Circus

Britney Spears releases her follow-up to 2007′s ‘Blackout’

It’s been a difficult couple of years for the former Teen Queen of pop music. Everyone knows the story, so far: Marriage to K-Fed; two kids by same; the divorce; the breakdown; the legal troubles; the short skirts and SUVs without panties; the sleazy photographer who dated her exactly long enough to make a sex tape with her; the failed MTV comeback followed by the successful MTV comeback, and that insane “Leave Britney Alone!” guy on YouTube.

Everyone was ready to count Britney out, and a lot of pundits were doing just that. Then in 2007 she staged a daring comeback with the release of ‘Blackout’ and her multiple wins at the MTV Video Music Awards in September. Later that month, “Womanizer” the lead single off of her latest album, ‘Circus’, debuted and shot up the charts to number 1.

To say that this is one of the most eagerly anticipated albums of 2008 would not be hyperbole. The question that everyone has been asking, of course, is: has it been worth the wait?

I got to listen to a deluxe edition of ‘Circus’, which included the bonus tracks “Rock Me In”, ‘Phonography” and “Amnesia”. Between various versions of the album and numerous internet leaks, there are a total of 19 original tracks to the album, the core 13 of which are featured on the regular in-store release. Judging from the 16 songs I heard, I can say that the first half of the album is consistent and delivers well, though the second half has its weaknesses.

We’ve all heard “Womanizer” by now, so there’s not much else I can say about that one. It’s solid and delivers and opens the album perfectly. Title track “Circus” is an apt follow-up, but the album stumbles a little with “Out From Under”, one of two ballads. The problem with putting ballads like “Out From Under” and “My Baby” on a Dance/Pop album is that they are by their very nature the antithesis of Dance. Yes, “My Baby”, a song of love and devotion about Britney’s children is indeed beautiful and honest, but it is extremely out of place, sandwiched between the precociously sexual “Lace and Leather” and the Technopop, Dance throbbing of “Radar”. It’s not that they don’t belong on the album, as much as “Out From Under” and “My Baby” should have been edited into the track list a little more carefully; given them up-to-down-tempo lead ins, or lead out the songs preceding them with a downbeat.

Other than the two misplaced ballads, my only other real criticism of ‘Circus’ is that for the most part the songs stand alone as great dance tracks, but their placement in relation to one another on the track listing is uneven and mismatched. Otherwise, this is a fairly good album with some really great Dance Pop, such as “Kill The Lights”, “Unusual You”, “Mannequin” and, of course, “Womanizer”.

Fans and connoisseurs of Britney’s work will probably say that this isn’t her best, but it is far from her worst. I don’t think it will disappoint.

Britney Spears: Circus
Jive
Steve’s Rating: 8/10