Britney Spears - Blackout Album Review

Blackout by Britney Spears, Album Review

Blackout is the fifth studio album by American pop singer Britney Spears. It was released on October 27, 2007 in Australia, October 29, 2007 in the U.K. and October 30, 2007 in the U.S., and around the world. It is her first studio album of new material since In the Zone in November 2003.

While it is clear that Britney herself was only a small portion of the making of this CD, the beats, lyrics, and general tone are just what I’d expect from a Britney album - fun, light, and very catchy.

If you are a Britney fan, go ahead and get this latest from her - it isn’t as good as B in the Mix or her other top CDs, but it will stick to your player for a good long time!

Britney Spears - Blackout Track Listing

1. “Gimme More” (Nate Hills, James Washington, Keri Hilson, Marcella Araica) - 4:11
2. “Piece of Me” (Christian Karlsson, Pontus Winnberg, Klas Lhlund) - 3:32
3. “Radar” (Christian Karlsson, Pontus Winnberg, Henrik Jonback, Balewa Muhammad, Candice Nelson, Ezekiel “Zeke” Lewis, Patrick J. Que Smith) - 3:49
4. “Break the Ice” (Nate Hills, James Washington, Keri Hilson, Marcella Araica) - 3:16
5. “Heaven on Earth” (Michael McGroarty, Nick Huntington, Nicole Morier) - 4:52
6. “Get Naked (I Got a Plan)” (Corte Ellis, Nate Hills, Marcella Araica) - 4:45
7. “Freakshow” (Christian Karlsson, Pontus Winnberg, Henrik Jonback, Ezekiel “Zeke” Lewis, Patrick “J.Que” Smith, Britney Spears) - 2:55
8. “Toy Soldier” (Christian Karlsson, Pontus Winnberg, Magnus Wallbert, Sean Garrett) - 3:22
9. “Hot as Ice” (T-Pain, Nate Hills, Marcella Araica) - 3:17
10. “Ooh Ooh Baby” (Kara DioGuardi, Farid Nassar, Erick Coomes, Britney Spears) - 3:28
11. “Perfect Lover” (Nate Hills, James Washington, Keri Hilson, Marcella Araica) - 3:03
12. “Why Should I Be Sad” (Pharrell Williams) - 3:10

Bonus Tracks

* “Outta This World” (U.S. Target and Japan Bonus Track)[20] - 3:44
* “Everybody” (iTunes and Japan Bonus Track)[21][20] - 3:18
* “Get Back” (iTunes and Japan Bonus Track)[21][20] - 3:51
* “Gimme More” (Paul Oakenfold Remix) (Japan Bonus Track)[20] - 6:08
* “Gimme More” (Junkie XL Dub) (iTunes International Bonus Track)[22] - 4:59
* “Gimme More” (Stonebridge Dub Mix) (iTunes Switzerland Bonus Track)[23] - 7:23

Britney Spears - Blackout Album Info

Recorded 2006-2007
Genre Pop, dance, R&B, electro
Length 43:25
Label Jive/Zomba
Producer Britney Spears (executive), Danja, Bloodshy & Avant, Kara DioGuardi, Freescha, Fredwreck, Sean Garrett, The Clutch, The Neptunes

Critical reception from wikipedia.com

The album, often called Britney’s “comeback album”, has generally been met with favorable reviews. However, there has been negative criticism most notably, Newsday titled its review “Save your money”, while Billboard trashed the album, saying, “This is still pop, but the last bits of Spears’ song-and-dance girl veneer are cracking, along with the rest of her public persona.” Other reviews noted the overwhelming presence of “studio trickery” had the effect of making her sound like a “Brit Bot”. “If a blow-up sex doll could sing, this is what she’d sound like,” wrote critic Jim Farber. “In terms of studio trickery, Paris Hilton’s album was practically ‘unplugged’ compared to this.”

Despite the criticism, most reviews were positive. Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B+ rating and praised the album as “a perfectly serviceable dance album abundant in the kind of bouncy electro elements that buttressed her hottest hits.” Popjustice, famous for its unusual reviews, also praised the album calling it “modern sounding, and brilliantly produced.” Rolling Stone went on to give the album three and a half stars out of five and joked that Spears will “continue to crank the best pop booty jams until a social worker cuts off her supply of hits”.

Britney Spears - Blackout Editorial Review from amazon.com

She may be bald, and her parenting skills may be more backwoods than the celebrity-obsessed would prefer, but when it comes to her profession (singing pop songs, for those who have forgotten) you’ve got to give Brit a break. Not because her previous records have been flawless–for all its first-listen appeal, Oops! I Did It Again will drive even the most tolerant pop fiend bats after two repeats, and it’s hard for long-term fans to overlook the unfortunate “I Love Rock N Roll” off 2001’s Britney–but because, despite all the personal tumult, she’s feeling the music like never before. Blackout is not a brilliant record for its vocals, though they’re good in the cooing, sex-kittenish way we’ve come to expect (check first single “Gimme More,” a monstrously catchy dance-pop number, for the requisite moans and sighs). But it is brilliant. And though the Neptunes, Bloodshy & Avant, and Nate “Danja” Hills do their trippy, thumpy, raved-up thing successfully enough to make you think so, the brilliance isn’t in the production only. The crackling “Radar” gets under your skin not just because of its club-ready beat, a familiar element on this disc, but also from Britney’s deliberate vocal haze; here she is interpreting how she ought to sound against the heat of this track, and pretty skillfully–she goes for pure vibe, and she gets it. And while the words to the seemingly autobiographical “Piece of Me” are enough to pull you in themselves–here we get to hear Britney refer to herself as “Miss Bad Media Karma”–they get a little something extra from our girl’s newly awakened sense of what makes a song flow; she has the good sense to squeal. Is she a credible role model? Certainly not. Is her music worth hitting, as the old song goes, one more time? Absolutely. –Tammy La Gorce