Album Review: Britney Spears - Blackout (2/5)

While Britney’s been a bad girl for some time, it used to be that bouts of bad behavior were followed by coquettish statements from her PR machine. On her own now sans PR (clearly), Britney is content to not even try to hide her bad side, but to exploit it, as evidenced by the title of her 5th album, Blackout, a state she’s surely been in more than once over the last year, a period during which she's shed any last shred of dignity. There are tabloid queens and then there is Britney--shaving her head, checking in and out of rehab, acting like a zombie on MTV, hitting and running, doing who knows what to lose custody of her kids, I could go on and on, and that was all just since January.

That Blackout isn't a complete disaster could come as a surprise, until you remind yourself that Britney's albums have always been producer-driven affairs, with her contribution coming in the form of image, packaging and desirability. So what we have here is basically a bunch of really hot producers offering up ready-made sleek pop songs not unlike what they've produced recently for other artists. Britney showed up (more or less) to do the vocal and voila: slick, electronic, beat-heavy pop with lots of vocal processing and a good dose of attitude. I like a good futuristic electro-pop romp as much as the next guy, but the results here are disappointing, with Blackout being the weakest of Britney's five albums.

There are a few good songs, but "good" is relative. Nothing here stands up to "...Baby One More Time," "Toxic," or even "Stronger." The album's best track is "Heaven on Earth," which 0pens with a pulsing synth bass line and has a faster tempo than most of the other songs. The melodic song embodies an ‘80s sound, reminiscent of the work Gwen Stefani’s been doing lately. First single, "Gimme More," also manages to be pretty good when stacked up against the rest of what she's done here.

I also like both of the songs produced by Bloodshy and Avant, the duo that made Britney's second-biggest hit, "Toxic," a few years ago. "Piece of Me" is Britney's chance to take on her detractors, and the highly processed track makes her sound pretty good, even if it lacks enough melody to really hold together. "Toy Soldier" has a better beat and an interesting sound, but the producer/songwriter who boasts in the opening, "hear a smash on the radio, bet I penned it,” may be waiting to hear this on airwaves anytime soon.

The rest is unfortunate, uninteresting, and in a few cases just unlistenable. Nate "Danja" Hills, who crafted the awesome "Say It Right" for Nelly Furtado, tries to work similar magic for Britney with "Break the Ice," "Hot as Ice," "Get Naked (I Got a Plan), " and "Perfect Lover." "Break the Ice" is the best of this pack, and comes closest to emulating "Say It Right," but emulation isn't a very high bar for a producer, are fine, but nothing special.

Of the rest, "Radar" is electronic, attitude-filled, and bland. "Freakshow" is just bad--a lean track of bleeps, hand claps, and vocals. By the time the end of the album rolls around with "Ooh Ooh Baby" and Pharrell Williams' "Why Should I Be So Sad," I'm too bored to really care.

Anyone who thinks Britney miraculously took a break from her headline-bating ways over the last few months to sit down and pour herself into crafting a fine pop album is kidding themselves. Critics have been surprisingly generous with this; Entertainment Weekly, for example, gave it a B+, but I'm not buying it (literally--I listened to it on MTV's the Leak, which is all I'd recommend doing).

When she doesn't get drowned out by the beats and bleeps, Britney's vocal delivery sounds like it was phoned in. She’s not the greatest singer, and these songs don’t need her to be, which is why a few songs do work, but too often she gets lost in the production. But hey, she likely wasn’t very involved in it in the first place.


Best: Heaven on Earth, Gimme More, Piece of Me, Toy Soldier, Break the Ice