The Batlord

Britney Spears: Oops!...I Did It Again

Why am I listening to another Britney album? Wasn't the last one punishment enough? Yes, but I have the morbid desire to tell people, "Yeah, but XXXX is actually a great album." The confused stares would surely be worth any possible torture. Besides, apparently this got better reviews than the debut. I am dubious, but why not?




Again, I'm sure the first two songs will be the best. "Oops!...I Did It Again" is another of those songs that you know you kind of like even if you don't want to admit it. And "Stronger" is just one of the best pop songs ever recorded. I don't care what any of you bitches say, I could listen to this song all day. So already the two singles shit on the debut. I even remember liking that ballad "Lucky", so here's hoping the rest of the album doesn't blow. I've just listened to "Stronger" three times in a row, so hopefully I should be inoculated against the rest of the album. I shall now say a prayer to Dio and proceed.

Alright, the next song, "Don't Go Knockin' On My Door" is already a massive improvement on the third song off the debut, even considering that was a shitty ballad. As far as the second tier pop songs this is far better than any of the other songs on the first album. So, hopefully the tales are true and this will be an overall better album. Now, the next song is one of the reasons I decided to listen to this album. It's a cover of "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction". Yeah, that song. Yay! Oh, no! It's a ballad. Wait, there's the dance beat. Thank god. I was scared. It's certainly not as good as the original, but it's some quality terrible dance pop. I would be proud to annoy any hypothetical friends in my hypothetical car by blasting this. Preferably next to a car full of hypothetical hot chicks who think we're gay.

A ballad. And I don't hate it. The production massively improves this. ...Baby One More Time was just dull, teeny bopper pop that would have fit in an Olsen Twins movie for the most part, but Oops!...I Did It Again is much more about dance clubs and is much more fun as a result. Even the ballad I'm listening to sounds much better with the more full production. It's still not something I'd jump at listening to, but I don't have the immediate urge to skip it.

The album is now half over and I've either loved or liked everything on it so far. I figured the chance that anyone would give a shit about writing an entire album of good songs for an artist whose entire career is built on her singles would be pretty fucking slim, but I am being proven wrong. I am currently jamming to the aforementioned ballad "Lucky", and loving it. This just goes to show, stick a generic dance beat over over a generic pop ballad and overproduce the shit out of it and you get delicious.

The album's pretty much over and except for a couple songs I have been consistently entertained throughout. Most of the songs aren't really very distinguishable from one another, but that's not really the point. So long as I can disconnect my brain and indulge in catchy-as-fuck shit pop then I am happy. So yeah, ...Oops! I Did It Again is actually a great(ish) album.

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misspoptart

Dude, what do you hear in Stronger? One of the best pop songs EVER RECORDED?? Batlord. Come on.

It's OKAY, but Oops...! I Did it Again blows it out of the water.

The Batlord

Another great song, but "Stronger" just hits that cheese pop sweet spot for me. That chorus just carries you along on that wave of euphoria the way good trash pop is supposed to.

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The Batlord

Britney Spears: Britney

For my own personal amusement I've decided to go through Britney Spears' entire back catalogue. If I can claim to be the forum Britney expert then my life will be complete. So, now we're at her third album. From what I've read apparently she decided to adopt a more "mature" image. Pesonally I couldn't give less of a shit so long as it's still catchy and fun.




The first single on the album, "I'm a Slave 4 U" isn't as catchy as her earlier ones at first listen, but the dance pop vibe is even heavier than on Oops!...I Did It Again, so some of the catchiness is being carried by the beat. Whatever works. I'm a few songs in and the glitzy vibe of her earlier work has been jettisoned for a more "mature", club friendly sound. It's not a huge departure, but it's definitely her least embarrassing album yet. I guess you could call that progression. Lou Reed better watch his ass.

With the focus on club music and the lyrics about sex it's starting to feel like a Lady GaGa album. That is certainly not a bad thing. I loves me some GaGa. The songs are also another step up from the last album. Oops!...I Did It Again was pretty consistent, but most of the songs still weren't great, just pretty good. This is probably the best album I've heard from her so far.

Sweet. Another random cover. This time it's "I Love Rock'n'Roll". It's not as hilarious a choice as "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" but it's still pretty amusing. It's also a pretty tasty song.

Yeah, definitely her best album yet. The whole thing is pretty consistent and most of the songs are actually pretty awesome. I'm getting a legitimate urge to go to a CD store, put this on the counter for all to see, and actually buy this.

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billyblaze

Remove "it out of the water" from your last sentence...

..and you got yourself a genuine, true statement.

The Batlord

You have angered the Britney. Throw yourself upon her Altar of Mortification and slit open your belly with the ceremonial dagger. You shall read her judgement in your entrails.

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The Batlord

Britney Spears: In the Zone

Well here we are again. Another day another Britney album. I'm curious about this album. The last one showed a break from the teenage image and tried to come up with something more mature. It wasn't a complete break though. The glitzy, teen pop thing with the gigantic, cheesy choruses was still there, just sort of mixed with the club vibe. Maybe she completed the break on here.




Two songs in and it seems that she really might have dropped the last vestiges of bubblegum pop. The first song was as great as Britney's album opener usually is. The best thing though is the next song, "I Got that (Boom Boom)". This song features Ying Yang Twins. I shouldn't have to explain why this is so awesome. The song starts with either Ying or Yang or whatever they hell they call themselves screaming "SHAWTYYYY!!!!" and then going on to say, "We fin' to go to the club and get crunk with Britney!" If that doesn't make you happy then we are not friends. I think I even just heard a banjo in the production. This has just made my day. Thank you Britney Spears. Thank you Ying Yang Twins. You've given me the most hysterical song since her faux reggae song on her first album. The fact that the song actually bangs is just gravy. Ying Yang Twins even gave me some new slang. Apparently a "twilly" is a slut. Sweet.

She definitely seems to have shed the teen idol persona and has embraced...I don't want to use a loaded word like "slutty" (though I'm sure the cynical douche rags who give her her persona were probably thinking that word) but she definitely is highly sexualized at this point. Breathy singing. Lyrics about sex and partying. Production that could work just as easily in the bedroom as in the club. It makes this embarrassing to listen to for entirely different reasons.

Without the aforementioned big, cheezy choruses it's not quite as easy to get into the songs on here as on earlier albums, but given half a chance there are some serious ear worms all over this shiz. I'm actually sort of tripped out. Four albums in and Britney motherfucking Spears has only had one bad album. Who knew?

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The Batlord

Britney Spears: Blackout

If you're getting tired of this there are only two more Britney albums. As for me, getting close to the end is actually making me a bit sad...




Well, I imagine after having switched from teen pop to...uh..."mature" (?) pop, there isn't much else to do. This sounds like the last album so far. I mean, it's not like she is a paragon of experimentation or anything, but there was always something a bit different on the next album, even if the change was shallow. Of course, this being Britney Spears, who really gives a flying fuck? You want change, go listen to AC/DC.

A few songs in, and while I still miss the cheeseball choruses, the quality of the clubby songs on here is such that I really can't complain. I keep waiting for her (i.e. her songwriters) to drop a big stinky turd of an album, but it hasn't happened yet, except for the aforementioned first album. I have to imagine that was basically just a record company trying to get fifteen minutes of fame off a couple singles and then move onto the next thing but, "Hey ho, what's this? She's big enough that we can continue to exploit her on a long term basis?" and bammo she actually gets good songwriters.

I'm listening to a song called, "Get Naked (I Got a Plan)" and I am seriously disappointed that Tommy Lee isn't on it. That is all.

I forgot to mention this last review, but these days Britney keeps using this over-processed, quasi-rapping singing style that's as goofy as it is entertaining. As I said before, Britney Spears is embarrassing for entirely different reasons these days.

I know I said that this sounds pretty much like the last album, but that album wasn't quite as consistent as I would have liked. This album hasn't dropped a dud yet. Every song on here is at least damn good, and half the songs are just brilliant. Britney's "performance" isn't the reason though. Britney's vocals really aren't the focus here and are pretty much just an accent to the beats, though they do their job admirably. It's all about the production on here. The vocal hooks aren't what they were in her teeny bopper days, but the production is lethally entertaining. Combining hip hop beats with dance pop may not sound like a revelation, but this album manages to use those influences to great effect. If you'll forgive a moment of douchiness, this album actually "bangs". Most other radio pop just kinda sounds tepid by comparison. The more I listen to this, the more this is becoming my favorite Britney Spears album. Claiming to have a favorite Britney Spears album just made me die a little inside. Fuck it, I'm totally buying this.

Update: I bought it.

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The Batlord

Britney Spears: Circus

Second to last. Getting misty now.




I guess if it ain't broke then don't fix it. More of the same from the In the Zone/Blackout playbook. Sounds good to me. So long as the ear worms invade my body then I am happy. Like every one of her albums this starts with the two big singles and they are suitably swizeet.

Aw, man. I thought the days of cheesy ballads were over, but third song in and here we are. Nothing as awful as the garbage on the debut, but I am disappoint. But I'm probably full of shit. Give me a week and I'll probably be won over.

Thank Dio. More clubby dance pop goodness. This album's highs don't feel as high as Blackout though. That album was pretty space age as far as mainstream dance pop goes. The production was just full of energy from beginning to end and just plain fucking ruled. This seems like a slight step down, which probably shouldn't be surprising considering that at this point Britney's reputation had been destroyed after going off the deep end, so I imagine that the record company didn't consider her quite the priority that they did a few years ago.

If it matters to you her vocals are more "there" than they were last time around. I guess since she wasn't on whatever she was on and escaping from rehab to shave her head bald and attacking automobiles with umbrellas then she might have actually cared about things this time around. But since she's not Whitney Houston it's not like better vocals is really the biggest selling point anyway. Besides, the over use of auto-tune actually really suited Blackout. I didn't think I'd ever hear myself praise auto-tune but there it is.

You know without the harder beats I'm actually feeling myself lose interest near the end. Maybe it's Britney overload after having listened to so much of her for the last week, but Circus hasn't really connected with me in the same way that the previous album did, and I'm thinking this might be her worst album since her debut, though it's nowhere near the level of that abomination.

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billyblaze

Suuure...right after she shaves her head.

Oops, she did it again.