I'd rather be in a "Blackout" than a "Circus".

It's been awhile since my last post, but it's all for the best, I promise.

I've been listening to new album releases like crazy this past week, forming a solid opinion for each one so that I can review them on here over the next few days.

In the last 5 days, I've gotten my hands on the following albums:

808's and heartbreak- Kanye West
I Am...Sasha Fierce- Beyonce
The Day & Age- The Killers
Chinese Democracy- Guns N Roses
The Stoop- Little Jackie

and of course, the subject of this blog post, "Circus", by Ms. Britney Spears.

I'll preface this review with a little info. I enjoy Britney...occasionally. I believe our generation's answer to the "Elvis or Beatles" question is "Britney or Christina". Ok, not really, but it was the first comparison that came to mind, and I'll probably burn in Music Hell for typing that sentence.

Truth is, I was always a Christina man. I loved Christina. I liked Britney. Britney always seemed to be a manipulated puppet in my eyes. I felt like nothing she ever did was to garner more than whispers and attention, and even if the stunt was genius and thought provoking (that 2000 VMA Performance!), it never seemed to be organic. I never once thought that ANYTHING Britney did was because Britney wanted to do it. I always felt like there was a team of handlers around her that made these decisions, and she was just the mouthpiece.

Well, it turns out my instincts were right. The moment Britney reached her breaking point, she pushed away all of those industry handlers, and the rest is tabloid infamy.

With "Circus", her 6th studio album, The "Hey! I'm not crazy anymore!" promotional tour has kicked in to high gear. She has Larry Rudolph, her longtime manager, and her Father, the "sane" Spears, in her corner. She's back in shape, she's seeming to care a little bit more about her appearance, she's dumped all of the leeches that used and abused her over the past two years, and she's putting more effort into her "art".

This is a far cry from her disastrous VMA performance one year ago. Hell, she even won her first three VMA's ever this year, for arguably one of her worst videos: "Piece of me". She's back ya'll!!

What's so ironic about all of this, is that "Blackout", the album made during the eye of the crazy storm, with almost no input from Britney whatsoever, save for the vocals(which is even debatable at this point knowing the technology in studio production), is her best work to date.

Every track was killer, not filler. Every song made you want to shake your ass a little more than the last. The lead single "Gimme More", with the now iconic intro "It's Britney, bitch", was pure marketing genius. The album was personal, in a way we'd never heard Britney before. Songs like "Piece of Me" and "Why Should I be sad?", neither of which was written with any help from Ms. Spears, painted a portrait of pain and frustration, and ultimately ended with redemption and happiness. THIS is the album Britney should have released this year.

Instead, we're given "Circus". With a not so subtle album title, referring to how Brit's life has been a media circus the last few years, I was expecting the tracks to delve a little deeper than "Blackout", while still maintaining the dance heavy production. I was wrong. It's as if she believes the last two years never happened, and wants the listener to feel the same.

I'm all about artistic expression, and letting the artist do what they do best, whatever that may be. I'm open to the idea that Britney didn't want to beat a dead horse, and wanted to move on from that phase of her life, but as a listener and pop culture addict, I'm extremely disappointed.

Honey, you shaved your head at 1:15am in front of a group of paparazzi. You entered rehab three times in 2 months. You held your children and yourself hostage in your bathroom until the LAPD physically retrieved you and rushed you to a mental institute via ambulance. You had your children and ultimately your freedom as an adult taken away from you. You broke down in front of the entire world. Are you telling me you have NOTHING to say about ANY of this? Not one song, not one lyric?

And yet, the Britney Spears marketing factory is in full effect by naming the album "Circus". She's premiering a new MTV documentary next Friday, and with quotes leaking all over the Internet from it such as "I feel like a prisoner. I want my life back", and "I'm a smart person. I look back on that time and think 'what the hell was I thinking?'", it's funny to me that all of this is left out of her real art.

"Circus" isn't terrible by any means. It just sounds like the album you would expect "Blackout" to be. Scattered, incoherent and inconsistent. The first single "Womanizer" is arguably the most annoying song of the year. There is no melody, the intro to the song sounds like the soundtrack to Mortal Kombat on an old Sega Genesis system, and the entire bridge of the song consists of the following: "Womanizer, Womanizer, Wo-Womanizer, Wo-Womanizer. You, you, you are, you, you, you are, womanizer, womanizer, womanizer, womanizer. Repeat 2x" This is your comeback single? What the hell do I know though. The song went number 1, a feat that the much better "Gimme More" never managed to do.

The album steers clear of anything personal, unlike "Blackout", with the exception of one song, the standout track "Kill the Lights". The production and structure of the song is classic Britney, but it's the only song on the album that gives you any kind of glimpse into what a "Circus" her life has been: "All the flashin', tryin' to cash in, hurts my eyes." and the bridge "Mr. Photographer, I think I'm ready for my close up...is that money in your pocket, are ya happy to see me?"

Other cuts worth a listen are "Circus", which is basically "Piece of Me: Part 2", without all of the bluntness, irony, and fiestyness, "Out from Under", one of the only ballads of Britney's that I actually can listen to all the way through, "Shattered Glass", a typical 'you stole mah' man, and now you gotta pay!' track, and "If You seek Amy" which is catchy, yet I have absolutely no idea what the hell the song is trying to say. It's funny, because when I first saw the track list, I thought this may have been a song about the media's fascination with train wrecks such as Britney and "Amy" Winehouse...but it's not.

All in all, "Circus" continues a trend I've seen recently with albums, which puts the strongest tracks towards the front of the album, and throws the garbage towards the end. All of the above tracks I listed appear within the first half of the album. The second half is barely listenable to me, especially a track entitled "Mmm Papi". Yes, it's as bad as it sounds. It's the kind of cut that makes you shake your head in disbelief and wonder if ANYONE was listening to the sequencing of the album, or the actual demos in general. How this track ended up on "Circus", I'll never understand.

"Circus" will most certainly bring Britney back to the forefront of pop culture, for something other than acting bonkers, and while it's decent, it's no match for "Blackout", her strongest album ever. Want proof? "Radar" a track off of "Blackout" actually reappears on "Circus", closing the album out. It's frustrating in general, but it intensifies knowing that for the first time in her career, Britney actually showed some artistic growth, and it was overlooked in favor of meltdowns, baby droppings and umbrella wielding. I'm hoping if the rumors are true about a world tour next year, she'll showcase a lot of "Blackout" and give it the exposure that it deserves...because "Circus" definitely doesn't.

Britney Spears
"Circus"
Jive Records
Release Date: 12/2/08
http://www.britneyspears.com/

Rating: **1/2 (out of 5)

Listen: "Circus", "Out from Under", "Kill the Lights", "Shattered Glass", "If you seek Amy"

Skip: "Womanizer", "Mmm Papi", "My Baby".