For those not already invested in the idea of Gaga's world-historical greatness, "Applause" offers few reasons to clap. The insistent, relatively generic electro-pop pulse is a bit behind the times at a pop moment where the biggest song-of-the-summer candidates have moved back toward '70s-inflected guitars. It's confusing when she equates "nostalgia" with enjoying reading. The previously revealed lyrics are as head-scratching as ever — Gaga is pop culture as pop culture is art as we are all together, or something — but especially so because the song's bland dance-bot foundations are too unremarkable to support such abstract conceits. Wait, why are we clapping, again?
all good or bad reviews are usually written by ONE man or woman. What is your point?
I think their point is that its gotten an overwhelmingly positive response from most of the reviews compared to one or two people who gave it a negative review...