On this week's episode of the Greatest Pop Stars podcast, we evaluate all aspects of the leadup to (and eventual release of) Lady Gaga's latest LP.

With Mayhem, Gaga's latest album, having been released on March 7, the year ahead is full of promise for the artist who once extolled the virtues of bad romance in 2009. But just who is the woman behind the wall of makeup, this artist who skyrocketed to fame in 2009/10 and can change her appearance like a chameleon?

She dances on the line between clever self-referentiality and less inspired rehashing on her new LP, committing to the over-the-top excess that first made her a star.