When was DWAS added to Mayhem?

[Controversiaga 16,927]

@River @Chromanne let’s just have this discussion here, I felt bad derailing the other thread. love you both !!! 

August 16, 2024: DWAS comes out as a standalone single.

September/October 2024: The song becomes an obvious success. Gaga/Interscope decide it belongs on LG7.

October/November 2024: MAYHEM track sequence and vinyl master are finalized. Sterling cuts the lacquers.

November/December 2024: Plating/test pressings/pressing begins.

December 2024–February 2025: Large-scale manufacturing, packaging and worldwide distribution.

March 7, 2025: MAYHEM arrives in stores.

the song was announced as a standalone single for while we waited for LG7. Not “here is a song off my new album while you wait for it”.  It was marketed as a standalone song by both artists for neither of their albums. Gaga would eventually claim she added DWAD because it was the missing piece ..

now mayhem is an album that has over 6 billion streams rn.

there should be no shame in admitting this as a possible truth. Gaga is a smart business woman working with smart ppl in her business - they would be stupid not to take advance of the songs success and throw it on the end of the album..

I also think we could consider how Gaga desperately needed to put something out to make ppl move on from joker. The point of an album promo single is to promote its respective album- however, DWAS was not promoting mayhem when it was released.

BUT apparently some of yall know that Gaga made the decision before DWAS was released, so im just looking for evidence that points to that ? Please share the receipts ! Xoxoxo 

Edited 1 hour ago by Controversiaga

[timdrake 2,372]

I'm gonna say probs in the weeks after she posted that schedule that said when the Mayhem first single was coming out, etc etc 

[Controversiaga 16,927]

Just now, timdrake said:

I'm gonna say probs in the weeks after she posted that schedule that said when the Mayhem first single was coming out, etc etc 

Exactly because how tf would disease be the first single if dwas was the first single lol 

[PartySick 174,010]

It's clear that DWAS was added after it became a hit. And it still makes up like 60% of Mayhem's streams so, commercially, that was the right move.

But I still say putting a Bruno Mars standalone single on her album for the sake of streams was really the first time I was disappointed in her as an artist  

Had it gone on the deluxe with CSTH, TDD, and KFL? No problem. But the standard? Just 'cause it was a hit? No

And I'm entitled to still holding that dramatic opinion that nobody cares about or has to care about  

Besides, it makes literally no sense to release and promote Disease as the lead if she had already decided to put DWAS on the album by that point. Disease would have been the second single. But it wasn't

 

[Controversiaga 16,927]

3 minutes ago, PartySick said:

It's clear that DWAS was added after it became a hit. And it still makes up like 60% of Mayhem's streams so, commercially, that was the right move.

But I still say putting a Bruno Mars standalone single on her album for the sake of streams was really the first time I was disappointed in her as an artist  

Had it gone on the deluxe with CSTH, TDD, and KFL? No problem. But the standard? Just 'cause it was a hit? No

And I'm entitled to still holding that dramatic opinion that nobody cares about or has to care about  

Besides, it makes literally no sense to release and promote Disease as the lead if she had already decided to put DWAS on the album by that point. Disease would have been the second single. But it wasn't

 

Thank you !!

yeah it was def a cop out but also it was the smart thing to do , to ensure a successful album. Because look at mayhem otherwise 

Edited 1 hour ago by Controversiaga

[PartySick 174,010]

1 minute ago, Controversiaga said:

yeah it was def a cop out but also it was the smart thing to do , to ensure a successful album. Because look at mayhem otherwise 

It would have gotten fewer streams but there would have been one less gay freaking out over Gaga's mini sell out moment

[River 128,456]

the metadata of DWAS multitrack shows that it was mastered in July, the album was sent to pressing fir the vinyls before DWAS was released.

Adding DWAS last minute would mean delaying the album release by at least 2 months or releasing the vinyls without it

[Hydrangea 8,163]

It feels kind of obvious that they realised after it’s success it would be an easy win to just slap it on the end of the album so they could use it for promo right?

[Controversiaga 16,927]

13 minutes ago, River said:

the metadata of DWAS multitrack shows that it was mastered in July, the album was sent to pressing fir the vinyls before DWAS was released.

Adding DWAS last minute would mean delaying the album release by at least 2 months or releasing the vinyls without it

Where can I see the metadata that shows July? Edit oh nvm yes obvi the song would be mastered before its release. I think DWAS had its own 7in vinyl release as well

But where do we have the dates for the album being send to pressing?

because adding DWAS after it released is not last minute at all, as they’d still have a couple months to get the album vinyls made..

DWAS hit 1 billion streams in November so they could’ve easily decided in sept or oct to add it given it was on its way to 1 billion. And they’d still have time to get the vinyls out for the albums release date of march 25.

 

how do we know the album didn’t get pushed BACK to March 25? Gaga did not announce the release date till JANUARY ! Almost a whole 6 months AFTER disease was released. WHO waits that long between their first single and the album drop ?

Edited 1 hour ago by Controversiaga

[PartySick 174,010]

11 minutes ago, Controversiaga said:

But where do we have the dates for the album being send to pressing?

because adding DWAS after it released is not last minute at all, as they’d still have a couple months to get the album vinyls made..

Yeah, albums usually get pressed about 3 months before release.

Mayhem was dropped in March, 3 months out is January/December which is two months after Disease was dropped as Mayhem's lead and four months after DWAS came out and exploded.

Metadata can be changed too. I've got multitracks from a bunch of songs and artists where the dates are post-release  

Though I'm not sure what DWAS being mastered in July says either way? That's a month before it was released, three months before Disease dropped, five months before Mayhem would have been pressed, and eight months before Mayhem came out which...totally lines up with the theory that DWAS was a last minute addition  

Unless someone knows exactly when Mayhem was pressed ('cause albums are sometimes pressed as early as 6 months before release) but that information was never made public.

We can literally only speculate and argue

[Lucas 31,459]

After it became a hit

[Taumaturg0 1,402]

I think DWS was meant the bridge the gap between JFAD/Harlequin and Mayhem, because I do believe it fits both projects, but belongs fully on neither. 

It was a smart move to add it to the tracklist, but the vision only got fully realized for me with the Requiem rendition of the track.

off topic, but this fan made solo version makes me want the official solo:

 

Edited 41 minutes ago by Taumaturg0

[PartySick 174,010]

5 minutes ago, PartySick said:

Yeah, albums usually get pressed about 3 months before release.

Mayhem was dropped in March, 3 months out is January/December which is two months after Disease was dropped as Mayhem's lead and four months after DWAS came out and exploded.

Metadata can be changed too. I've got multitracks from a bunch of songs and artists where the dates are post-release  

Though I'm not sure what DWAS being mastered in July says either way? That's a month before it was released, three months before Disease dropped, five months before Mayhem would have been pressed, and eight months before Mayhem came out which...totally lines up with the theory that DWAS was a last minute addition  

Unless someone knows exactly when Mayhem was pressed ('cause albums are sometimes pressed as early as 6 months before release) but that information was never made public.

We can literally only speculate and argue

More on this?  

I asked Gemini about it but I'm iffy on trusting its info immediately. Still sharing though 'cause it's interesting

Final Mix Completion (August 2024): Official publishing registries (ISWC) and studio logs show Serban Ghenea and the engineering team finalized album mixes between August 8 and August 29, 2024.

So we know DWAS was done before this as it had already been released for most of this window. The rest of the songs were mixed just before and just after DWAS came out

Mastering & Lacquer Cutting (September–October 2024): Audio mastering was handled by Randy Merrill, with lacquers cut by Joe Nino-Hernes (JN-H) at Sterling Sound Nashville shortly after mixes were approved.

The mastering for Mayhem was supposedly done a month before and the month of Disease's release as the lead single  

Submission to Pressing Plants (September–October 2024): To meet a simultaneous worldwide retail drop across standard, indie, webstore, and retail-exclusive variants (Target, zoetrope, etched Side D pressings), the plated stampers were submitted to major plants—primarily GZ Media—roughly 5 to 6 months in advance.

The album was sent for pressing around the same time it was mastered which really only leaves DWAS a month at least or two months at most to become a hit and find it's way to the album  

I'm pretty sure DWAS debuted in the top 5 and hit #1 on the global charts (and Spotify) literally the week of release or the week after and it showed no signs of stopping.

I hate that there's merit to both arguments here  

The album was sent for pressing in late October at the latest which doesn't leave much time to change up the tracklisting between then and mid-August but at the same time, DWAS had clearly shown itself to be a hit well before then and Disease absolutely was marketed and promoted as THE lead single.

I'm still saying it was added 'cause it was a hit

But I don't think there's enough concrete evidence to prove either way tbh.

[Dr Fudge 8,676]

I used to be in the ‘she added it last minute’ camp, but I’ve shifted more to the ‘who cares, get your coin gorl’ mentality and here’s why: 

 

1. She released DWAS well within the album lifespan. It’s not like it was released super outside of the lifecycle of MAYHEM so it should count. Why can Chappell Roan get to release her initial singles over the course of years before compiling them for her debut album, but Ms. Gags can’t include her hella successful chart topper from 7 months prior on her latest album? That isn’t a slight on Chappell, but just a weird double standard

2. It fits MAYHEM both sonically and thematically. It’s an album all about darkness and death. Why are we trying to act like Die With a Smile doesn’t belong here?

3. The main confusion lies in what Gaga said in terms of whether Disease was the first single or not. I don’t think what Gaga said really matters. The album is called MAYHEM for a reason and I don’t think Gaga is going to explicitly tell us, the fans, all the chaotic things that the album embodies including confusion over the choice of singles. That became clear to me when she didn’t choose VIY as the final single, but went with TDD instead. This overall “controversy” of whether DWAS belongs on MAYHEM and/or if it’s the first single or not feeds into the MAYHEM and it’s so harmless, that Gaga probs enjoys it. 

[PartySick 174,010]

3 minutes ago, Dr Fudge said:

This overall “controversy” of whether DWAS belongs on MAYHEM and/or if it’s the first single or not feeds into the MAYHEM and it’s so harmless, that Gaga probs enjoys it. 

I'm glad she enjoys it 'cause it'll never go away  

It doesn't really matter in the end but we gotta have something to argue about