Britney Spears' new album Blackout is exactly what you would expect from the once-talented pop princess: a lot of pointless tracks with techno beats and effects used to cover up the terrible singing and questionable song writing.
While the album begins with Spears' new single Gimme More"" listeners won't want any more after listening to the rest of Blackout. ""Gimme More"" is easily the best song on the album with its catchy chorus and danceable rhythm. Even this song, however, could've been cut by at least a minute because it is extremely repetitive.
The repetitious nature of the album is really what tears it down. Although some of the songs aren't bad, they get really old after listening for just a minute. ""Radar,"" ""Get Naked (I Got a Plan)"" and ""Get Back"" especially have redundant choruses and could get their point across if they were half as long.
In ""Radar,"" one of the most annoying songs on the album, Spears sings a line and then repeats it speaking. Not only is talking so ""...Baby One More Time"" era, it is also entirely unnecessary. ""Get Naked (I Got a Plan)"" has a techno vibe and sounds like something a teenager could write. The lyrics, which mainly consist of ""get naked"" and ""take it off,"" are much too obvious for the average listener.
Aside from the techno, Spears even has a few flashbacks to the '80s in ""Heaven on Earth"" and ""Everybody (bonus track)."" While the '80s produced some great music, ""Heaven on Earth"" is so bad it's almost funny. The track sounds like something that could've been performed in ""The Wedding Singer"" as a joke.
The main problem with Blackout is that none of the songs are even good enough to listen to one time through. Even one of the listenable songs on the album, ""Ooh Ooh Baby,"" could make a listener cringe with its lyrics: ""I can feel you on my lips/ I can feel you deep inside."" In a way it's scary that this is one of the better songs, but the sound is definitely unique, with a Latin guitar background and drums that create a pump-you-up sound.
It is somewhat understandable that some critics are praising Spears for this attempt. The songs aren't so terrible; it's the timing that is the issue. If Blackout was released even a few years ago, listeners might've embraced it as a genius work. But, after Spears' fans have grown up, they expect her music to also - at least a little. Spears is a mom now and is way past her pop peak. No one wants to hear her sing about how hot she thinks she is, and no one needs to be told, ""It's Britney, bitch,"" at this point in her career.
Not only are the songs on the album much too juvenile for someone of Spears' status, they also force the listener to question her even more as a person. Clearly Spears didn't write any of these songs herself, but doesn't the woman have enough money by now that she can pay someone to write her some quality music?
Although it's expected for Spears to reflect some of her head-shaving craziness in her music, it's kind of a waste for someone with all the resources to make good music to decide to make an album even K-Fed wouldn't be caught dead listening to.
