‘Mayhem’ is out now.

“Chromatica,” an ode to dance-club culture that arrived at the early peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, was the victim of bad timing. It was a terrific set that topped the Billboard 200, but it lacked the staying power of Lady Gaga’s most notable records and faded from view as she moved on to other projects. “Mayhem” has its share of body-moving numbers, but it’s a bigger and broader collection than its predecessor, one that puts the second word of the term “dance-pop” in capital letters. Hooks are prioritized over grooves, and songs have the outsize dramatic sense of 2009’s “The Fame Monster.”

It’s a classic-sounding Gaga record, in other words—rather than experimenting with style and genre, “Mayhem” is a return to her essence. Assisting her on this path is songwriter and producer Andrew Watt. As his recent work with the Rolling Stones and Pearl Jam has shown, he’s a specialist who excels at reminding artists of the foundational aesthetic their fans fell in love with. Here, alongside producers Cirkut (Katy Perry, Justin Timberlake) and Gesaffelstein (Kanye West, Charli XCX), he helps steer Lady Gaga from one towering anthem to the next.

The early part of the record is heavy on electro-grind keyboards and choruses filled with chants and grunts, which hark back to Gaga’s primal era as a hitmaker. The title of the opening “Disease” borrows a memorable word from her breakthrough hit “Bad Romance,” and also has some of the earlier tune’s stomp and swagger. “Abracadabra” finds the singer in diva mode, holding forth over a pulsing beat before the chorus detonates and the ping-ponging vowels collide with a sawtooth synth. And “Garden of Eden,” which frames a brief, lustful encounter as a temporary state of grace, is dense with one catchy passage after another, as if a best-of-Gaga album has been crammed into a single song.

The album’s middle section is a little weirder and more diverse, touching on an array of styles that the singer makes her own. The fourth track, “Perfect Celebrity,” is a Queen-like tune powered by a rock backbeat that is one of just a few duds here—it’s not particularly memorable musically, and it’s hard to stay interested in Lady Gaga talking about fame. But “Killah” rights the ship with a rhythm-guitar flourish borrowed from David Bowie’s “Fame” and a descending melody on the verse that recalls Prince’s “Sign o’ the Times.” The glittery disco-funk tune “Zombieboy” situates the shout-along charm of Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” with the rhythmic propulsion of Chic, and “How Bad Do U Want Me” has the warm innocence of classic new wave, pointing to Depeche Mode and Blondie.

Gaga has an enormous advantage over other female pop singers—she doesn’t have to try to seem younger than she is. Her theatrical background and penchant for big-hearted gestures mean she’s a master of camp and knows how and when to lay on the schmaltz—her musical roots stretch back through Broadway to vaudeville, where reaching the person in the back row is crucial, and cool remove has no place. So while songs like the slinky midtempo tune “Vanish Into You” might seem over-the-top and even cheesy to fans of more restrained pop derived from, say, the arty end of R&B, Lady Gaga sells the big gestures completely.

“Mayhem” closes with the Bruno Mars duet “Die With a Smile,” which won a Grammy and hit No. 1 on the Hot 100. But it feels slightly out of place here, more anonymous than what comes before. If one of the less appealing songs on your album topped the charts and received an important industry award, you’re in pretty good shape, and “Mayhem” is a strong Lady Gaga album that easily ranks with her best.