StrawberryBlond 15,371 Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 At the end of the day, artists don't have the final say in how many singles there will be for an album. It was fine to just put out a new single if the current one was flopping back in the day, when the industry made more money, but now, savings have to be made and labels are ruthless when they feel a single isn't hitting. Even the biggest names have called time on album promo shockingly early these days. Taylor could have spun out Tortured Poets for months but it got a measly 2 singles (one consisting of tour footage) despite it being the biggest album of the year. Labels want to put their focus into saturating our attention spans with new acts, so they'll let them have full eras but when an act is fully established, their amount of singles and videos always decreases. Once you've reached a certain level of success, your fanbase is expected to carry you with streams/sales/views and when they can't deliver, the plug is pulled. It's sad but it's not just happening to Gaga. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouranos 952 Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLOODANDSEMEN 419 Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 She’s currently on a massive tour for mayhem wtf are you talking about diva 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chronic 357 Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 (edited) Mayhem isn’t my favorite Gaga album either, but I do believe that sonically, this is the kind of music Stefani has always wanted to make. Period. In terms of commercial success, promotion, and music videos, we can’t give all of the blame to her. She is signed to a label. That being said, they’ve done a lot for the era, just not what we got during BTW. We have to let that go at some point. It isn’t worth it in the end to throw millions of dollars behind 5+ music videos. I’m sure she’d love to do it, but someone has to be the adult in the room and realize that it’s a loss financially. She’s getting older, there are more jobs on the line, more people are online criticizing every move artists make, and the music industry is…different. The hay days are behind us, but we still got a fun, polished, successful album and a massive world tour that she seems the happiest she’s been in years to do. IMO, the Little Monster Q&A, the Hot Ones episode, and the Lie Detector video went unappreciated. That’s the fun, silly, yet personable content we’ve been asking for, and we got it. Edited March 16 by chronic 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chronic 357 Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 On 3/5/2026 at 5:30 AM, Ladle Ghoulash said: Ngl I honestly just wish the MV were tied into the Mistress of MAYHEM storyline. IMO, they should’ve filmed a low budget choreo video like the one we got then a done a full blown cinematic narrative video that takes place in the MAYHEM universe. The Dead Dance for me was one of the handful of songs from the album that had an obvious meaning and I think the gothic Wednesday aesthetic of the video pulled away from it. It’s a straight forward, well written break up song, and we got….haunted dolls and baby cosplay. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTV 13,546 Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 Honestly, it would have been nice to cut Mayhem in two parts. One as commercial release and one as adult pop radio album release. Commercial: Abracadabra Garden of Eden Perfect Celebrity Vanish Into You Zombieboy The Dead Dance Kill for Love Shadow of a Man ------------------ Adult pop: Disease Can't Stop the High Killah LoveDrug How Bad Do U Want Me Don't Call Tonight The Beast Blade of Grass Die With a Smile It would have made so much sense. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chronic 357 Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 2 minutes ago, VTV said: Honestly, it would have been nice to cut Mayhem in two parts. One as commercial release and one as adult pop radio album release. Commercial: Abracadabra Garden of Eden Perfect Celebrity Vanish Into You Zombieboy The Dead Dance Kill for Love Shadow of a Man ------------------ Adult pop: Disease Can't Stop the High Killah LoveDrug How Bad Do U Want Me Don't Call Tonight The Beast Blade of Grass Die With a Smile It would have made so much sense. I cannot believe I’m saying this, but I do believe there’s an extended deluxe coming. 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTV 13,546 Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 5 hours ago, chronic said: I cannot believe I’m saying this, but I do believe there’s an extended deluxe coming. but Requiem is coming tho how will it fit this era Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ladle Ghoulash 44,696 Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 2 hours ago, VTV said: but Requiem is coming tho how will it fit this era I mean, it’s just a reimagining of the album so idk how it wouldn’t tbh. We have forgotten our public MANNERS Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
imogen2133 318 Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 On 3/5/2026 at 11:22 AM, Ultimecia said: This part here. MAYHEM is at this point my least favorite pop album of hers, despite the indisputable quality of its production, and a huge reason for that is because it has no artistic vision. Sonically, thematically, lyrically and even visually (the cover and booklet of the album) - it has no substance. The world she created for the tour is visually stunning, but I don't feel any connection to the actual material of the album. Say what you will about Chromatica's production, but the album by itself had a very strongly executed concept and vision, even if it wasn't fully hers. This is also how I felt about Mayhem. I'm aware that Disease is about inner struggle/demons, Abracadabra is about resilience and Perfect Celebrity is about her famous status but besides that most songs (Garden Of Eden, Don't Call Tonight, Lovedrug, How Bad Do U Want Me, The Beast, Zombieboy) are pretty vague in their meanings and are just about partying, love and romance but with her vague lyrics. I'm aware Gaga didn't want to have an overall theme or "outfit" for this album like she had done previously (she said so in the Zane Lowe interview) but it makes the album feel incoherent both lyrically and musically. I also think the "Mayhem" idea/concept was thought up last minute and for something that you would assume is chaotic or crazy sounding it is pretty straightforward music with normal structures. I also feel the visuals for the album (especially the album cover and photoshoot) are lacking and don't match well with the songs we got. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultimecia 6,545 Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 2 hours ago, imogen2133 said: This is also how I felt about Mayhem. I'm aware that Disease is about inner struggle/demons, Abracadabra is about resilience and Perfect Celebrity is about her famous status but besides that most songs (Garden Of Eden, Don't Call Tonight, Lovedrug, How Bad Do U Want Me, The Beast, Zombieboy) are pretty vague in their meanings and are just about partying, love and romance but with her vague lyrics. I'm aware Gaga didn't want to have an overall theme or "outfit" for this album like she had done previously (she said so in the Zane Lowe interview) but it makes the album feel incoherent both lyrically and musically. I also think the "Mayhem" idea/concept was thought up last minute and for something that you would assume is chaotic or crazy sounding it is pretty straightforward music with normal structures. I also feel the visuals for the album (especially the album cover and photoshoot) are lacking and don't match well with the songs we got. I'm not alone! You put it so well, I agree 100%. Time. It will not wait, no matter how hard you hold on... 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderson123 41,783 Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 12 hours ago, VTV said: Honestly, it would have been nice to cut Mayhem in two parts. One as commercial release and one as adult pop radio album release. Commercial: Abracadabra Garden of Eden Perfect Celebrity Vanish Into You Zombieboy The Dead Dance Kill for Love Shadow of a Man ------------------ Adult pop: Disease Can't Stop the High Killah LoveDrug How Bad Do U Want Me Don't Call Tonight The Beast Blade of Grass Die With a Smile It would have made so much sense. Why do we always have to cut her albums in half. We're traumatized with that ARTPOP Act I and II plans she had. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronco 21,312 Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 12 hours ago, VTV said: Honestly, it would have been nice to cut Mayhem in two parts. One as commercial release and one as adult pop radio album release. Commercial: Abracadabra Garden of Eden Perfect Celebrity Vanish Into You Zombieboy The Dead Dance Kill for Love Shadow of a Man ------------------ Adult pop: Disease Can't Stop the High Killah LoveDrug How Bad Do U Want Me Don't Call Tonight The Beast Blade of Grass Die With a Smile It would have made so much sense. I can't see how you've put Perfect Celebrity in Commercial but not How Bad Do U Want Me? Like HBDUWM is the most commercial song on the album. Its why folks are mad The gays know how to party 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bxr 1,685 Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 (edited) 4 hours ago, imogen2133 said: This is also how I felt about Mayhem. I'm aware that Disease is about inner struggle/demons, Abracadabra is about resilience and Perfect Celebrity is about her famous status but besides that most songs (Garden Of Eden, Don't Call Tonight, Lovedrug, How Bad Do U Want Me, The Beast, Zombieboy) are pretty vague in their meanings and are just about partying, love and romance but with her vague lyrics. I'm aware Gaga didn't want to have an overall theme or "outfit" for this album like she had done previously (she said so in the Zane Lowe interview) but it makes the album feel incoherent both lyrically and musically. I also think the "Mayhem" idea/concept was thought up last minute and for something that you would assume is chaotic or crazy sounding it is pretty straightforward music with normal structures. I also feel the visuals for the album (especially the album cover and photoshoot) are lacking and don't match well with the songs we got. I was thinking about this a bit the other day on the one year anniversary, because the album felt so different, not just from the first spin to most recent, but it felt like listening to an album where she actually experienced the idea she executed before it existed … almost like the inverse to chromatica … by that, I guess I just mean, for everything Mayhem is about, to your lucid point, it doesn’t feel like she was actually in those worlds … yes, we only see what we see, but even then, there was a disconnect between how this album articulated the era of hollywood and/or corporate sponsorship (not disparaging), it just felt like she really created an entire world of music experience in Mayhem that she might not have been as immersed in as her prior projects … She quite literally injected The Fame as fame’s nemesis into 21st Century pop concsiousness, TFM was a direct response in relation to her own experience with The Fame’s shadow self in real time, BTW was literally written on the road as she experienced the sheer range of identities within her own global community, ARTPOP (*gestures broadly at the material* lived experience on levels), Joanne almost backed into its own reality, but at its core, regardless of hindsight, the namesake carried the narrative of an artist who’s life and work was suddenly abbreviated, moreover in addition to the generational trauma, the audience is presented with associations between how the album and era itself reflect the artist‘s experience … Chromatica she was in LA and the vibe was honestly a bit of the bedroom DJ (and that carries range of expressions, interpretations, and modes of identity or sonic world-build), even with the detriment, that process is present in the production and performance (the Enigma residency plays into that as well), but Chromatica was like creating something or performing something that became a bit more distant Whereas Mayhem, it didn’t seem to feel like she was expressing what she actually experienced in real time with real people as she was producing from her studio amidst a nearly complete overhaul of her team infrastructure (and sponsorships, and filming, and etc.) … but as she brought it into the world it began to engage with the world it was missing, if that makes sense; so when she performed it with and for people, and brought it to life with literal live performances (SNL springs to mind heavy), sonic reinterpretations, and especially the tour where she is with people and singing into significance what Mayhem means … it’s like, back to The Fame, where she made the lie a truth (SOAM callback) … that the sound would eclipse any visual dissonance … but Mayhem as “willful deprivation of a body part or element resulting in the impairment of a person’s fighting ability,” maybe the deprivation was the experience itself as thematic vision … kind of like The Fame (or ARTPOP as well), how do you make the imagined reality … but, as always, just musing, take the aforementioned with a grain of salt … she could have very well been dodging calls while vanishing into killahs at the garden of eden for the past few years, being the perfect celebrity as one is … Edited March 10 by bxr 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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