2025 has been an incredible year so far for Lady Gaga. In the short space of five months, she has released her chart-topping new album MAYHEM, delivered an amazing show on Saturday Night Live, was the standout act of Coachella, and performed in front of a record-breaking 2.1 million fans at Copacabana Beach in Brazil.
After obsessively listening to MAYHEM and rewinding these performances over the past few weeks, I decided to revisit ‘Mother Monster’s’ discography and explore the impact she has had in pop music since her 2008 debut.
Throughout this ‘deep dive’, I will discuss the music videos, singles, controversies, and critical reception surrounding each of her distinct musical eras. I will also include recommendations for some of my all-time favourite Gaga songs in the hopes of converting Trill Mag’s readership into ‘Little Monsters!’
The Fame (2008)
It all began in 2008 with the release of The Fame. After working her way up in the industry and releasing iconic promotional singles like ‘Just Dance’, ‘Poker Face’ and ‘Paparazzi’, this debut album cemented Gaga as an artist to watch out for.
Full of catchy hooks, satirical and playful lyrics, and punchy electronic production, The Fame was incredibly well received by fans and critics alike. Not only did it sell millions of copies worldwide, music critics argued that the album had revived the electronic genre in radio music.
The album toys with ironic visions of fame and wealth, with several of the songs holding a darker message than their EDM production may initially suggest. Many tracks are satirical criticisms of Hollywood and the music scene. The Fame thus proved that pop music could blend substance and style.
Recommended songs: ‘Just Dance’, ‘Money, Honey’, ‘Summerboy’, ‘Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)’ & ‘Paparazzi’
The Fame Monster (2009)
After being catapulted to stardom following The Fame, Gaga released an accompanying EP: The Fame Monster. This consisted of eight new songs, including the smash-hit single ‘Bad Romance’.
Despite the two projects being marketed as a deluxe reissue, Gaga insisted that both albums were conceptually distinct. This certainly holds water when considering the more mature, emotional lyrical content of songs on The Fame Monster, such as ‘Speechless’. Nevertheless, the general sound of the album seems very much a continuation of The Fame with its electropop production.
The project’s promotional singles (‘Bad Romance’, Alejandro’, and ‘Telephone’) are now considered some of the most iconic pop songs of all time. This demonstrates just how impactful this album was upon its release. Additionally, its accompanying tour— The Monster Ball Tour (2009-2011)— was the highest grossing of any debut artist in history. Talk about hitting the ground running!
Recommended songs: ‘Telephone’, ‘Speechless’, ‘Dance in the Dark’, ‘Alejandro’ & ‘Monster’
Born This Way (2011)
We arrive next at my personal favourite Gaga album: Born This Way. Daring, assertive in its political messages, and sonically inventive, this album has proven to be one of her most polarising.
The album’s namesake single has since become a hallmark anthem for the LGBTQ+ community. Its accompanying music video also is iconic on so many levels. The album’s singles (such as ‘Edge of Glory’ and ‘Judas’) were incredibly successful upon release. However, Born This Way is home to several ‘sleeper hits’. For example, ‘Bloody Mary’, ‘Government Hooker’ and ‘Heavy Metal Lover’, despite being relatively underrated upon release, have since gained major traction on TikTok.
Born This Way was more experimental in its production than her previous works, venturing into genres such as rock and roll, house and heavy metal. The lyrical content of the project explored gay and women’s rights, sexual freedom, and religious identity. This was much broader and bolder than her previous work. Whilst this incurred some criticism from more conservative listeners, Born This Way marked Gaga as an LGBT and feminist icon!
Recommended songs: ‘Edge of Glory’, ‘You and I’, ‘Born This Way’, ‘Marry The Night’ & ‘Scheiße’
ARTPOP (2013)
ARTPOP, often regarded her most underappreciated and experimental work, offered fans Gaga’s most extreme rebranding yet. The album’s opening track, ‘Aura’, begins with the lyrics— ‘I killed my former and left her in the trunk on highway 10’— signalling a complete detachment from her old self.
This project leans more heavily into an EDM and psychedelic sound, with Gaga hiring up-and-coming producers Zedd and Madeon to execute her artistic vision. Arguably, this album is less cohesive than her previous works. That said, it is definitely one of her most fun and audacious works to date.
Whilst the album was widely beloved by ‘Little Monsters’, it was not as successful commercially as her prior efforts. This was likely due to how inventive and sonically incongruous it was. It is often deemed to have been ‘ahead of its time’. However, many fans and critics now finally coming to appreciate ARTPOP for the ambitious and innovative work that it is.
Recommended songs: ‘Aura’, ‘Venus’, ‘MANiCURE’, ‘Dope’, & ‘Applause’
Joanne (2016)
Next we move onto Joanne, an album that marked a complete reinvention of Gaga’s public persona. Gone are the outlandish aesthetics and the electronic sound that dominated her previous albums, with Gaga offering listeners a mellow, stripped-back and country inspired work.
Joanne was deeply influenced by Gaga’s relationship with her family. She has spoken of how the album was an emotional outlet for her, evidenced by album’s emotionally charged songs like ‘Joanne’, ‘Angel Down’ and ‘Million Reasons.’ The album’s singles — ‘Perfect Illusion’ and ‘Million Reasons’ — were subject to mixed critical reception. However, after Gaga’s incredible Super Bowl Halftime performance, ‘Million Reasons’ shot up in the US charts.
The album was supported by the ‘Joanne World Tour’. The tour was much more subdued and intimate than her ones previous, with many critics praising Gaga’s beautiful connection and interactions with her fans. Unfortunately, due to complications with her fibromyalgia, she was forced to cancel the final leg of the tour. Her struggles with fibromyalgia, as well as the creative process behind Joanne, is captured in her documentary Five Foot Two. This is available to stream on Netflix!
Recommended songs: ‘Million Reasons’, ‘A-YO’, ‘John Wayne’, ‘Sinner’s Prayer’, ‘Hey Girl’ & ‘Perfect Illusion’
A Star is Born (2018)
Lady Gaga came back swinging in 2018 with the release of Bradley Cooper’s romantic musical A Star is Born. The film follows an alcoholic musician (Cooper) who strikes up a relationship with an up-and-coming young singer (Gaga).
This role was a major success for Gaga. Critics were impressed by her acting abilities and her chemistry with Bradley Cooper; audiences began to take note of her insane versatility. It was hard for many to believe (me included) the woman in this film was the same person who created ARTPOP and Born this Way!
Alongside Cooper, Gaga co-wrote and co-performed the film’s soundtrack, all of which was sung live. The biggest hits to come from this era were ‘Shallow’ and ‘Always Remember Us Way’, with the latter now being a staple on her setlists. Gaga was deservedly awarded and acclaimed for this role, becoming the first woman in history to win a Grammy, BAFTA, Golden Globe & an Academy Award in one year.
Recommended songs: ‘Shallow’, ‘Always Remember Us This Way’, ‘I’ll Never Love Again’, ‘Music To My Eyes’ & ‘I Don’t Know What Love is’
Chromatica (2020)
In 2020, Lady Gaga reverted back to her classic pop sound with the release of Chromatica. Combining elements of house and dance-pop, this album was a breath of fresh air during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Gaga defined this era with pink and purple ‘cyberpunk’ aesthetics and a strong lyrical focus on her personal healing. Much of the project traverses issues of mental health struggle and romance failures, with songs like ‘911’, ‘Fun Tonight’ and ‘Alice’ masking these darker themes with upbeat production. This album also had some amazing collaborative songs, featuring Ariana Grande, BLACKPINK, and Elton John. I have to admit the ‘Rain on Me’ music video with Ariana Grande was on repeat for me during the 2020 lockdown!
Accompanying the original was a remix album, Dawn of Chromatica, which included artists like Charli XCX, Shygirl and Rina Sawayama. The Chromatica tour was delayed by Covid, but opened in 2022 to huge commercial success. Overall, Chromatica was well received by the masses, proving it was the perfect antidote to the chaos of the pandemic!
Recommended songs: ‘Babylon’, ‘Replay’, ‘911’, ‘Alice’ & ‘Enigma’
Harlequin (2024)
To promote her role as Harley Quinn in the 2024 film Joker Folie à Deux, Gaga released a companion EP titled Harlequin. It is a concept album, exploring themes of madness, social performativity, psychological struggles and toxic love affairs. Comprised of classic showtunes, with the exception of two songs, this project was a surprising release from Gaga. Whilst I was aware of her jazz collaborations with Tony Bennett, the songs she covered genuinely surprised me.
I found iconic songs like ‘That’s Entertainment’, ‘Good Morning’ and ‘Get Happy’ incongruous with Joker’s depraved and dark aesthetics. However, lurking beneath the theatrical production and vocals, lies a sinister sense of craziness and feigned happiness. After relistening to the album, I began to see how these songs perfectly embodied the maddened character of Harley Quinn.
Although Folie à Deux was ultimately a commercial and critical flop, this EP has grown on me a lot over time. I would even consider ‘Happy Mistake’ (one of the original songs she wrote for the project) to be one of my favourite Gaga songs ever!
Recommended songs: ‘Happy Mistake’, ‘That’s Entertainment’ ‘World on a String’, ‘That’s Life’ & ‘Close to You’
MAYHEM (2025)
Her latest album, MAYHEM, was released in March and I’ve already crowned it my ‘Album of the Year’. Alongside Born This Way, this is undoubtedly one of Gaga’s career highlights.
Promotion for the album began back in 2024, with the chart-topping ‘Die With a Smile’ and the dark banger ‘Disease’ creating huge excitement in the fandom. The release of ‘Abracadabra’, an electro-pop hit, further galvanised the hype and hinted that MAYHEM would follow a similar direction to her early works like The Fame and ARTPOP. While the album didn’t fully meet those expectations, her chosen direction thrilled me. Blending synth-pop, rock, disco and more, this album is a chaotic clash of many genres, themes, and aesthetics.
Some of the tracks, including ‘Shadow of a Man’ and ‘Killah’, draw heavily from music icons such as Prince, Michael Jackson and David Bowie; others, such as ‘How Bad Do You Want Me’ have a Taylor Swift inspired sound. The title MAYHEM, then, is the perfect descriptor for this era, with Gaga once again proving her versatility, ability to blend genres, and her reverence for the music industry.
Recommended songs: ‘Vanish into You, ‘Garden of Eden’, ‘LoveDrug’, ‘How Bad Do You Want Me’, ‘Shadow of a Man’
Lady Gaga’s eclectic discography proves she is no one-trick pony. Time and time again, she has showcased her showstopping adaptability, her unique creativity, and her impeccable talents as a singer, songwriter and overall entertainer. Be sure to check out my recommendations and comment your favourite Gaga album below!
