In the past year, pop stars have been made, broken, and pieced back together again—all on record. There's of course Britney Spears's Blackout, a title that made everyone cringe because it was oh-so-true, and even Hills star Heidi Montag and her much-mocked No More. Now there's that controversial, not-naked Miley Cyrus with Breakout (Hollywood Records, July 22). As with Spears, it's tempting to read more into the title than you should: Her third album, the first to bear her name and not the Disney-trademarked Hannah Montana, is a chance to turn the tween idol into bona fide pop artist. Sadly, though, this is still the same old crap: Over-produced, one-hook "party" songs ready to be pumped out of every Wal-Mart speaker in the country.

Of course, the signs were never very good.

The Vanity Fair photo scandal put Cyrus in front of the mainstream, but she quickly retreated back into her family-channel image (no bare shoulders, only a bare abdomen), and in a sense, she's doing the same thing here. It seems she's not quite ready for her so-called breakout.

Miley preys on the usual high school dramas—getting out of class ("Breakout"), lame boyfriends ("7 Things")—but studiously avoids writing anything personal. It's downright odd to hear her sing something like "Wake Up America," a vaguely political track that encourages listeners to "stand up," when, months after she's become a household name, no one has the slightest clue what she thinks about anything, political or otherwise.

Don't be fooled by Cyrus's cover of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," either, a track that sounds like the original if it mainlined a balloon full of speed and picked up an electric guitar. Cyndi Lauper celebrated the God-given right to dance, but Cyrus's Kelly Clarkson-aping anthems could only appeal to Ritalin-addicted brats in need of a quick shopping trip, like this little bit from the title track: "My parents say that I'm lazy / Getting up at 8 a.m.'s crazy / So unfair, so uncool ... Hanging out is just something we like to do!" Being a 15-year-old multi-million-dollar brand doesn't sound easy, but according to Miley, it's not unlike going to the mall. Which we still can't relate to.