the album, that the credits roll and we leave dancing and not so “down” as with DWAS. Besides, thematically, it follows the line of DWAS, but restores agency: it's not just about dying with a smile, passively, but killing for love, killing for that feeling. 

If you made it this far, thanks for reading. I look forward to your comments and, seriously, try listening to it ordered this way!

 

Edited 5 hours ago by rinasawachanta

[Cameltoe Chariot 14,927]

[Roboboy 3,714]

I don't get people saying how bad do u want me doesn't fit, mayhem and chaos is the whole point it's a rlly joyful moment where she just has a go at it cause why not? like this is trying to contort the album into something it isn't IMO. don't call tonight gone I agree with tho

[Ladle Ghoulash 18,274]

I’m of two minds on VIY: on the one hand, I do think on the standard tracklisting it does feel like it feels like it comes a little too early, I also think it coming after CSTH on the deluxe tracklisting makes it feel like a breath of fresh air. I totally get the logic of putting it on the back half of the album, but I also kind of like the emotional foreshadowing of the love story later on 

[FFXIV WhiteMage 5,773]

Mayhem is a masterpiece and I have heard all the AOTY nominated albums last Grammy's 

As for the order, the only thing I would change is VIY to be lowered into 12th or 13th position. 

 

[Ladle Ghoulash 18,274]

My preferred tracklisting would probably just be adding the bonus tracks and dropping DCT and HBDUWM tbh, but I honestly flip flop on that because I ultimately do *like* those songs and understand the role they play in creating the vibe of the album, but I do think they’re generally just a cut below the rest of the album. 

Edited 5 hours ago by Ladle Ghoulash

[Nycboy 1,007]

I really like your order and totally agree with your ideas. But there is something really cool about how strong and captivating the current track run is from 1-7, although it definitely leads to a drop off. To me, The Fame Monster is a perfect album and it only has 8 tracks, so Mayhem having a perfect 7 track run is pretty f***ing killer. 

[Red 96,860]

The only song that feels out of order to me (in the actual tracklist, not yours) is Garden of Eden, I would have put it in the middle section of the album, besides that I have no notes. In fact, I think it’s the only album she got close to a perfect track order. 

[Ladle Ghoulash 18,274]

1 minute ago, Red said:

The only song that feels out of order to me (in the actual tracklist, not yours) is Garden of Eden, I would have put it in the middle section of the album, besides that I have no notes. In fact, I think it’s the only album she got close to a perfect track order. 

I honestly feel like BTW’s tracklisting is basically perfect 

[rinasawachanta 2,795]

2 minutes ago, Nycboy said:

I really like your order and totally agree with your ideas. But there is something really cool about how strong and captivating the current track run is from 1-7, although it definitely leads to a drop off. To me, The Fame Monster is a perfect album and it only has 8 tracks, so Mayhem having a perfect 7 track run is pretty f***ing killer. 

Absolutely! This new order sacrifices track run 1-7 which is DEMENTIAL. But, as you say, inevitably such a run leads to a small drop or stagnation. This new order helps to avoid that, I think. 

[Red 96,860]

1 minute ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

I honestly feel like BTW’s tracklisting is basically perfect 

Government Hooker right after Born This Way? And then Judas? 

[Ladle Ghoulash 18,274]

6 minutes ago, Red said:

Government Hooker right after Born This Way? And then Judas? 

You bet, diva. Wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Edited 5 hours ago by Ladle Ghoulash

[GreenEyes 958]

I personally think perfect celebrity should have been the last track. Her ending the album with I’ve become a notorious being would have been a 10/10 

[HeAteMyh3art 16]

Shes made it clear that the mayhem is supposed to stop. Thats why it ends on such a lowkey note

[Ladle Ghoulash 18,274]

48 minutes ago, GreenEyes said:

I personally think perfect celebrity should have been the last track. Her ending the album with I’ve become a notorious being would have been a 10/10 

Eh, I think that kind of flies in the face of the message/arc of the album 

 

3 minutes ago, HeAteMyh3art said:

Shes made it clear that the mayhem is supposed to stop. Thats why it ends on such a lowkey note

Yeah, the downtempo turn at the end of the record is definitely intentional