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Tracklisting
1. Womanizer
2. Circus
3. Out From Under
4. Kill The Lights
5. Shattered Glass
6. If U Seek Amy
7. Unusual You
8. Blur
9. Mmm Papi
10. Mannequin
11. Lace & Leather
12. My Baby
13. Radar (Bonus Track)
14. Rock Me In (European & Deluxe Edition Bonus Track)
15. Phonography (European & Deluxe Edition Bonus Track)
16. Quicksand (European iTunes Bonus Track)
17. Amnesia (Japan & UK Bonus Track)
18. Trouble (iTunes Pre-Order Bonus Track)
19. Rock Boy (German Bonus Track)
(NOTE: So, I can’t really find anything to review, and I didn’t want to do a PV review tonight, so enjoy an early special review instead~ I will still be reviewing the album with the most votes when December comes around.)
Circus is Britney Spears’ sixth overall studio album. It had two singles before its release: “Womanizer”, which was her first #1 on the Hot 100 charts since her debut; and “Circus”, which is to be released to commemorate Britney’s birthday. It is to be released on December 2nd in America, and on varying other dates in late November and early December for the rest of the regions.
The album opens with Womanizer, which was also the first single in this era. This seems to be the track that helped everyone regain faith in Britney, and the fact that it topped the charts doesn’t exactly work against that theory. The song features a rough electronic beat, mimicking the sound of a siren, with Britney eventually joining the fray. For the most part, the song lacks the vocoders that Blackout was dominated by, which was a very good choice, as her natural vocals only help improve the song. It has a catchy beat and a great hook, which is already an improvement over her last album. At 3:42 in length, it keeps from dragging on, as well. It works well as an opening track, but it’s not exactly a great precursor on how the rest of the album sounds.
Circus comes in with a much more hip-hop influenced synth arrangement, with Britney talk-singing over it. It can be pretty boring until the chorus comes in, and I don’t even really enjoy that section of the song. It’s a fairly repetitive song, and with this sound, that’s not necessarily a good thing. A definite step back, and not very good for being a title track/upcoming single.
This is followed by Out From Under, which begins with a simple string arrangement. Britney’s voice sounds great here, as she almost whispers the lyrics over the minimal arrangement. The chorus, with the additional synths it has, sounds even better, and I’m absolutely loving her vocals here. She’s putting a lot more effort into her singing this time, instead of relying on singing in a single note and letting the vocoder do all the work for her. It’s a huge throwback to her earlier ballad-style songs, and I absolutely love it.
Now we get the first of the great new dance tracks on this album. Kill The Lights starts with the beeping of morse code and ominous music with a radio announcer speaking over the noises, saying Britney is about to make a “special arrangement”. We then get some whispered lyrics from Britney that fit the mood well. When we get to the verse, Britney sings in short bursts, putting a lot of attitude into her vocals. She actually hits some notes this time, which she didn’t really do in Womanizer, which is good to hear. The bridge is especially catchy, and the way the vocals come out sounds great. The line “Is that money in your pocket, or’re you happy to see me?” is just an attempt to sound sexy that makes me sort of laugh, and the chorus is a bit annoying with the repeated vocals, but the way she sings “Kill the Lights” sounds great, and the second half of the chorus sounds a lot better, with Britney twisting her voice as she sings about how she “Killed the lights”, with with some more singing thrown in. The mix of R&B and dance elements makes this song much catchier than the previous two dance tracks on the album.
Shattered Glass features distorted synth noises repeating and slowly gaining speed, before a quick, clapping-based synth comes in and Britney starts ad-libbing. The simple sound of the clapping and Britney’s singing in the verse isn’t overly interesting in comparison to “Kill The Lights”, but when more synth comes in around the bridge, it starts picking up. The chorus, however, ditches it all and goes for a more piano-influenced sound, which works well with Britney singing about her past love that the song is based on. It has an in-your-face sound that fits the theme of the song well, and while it’s not one of my favorites, it is rather catchy. The lack of any of the actual synth in the chorus was what made this song really stand out, though.
I’m sure we all know the story behind If U Seek Amy, right? It features a repetitive, thumping synth line as Britney asks the listener if they’ve seen her “cousin”, Amy, as she searches the club/party for her. The song then erupts into the chorus, which features the thumping synth with a higher alternative alongside it. It’s a rather interesting way to ask someone for sex, but at least it’s subtle, right? No, it isn’t. But it’s still relatively hot, I guess. It’s an interesting song though.
Unusual You features a much more generally distorted sound, and Britney’s vocals are distorted with an echo effect as she sings in an almost moaning manner. It’s got a rather sensual sound to it, and the bridge sounds absolutely fantastic with the manner in which Britney is singing here. Her voice sounds great in the chorus too, where she’s hitting notes once again, as she sings about being confused about her lover and how he’s acting. It’s a nice song that borders on the line of being a ballad, and the theme of the song works well with the sound that it has, as both have an unusal twist to them compared to how the conventional song about love sounds.
Then we have Blur, which has a similar sound to “Unusual You”, but in a much more upbeat manner. The song is basically about Britney waking up with a hangover and forgetting what happened last night. The song hints a lot at saying she’s had sex and forgotten about it, which I thought was rather odd when put into context with the sound of the song. It has a rather individual sound to it as well, with a flowing backing synth and random higher notes playing in the background. The theme of the lyrics is actually rather hilarious when you think of Britney’s overall image since her break down, but I love the arrangement in this song, and the huskier, lower tone of her voice.
Mmm Papi has a whole 60s diner sound to it, with a clapping synth line and an upbeat backing track. The last note of each line Britney sings is randomly distorted to a high level, which sounds rather odd, but the chorus is unbelievably catchy, with its short lines and bubblegum overtone. It’s another song about Britney and sex, and while I’m honestly not surprised about how many songs of this kind she sings, it gets kind of annoying by this stage. Ignoring the lyrics though, it’s an oddball song that really makes you want to dance instead of just sit there listening to it. The sections with Britney repeating the title seem kind of random, but the way she says “Ooh lovey” in that suggestive tone is priceless.
Now we’re back to Circus’ heavy R&B sound. Mannequin sounds a lot like “Circus” did, but at a higher tempo and more synths being present. Those oddly twisted male vocals that you hear in the bridge and in sections of the chorus are more annoying than anything that really add to the song, and the fact that the same synth line is used throughout the song, again, does not help it at all. This is another song I always skip, but I’m actually rather surprised that it’s the first one since “Circus”. I really don’t get how “Love is like a mannequin”, either.
Lace & Leather is another throwback to the older Britney songs, but this time it’s to her more suggestive songs, instead of her poppier ones. It has the whole pop sound, but as the title suggests, it’s another suggestive song. The only real interesting part is the electric guitar-sounding solo near the end of the song. Otherwise, it’s another song I’d rather skip than sit through.
The final non-bonus song in this album is the second ballad to actually appear on the album. My Baby has a touching theme as she sings about someone who actually isn’t ever really hinted at. I can’t tell if she’s singing about a lover, or one of her actual children. Either way, it’s a touching song overall, and the simple string and piano arrangement the song has only helps. It’s a beautiful song, and I was surprised that they chose to put this at the end of the album, despite how fitting it is for this slot.
Listeners of “Blackout” will instantly know what this song is. Radar was a track from Britney’s last album, and was also a single. For some reason, they decided to put it here as a bonus track. Either way, it features a rough synth line with the beeping sound of a radar going throughout the song. Britney’s short sentences with this arrangement give the song an interesting sound, and the chorus features a hook that really grabs your interest. It would’ve worked well after one of the dance tracks on the album, as it’s definitely one of my favorites so far. It was the only track I really liked on “Blackout”, too.
Rock Me In fits the title well. The arrangement has an overall rock theme that really helps it stand out from the previous tracks on the album. The verses are interesting at the least, but what really caught my attention here was the higher register that Britney sings in during the chorus. The whole song is really catchy, and it has an older sound to the rock arrangement it features, which sort of reminds me of how “Mmm Papi” sounded.
Phonography sounds somewhat reminiscent to the radar beeps in the song of the same name. It has a quiet sound to its arrangement overall, and Britney’s using shorter sentences here. When she says “I’m into Phonography”, it sounds a lot like she’s saying Pornography instead, but despite that, the way the lyrics are sung works out well. What turns me off of this song is the odd noises that come in after the chorus, which sounds like a chicken being strangled. That’s what keeps me from liking this song as much as I could, but it’s still worth a listen. The phone terms used really make it sound like sex could be an element, and obviously that wouldn’t really be a surprise as it is.
Quicksand features a piano arrangement that instantly makes me think of the other two ballads, but some synth is quickly brought in this time, which makes the song seem a lot like an R&B ballad instead of a normal one as the previous two did. I like the overall sound the song has, and while Britney isn’t putting as much emotion into her voice as she did in the other ballads, it’s not really affecting the song in any real negative way. I don’t like how they dropped the piano halfway through the song, though. The segments where it’s present really stand out a lot more in comparison to the rest of the song.
Amnesia has a rushed sound to it, really. It opens with what I guess would be called moaning, before drums come in, and Britney starts singing. The bridge comes in really quickly, and I really don’t think it should’ve come up this soon, as that’s what makes this song sound so rushed. The whole theme of her singing about how she forgets her boyfriend around another guy (or is it just around her boyfriend?) is pretty interesting, as it’s not really what you expect to hear about in these types of songs. It goes back to the older pop sounds, which is good to hear, but I can’t get past the rushed feeling it has.
This should DEFINITELY have been in with the real tracks instead of the iTunes pre-order version. Trouble has a rough techno sound to it, and Britney’s voice features some distortions this time, which fits the sound of the song well. It’s yet another song about love, but it’s not one of the sex love songs, which is nice to hear. The chorus, which is basically a statement from Britney that she quickly decides against and changes, has a catchy sound to it, and that’s not really a lyrical technique you hear a lot. The word ‘trouble’ is repeated a lot, though, but I can let it slide. The lower sound of the song works well, and it’s nice to hear something that could pass for a techno-based ballad (if there were a few changes in instruments and all) from Britney.
The final bonus track for Circus comes in with Rock Boy, but you’ll be lucky to hear this if you live outside of Germany and buy it legitimately. It has a total rock sound to it in comparison to the other rock-influenced songs on the album, which was interesting to hear coming from Britney, and she sounds alright in it. I’m not overly happy with it, but it’s alright for a listen every now and then.
Favorite Tracks
1. Kill The Lights
2. Trouble
3. Unusual You
4. Radar
5. Out From Under
So, I was pleasantly surprised to hear that this album was actually really good! Compared to “Blackout”, this was a much better album, and it featured a plethora of genres instead of the stock standard two or three. While there are a few songs I usually tend to skip for varying reasons, the majority of the tracks all have something good to bring to the album, so you’ll probably find one track you’ll like here. Keep in mind that I’m not usually a fan of Britney, or Western music in general (I hated Blackout, too) when I say that this album is SPECTACULAR.
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