Did Lady Gaga just take Taylor Swift's corner?

Let's just give ALL the Grammys to Gaga right now.

I know today is Tuesday but I want to write about Black 47 next week, and this album can't wait for two Music Mondays from now. Every now and then an album comes along and I just want to ingest it into my veins. 40 years ago U2’s The Joshua Tree and Van Halen's 1984 were like that, and this new Lady Gaga album just slaps as the kids say. Give her all the Grammys now.

Vanish Into You sounds like the Pet Shop Boys singing a James Bond theme. Killah has an Alanis vocal over a late-Queen bass line (specifically Invisible Man, which we’ll talk about in two weeks).

Zombie Boy sounds like Gwen Stefani took over the album for a song. I was pretty sure that I was hearing some Michael Jackson on Shadow of A Man (and the guitar at the end of the song confirmed my suspicions) but the song that made me LMAO is How Bad Do You Want Me which is Gaga letting Taylor know who is boss.

Or maybe not….some fans are convinced that Taylor Swift was secretly involved in Lady Gaga's new album. Immediately after the album dropped on Friday, many listeners started to theorize that Taylor might have helped write one of the tracks after they noticed some similarities between it and her old songs.

It’s the production…the vocal style…the lyrics. Either Taylor wrote it or Gaga just let know Taylor we can wake Gaga up at 3am and she can do what Taylor does.

It's fascinating because it's a bit of an artistic Rorschach test. Some critics hear it as Gaga being "haunted" by Taylor's dominance over pop music. Others think it's a loving homage. I think it's Gaga having a bit of fun.

The fact that both the NY Times and The Guardian called out the Taylor-ness of this track in their reviews tells me I'm not imagining things. The Guardian correctly pointed out that the song starts with a clear nod to Yazoo's "Only You" before evolving into something that sounds like it could have been on "1989" or "Lover."

The rest of the album shows Gaga returning to what made her great in the first place. After years of jazz albums, "A Star is Born" soundtracks, and that Joker debacle, she's back to making weird, hooky dance pop with an edge. It's not a reinvention so much as a reminder.

"Mayhem" is her saying "screw it, I'm going to be myself again" album.

"Die With A Smile," her duet with Bruno Mars, now makes a lot more sense in the context of the full album. It's the dessert after the main course of weirdness.

In another decade where we had real FM Radio, this is an album that would have had seven singles, if not NINE. It’s that catchy.

I’m calling it in March. This is the Album of the Year. MAYHEM all caps.

Back to writing about podcasting tomorrow.