Lady Gaga claims she “lives for the applause” in her new album, but there’s likely to be a lack of cheers with her new release.

Let’s get this out of the way from the beginning. Lady Gaga’s new album, _ARTPOP,_ is not her best work. After her chart-topping previous album, _Born This Way,_ it’s only fair to expect something of similar quality, but _ARTPOP_ lacks the charm and character that usually seeps into her work.

Instead, Lady Gaga’s reinvention of herself careens her onto a new road, away from the throne of pop culture. There are some redeeming snippets on the 15-track album, but there are no perfect songs. “Applause” is the star of the album, but it sits at the very end of _ARTPOP,_ almost begging for some applause after 14 tracks of waiting for the hit.

The intro to “Donatella” contains some of that old Gaga character, proclaiming “I’m blonde / I’m skinny / I’m rich / And I’m a little bit of a bitch.” The rest of the album, however, is made up of dull, overworked pop songs that don’t cut through the culture like Gaga’s ballads used to.

Before _Born This Way_ dropped, there were three almost-perfect songs released as their own singles, which tugged at wallets to pre-order the album. With _ARTPOP,_ it’s best to skip the album altogether and focus on the singles like “Applause.”

Lady Gaga persuades us to “do what you want” in the album’s lyrics. “What we want” might just be forgetting the album entirely.

_MOVE gives_ ARTPOP _2 out of 5 stars._